>> today on christian world news protests erupts in countries all across the middle east. will the people follow egypt's example and try to overthrow their own government? how does this affect middle east tiny church? >> i remember lying on the ground in that moment all of sudden the room fills with this glorious light. i turn around to see what is going on, there is jesus. >> an american missionary imprisoned in iran meets jesus face to face.

hear his incredible testimony how he boldly shares the love of christ as he faces 2 death sentences. >> i am george thomas on the siberia tundra, how god is moving amongst tribes in the arctic circle. >> the spirit of revolution spreading like wild fire throughout it is middle east. hello everyone i am george thomas. >> and i am wendy griffith. the people are standing up to tyranny. thousands of protesters in countries like libya, bahrain and yemen risking their freedom and lives trying to unseat their governments. gary lane has more. >> reporter: in bahrain, the army says it is in control of parts of the capitol city, manama, this after security forces raided a peaceful

protest. >> we say to all citizens together in vital areas of the capitol. >> there is a deep division between sunni and shia muslim. majority ies shia. the population accuse sz the government from blocking them from key business, political and military jobs. protesters want to topple the regime. in yemen, antigovernment protesters took to the streets. >> we want the government to step down. >> like in egypt and tenesia, protesters are angry about poverty and corruption. the street is demanding more. similar scenes playing out in libya. activists using social networking sites to rally start against peter khudi. he has been in power since 1969.

a growing number of libyans are calling for their leader to go. 14 people have reportedly died in several cities. hundreds of young palastinians called for unity. islamist group, the rival dates back to early 1990s. now inspired by antigovernment protest taking place around the middle east, palastinians are calling for 2 groups to come together. >> this man joins uz from leb anon, christian and author of the book coming revolution, is

this something snels>> >> in each one of these countries you have different agendas, economics, corruption. the movement is regional. there is race, young educated secular tribe, and the islamists muslim brotherhood and other rulers. >> walid, who is behind it, today the mahmoud ahmadenijad is behind all this. who do you say is responsible? >> of course the iranian regime has its own view of the ever world. they do believe in their oend of times tcollapse of all these regimes. and the ideaologist spreading.

the youth, basically are behind this. they have seen before, the first one in beirut in 2005 and green revolution in 2009 and first arab sunni society in tunisia and we see it across the map. >> when you talk about youth, are you talking about individuals who aspire to create a western democratic style of govr innocence or these folk that is have islam through their veins and want an islamic system of jurisprudence? >> this is a unique revolution, you have both, those that want democracy, they launched it on facebook, they want a more democratic one. at the same time, you have those who are taking advantage

of it the muslim brotherhood who are competing, they can speed up the process, hold the elections earlier and form a government. >> do you get as sense, that christians are a tiny minority in all of these middle east countries in north africa, including, what does this mean? is this what you are seeing on the streets of cairo, tunisia, is this good for christians. in these countrys? >> it could go either way. we saw ominous signs back in the fall when there is a vicious attack against christian church in baghdad. then we saw on the 31st of january in the coptic church in alexandria. if the sex lar secular or

democratic youth then christian minorities could thrive. the muslim brotherhood win the day, it is going to be tough nuchlt new for the christians watching the broadcast all across the middle east, how do they play their cards in the middle of what is going on in the streets? >> only card they have praying and committing to freedom is to join the democratic forces. they have one card to play, to be with them and in the united states ands elsewhere so that in the future, they will have an access to the government. >> if there is one person who understands the pulse of this very strategic country, it is my friend walid phares, the book is called coming revolution. struggle in the middle east, thank you for joining us.

>> thank you, george. coming up on christian world news. >> it was my moment in the courtroom, stood on the stand, hundreds of people, video cameras, judges, then came the question, tell us today, sir, why did you come to iran? >> an american missionary boldly share it is love of jesus in a muslim courtroom. hear his powerful testimony of how the lord spared him from 2 death sentences. in iran.

>> countries are inspiring iranians to follow suit. iran's harsh islamic regime cracking down, cut phone lines. iran brute cli crushed massive protests back in 2009. >> american missionary dan

baumann risked his life. at the end of the trip when he was percent about to cross the border, iranian authorities beat him. jesus met him in his prison cell. what happened next was in god's hands. >> in my walk, i have always seen god come through. all of a sudden, the thought hit me, what if this is different. i was in prison in iran. it was out of my hands. either god would do a miracle or i would stay there. they put in a cell in isolation, a light in one corner. in the wintertime. there was snow outside. the heater didn't work well. they let me out of the room to be interrogated. they would lead me down this hall waip and take me into the

interrogation room. an ugly room. blood stains on the floor, dark and murky. definitely the most terrifying time. beatings would star, slapping in the face, sometimes kicking. i struggled with faith. was god with me, did he love me? if he is good, why would he allow me through the situation? i woke up. i was done inside. i remember waking up thinking to myself, if i am going to be here the rest of my life, why not check out? my only thought was not to stay there. the only way was to die. i stuck my head in the sink, filled it up, and thinking with my head in the water, think i would be gone.

