How Teens Read the Bible
Nearly all practicing Protestant teens and adults¹ in the United States own a Bible, and three-quarters read Scripture weekly or more, according to a recent survey by the American Bible Society and Barna Group. Here’s how the two age groups line up in other areas, based on their responses to the following statements:
1 Defined as Americans ages 13 to 17 (teens) or ages 18 and older (adults) who self-identify as Protestant, attend a religious service at least once a month, and say their faith is very important in their lives. 2 All Bible-reading teens and adults.
Iran: Abedini freed, 92 Christians remain jailed
Christians rejoiced at the January release of Saeed Abedini after he faced three years of pressure to recant his faith in prison. The Iranian American pastor from Idaho, part of a prisoner exchange connected to the US–Iran nuclear deal, told his supporters that he felt “like I was born again, again.” Weeks beforehand, another noteworthy believer, Farshid Fathi, was also released after nearly five years in prison. Meanwhile, Middle East Concern noted that 92 Christians are still being held for their faith in Iran, ranked No. 9 on the World Watch List of countries where it’s hardest to be a Christian. Open Doors and Elam Ministries urged prayers for those still left behind.
Burkina Faso: Terrorists kill seven missionaries
The first foray of Islamist extremists into the West African nation of Burkina Faso took the lives of seven Westerners visiting to do short- and long-term missions. A regional al-Qaeda affiliate opened fire on two hotels and a restaurant in the capital city, Ouagadougou, killing 30 civilians from 8 countries. Six of the casualties were Canadians visiting for a three-week mission trip. Another was the American they had come to help; he and his wife had run an orphanage and women’s crisis center since 2011. The terrorist group also kidnapped an Australian doctor and his wife. The Christian couple, in their 80s, had been building up a surgical clinic since the 1970s. The attacks signal the expansion of Islamist terrorism from neighboring Mali and Niger, a move that could dampen missionary activity in the typically safe country.
United Kingdom: Episcopal Church sanctioned over sexuality
Observers thought the Anglican Communion might finally break at a special January meeting of its 38 regional leaders—or at least see conservatives walk out over the global denomination’s American branch permitting clergy to perform same-sex marriages. Instead, the majority of the gathered primates affirmed a traditional view of marriage and voted to block the Episcopal Church from Anglican committees and decision-making for three years. The primates said the sanctions would be applied to other provinces “when any unilateral decisions on matters of doctrine and polity are taken that threaten our unity.” The Anglican Church of Canada will vote on same-sex marriage in July.
France: Evangelicals finally feel heard at climate talks
Two firsts at December’s COP21 gathering in Paris: 195 countries managed to reach agreement at a global climate summit, and creation-care advocates felt fully heard by government delegations. “Because of this, the climate conversation has permanently shifted from merely economics and politics to include morality,” stated Ed Brown, the Lausanne Movement’s senior associate for creation care. The World Evangelical Alliance, the Lausanne Creation Care Action Network, Tearfund, and A Rocha International committed to help implement the Paris Agreement—which calls for holding global temperature increases to two degrees Celsius—in the many countries where they have members. However, a Pew study recently found that only 24 percent of white evangelicals and 39 percent of weekly worshipers agree that global warming is a “serious problem.”
The Gambia: Africa might get a literal Islamic state
The president of the Gambia declared in December that his small West African country would become an official Islamic republic. Yahya Jammeh assured Christians—who compose 8 percent of the population—that they would still be free to practice their faith. He also promised no dress code would be enforced, but a few weeks later issued—and then rescinded—an executive order requiring female civil servants to keep their hair covered during working hours. The move, which has yet to be formally ratified, is meant to reflect the narrow, river-focused nation’s Muslim majority, said Jammeh, as well as to take a further step away from its colonial ties.
Ukraine: Russia restricts Crimean Christians
By the time 2016 began, only 400 out of Crimea’s 1,546 religious groups had managed to regain legal status after Russia’s 2014 annexation. Under new requirements, leaders are obligated to become Russian citizens, join an existing centralized religious group, or, in some cases, pass a religion expertise test. Meanwhile, “Russian occupation authorities” have kidnapped, beaten, and threatened Protestants, Catholics, and Orthodox Christians favorable to Ukraine, the US State Department reported. In a sign of distaste, Ukrainian Christians took a step away from the Russian Orthodox Church by petitioning their government to observe Christmas on December 25 in addition to the current Orthodox observance on January 7.
