The Chairman’s Report For August 3, 2018

In this issue of the newsletter
Update: Construction at Nigerian orphanage – New water system by start of school!
New: Christians die in attacks in Plateau State near our orphanage mission
New: Widespread left-wing attack on the Religious Freedom Coalition
New: Christmas for Refugees funding is down at time expansion is needed.

Construction of new water system underway

Rainy season caused delay:  Before the new school year begins the new water system promised to a Nigerian orphanage by the Religious Freedom Coalition will be in place.

In April of this year, when I visited the Nigerian orphanage that the Religious Freedom Coalition supports, the available water was marginal.  There was only one running tap for over 200 children and the squatting toilets did not flush.  This is not at all unusual for rural areas.  Many homes still use an outhouse which is a contrast to the well-off districts of some big cities that have five-star hotels such as the Hilton.

The rainy season is one reason that the work of installing the new water system has been slow.  Kids at the orphanage can be seen with rain jackets in the picture at right.

These are the new water tanks that will sit on top of the new water towers which have not yet been delivered. This is not a small project.

Sadly, the rain is not the only reason for slow construction.  Once again, there have been attacks by Muslim Fulani herdsmen. According to the Nigerian government and the American State Department, when Muslims invade a Christian area and kill people it is a “clash” implying the Christians share equal blame.  The fact that only Christians die on Christian land seems to be irrelevant to the State Department and the American media which does little to report the slaughter of Christians in Nigeria.

Ambassador Sam Brownback visited Nigeria in June for one week.  During his visit, there were six suicide bombings by the Sunni Muslim terror group Boko Haram at the same time as Sunni Muslim Fulani herdsmen massacred 218 Christians in Plateau State where the orphanage we support is located.  For several days the gates to the orphanage could not be opened because of threats.  The road to the orphanage was not safe to bring in materials.

During my mission to Nigeria in April, I spent much time in Plateau State.  So many Christians have been forced out of their homes that hundreds of thousands are now in camps for displaced persons in Benue State.  I visited those camps as well, and the conditions are horrid.  I pray daily that we can bring our Christmas for Refugees program to, at the very least, some of the younger children at those camps.

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New genocide in Nigeria:  Christian leaders in Nigeria stated in July that the Fulani herdsmen alone had killed 6,000 Christians.  The Fulani are the tip of the spear for Muslim expansion into the Christian heartland in the south of Nigeria.  They drive their cattle onto the farms of Christians, destroying their crops.  Then come the attacks at night with guns and long knives.  In a typical attack, most of the Christians in a village are killed, but the younger girls — those 8 years old up to unmarried teenagers — are taken and forced to convert to Islam and then sold into Islamic marriages.

But not all attacks are during the night. Quoting Christian leaders in Plateau State, CNS reported:

“In April, Fulani herdsmen attacked a group of Christians during Sunday mass, killing two priests and seventeen parishioners.  The same attackers then razed fifty homes belonging to Christians.  In fact, earlier in the year, on New Year’s Day, 72 people died at the hands of a Fulani attack.”

A small truck arrives with parts for new water system being supplied by the Religious Freedom Coalition.

The missions of the Religious Freedom Coalition are simply not yet large enough to do much to assist in Nigeria.  Our mission in the Middle East is reaching many thousands of families and we cannot turn away from the families we are already helping.  Christians in Nigeria are facing the same kind of genocide at the hands of various Sunni Muslim terrorist groups that Christians have faced in the Middle East for over 1,300 years.

Why growing our missions is difficult right now:  Because the Religious Freedom Coalition has publicly stated that the Diapers for Refugees and Christmas for Refugees programs only assist Christians, we are under a powerful attack by the radical left-wing establishment.

The Southern Poverty Law Center has labeled the Religious Freedom Coalition on a “hate map” that many corporations use to block donations by their employees.  All donations from purchases made at Amazon by Religious Freedom Coalition supporters have been blocked by the world’s richest man, Jeff Bezos.  Other companies are also now not allowing their employees to donate through their charity trusts to the Religious Freedom Coalition.

In a new attack, Charity Navigator altered our audited financial statement.  Yes … Charity Navigator altered our audited financial statement and changed the amount for “program services” to less than half of what it actually is.  Charity Navigator then placed the altered document publicly at their Internet site to justify giving the Religious Freedom Coalition a “zero” rating. Our attorney has demanded that the altered documents be removed from the Internet.

Since the founding of the Religious Freedom Coalition more than 30 years ago the Internal Revenue Service has never questioned one of our 990 filings because of the professionalism with which they are done.  Our financial information receives an outside audit every year and is publicly posted at our website.  Audited financial statements are supplied to every state agency where fund raising is done.  Why the problems now?  Simply put, because the Religious Freedom Coalition has really grown the last five years, the left-wing establishment wants to destroy the organization.  We just don’t do things the establishment (deep state) way.

