News Articles by Charles Braddix

NAIROBI, Kenya (BP) -- The day before terrorists seized Nairobi's Westgate Shopping Mall, International Mission Board missionary Bert Yates was there.

[QUOTE@right@180="Non-Muslims were lined up and shot -- even children."
-- IMB missionary]NAIROBI, Kenya (BP) -- As sporadic gunfire continued to echo through sections of Nairobi and smoke hovered over Westgate Shopping Mall, the International Mission Board announced that all its personnel were accounted for.

DAMASCUS, Syria (BP) -- "I am staying," a Baptist pastor in Syria said. "They tell me to travel, to leave, to emigrate, but I tell them I am staying."

CAIRO (BP) -- "Anger. Killing. Blood." These are words that currently describe Egypt, said Mounir Sobhy Yacoub Malaty, pastor of First Baptist Church, Cairo.

CAIRO (BP) -- "Anger. Killing. Blood." These are words that currently describe Egypt, said Mounir Sobhy Yacoub Malaty, pastor of First Baptist Church, Cairo. "Attacks have not stopped. Innocent people are being killed. Big numbers of protesters themselves are dying," he lamented. But a fragile calm seems to be settling across Cairo as life slowly returns to normal. In spite of the presence of armored personnel carriers, traffic once again moves along the city's major thoroughfares, and people are returning to work. Just days before, Egyptians experienced violent clashes that left nearly 900 people dead and more than 4,000 injured.

CAIRO (BP) -- Attacking churches across Egypt, pockets of supporters of ousted Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi continue to retaliate against a deadly crackdown by government security forces. Pro-Morsi demonstrators were angered by Wednesday's crackdown on protesters in Cairo. Widespread protests and violence continue throughout the country, with nearly 700 people reported dead and more than 3,700 injured. The Muslim Brotherhood previously had warned that if government forces attacked its protesters, they would retaliate by attacking the country's minority Christian population. So far, nearly 70 churches, Christian institutions and businesses have been attacked, burned or destroyed. The attacks appeared to be planned, since they occurred nearly simultaneously across the country, Christianity Today reported, quoting one church leader in the town of Assuit as saying, "It had to be pre-planned. It happened [here] at the exact time the attacks happened in Cairo." Among churches targeted was Beni Mazar Baptist Church in Minya, located 150 miles south of Cairo. It was attacked and burned. No casualties or injuries were reported, although the pastor and his family live on the premises. The first news of the attack came on Wednesday from Mounir Sobhy Yacoub Malaty, pastor of First Baptist Church in Cairo and a leader of Egypt's Baptist convention. At noon Malaty posted on his personal Facebook page: "Pray: Baptist Church in Beni Mazar, Minya, has been attacked." Malaty quickly followed with an update, "Beni Mazar Baptist Church on fire." Later he posted a brief video showing the ransacked and burning remains of the church. Months earlier, John Amin*, pastor of the Beni Mazar church, had said, "We live here at the church, so if someone attacks our church, they attack our home. The kids are afraid." Many in the community around the church are afraid, Amin said, but he still had a vision to see the church packed with those seeking Christ. "We want the community to see us and come and grow the church," he said. A jovial man, sometimes called the Egyptian Santa Claus, Amin has a broad smile that might hide the challenges he now faces, which are severe. Minya reported the country's highest number of attacks against churches, totaling 14. One of Egypt's oldest Coptic Christian churches, the fourth-century Church of the Virgin Mary there, was torched and burned Wednesday. In addition, the Egypt Bible Society bookstore in Minya was destroyed.

CAIRO (BP) -- Numerous churches across Egypt were attacked Wednesday (August 14) by mobs angered at the military's deadly crackdown on protesters in Cairo.

NORWICH, England (BP) -- He is difficult to find and even then is barely visible, but he's there. Green Man, a symbol of ancient pagan religion, stares down from the nave of Norwich Cathedral. In a way, his presence is symbolic of how it has always been, and still is, in this medieval city.

LONDON (BP) -- "Please, sir, I want some more." Who can forget these haunting words of a desperately hungry 9-year-old boy in Charles Dickens' novel "Oliver Twist"? The story is a powerful condemnation of 19th-century England's social and economic injustices, London in particular, including child labor and the cruel treatment of children. Children of the day often were put in workhouses, abused and starved. The novel provides a graphic description of what it's like to be hungry. Hunger is awful, and starvation is even worse, often ending in a slow and painful death. People hunger for different things. On one side it could be for social justice and equal opportunity. On the other, it could be for the smallest morsel of food, followed by a precious sip of water. The effects of either can lead to panic. The desire for "more" can be fatal. Having recently moved from Africa to the United Kingdom, I saw both happening at the same time. While tens of thousands of young Brits rioted in the streets of England's cities, thousands of refugees at a camp in Somalia's capital Mogadishu rioted, fearing food meant for distribution was being stolen by government troops. In England, rioters escaped with looted computers and large-screen, high-definition televisions. In Mogadishu, seven refugees on the verge of starvation died trying to safeguard food that would save their lives.