World Summit in Defense of Persecuted Christians

by ****Cody Morgan   |     |  
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One of the goals of the World Summit in Defense of Persecuted Christians is to demonstrate solidarity with those who suffer because of their faith. In addition, those participating hope to raise global awareness about and advocate to decrease persecution Christians are facing worldwide.
Simultaneous interpretation into Arabic, French, Korean, Russian, Spanish and Vietnamese allows participants from some 130 countries and territories to hear the plenary sessions in their own languages.
May 10-13: More than 600 victims and advocates from 130 countries gathered in Washington D.C. for the World Summit in Defense of Persecuted Christians.
In order to share session notes and send scheduling notifications to participants from more than 130 countries, a special app was developed for the first-ever World Summit in Defense of Persecuted Christians. Through the app, information was distributed in six languages: Arabic, English, French, Korean, Russian and Spanish.
May 13: Franklin Graham gives a final word of encouragement to participants as he closes the first-ever World Summit in Defense of Persecuted Christians.
May 13: The World Summit in Defense of Persecuted Christians concludes with 600 Protestant, Roman Catholic and Orthodox leaders and persecution victims receiving Holy Communion together.
May 12: As a token of appreciation for Franklin Graham's efforts to draw attention to the worldwide persecution of Christians, Pastor Sami Dagher from Lebanon and summit organizer Viktor Hamm present Graham with an Aramaic Bible that was salvaged from the remains of a church in Northern Iraq that was destroyed by ISIS.
May 12: Pastor Sami Dagher from Lebanon, a victim of persecution himself, encourages participants at the World Summit in Defense of Persecuted Christians not to let beatings, torture or threats of death prevent them from telling others about their faith in Jesus Christ.
May 12: The FEBC-Korea Children's Choir (Far East Broadcasting Company) share a special performance with some 600 Christian leaders and victims of persecution at the closing plenary session of the World Summit in Defense of Persecuted Christians.
May 12: The FEBC-Korea Children's Choir (Far East Broadcasting Company) share a special performance with some 600 Christian leaders and victims of persecution at the closing plenary session of the World Summit in Defense of Persecuted Christians.
May 12: The FEBC-Korea Children's Choir (Far East Broadcasting Company) share a special performance with some 600 Christian leaders and victims of persecution at the closing plenary session of the World Summit in Defense of Persecuted Christians.
May 12: The FEBC-Korea Children's Choir (Far East Broadcasting Company) share a special performance with some 600 Christian leaders and victims of persecution at the closing plenary session of the World Summit in Defense of Persecuted Christians.
May 12: Cardinal Donald Wuerl, archbishop of Washington, suggests ways anyone can help those who are suffering because of their faith: prayer, material help and raising awareness of the persecution taking place around the world.
Bishop Michael Nazir-Ali, former Bishop of Rochester in the Church of England, challenges each person in attendance at the World Summit in Defense of Persecuted Christians to personally help raise global awareness about the plight of persecuted Christians since "advocacy of the voiceless is a Christian obligation."
May 12: Christian apologist Ravi Zacharias, founder and president of Ravi Zacharias International Ministries, offers rational principles of how Christians facing persecution can stand firm in their faith.
May 11: Father Douglas al-Bazi, a persecuted Christian from Iraq, shares his story with the participants of the World Summit in Defense of Persecuted Christians.
May 11: Following his presentation to the World Summit in Defense of Persecuted Christians, Sen. Jack Lankford (R-Oklahoma) announced that he had introduced a resolution to the Senate promoting religious freedom and condemning persecution based on faith.
May 11: His Eminence Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk encourages participants at the World Summit in Defense of Persecuted Christians to stand strong in their faith.
May 11: His Holiness Patriarch Mor Ignatius Aphrem II, Patriarch of Antioch and All the East Supreme Head of the Universal Syrian Orthodox Church, reads the Scriptures to encourage some 600 participants gathered at the World Summit in Defense of Persecuted Christians.