four times i tried to kill myself, i was too scared to tie the other end. i'll never forget the last time, i couldn't do itd. i couldn't tie it tight. i remember jerking my head out of the water. ifs i was ever aware of my brokenness. i was aware that is moment. i remember falling on it is ground and i was broken. if i was aware of my shame at that moment. i remember lying on the ground in that moment all of a sudden, the room fill s with this glorious light. there is jesus. he is standing in front of me with this big grin and smile. it was at that low est point he met me. he stretches out his hands and puts them underneath me like

this. in the vision, he looks and says this. he says dan, i love you. i promise to carry you through this time. from that day until thr day i have never had those thoughts again. that is who jesus is. he meets us at our lowest and he can rescue us from the depths of us and wants to give us life in the midst of the pain of life. he meets us and loves us wantds to rescue us no matter what we are going for. i found out indirectly, i was under 2 death sentences, one for a missionary and one for a spy. it was my moment in the courtroom, i stood on stands, hundreds of percent people in the room, video cameras, judges, then came the question, tell us today, sir, why did you come to iran? something rose up, the power of

god. i remember looking at the judge and saying this, i came to iran to tell you about jesus christ. when i said that, i am like what did i say? [laughter] all of a sudden, i said it again and again and something started to grow in my heart. for about 20 minutes, i preached the gospel. i told everyone in that room, i told everyone who could hear me all about who jesus is and how much he loved them. i am free. i am free. so what if they kill me. my life is bought by the blood of jesus, my home is in heaven. no one can take that away. i realized in the midst of death itself, god gave me the grace to stand up and speak the truth knowing there is more. i am going home one day.

no one can take that away. >> incredible. we know iran's christians, especially those from muslim backgrounds suffer harsher treatment than dan baumann went through. christian solidarity worldwide, now a crack down is against it is country's christian with 45 being temporarily detained and questioned this past week. my journey to the coldest places on earth. >> this is our, our -->> in siberia, the ground maybe frozen, a fiery passion still burns among the tribes who serve the lord jesus.

>> our viewers might have to imagine livering in a place where temperatures plummet to minus 60 degrees and winter lasts all yearlong. george you just returned to a place very much like this. >> i had the opportunity recently to go to the farthest reaches of the arctic circle in the northern partds of siberia who is sharing the gospel with remote tribes. >> locals call this place yamal. >> yamal means the end of the world. >> and in many ways it is. there are no roads here.

people use frozen lakes and rivers to get around on rain deer or snow mobile. >> longitude 70 degrees east. the yamal peninsula sets in the deep frozen siberia tundra of the arctic circle. >> i have 4 layers. putting on my last layer of clothing. >> tefrn temperature fluctuates between minus 30 and minus 60 degrees fahrenheit. >> never wore so many clothes. almost ready. >> it is a little after 6:00 a.m. peter khudi, our siberia guide

does last minute checks. >> that right there folks is reindeer skin. this is our sleigh. this is how we are traveling into the tundra. >> the slay is attached to a snow mobile. >> i have to make sure we have enough rope and other emergency supplies in case we get stuck nuchlt . >> is this dangerous? >> yes, it is. >> our destination this morning a 4-hour journey. two hours we stopped for a brief moment. >> it is about 9:25 in the morning, 9:25 in the morning and the sun has yet to rise. we are hoping to catch that before it rises. >> sun here shines only for a

few hours during the winter when it does appear normally around noon, the sun rise, well, it is something to behold. >> this is a special place. >> peter belongs to the largest tribe. he is a christian. for the last few years he has been sharing the gospel of jesus christ with his tribe and others who live here in the tundra. >> when i became a christian, god gave me a new heart for my people. i go out on my snow mobile telling them about it is love of christ. >> they are nomadic reindeer herders. >> this is the life blood for the people here on the siberia tundra. their meat as well as their skin fetches a lot of money in the villages. >> food, clothe, home,ing

transportation, everything comes from them p. without reindeer, we cannot survive . >> learning how to survive begins at a young age. >> if you are not careful, you can die out here. >> women take care of cooking, sowing clothes and putting up tepees. the men are hunters and when it comes to skinning the reindeer, the family is involved. hide used to use clothes. blood and reindeer meet are consumed to get vitamins. >> we consume every part of the reindeer. >> peter has been visiting this family for a few percent weeks. >> he tells us about god. we have good conversations.

>> he is supported by ministries, spreading it is gospel in the former soviet union. >> i brought presents for all the childrens. it is filled with school supplies. we have to build relationships first. >> cell phone and generator have made life a little easer on the tundra. new enough before i had to rely on reindeer. now the snow mobile allows me to travel distances to meet the family nuchlt . >> peter estimates some 500 people have accepted the lord in rep recent years. >> there are still thousands more who are yet to haerp about jesus. >> so he continues to search for more people to share the

good news of faith in jesus. >> i want to say to the folks at russian ministries, they have this incredible outreach, to some of these cold places in the tundra doing amazing work. it was awesome to partner with them on this project. >> amazing story to see the people love jesus there, too. amazing. you can learn more about other christian groups on our website address is cwnews.org. we'll being right back.

knew >> finally on our broadcast -->> dr. tom little and mission's team were killed in afghanistan last summer. he worked as an optometrist for

more than 30 yeers, president obama presented the metal to his wife, libby. he lived the lesson of scripture that says greater love has no man than this than a man lay down his life for friends. >> folk ps we have taken you to siberia to iran, i hope you have enjoyed our broad kasz. >> you ate raw reindeer. for more go to our website. until next week, good-bye and god loves you. god bless you everyone.