>> today on christian world news the garden tomb in jerusalem is one of christianity's most sacred sites. now a muslim building project is putting this historic place at risk. our exclusive record at risk. in columbia hundreds of churches could be forced to close down their doors, whoos behind this troubling trend? plus africa's rising store, one of the firstadies, but she is a giant of the faith. >> the fight to protect one of

christianity's most sacred places. hello, i am george thomas. my colleague and coanchor wendy griffithis on assignment. this is the place where many believe jesus christ rose from the dead and in danger of being damaged by a construction projec a project funded by a muslim group. my colleague chrimitchell has the exclive story from jerusalem. >> reporter: the director of the garden tomb showed cbn news, this 15-foowall being built above the garden tombs 105-year-old wall. >> it has built this wooden construction building hundreds of tons of concrete on top of

the wall. >> they fear the new wall would bring on a ka tas trophy. >> we have 3 or 4 areas where christians are worshipping everyd. we have the potential here in heavy rain or snow or one of those earth tremors that jerulem is famous for, this new wall could collapse and kill 200 visitors, pilgrams and tourists in the garden worshipping. >> new wall violates codes and no citpermit and built 10 feet away from any exisng structure and get the permsion of its neighbor. >> they have never sought my permission. we are in acti discussion and negotiating with theand cannotallow them to build this wall until they prove to me beyond all reasonable doubt can this wall is going to be safe. >> a spokesman told cbn news,

they do not have a license but claim the new wall is safe t. major's office ld cbn news, they will make sure it is legal in order to keep it open to visitors. garden tomb attracts in international visitors. >> we are worshipping him in every language and taken people through the garden from every corner of the gle. >> the wall is not the only construction mariam worries about. >> john chapter 19 where jesus was led outside the city wall into a place john chapter 19 says >> mariam says recent digging on top nextoday the garden tomb threatens the hill known as the place of the skull. manybelieve jesus was crucified here, the face of a

skull can be seen. >> above in the last few days, bucket by bucket load by load, a lot of dirt imported above the graves on the skyline. i have known for some weeks they were thinking of buildg. >> mariam wants to make sure gagaltha remains in tact. >> we want to remain in peace and continue to worship and to be expose today the gospel. >> chris mitchell cbn news, the garden tomb. >> you can find more of chris's reports his blog at cwnews.org. an apparent discrimination,

stan jeter is here to tell us more. stan what is going on? >> george, evangecal leaders in columb are outraged by a new ordnance that is aimed squarely at its community and force hundreds of evangelil churches to close their doors while leaving catholic churches untouched. >> ordnance requires all churchs to reinforce church structures, make them handicapped accessible and update operating license >> 90 percent of the christian churches don't meet the ordnance requirement because they are neighborhood churcs. >> we have problems because the churches that have been operating having built in places and have earthquake-proof foundations

and destroy the whole house and if we don't comply with these requirements, they'll close them down immediely. new they will not apply equally to catholic churches. it reflects a bias against evangelicals. >> there was a lot of concern that the evangelical churches were growing so mh. there are congregations here with 50,000 people, 70,000, 150,00 there was a lot of concern. the traditional church put on pressure to stop this advance. >> the director of planning says the process was totally open. >> the mast plan was available jointlywith representativeof the different church. everything in the master plan was drawn together. we all were in agreement. >> catholic officials say their churches have older structures and shouldbe exempt from the

city's severe requirements. >> the construction would threaten the cultural historical herage of the city. the district authority must remember they are churches built in the 1600s, 1700s and 1800s. >> meanwhile evangelical leaders are fighting to protect their places. >> the new government has given us a lot of support. we ask for our revision for the master an of churches. it is on the agenda and hope it happens, soon. >> otherwise, church meetings could become less common after the end of the year. >> evangelical leaders say as many as 1,000 columbian congregation might be forced to stop mting come january. george that means tens of thousands of christians won't be able to worship in their own

structures at that te. >> what happens, stan, if they have to leave their churches? >> i was talking with the leaders this morning, they don't know. they are hoping and believing the ise will be resolved before january. >> what are the chances perhaps they can be rolled back? >> they are pretty good chances they will soften the requirements. one of the requirements is earthquake-proofoundations. do do thathey would have to destroy the churches and build them l over again. the chances are they'll be realistic and impose these regulations little by little. >> stan jeter i know you'll keep a close eye. coming up, trapped a half mile below the surface, learn how chile miners are keeping up

their spirits and their faith.

>> welcome back to the

broadcast. the miners trabed deep underground in chile are receiving spiritual support and encouragement from above. this catholic prayer service was held at a camp where worker's families are staying and 80 evangelicals praying and bibles sent down at their request. man have been trapped since august 5th and dale herd reports rescue could be months ago. >> reporter: these 33 men once feared dead all look fine. they send greetings. this man says despite the bad conditions we knowwe are going to get out of he. much better conditns than what we imagine. the men sing the national anthem. [singing]. >> the camera goes through the mine tunnels where they are living, this is the refuge

where the men took shelter. it is warm, thermometer shows 29.5 degrees, about 89 fahrenheit. camera reveals their life underground and donos set up to pass the time. here is where the men pray and a cup they use to brush their teeth. get him outside so he can take a showerhe say, others laugh. men look surprisingly healthy given they almost starved for 17 days. surprisingly cheerful and happy to have contact with the outside world. they havbeen told before christmas before a hole can be dug to get them out. this mine says, patience there is nothing else. if god gave us the patience and fortitude to be with them when we didn't know they were alive, now there is more reason to stay. >> we are super and extremely

happy. we are sure with smart people and technology, they'll get us out. video of extrodinary men with optimism and courage under difficult conditions. dale herd cbn news. >> remarkable. there is an international miners group since 1906. recently wendy griffith spoke with tom about what they are going through and spiritual support they are receiving. >> can you give us any idea of what these mine are feeling right now? >> they are very alone. when you are underground an trapped, it is a terrible feeling, it is a bad feeling to be underground if you are not used to it. >> they are getting the physical support, what about spiritual support, do they know people are praying fothem? >> they do.

