The United States Is Not the Center of the Universe - J. LEE GRADY

If you are a Christian, you are a global citizen. (iStock photo)

The United States Is Not the Center of the Universe

 2/3/2016 J. LEE GRADY  charisma magazine

My friend Kelechi is a brave Nigerian evangelist who has gotten himself kidnapped several times so he could share Christ with armed militants. More recently he has been involved in dangerous evangelism efforts in northern Nigeria, where Islamic jihadists have killed 17,000 people in the past five years.

A few days ago, Kelechi sent me a disturbing email, asking for prayer. He had just learned that a young man he was discipling, Boulous, was killed by militants while trying to get some Christians out of a village that had been targeted for a surprise attack.

Kelechi wrote: "Please would you pray for me and ask your friends to lift us before the Lord? It is a very trying time. We are the only people doing evangelistic work there, so we cannot stop. Also pray for me as I go to the area next week when I think it will be safer."

I feel helpless trying to raise awareness of Kelechi's cause. One of the worst waves of terrorism on planet earth has hit Nigeria, yet the world's media gives it scant attention. The Islamic group operating there, Boko Haram, killed more people in 2014 than ISIS terrorists in Syria. Last week in the Nigerian village of Dalori, Islamic militants bombed homes and burned children alive.

The death toll in Dalori was 86. But did you hear anything about the attack? It wasn't on any news channel I listen to. All the major networks were talking nonstop about Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton and the Iowa presidential caucus—along with the controversy stirred by Beyoncé's new music video.

In April 2014, Boko Haram kidnapped 276 Christian schoolgirls from the Nigerian town of Chibok—and for a few weeks people on this side of the Atlantic Ocean paid attention, especially after First Lady Michelle Obama tweeted her support for the girls.

Almost two years have now passed, and the girls are still missing. They are most likely living as slaves in a Boko Haram camp on the Chadian border. Most likely they have been forced to marry their abductors. And most people have forgotten about them.

All these foreign problems are just too stressful to think about. And too far away. Besides, we have a Super Bowl to watch.

I'm not trying to put anybody under a guilt trip. I am blessed to live in the United States, and there isn't much I can do to stop Boko Haram from torching African villages. But it concerns me that so many of us are completely oblivious to the needs of the rest of the world.

Just a few days ago, Islamic terrorists linked to the group Al Shabaab killed four Christian in Kenya. One of the believers was beheaded. I have to rely on a relatively obscure Christian news service for this information because mainstream media outlets rarely report on Christian persecution.

Wars are going on today in Syria, Afghanistan, Pakistan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Libya, Ukraine, Israel, Iraq, Nigeria and South Sudan—which is also dealing with a famine. But when I checked the latest headlines in USA Today, the focus of the news was on the New Hampshire presidential primary and pro football star Peyton Manning's legacy.

And this just in! Beyoncé will perform during the Super Bowl halftime show!

That's a shame. Especially when you do the math and realize that the United States has a population of 319.4 million while the global population is about 7.2 billion. That works out to a 4.4 percent share of the world's population. Who do we think we are?

We are not the center of the universe.

I'm not going to hold my breath until mainstream media improves its reporting. People are always going to be more interested in Kim Kardashian's latest reality show than in how we can stop global sex trafficking, how we can help abused women in Somalia or how we can protect Syrian refugees while they flee the terror in their country.

But Christians should care. We may live in the United States, but we are citizens of God's kingdom and we are called to pray—and care—for the whole world. Paul told Timothy: "Therefore I exhort first of all that you make supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings for everyone, for kings and for all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceful life in all godliness and honesty" (1 Tim. 2:1-2, MEV).

Please be a global Christian. Look at the big picture. Stay informed of world events so you can pray with understanding. Make friends with people from other cultures and see the world through their eyes. Pray for the nations.

You can start by praying for Nigeria—and for my friend Kelechi, who will be risking his life to share the gospel this weekend while millions of Americans watch a 17-minute halftime show that will cost $12 million.

J. Lee Grady is the former editor of Charisma. You can follow him on Twitter at leegrady. He is the author of several books including 10 Lies the Church Tells Women, 10 Lies Men Believe, Fearless Daughters of the Bible and The Holy Spirit Is Not for Sale. You can learn more about his ministry, The Mordecai Project, atthemordecaiproject.org.

