>> today on "christian world news" egypt after the uprising. we'll head there to look at ou christians are fairing one year after the revolution. >> [singing]. >> and remembering a superstar, whitney houston struggled with addiction but never lost her touch with faith. >> picking up the pieces how cbn is bringing help to people in the philippines after a recent earthquake. >> welcome to this week's

edition of "christian world news." i am george thomas. >> and i am wendy griffith. one year ago a revolution swept egyptian dictator hosni mubarak from power. many believe it has been hijacked by islamists. >> that is frightening for the country's persecuted christians. they see difficult times ahead. senior international correspondent gary lane has this from cairo. >> reporter: welcome to macotum home to many coptic christians. a place where poverty and garbage abound, so much so the area is called garbage city and the christians that live here

are called zapalin, garbage people. they sift through and sort it, just to earn a few egyptian pounds. the christians here tell visitors about a famous legend from a thousand years ago, jesus talked about having the faith of a mustard seed and move cairos mountain. they prayed for three days and mir miraculously the mountain moved. at least 10 christians killed, nearly 100 injured. the tragedy was followed by more attacks including mas car by the egyptian army.

this man was among christians struck by fatal gunshots. >> meana wasn't happy with the government. he saw the corruption of the regime and upset. >> he believes government security agents may have targeted him for death because he wrote blogs. >> he loved christians and muslims equally. >> they are facing the most dangerous stages in their history. >> this is very dark for the kopts at egypt. >> dark and dangerous because the muslim brotherhood dominant the lower house of parking lotment. lower this year they'll likely include elements of sharia

islamic law. christian activist says they want to deny them their rights as egyptian citizens. >> they are trying to make them second class citizens. we hear accusations they are not really citizens. >> they tell you their time dates back to the time of the far pharaohs. >> muslims invaded egypt in 640 a.d. for years the united states pressed the egyptian army to oppose the moody investors service and other islamists all of that has changed.

we have a huge role in subduing the army. that wasn't the case. >> there are more attacks against the coptic christians. >> price for the military to have an alliance in the future is for them to pressure the christians and strengthen them. >> like iraqi christians, egyptian christians may undergo a mass exodus. in the meantime they faithfully pray for define intervention. >> those persecuting us are not our enemies. our only enemy is satan. the lord commits us to pray for our enemies and love them. >> this time they prayed not for the mountain to move but the hearts of the people to move. gary lane, cbn news, cairo. >> you can follow updates at the

global lane, a link to our website cwnews.org. a british cabinent member issued a strong warning about the growing secularization of britain and rest of europe. they need to embrace their christian heritage. she is not a christian, she is a muslim. the societies we live in, cultures we have created, values we hold and things we fight for stem from centuries of discussion, decent and belief in christianity. my fear is a militant secularization is taking hold of our societies. at its core and in its intints, deeply intolerant and demonstrates similar restraints. she doesn't want a theocracy and people of different faiths

should accept each other. a uk court of appeals upheld a 58 dollar fine for refusing to rent a room to a gay couple. pete they don't rent rooms to unmarried couples straight or gay, siting their policy renting rooms only to married couples and unwilling to compromise their bubbly call principles. religious leaders protesting a rule that forces religious employers to provide free birth control coverage and appeared before a congressional panel and would rather go to jail than against their conscience, efrem graham has the story. >> obama's new contraception

policy disregards basic rights to religious freedom. giving several of those leaders the chance to speak out against the presidents policy. >> we are opposed to supporting abortion causing drugs. that is why we maintain our own health plan. >> they are questioned on their objections to the contraception policy. >> i am trying to understand exactly what problems the bishop had with the policy. >> principle is the government's reaching in and forcing us to do something. we might disagree inside of the

church. >> religious leaders say it is no compromise at all and still violates religious freedom. >> it is wrong because it violate it is constitution and religious liberty and forces people to violate their consciences and more expensive,

this ruling is just plain wrong for americans. >> efrem graham, cbn news. >> the catholic church has united behind this issue. every roman catholic bishop has condemned the policy. china has denied access to the country, susan johnson cook scheduled to travel on february 8th. chinese leaders refuse to let her meet with government officials. this all took place in the weeks leading up to the chinese vice president trip to the united states. sources close to cook say they told them to avoid talking publically about the cancelled trip in the days before the visit. coming up the world mourns a superstar. whitney houston sat atop the pop musi world but never forgot her

gospel roots.

