>> today on "christian world news" why christians are fleeing the birthplace of christ and one man's quest to bring them back. >> and orphan epidemic in west africa. cameroon where hundreds of thousands of orphans live on the street. and show you the ministry that is picking them up one child at a time. >> plus from saudi arabia to salvation, he came to convert others to islam, instead found himself converting to christianity. >> welcome to "christian world news" i am efrem graham. >> and i am heather sells. israel is the birthplace of christianity.

many places are under arab control. many are fleeing. andria garrett has the story. >> reporter: it could be described as a modern-day exodus. christians leaving beth le ham in great numbers. >> it is the remaining christians in west bank and gaza. gaza has a thousand, to 2,000 christians. if their needs are not addressed in 10, 15, at most 20 years, there won't be any christians in the cradle of christianity. this will be a memorial, a museum. >> threat of persecution including beatings between christian women and muslim men are some of the reasons why they left. although the economy picked up, uncertainty prevails>> many people have fear, and doubt in

the unknown and unseen. >> pastor steve cory leads churches in bethlehem. cory says they do many unorthodox things that hope is only built on the solid rock of jesus christ. >> recent 60 minutes report blamed israel for the christian exodus. holy land arabs must share the blame. pastor cory told gary lane what palastinian believers are facing. >> you have christians afraid to walk with crosses. christians afraid to walk with bibles. the fear doesn't come out of shame. it is continuous being harassed and oppressed and pushed aside by uneducated extremists.

i heard people say i will pray them. i don't think so, pray for boldness. i want christians to come to pray at the churches. we need churches to pray and give to evangelicals so we can expand. we have seven active ministries. only way to make seven fourteen, is to pray. >> what is your experience, how do you respond to them being antiisrael. >> you can't be christian and antiisrael. jesus was a jew. god spoke about the nation of israel. i love the palastinian muslims,

the palastinian christians. i love the jewish, the way you only can reach both sides to pray for both sides and equipt people to share the message of christ. >> the bethlehem church is facing problems with the palastinian authority. there was a little more tolerance. what is happening now. >> they walk in the office, he kicks them out, you betrayed your original faith. i cannot register your children. your children are illegitimate. to tell someone that, it is a slap in the face. he said the church you got married at is illegitimate. you are living illegally.

our church is "growing paingrow persecution. >> have you told the state department? >> clinton sent a letter to the embassy in jerusalem. it has been over a year now. >> you pastor a church in jerusalem, what happened there >> kick them out, only option is to purchase a building in jerusalem. right now i am praying and fasting for the lord to provide a church in east jerusalem. >> christians are leaving the holy land, the underground church is growing. >> jewish people are hungry to learn the true messiah. especially the muslims. they are hungry. visited by dreams and visions.

they are hungry for someone to tell them. no one is telling them about jesus christ. only a few are doing it in jerusalem>> pastor cory's congregation is being evicted. landlord once under pressure from the muslim community has given christians 30 days to leave. it is the third time the church has been forced to find a new home. an iranian pastor jailed for his faith has written a letter, yousef nadarkhani faces a death sentence. he writes, i try to be humble and obedient to those in power and pray for them to rule the country according to god. you can read the entire letter on the global lane blog on our websi websi websi

websi websi website cbnnews.com. the president said the vice president's marks forced the announcement. he would have come out before the nominating convention and didn't make the decision for political gain. >> i think it would be hard that this is something i am frankly, the politics, it is noted clear how they cut. >> the president would make a political calculation that is not advantageous. the position has stirred up plenty of criticism. his own spiritual adviser, reverend joel hunter, he is disappointed and disagrees.

obama's remarks undermind the institution of marriage and president of the southern baptist convention will hold them accountable that completely ignores the biblical foundation of marriage. bishop jackson in maryland agreed. >> i was disappointed. >> how this announcement plays politically is far from certain. 28 percent of registered voters say it will be important to their vote this fall. 31 states, north carolina as of tuesday have approved traditional marriage amendments. obama's move could draw social conservatives to the romney

campaign. >> i am inclined to these the people strongly opposed to same-sex marriage is probably larger than the percentage of people who strongly support it>> for now, the president says the issue is out of his hands saying it is still up to individual states to decide on gay marriage. >> reverend franklin graham has weighed in on an issue. changing his position on same-sex marriage, quote, president obama has in my view, shaken his fist at the same god who created and defined marriage. it grieves me our president would affirm same-sex marriage, though i believe he grieves god even more. coming up, aid for children in africa, how cbn is bringing relief to orphans in cameroon.

