>> george: today on christian world news, the continuing crisis in nigeria, why the radical group, boko haram, says they won't stop targeting christians. >> and government corruption, and border disputes, despite the turmoil, the world's newest nation celebrates its first year of independence. >> george: and cholera crisis in haiti, the shocking details of how it came to the country and the efforts to help the victims. >> george: and welcome to this week's edition of christian world news, everyone. i'm george thomas. >> wendy: and i'm wendy griffith. the radical islamist group boko haram is claiming responsibility for recent attacks against christian

villages in nigeria. hundreds of assailants armed with machetes stormed a dozens villages. more than 100 people died in those attacks. in a statement, boko haram says christians will not know peace again if they do not accept islam. and it expressed what it calls delight over the success of the attacks. >> at a moment, people are on the run. most of the houses are burned. and people are running to safety. but in the larger scale, all over the country people are confused. because people expect government to do what they are supposed to do. >> wendy: nigerian christian leaders are calling on the u.s. to officially declare boko haram a terrorist organization. >> george: and joining us with more from our washington studio is pastor ario, who heads up the pentacostal fellowship and

serves as president of a r very important organization in nigeria, called the christian organization of nigeria. great to have you on the broadcast. the united states government is hesitating from classifying boko haram as a terrorist organization. do you think this is a good move by our u.s. government? >> it is definitely, definitely a wrong move. they should, and they should do it quickly. >> george: and why, sir? >> because, you see, one of the most important things in a terrorist organization is the finance, the money. and when they designate them as a terrorist group, then all the different security organizations will be able to track where the money is coming from. if you get the money, then you get the organization. >> george: some in the u.s. government say that this group is, in essence, trying to embarrass the nigerian government,

embarrass the nigerian president. is that a fair assessment of their goals, or do you think boko haram has a bigger agenda? >> their motive, what they want, their agenda, they have not hidden it, is to make nigeria a shari'a-compliant nation. boko haram is all right of religious extreme theology and ideology. that is what has created boko haram. there are many people on ground who may not be officially members of boko haram, but because they are hearing the same kind of teachings in their places of worship, they are being tallestaught by tornado types of clerics, this is what they've been indoctrinated. and so many times when churches are bombed, believe it or not, you will see some of these people shouting on the streets, allah.

it is like they're happy and rejoicing. >> george: how are the christians dealing with this? are the christians of nigeria scared to go every weekend to their place of worship? >> honestly, this is not good for us, but, you know, as the church, jesus christ said the gates of hell will not prevail against the church. but i can tell you this, there are many christians who, right now don't want to go to church. not because they don't want to go, but because they're not sure they will go and come back home. but i think it has also strengthened us in a sense that we know god will keep his own. but it is not good for any church right now. most churches, people are no longer going to church. >> george: how are you encouraging christians to protect themselves in this climates of fear? >> i have said for a long time now, christians, protect yourself. never to retailiate, never

to attack anybody, but whatever you can do to protect yourself, protect yourself. i think it is just the right thing to do. it is a fundamental human right to protect yourself. the right to protect yourself. even in the bible. >> george: how can christians in this country and around the world -- what can they do to help at this time? >> christians in america must join us to pray. pray for us. we need that. but more than prayer, they must also begin to call their people in congress, their senators, and put in some pressure on them, getting them to put pressure on the american government to designate this group as a terrorist group. now there are many in the north, that are necessary, widows -- whatever way they can help. >> george: pastor, thank you so much for joining us on the broadcast. a very key lighte leader in the nation of nigeria. thank you for joining us on the show. >> thank you very much.

>> george: you can see more comments from the pastor on our facebook page. help spread the word about the atrocities in nigeria by sharing that link on facebook and twitter. >> wendy: persecution against christian churches in indonesia is still rampant, especially at the province of atcha. recently local authorities ordered 20 churches demolished there. however, in other parts of this predominantly muslim country, churches are seeing phenomenal growth. we have more. >> reporter: in the last five years, indonesia has been experiencing a surge in christianity. churches here say that 30% of this muslim country is now christian. much of the growth in christianity in this country comes from the pentacostal churches. the pastors specify that more and more people, including buddhists and muslims, are attracted to attend the christian services. this pastor has seen

tremendous growth in his church. the congregation has increased from 400 to more than 6,000 members in just four years. >> we always pray, open heaven. god, we pray open heaven. god, touch people. even outside. they've got faith outside. >> reporter: andy is a former buddhist. his wife, sophie, is a former muslim. both experienced the power of the holy spirit at pastor billy's church. eddie had pancreatic cancer that had spread to his liver. he was given only six months to live. >> every day i'm waiting for that. one day my friend, a christian, he told me, try my jesus. i said to jesus, give me a chance. i worshipped him. give me one more chance. >> reporter: today, after six years, eddie is well and

regularly attends this christian church. >> i believe i'm here with my friend. jesus is my healer. jesus is my savior. jesus is my lord, my master, everything. >> reporter: sophie first came to the church when she brought her parents-in-law to the service. >> there i felt at peace. when i went home in the evening, i turned on the radio and i heard the muslim prayer. and i prayed, god, please lead me to the right way. i went to the christian church more regularly until i enjoyed it, and i decided to surrender my life to jesus. >> reporter: more and more people are coming to christ in the world's biggest muslim country. leaders say it is the prayers and the unity of the churches that have opened its doors for salvation. >> we pray for the revival of jakarta.

we pray for the revival of indonesia. and we pray for the greater outpouring in jakarta and indonesia. so we are thinking, not just our membership itself growing, but we're thinking the whole nation can change and be transformed by god. >> reporter: lucille, cbn news, jakarta, indonesia. >> wendy: a great story. coming up, celebrating one year of independence. how the world's news nation marked the momentous day in the midst of turmoil.

