In their darkest hour, Middle East Christians have powerful friends

[Geee]

Washington Examiner

Christian communities in the Middle East are facing a bleak season in which mere long-term survival has become an ambitious objective for some ancient groups. In Iraq, a decimated Christian population is trying to rebuild in the midst of an internal power struggle between Baghdad and Erbil, while Iran continues to exert its destabilizing influence through Shia militias. Christians are fleeing Egypt in record numbers in the face of horrific attacks and heavy-handed government harassment. In Lebanon, Christians fear the double threat of an unsustainable Syrian refugee crisis and the ever-growing influence of Hezbollah. In Turkey, the church is being suffocated between the regime and pressure from Russia. This is hardly scratches the surface of the threats. 

Yet despite all, there is a reason for hope. Christians in the Middle East have two sympathetic and powerful allies at the heart of the world's most powerful government: Vice President Mike Pence and Ambassador for International Religious Freedom Sam Brownback. 

Both of these men seem to have been tagged-in by their superiors, President Trump and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo respectively, to lead the administration's effort on protecting persecuted religious minorities, and what’s more, they both have a deep personal connection to the cause based in their own faith.

[Valin]

Geee

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Jul 24, 2018

 

Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom, Sam Brownback remarks at the Ministerial to Advance Religious Freedom, at the Department of State on July 24, 2018. A transcript is available at https://www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/rm/20....