May 11: Robert Cunville, based in India as part of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association team and president of United Bible Societies, gives the keynote address "The Gospel's Power" at a plenary session for the World Summit in Defense of Persecuted Christians.
May 11: U.S. Vice President Mike Pence meets with Franklin Graham prior to speaking to attendees of the World Summit in Defense of Persecuted Christians in Washington.
May 11: Franklin Graham greets Vice President Mike Pence, who addressed some 600 participants in the World Summit in Defense of Persecuted Christians.
May 11: During the World Summit in Defense of Persecuted Christians, Vice President Mike Pence tells the hundreds in attendance that protecting and promoting religious freedom is a foreign policy priority for the administration.
May 11: Vice President Mike Pence says during the World Summit in Defense of Persecuted Christians that advocacy on behalf of people persecuted for being Christian is a topic "of enormous importance to this administration."
Wed, May 10: Rear Admiral Barry C. Black, chaplain of the U.S. Senate, opens the World Summit in Defense of Persecuted Christians in prayer.
May 10: Egyptian Evangelical Pastor Sameh Maurice shares a scripture reading and leads hundreds during the opening session of the World Summit in Defense of Persecuted Christians in a moment of silence.
Wed, May 10: Rashin Soodman, whose father was hanged in Iran for converting to Christianity, rings a memorial bell in honor of those who have lost their lives because of their faith.
May 10: Archbishop Tikhon of the Orthodox Church in America speaks to delegates at the World Summit in Defense of Persecuted Christians.
May 10: Popular Christian artist Michael W. Smith performs for the more than 600 people who attended the opening session of the World Summit in Defense of Persecuted Christians.
Franklin Graham opens the first-ever World Summit in Defense of Persecuted Christians on Wednesday, May 10. More than 600 participants from 130 countries gathered in Washington to help raise global awareness about this plight and show solidarity with those who suffer because of their faith.
Franklin Graham, president of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and the international Christian relief organization Samaritan's Purse, describes the critical need for the world to respond to the crisis of persecuted Christians. Graham was the keynote speaker during the opening session of the World Summit in Defense of Persecuted Christians.
May 10: Archbishop Cristophe Pierre offers greetings to attendees during the opening session of the World Summit in Defense of Persecuted Christians.
May 10: Rev. Dr. Mouneer Hanna Anis, an Egyptian Anglican bishop, talks about the crisis of Christian persecution during the opening session of the World Summit.
May 10: Rev. Samuel Rodriguez delivers the benediction during the opening session of the World Summit in defense of Persecuted Christians.
The Mayflower Hotel was the site of the first-ever National Prayer Breakfast on Feb. 5, 1953, when President Dwight Eisenhower attended it at Billy Graham's urging (Diane Winston, Smithsonian.com, Feb. 2, 2017).
Feb. 9, 1961: Billy Graham and President John F. Kennedy, seated at the head table at the National Prayer Breakfast in the Grand Ballroom of The Mayflower Hotel, Washington, D.C.
Feb. 9, 1961: Billy Graham addresses the attendees of the National Prayer Breakfast in the Grand Ballroom of The Mayflower Hotel, Washington, D.C.
Feb. 9, 1961: Billy Graham addresses the attendees of the National Prayer Breakfast in the Grand Ballroom of The Mayflower Hotel, Washington, D.C.
To help raise global awareness about the plight of persecuted Christians and show solidarity with those who suffer because of their faith, the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association will host the first-ever World Summit in Defense of Persecuted Christians. The summit will be held in Washington D.C., May 10 – 13, 2017.
The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association logo.
Samaritan’s Purse is an international relief organization, headed by Franklin Graham, that provides immediate, no-red-tape response to the physical and spiritual needs of individuals in crisis situations- especially in locations where few others are working. Samaritan’s Purse has worked in more than 100 countries to provide aid to victims of war, disease, disaster, poverty, famine and persecution.

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