>> the passing of pop star superstar whitney houston shocked the world. family and friends gathered at the new jersey church where she grew up. >> those that knew her well said she never left her christian faith. charlene israel traveled to raleigh to visit with one of her closest friends, shirley ceasar. >> the voice of an angel. [singing]. >> whitney houston rose to the top selling more than 170 million records worldwide. she became the only artist with 7 consecutive no. 1 billboard hits. with great fame came a big fall. the world watched her become tattered by drugs and alcohol.

there was another side of whitney houston the world didn't see a woman that loved and desired god. >> we have lost an icon, a precious, precious jewel. >> houston looked up to gospel music legend shirley ceasar. >> she called me momma shirley. i was honored, yet, i wanted her life totally whole. >> many remember her for her secular music, houston had several gospel hits, most memorable for her role in a preacher's wife. having grown up in a christian home, ceasar says houston knew the faith she sang about. >> this girl knew that jesus loved her. she had such an anointing, if

you will in her voice. >> years of drug and alcohol abuse greatly effected houston. many thought she was finished. ceasar says despite her struggl struggles, houston sought deliverance. >> she looked for the power of good resting in their loives. >> two days before she died she sang jesus loves me at a nightclub los angeles. >> i was on my way to her and i ended up going to the hotel. it was a little too late. >> a few months ago whitney visited the church. >> kim said the power of god fell on whitney houston. she ran all around the church and fell out in the floor and began to speak in tongues.

she just began to speak in tongues for 30 minutes praise thing lord. >> many also question her christian conviction. ceasar the woman that called her momma was involveed in a powerful spiritual battle. life in the fast lane overtook whitney and never got the deliverance she so desired. ceasar sees it differently. >> other times it is a slow process. that is what winning is all about. not to those that can run the fastest, just take your time and win. and whitney houston was a winner. >> charlene israel, cbn news, raleigh, north carolina. >> a great loss, but george, i know, whitney houston, i believe

she is singing with the angels right now. >> amen. she has a voice to sing along with the angel. folks, people have been taking to social media to post and visit our "christian world news" facebook page to leave your own reflections. coming up, earthquake recovery, how cbn is helping victims in the philipnes, stay with us.

>> at least 350 people confirmed dead in a prison fire in honduras. trapped inmates screaming from their prison cells. officials say an inmate start today blaze. prison housing more than 800 people, double its capacity. our sister program in latin america said there was a strong

christian population in the prison. the chappell was unfortunately destroyed in the fire. prison chaplains and local pastors are ministering to the families. this month a 6.9 quake struck the philippines, even worse than the quake were the landslides that followed. the survivors are struggling to find shelter and food. lucille talusan reports cbn is helping them survive the hard times. >> the horror as this woman shared how she and her family narrowly escaped a landslide triggered by the earthquake. >> the tremors were so strong. we ran away from our house as fast as we can. i saw this huge amount of earth covered our house.

in a wink of an eye, we lost everything including my father-in-law who was trapped inside the house. >> she is 7 months preg nantd. she says it is a miracle she and her husband and 5-year-old son survived. >> the ground was shaking really hard. my husband and i raised our hands and shouted, lord, if this is our time to die, take us. we are ready. if this is not yet our time, please stop the earthquake. >> her father-in-law is among the more than 100 people missing after the earthquake hit. they now live in a former goat den. their house and small vegetable plantation were swallowed in the landslide. she and her husband rely on relief to feed their 7 children. their village is in the

mountains and roads susceptible to landslides. they are so relieved cbn came to help. >> this is one of the communities badly hit by the earthquake and very difficult to reach because of rough roads and the distance is far from the city. cbn is giving away food and mats and church volunteers have come to conduct trauma counseling to the children. >> more than 37,000 families have been effected by the quake. many houses are unlivable due to extensive damage. the homeless live in tents. there are frequent strong after shocks. this pastor has been in the area for a long time. his house badly damaged in the quake. jose it is catastrophe says it has fuelled more people to god.

>> the experience has impacted so much. as far as our ministry is concerned, we need to hasten the ministry because life is really short and we don't know when the calamities will come. >> it was through the pastor's out reach that arlito came to christ. it was her faith to saved her family. >> i believe when we have god in our lives, he will keep us safe. we have a mission in our community to tell our neighbors about god. >> they had to walk far for their relief goods. >> thank you very much, cbn. this is really a big help to us. we don't know where to get our food. i hope this will not be the last. >> cbn will regularly supply

food to the villages and other badly effected areas and preparing livelihood projects to help them recover from this calamity.

>> and finely on the broadcast, tim tebow, he captured u.s. football fans this season. now a similar story in the game of basketball. >> yeah. until a few weeks ago nobody heard of jeremy lin. he readily talks about his faith in christ. efrem graham has the story. >> reporter: call it lin sanity, no. 17 jeremy lin has new york nicks fans cheering again. >> drive and!

>> the new york phenomenon crew up in california. graduated from harvard and first taiwanees decent in nba. >> he is headline news, tv, internet, radio stations, he is huge. >> playing the game is a dream come true for a 23 year old. >> god is faithful and we are trying to enjoy everything right now. >> at 6 foot 3, new nba player still sleeps on his brother's couch in new york. he went undrafted until the coach gave him a shot. >> he is a solid guy. he was the same guy coming here early and fighting for a 10-day contract. >> lin has a guaranteed contract

but a hard that remained as humble as it was before the lin sanity. >> have faith in whatever circumstances i am going through and grow as a person and learn and become tougher and at the same time grow in my relationship with god. that is what i try to focus on. >> efrem graham, cbn news. >> amazing. >> i have been talking to my friends in taiwan through facebook. all the postings from the facebook folks, it is all about jeremy lin. >> awesome.