Nov. 26-28 Event in Budapest Will Bring Together Top International Leaders to Address Global Scourge of Christian Persecution and Genocide
For Immediate Release | Nov. 20, 2019
WASHINGTON—Just before Thanksgiving, two leaders from Save the Persecuted Christians (STPC), whichadvocates on behalf of hundreds of millions of Christians facing heavy persecution worldwide, will attend the 2nd International Conference on Christian Persecution in Budapest, Hungary.
Set for Nov. 26-28, the conference will feature international keynote speakers such as Viktor Orbán, Prime Minister of Hungary; Matthew Hassan Kukah, Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Sokoto in Nigeria; Dr. Rajai Muasher; Deputy Prime Minister of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan; Tristan Azbej, State Secretary for the Aid of Persecuted Christians and for the Hungary Helps Program, Prime Minister’s Office; and Gewargis III, Patriarch of the Assyrian Church of the East.
“For this truly global event, Hungary is among the nations taking the lead to call on the international community to support and defend the world’s Christians,” said Save the Persecuted Christians Executive Director Dede Laugesen, who will attend along with President and CEO Frank J. Gaffney. “We are honored to join our esteemed and dedicated colleagues who are also advocating for the protection of Christians around the world. In too many countries worldwide, believers in Jesus are shunned by their families, blacklisted by their communities and persecuted by their governments simply for their faith.”
For the first time, Save the Persecuted Christians’ traveling exhibit, “The People of the Cross,” will have an international presence. Attendees at the International Conference on Christian Persecution (ICCP) will be able to view the series of vertical traveling banners that details Christian persecution in various countries around the world. The exhibit features images, facts and quotes about the persecution of Christians in multiple countries, such as North Korea, where Christians are tortured or worse; Syria, where Christian girls and women have been sold into sex slavery; Nigeria and East Africa, where terrorists are exterminating Christians with genocidal intent; and China, where Communists are increasingly hostile to people of faith. A majority of the countries are high on Open Doors’ 2019 World Watch List.
Besides plenary sessions and panel discussions at the conference, breakout sessions will address topics such as: “Accountability and Acknowledgement of Genocide,” “The Role of Governments and Legislatures in the Advancement of Religious Freedom,” “The Opportunities of IGOs in the Defense of Persecuted Christians,” “Central Europe in Defense of Persecuted Christians” and “The Protection of Tangible and Intangible Heritage and the Defense of Christian Values.” Nov. 27 will also feature an evening cultural program called “Red Wednesday,” a red lighting of the Chain Bridge.
Other American leaders involved in the conference include: Joe Grogan, Assistant to the President of the United States; Samuel D. Brownback, U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom (via video); and Bonnie Glick, Deputy Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development.
According to the ICCP website: The mission remains: to find answers and solutions to the most neglected humanitarian and civilizational crisis of our time. Beyond raising international awareness, the primary aim of the conference is to foster closer cooperation between governments, governmental and non-governmental organizations and other actors concerned. Only through the coordination of resources and efforts and through joint endeavors is it possible to defend beleaguered Christian communities living in crisis regions from the ever-wider phenomenon of religious persecution and to support their return to their homelands.
Save the Persecuted Christians created the dedicated news aggregator—ChristianPersecutionNews.com—in an effort to capture current instances of persecution and to provide readers with an easy way to share these heartbreaking stories with others. Stories are categorized and resource reports are easily accessible.
The mission of Save the Persecuted Christians is to save lives and save souls by disseminating actionable information about the magnitude of the persecution taking place globally and by mobilizing concerned Americans for the purpose of disincentivizing further attacks on those who follow Jesus.
According to Aid to the Church in Need’s biannual report on Religious Freedom in the World, 327 million Christians experience persecution. According to Open Doors USA World Watch List, 245 million Christians are victims of high to extreme levels of persecution (i.e., torture, rape, sex-slavery, expulsion, murder and genocide), an increase of 14 percent over 2018. Open Doors also estimates 1 in 9 of the world’s Christians experience persecution and that every month: 345 Christians are killed, often in public and without regard to gender or age; 219 Christians are abducted and imprisoned indefinitely without trial; and 106 churches are demolished.
With so much of the world’s Christian population being attacked, imprisoned and/or exiled for their beliefs, the need has never been greater for the sort of grassroots campaign STPC’s SaveUs Movement is working to foster. Its efforts are modeled after a miraculously successful one that helped free another population suffering from heavy persecution—Soviet Jews—by penalizing those in the Kremlin responsible for such repression. Through this movement, Save the Persecuted Christians endeavors to provide American policymakers with the popular support they need to effect real change worldwide and alleviate systemically the suffering being experienced by so many of those following Christ.
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