>> number of international adoptions is at its lowest point in 15 years dropping by nearly 50 percent. a researcher at britains new castle university says the number of orphans adopted by foreign parents dropped to 25,000 last year down from a high of 45,000 in 2004. adoption advocates say it is due to the global economy efforts to place more children with domestic families and crack down on baby selling. in cameroon, west africa, aids has created many orphans. [singing]>> their uplifting songs hide a sad reality all across cameroon. >> some children are abandoned

by parents. some don't have no father. they are dead or leave them like this smaller one. >> aids epidemic has had a devastating effect. it has left a long trail of children. >> when hiv aids epidemic came, children were abandoned. >> many of the abandoned live on the streets or wherever they can find a place to lie their heads. orphanages are filled to capacity and not adequately equipt to provide the proper care. >> cbn's orphan's promise heard about the problem and jumped into action. pastor raymond -- this house was

built to house orphans, it is located in ebola wa village. a far cry from where they were living before. >> children like little veronica slept here in this house. the roof would leak badly. that meant children like veronica would get sick from the rain. >> the village chief expressed help from so far away. >> what we offer are the feelings we have towards you that are much more important than all the gold in the world. >> thanks to cbn, the kids in the orphanage have clean drinking water. >> the water situation was extremely difficult. it was awful to look at. those who came to see this like the pastor saw how we drank the

bad water. now the situation has changed, water cleaned, no more diarrhea, no more problems water related. >> today they will become for all the population of this city. >> maria says cbn encouraged her in her aid to the children. saving lives in the process. >> if cbn had not come, i would have given up, i can only say blessings to all who work tlchlt>> charlene israel, cbn news, cameroon, west africa. up next, he grew up in bin laden's neighborhood and ready to die for islam. find out why this devout muslim started questioning his faith.

>> the koran says quote make war on infadels around you. >> this man lived for his islamic faith and willing to die until he made a mission to america and learned the truth about jesus christ. >> al fadi was proud to be a son of saudi arabia. >> growing up in a country like that made me feel privileged i was born in the center of islam. >> from the time al was three, he was taught islam was the only religion acceptable to god. to deny that carried severe consequences. >> i used to be terrified that god would punish me. i realized there is no hope for me as a muslim to obtain any

acceptance from my god i am worshipping unless i accumulate good deeds. >> daily prayer and fasting and giving to the poor were to get into heaven. >> i knew if i were to go die for the cause of this fight, to promote islam and justice for islam, that is the only time my sins will be forgiven. i will go to the highest level of heaven which is paradise. go for what is guaranteed, that is to die. >> 15-year-old al set out to train for jihad. his hero was osama bin laden who lives three miles away. >> he left the wealth of his family to fight and die for the god he worship.

>> he wanted to join him in afghanistan. his parents encouraged him to encourage his education at an american graduate school. through an international student welcome program, al befriended a friend. just by virtue of their relationship, the family would convert to islam. it wasn't that simple because this family was christian. >> that to me was battling. i am asking myself, where did they get this moral value from? i am taught their bible was corrupt. i felt like a spiritual midget as if i am lacking something. >> he began to doubt his faith. >> several years later al moved

to the united states. >> this might be the time to open the door. >> dialogue began with a question, who is jesus christ? >> i am thinking he is talking about following a profit. by following the profit, jesus, he was transformed, i am following the best of the p profit. i began to realize jesus was a central person and character and point in their life. he was the source of the change. >> al's doubts about islam became overwhelming when he saw the crimes committed by jihadist and osama bin laden on september 11th, 2001. >> to watch people go that far, to take hundreds of lives. these are innocent people.

>> al stopped practicing islam. he decided to visit a christian church. >> i began a comparison process, looked at the koran compareed to bible. looked at the person of christ. after six months i fell in love with this jesus. i couldn't resist the conviction of the holy spirit and gospel message. god of the bible loves me and sent his son to die for me. the holy spirit gave me the courage to get down on my knees and asked me to become my lord and savior. never did i feel freedom that i felt at that moment that i love you, lord, to follow you, but i don't feel any pressure on me from you to do things because

you are obviously have done it already for me. >> today, al fadi has a new mission, to tell other muslims about jesus christ. >> i want my fellow muslims, please, give the message of christ a chance. pray and asked the true god to reveal himself to you. i assure you he will do that if you are truly seeking him with all of your heart. >> very helpful to get inside the mind of a muslim believer and understand where they are coming. >> jesus christ died for you.

>> an archaeological find in israel sheds light on the existence of king david. >> julie stall has more on the discovery uncovering biblical history. >> this is the ala valley.

david killed the giant, goliath. >> we don't know much about the history. we have a 40-foot city. >> about 20 miles outside jerusalem, her bat was a city not too far from goliath's home of gat. it existed 1020 to 980 b.c. he brew university archaeologists worked together with the israel antiquities authority. they excavated dozens of rooms. he believed three were used for religious purposes. these religious artifacts at a press conference in jerusalem.

it is useful for keeping symbols of god. >> 1 kings describes the architectural style and the style existed even before soloman. the site contained no statutes or pig bones. they followed the biblical commandments not to eat pork unlike canaanite or philistine neighbors. they found the scripture at the side. it disproves the argument of some scholars who say the bible was written 800 years after king david with no connection to history. >> we have historical memories

embedded in the bible. they can't say david and soloman were actually human beings. >> the bible and archaeology have to work together. julie stall, cbn news, israel. >> thanks so much for joining us this week. >> until next week, good-bye, and god bless you.