we got a letter from a miner, 33 bibleshave gone down that 2, there are 2 evangelical believers. we are believing god they are going to save their bodies and souls. >> how should christians be praying for them? >> praying for them to be saved and praying for god to bring them out of the ground with a powerful testimony of what god did. because god is in charge. if they come out of that ground all of them, it is going to be a powerful testimony to god and like for them to give god glory. >> amen. what are the challenges of sharing the gospel with miners? >> it is the most dangerous occupation in the world. historically, heavy drinkers, there is prostitution, drugs around them. all of these things come where the men are.

many of them believe when you go below ground that is the devil's territory and above ground is god easter toir. >> what have you discovered in ministering to miners? >> you need to break down that barrier from the mining community underground. they drink together, they do all this stuff together. it has to be broken down. it takes one to come. in other words it take as believer to stand up for it. >> tom gillham, thanks so much.

>> welcome back to christian world news. marie is one of the youngest first ladies in africa, her husband, the presidenruns the demoatic republic of congo. she is a strong christian and using her belief in god to

bring spiritual change to her country. >> a google search of her name brings up little personal details, but here on the streets of democratic congo, marie is a rock star of sts. when she is out in public which is very rare. the crowds can't get enough her of her. she is the first lady of the democratic of congo marrd to the president, one of africa's youngest leaders. she rarely does interviews or speaks publically. her participation in a christian event came as a surprise to many in her country. >> people of god, this is a very special day for me. >> in a small church on the east side, hundreds of people gather as she declared3 days

of natiwide prayer and fasting. >> i am here to tell you i will never be ashamed of my lord's name. we need him desperately to heal our cotry. >> the democratic republic of congo cursed by natural resoces, diamonds, copper, gold, but for all its riches, the drc is a mess politically, and spiritually dying. >> dear father, our people are suffering, we need you, lord. >> according to the cia, 5 million people have died here. the country's wealth is ground zero of the worst war on the continent.

governnt troops still fighting toward rebel groups from taking corol of the minerals. hundreds of thousands of people have been displaced and tens of thousands of women raped, tortured and mutilated. >> we are like the promise land but flowing with death and destruction. >> with the blessing of her husband, she launched a campaign in all the major citi, took to the air ways pleading for the countryman to join her. for 3 days, people gathered around the crches. >> i am calling for them to pray for each other. >> for someone incredibly shy and shuns the puic spotlight, it was this image of their first lady raising her hands and cryi out to god that touched so many people.

>> the first lady is a strong person of faith. it is only through prayer that we can face the lies of our culture. >> three days after launching the prayer and fasting campaign, at a packed soccer stadium,tens of thousands gathered to pray. several of the top artists were there to perform. >> you have to understand in the political history of the democratic of congo, no sitting leader has called for days of prayer and fasting. what the first lady is doing is monumental. >> the president is supporting us todaeven though he is not here. >> even though it marked the end of the 3 days of prayer and fasting, mr. kabila urged her country men to keep praying.

>> we want to be set free from the devil. i belie the walls are falling. god is going to set our nation free. >> to the surprise of so many, first lady accompanied by a christian singer. ended the prayer campaign singing asking for the spirit of god to fall upon her nation.

>> millions of pakistan's flood victims are still out clean drinking water, a situation that can cause widespread disease. cbn's operation blessing is making a diffence. we spoke by phone from one camp in pakistan. >> many places i saw children lying down and they were sick. diarrh, cholera and very sick. i felt it was real important to maka difference in the

lives of these people. i came back and brought the life saver. i had a leaderdo all the wo. we pumped it out. it came beautiful water. a man looked at my face and said whoa! this ireally nice. we had all the kids lined up. they were so happy. kids so depressed and desperate for help. being in the camp today and spending time and saying brought such beautiful smiles on the kid's faces. >> and to find out how you can partner with operation blessing to lp pakistan, check out our website cwnews.org. finally this week, christiansin the united

kingdom are staying on the cutting edge of phone technology to reach what is called the appears geration. peter wooding has this rept. >> reporter: christians across the uk are utilizing their technogy to share their faith and down loaded biblesand text prayers and clips. there is an iphone application for sorted, the first application for men. >> people all over the world can have access to the magazine immediately. >> reaching men with this wonderful message of the gospel. >> recently, united christn broadcasters based their studios launched the first

mobile christian tv channel. this is an example on the iphone. go to yamgo.com and load for you. ucbtv on a mobile phone. >> we as christianneed to be aware of wherehe is -- ether it is the marketple, radio, or television. new marketplace of today is the mobile phone. >> glen jones based in chester ran a successful campai recently when hundreds of christians simultaneously received a text message to share their faith whatever they were at that moment. >> some people were on the bus and turned around and chatted to someone on the bus. some of the more courageous,

some left a message, others wereon the beach and printed up a message on the beach, others phoned or text their friends. >> challenge remainfor the global church to make the most without compromising the gospel message, peter wooding for cbn news, england. >> that is terrific. if you want to knowhat is going on around the world, you can go to cwnews.org or cbnnews.com. we are here 24/7. that is it, folks, until next week, goodye and god bless you.e religious le. they fnd another adversary to defend, ism. and then: the god of islam, in the koran, makes it ve clear

that anybody w doesn't submit to the will of allah should be killed. next time on...