A Wife’s Plea
By CFI Field Staff on June 12, 2013
Naghmeh Abedini, the wife of imprisoned paster Saeed Abedini, is asking Christians around the world to stand up for Basic Human Rights in Iran. Recently, she reached out to CFI to help spread her message, below is her email. Saeed is currently being held at Evin prison in Iran.
“My name is Naghmeh Abedini , I am the wife of Saeed Abedini who is an American pastor who has been sentenced to 8 years in Iranian prison (Evin prison). I… Read the rest
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HBI Students Take Exam
By CFI Field Staff on May 24, 2013
Students at CFI’s Haui Kalok Bible Institute (HBI) recently took an exam. The exam covered English rules and spelling. The school located in Mae Sot, Thailand, lays along the Burma border. Haui Kalok Bible Institue (HBI) serves as a Bible School for Karen and Karenni young men and women looking to further their faith and strengthen their leadership skills.
CFI President Jim Jacobson has been teaching both English and Bible classes this spring. He has big plans for both HBI… Read the rest
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Pray For Syria
By CFI Field Staff on May 10, 2013
Syrian church leaders have called for a day of prayer for peace to be restored to their country, enabling all Syrians to live in harmony within their own country. Some fear that the Iraq scenario (involving increased levels of sectarian attack and corresponding flight of Christians) could be replicated in Syria. Church leaders have called on Christians not to leave, acknowledging that significant emigration had already occurred.
Fears within Christian communities have increased following the kidnapping of two priests (Michel… Read the rest
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Christianity Disappearing in the Middle East
By CFI Field Staff on May 7, 2013
The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom recently stated: “The flight of Christians out of the region [Middle East] is unprecedented and it’s increasing year by year.” Some experts even believe that in our lifetime: “Christians might disappear altogether from Iraq, Afghanistan, and Egypt.”
CFI President Jim Jacobson, has said, “over 1 million Christians lived in Iraq in 2003, ten years later less than 400,000 can be counted. Christians in the Middle East are under siege.”
Across the Middle East,… Read the rest
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American Christian Sentenced to 15 Years Hard Labor
By CFI Field Staff on May 6, 2013
Kenneth Bae, a Korean tour operator, with American citizenship, was arrested in November by North Korean police while leading a tour group through the north-eastern port of Rajin.
He was charged with “committing crimes against the state”. Early this month the North Korean Supreme Court sentenced him to 15 years hard labor. The sentence is the harshest ever issued against a foreign national. Usually it is reserved for murders, and rapists.
Sources close to the case, report Bae is a… Read the rest
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God Continues to Bless the Huai Kalok Bible Institute
By CFI Field Staff on April 30, 2013
Dear Friends,
We currently have 13 students attending our HBI English summer course. I am teaching the class and really loving it. The students are currently learning how to identify the sounds that letters make. Most of the class is from Mae Lae Refugee camp, some from Burma, and others from remote villages in Thailand. All have a desire to learn English and grow in their Christian faith.
I urge you to please pray for our students that God will… Read the rest
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Supplies Distributed to Children in Orissa, India
By CFI Field Staff on April 17, 2013
From our co-worker in Orissa, India…
“Very good morning,
Thank God we had a distribution program for children yersterday,we provided them school books, pens, pencils, scissors, slates, soaps for the both washing and bathing, also we had a nice snacks with the Children, pray for them continually…
God Bless You All. Our work is not in vain, the reward in the Heaven as the Bible says.”
If you would like to know more about sponsoring a child in India, please… Read the rest
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Church Shelling in Syria
By CFI Field Staff on April 12, 2013
From our contact in Syria….
“Greetings,
The Greek orthodox church that was shelled by the Assad regime in Jisr
Al’Shaghour region.
Just today, these villages and several others were shelled again by the (Syrian) regime forces that are isolated in the last town the regime is holding. I haven’t been told how many are dead yet.
Many, many for these people are our brothers and sisters.
Please pray for us…”
Please Join Christian Freedom International in lifting the persecuted Christians… Read the rest
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URGENT: Help Needed for CFI Worker in Thailand
By CFI Field Staff on March 14, 2013
Nazir Akhtar, a CFI worker located in Thailand, will undergo surgery in two days to remove a
cyst in his throat.
Nazir, a Pakistani native who has overseen CFI’s Huai Kalok Bibile Institute for more than two years,
has been suffering from a terrible sore throat for the past month. A recent examination by a
physician in Chiang Mae revealed a lump in Nazir’s throat, which will be removed during
surgery this week. It is uncertain at this time whether… Read the rest
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Urgent Prayer Needed for Pakistani Christians
By CFI Field Staff on March 12, 2013
“We are in much grief and pain that Christians have no safety or freedom in this Islamic country,” says Pastor Shahzad Babar with Gospel of Christ Ministries in Pakistan, in a letter recently sent to Christian Freedom International.
“On Saturday, March 9 . . . a mob of 4,000 angry Muslims in the eastern Pakistani city of Lahore attacked a Christian neighborhood and set fire to homes, after hearing accusations that a Christian man blasphemed against Islam’s prophet,” Pastor Babar’s… Read the rest
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Making Tentmakers in Bangladesh
By CFI Field Staff on March 8, 2013
Warm greetings from Southeast Asia! Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
“And Saul approved of their killing him… Godly men buried Stephen and mourned deeply for him. But Saul began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off both men and women and put them in prison.” (Acts 8:1-3)
Saul, who later became known as the Apostle Paul, is one of the greatest, miraculous, conversions ever recorded in… Read the rest
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Needs Are Still Great In Orissa
By CFI Field Staff on March 4, 2013
When CFI president Jim Jacobson traveled to Orissa, India, he found a community markednby grinding poverty, and a relentless suffering known only by those who endure daily persecution for their belief in Jesus Christ. Yet despite their hardships, these Christians remain strong in spirit and faith; and despite the risks to their freedom and even their very lives, are steadily growing in number.
During his visit, Jim arranged for the delivery of humanitarian aid for these Christians in need, and… Read the rest
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American Pastor Sentenced to Eight Years in Iranian Prison
By CFI Field Staff on January 29, 2013
Saeed Abedini, the American pastor who has been incarcerated in Iran for his Christian faith since September 2012, has been sentenced to eight years in prison.
Abedini, an Iranian native who had been living in the United States since 2005, returned to Iran last fall to visit relatives and to oversee the development of an orphanage project when he was forcibly removed from a public bus and arrested by Iranian officials. The pastor has since been detained in Evin Prison,… Read the rest
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Tribute to Betsy Demaray
By CFI Field Staff on January 28, 2013
If Sault Ste. Marie had a face, to me it would be Betsy Demaray. In 2006 when I considered moving the CFI headquarters back to my native Michigan from Virginia, I took time researching many different locations throughout the state. Sault Ste. Marie was the last place on the list for potential locations. That is until I met Betsy. Betsy, a workaholic, made me feel “at home” immediately. Her kindness, professionalism, expertise, and drive to get things done was what… Read the rest
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Grace International School
By CFI Field Staff on January 18, 2013
In 2004, Jim and Karen Jacobson moved from the U.S. to Chiangmai, Thailand on assignment from Christian Freedom International. Four of their children attended Grace International School (GIS) at that time. It was an opportunity for the Jacobson children to learn and grow academically and spiritually in a Godly and welcoming environment.
In 2011 the Jacobson’s returned to Chiangmai, and three of their children have once again become part of GIS family. Over the past ten years, GIS, staff and… Read the rest
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