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Franklin Graham: Still Preaching the Gospel as the Plane Went Down

4/10/2015 JESSILYN JUSTICE  charisma news

Franklin Graham gives evangelism advice. (BGEA)

Dear Friend,

Last month I was in South Sudan, Ethiopia and Kenya. South Sudan is the world's newest nation, gaining independence in 2011, and we held a large evangelistic Crusade in the capital city of Juba in 2012. Now ethnic divisions and political rivalry have led to civil war, with fighting and lawlessness across the nation. I met separately and prayed with the country's president, Salva Kiir, and the leader of the opposition, former vice president Riek Machar, and I urged them to sign a peace agreement.

I also met with about 150 South Sudan church leaders in Juba. We worshiped together and prayed for peace and unity in their nation. These pastors care passionately about the people of their nation and about sharing the gospel, and they asked us to return for another evangelistic Crusade as soon as conditions in the country make that possible. Pray that we would be able to do this and that there will be an end to the strife in South Sudan.

In a few weeks I'll be in Barcelona, Spain, for an evangelistic Festival. Spain is a country with its own political unrest as separatist movements keep the country under constant pressure to pull apart. Secularism has spread rapidly, just as it is spreading across the rest of Europe and the United States. An increasingly large part of the population, especially among young people, accepts an "anything goes" attitude toward sexual behavior, drugs and morality in general. Spain has the highest rate of cocaine use of any nation in the world. Officially a Catholic nation, Spain today has more people who say they have little or no interest in religion than it has actively committed Catholics. The country has twice as many Muslims as evangelical Christians.

Barcelona, the country's second-largest city, is the center of one of the major separatist movements. It is also the city with the highest concentration of Muslims—along with a number of small evangelical churches—and that is where we will be going May 1 to proclaim the gospel. Pray with us that God will open hearts and do a great work among the people of this city.

Later in May, I will lead a Crusade in Jacksonville, Florida, and three weeks after that in Lviv, a city in war-torn Ukraine. My son Will has just returned from the Philippines, where he led Crusade events in two cities, Tacloban and Cebu. He will lead a Crusade in Owensboro, Kentucky, this month and another in June in Tanzania.

Traveling in Ethiopia brought to mind a man I met there and got to know in the 1980s. Andy Meakins was a gentle giant of the faith, an Englishman who loved Jesus Christ and served Him in Africa for many years. In 1996 an Ethiopian Airlines flight was hijacked and crashed into the ocean just off the Comoros Islands after running out of fuel—you may have heard the story. The dramatic moment of impact was caught on home video and broadcast around the world. Only later did we learn of something even more dramatic happening in the cabin as the plane headed for disaster.

Andy Meakins and his wife were on that plane, seated together. The hijackers demanded to be flown to Australia even though there wasn't nearly enough fuel for that distance. As they neared the Comoros Islands in the Indian Ocean, one engine flamed out, and the pilot told passengers that the remaining engine would soon run out of fuel as well. Immediately, Andy's wife heard the snap of a seatbelt being unbuckled and turned to see her husband stand up.

"Many of us might die in this crash," he called out, "so there's something you need to know." Andy then began explaining the gospel simply and urgently, moving to each part of the cabin so that everyone would hear. He invited people to place their trust in Jesus Christ in repentance and faith. A flight attendant heard Andy's words, bowed her head, and asked Jesus to forgive her sins and come into her heart. She watched many more respond and, along with another survivor, later told the story. Of the 175 people on board, 125 died, including Andy, who was still on his feet preaching the gospel as the plane hit the water.

Every day tens of thousands of people slip from this world into eternity—the vast majority unprepared, "dead in trespasses and sins" (Eph. 2:1, NKJV). We need to take every opportunity to share the love of Jesus Christ and the truth of the gospel, the only message that will make a difference to a lost soul. Just like an airplane going down, time is running out.

Andy Meakins used his life to witness every day, and he did so to his last breath. It is this same urgency that drives all we do at the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association as we seek to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ to as many people as possible. Will you be a part of this work through your prayers and your financial gifts?