Christmas for Refugees

2018 could be a difficult year for Christmas for Refugees:  In mid-July, less than $1,000 had been received for the Christmas for Refugees program for 2018.  The Christmas program was way behind financially when I mailed the first appeal for funds in July.  The focus has been on doubling the Diapers for Refugees program this year, which has been accomplished. Now the focus must really be on getting ready for the Christmas program and we must raise funds while under an orchestrated attack by the left-wing establishment.

We keep track of every dollar that arrives for every program.  In this newsletter, there is a reply slip that lists programs.  When those slips arrive with donations at our office the exact number of dollars indicated by donors for each program are recorded for those specific programs. Our office knows down to the dollar the exact amount donated to each program.  We do have an “as needed” category that helps us smooth out program costs, but most donations are for specific projects supporters want to see succeed.

Yes… There is still a need for $35,000 for the Diaper program in September and another $35,000 in December.  But the need for the Christmas program will reach $385,000 this year if we fill all the requests from our ministry partners in Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq, and Nigeria.

Two Syrian Christian girls prepare to have dinner at a Christmas for Refugees event in Lebanon last year.

The question is: Will we be able to meet all requests for the Christmas program? In Lebanon our ministry partner wants to increase the program to 2,000 children and to furnish two blankets to each family.  Lebanon is an expensive place.  Beirut is almost as expensive as New York City and a cup of coffee can cost $3.00!  Sadly, regardless of how many families we reach, many thousands more will spend Christmas in a tent in a farmer’s field.

In Iraq the program costs will increase because the location of the children is spread out more.  Not all the children are still in Erbil. Many have moved back with their families to try to rebuild their looted and destroyed homes in Bartela, Karmelesh and Qaraqosh.  The programs must take place in church halls that need generators because there is no electricity.  The dinners for the children must be trucked in from Erbil along with all the equipment and volunteers needed.

In Jordan, we could expand the Christmas for Refugees program to 5,000 or more children if the local ministries had the infrastructure — which they do not.  But we can still reach 2,000 to 3,000 children.

What then can we do for displaced Christian children this Christmas?

We can do what the Lord will provide for us to do.

The supporters of the Christmas for Refugees program will provide the funds that the Lord wants us to have to reach the number of children He wants us to reach this year.  We must rely on prayer and the generous support of those He directs to help with the Christmas for Refugees program in 2018.

[su_button url=”https://christmasforrefugees.org/donate/”]Please help Christian refugee families[/su_button]

RUSSIA and the SUNNI MUSLIM THREAT 

Ignoring the real threat:  The total Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of Russia last year was $1.5 trillion dollars.  The GDP of California was 2.5 trillion dollars, almost twice as much. Other than having nuclear arms, Russia is a weak nation financially and militarily.  The war in Syria has tied up most of its modern equipment and its trained special forces.  So far, Russia has lost at least four military aircraft in Syria that we know of and that does not include helicopters.

Russia has no blue water navy.  The one smoke billowing aircraft carrier Russia has is so outdated it barely made it to the Mediterranean for a tour of duty and then lost one of its aircraft because of a failure to catch it on landing.  America has 11 nuclear powered aircraft carriers with the most sophisticated aircraft ever built and 9 more small carriers for vertical take-off aircraft.

For every operational armored vehicle and tank Russia has, NATO has four.  For every operational war plane Russia has, NATO has three.  Most Russian fighters and bombers are decades old and not really war ready.  America’s National Guard has better and more modern equipment than the Russian Army.

Russia has 150 million people and a declining population.  The United States is the third most populous nation in the world with 330 million people and more arriving daily.

But ask Democrat or Republican leaders and they will assure you that Russia is our most dangerous enemy while Sunni Muslim nations such as Saudi Arabia are friends and allies.

So, I ask this question:  Has Vladimir Putin’s Russia killed as many Americans as the Sunni Muslim Saudi Arabian terrorists on 9-11?  Have Russians gunned down innocent people in San Bernardino, Ft. Hood or Orlando, as have Sunni Muslim terrorists with ties to Saudi Arabia?

This is the current reality in Washington, D.C. where I work:  The Sunni Muslim propaganda machine is everywhere.  Money from the rich Gulf states including Saudi Arabia floods the media and spreads political influence.  Public remembrance of the Sunni Muslim attacks that have killed scores of Americans has vanished and even the 9-11 attack is hardly mentioned.  The almost daily beheadings in Saudi Arabia are forgiven.  Our leaders looked away as torture chambers were set up in the Ritz Carlton Hotel in the Saudi capital this year.

Here in Washington, the Saudi Academy, a Muslim school for the children of diplomats from Muslim nations, teaches that democracy is an apostate religion that must be destroyed.  It also teaches that Jews are descendants of apes and pigs and that women are the property of men. The school is 100% funded by the Saudi Arabian government.  No public official complains.

My opinion:  The Sunni version of Islam that is destroying our values and killing Christians worldwide is the true enemy of freedom and democracy and of our way of life.  When Vladimir Putin is dead and buried, Sunni Muslims will still be killing Americans and persecuting Christians around the world.  The real threat to America is the spreading cancer of Sunni Islam.

William J. Murray, Chairman

[su_button url=”https://christmasforrefugees.org/donate/”]Please help Christian refugee families[/su_button]