>> wendy: the people of south sudan marked their first anniversary of independence from sudan. many of them christians, celebrated their first year free from the domination of the islamist regime. gary lane tes us the world's news nation faces many challenges. >> reporter: thousands gathered in the south sudan

capital city to watch a military parade, led by many of their war heros. marching by were many who had fawtd fo -- fought for years. the president urged the world to help south sudan build its country. >> my fellow citizens, the year to come will be hard. but we will prevail. in all of this. i ask that the nation of community stays with us. c2 are a new country. and they shalll not abandon us. >> reporter: ethnics clashes, and government scandals involving biiions c2 dollarsrs, a and bororder disputes with the north continue to plague the new nation. tens of thousan arere internally displaced. and the united nations says the country's humanitarian crisis is reaching a breaking point. north and south sudan have no agreement on the sharing

of oil revenues. most of the oil is located in the south, but it must be transported to market through pipelines in the north. south sudan turned off the flow of oil because sudarn is taking too much of the profits. the world bank says the oil is turned back o o souou sudan willll r run out o of i is fisc reseserves ththis summer.r. that wwould m mean the n nations poverty wouould rise frrom 50% to 80%. they have returned to negotiations, but an agreement on oil and border solutions remains unlikely in the near future. >> george: gary lane joins us now. he has been to south sudan many times. many are christians, and how are they faring? >> they are doing very well spiritually, and many churches are being planted. they fought for 22 years to be rid of this threat of islamization, and they've won that and they're doing well. >> george: they're celebrating this milestone, and about a year later we have thousands of refugees

that are fleeing. who are helping them? >> christians have always been the first responders, george. groups like "operation blessing," "perscation project," they're in there providing material relief and superior court relief. we're seeing a healthy church growing and many churches being built. >> george: what is your sense, is there an arab spring hitting the shoulders of sudan? >> we'll see, but he is very unpopular. he is a war criminal. >> george: and the economic and political challenges they face -- >> and security. >> george: gary lane, international correspondent, thank you for your insights. >> wendy: and baseball in the time of cholera. a look at the devastating impact the disease has h h on h haiti.

>> george: we all remember it, the massive earthquake in haiti in 2010, killed

hundreds of thousands and left more than a million people homeless. well, in the aftermath, relief and rescue workers from across the globe all poured into this stricken nation, but then the second tragedy struck. >> wendy: a deadly cholera outbreak took thousands more lives. what is more tragic is how the disease came into the country. the film is called "baseball in the time of cholera" and it's the story of how a nation and one young man were affected by the outbreak. take a look. >> my name is joseph tonson and i'm from haiti. i love baseball. in the morning i go to school. in the after i play baseball. this is where we live after the earthquake because our home was down. this is my father. this is my mom.

she makes beautiful food for me. 11 people are in this house. this is where we get water. >> reporter: it is haiti's nightmare scenario, an outbreak of deadly disease, killing scores in a country already on its knees. authorities say the symptoms, acute diarrhea, vomiting, and dehydration, are all of the hall marks of cholera. >> we're getting her an i.v., and we're going to the clinic. >> the most vivid memories are just everyone trying to find water and not wanting to drink the river water that was on the side. [yelling]

[yelling] >> reporter: u.n. soldiers working furiously to contain what looks like a sewage spill at this base in haiti's rural heartland. we came here after rumours that the troops could be a cause for the cholera outbreak. the waste running into the river is a big danger, and that's exactly what we found. >> it is believed haiti has the highest rate of cholera in the world. ryan filed the suit on behalf of haitian cholera victims. >> we are hoping this case is too big to fail. the evidence against the united nations is so overruling that the u.n. will have no choice but to take responsibility for its malfeasance. >> my father called me and said, joseph, mo your mother has cholera. i go to see her and she was very good, and then..

then...(sobbing). >> it was not possible to be conclusive about how cholera was introduced into haiti. >> wendy: david dargg is one of the directors of "baseball in the time of cholera," and as part of cbn's "operation blessing," he spent years working in haiti. david, this story is so heartbreaking and you were there during much of that time. tell us how hard did this deadly disease hit haiti? >> exceptionally hard. it was like pouring gasoline on to the fire. it happened at the tail end of the earthquake, months after the earthquake. and so relief organizations had been working overtime,

trying to deal with the aftermath of the earthquake. resources had started to be depleted, and everyone was tired anyway. and all of a sudden you had this extra tragic catastrophe added on top of that. cholera has since spread throughout the country and has claimed 7,000 lives and infected over 500,000 haitians. >> wendy: david, you said the u.n. peacekeepers actually brought cholera into haiti? >> there was with a nepa nepalese work that had come in, and the u.n. neglected to test their troops, and they dumped their sewage into the river. it bloomed, spread down river and started to infect people. and haiti had not seen cholera before and it just exploded. >> wendy: why won't the u.n. accept responsibility?

>> people have probably heard that cholera is in haiti, but probably haven't heard it is a man-made condition spread by the u.n. and the u.n. probably is the only one with enough resources to tackle the disease and end it once and for all. >> wendy: and even though it is two years since the earthquake, cholera is still a problem there. >> yes. people are still dying today. >> wendy: what are the victims asking for? >> the victims, first and foremost, are asking for justice. if aforeign peacekeeping dumped sewage into the river, and if it was in the u.s., there would be plenty done about it, but nothing is being done in haiti. they are asking for justice for their nation. >> wendy: what are you hoping to accomplish with this film? >> we want the u.n. to take responsibility and to put into their program to put

into their budget for the water in haiti. >> wendy: as far as the christians in haiti, what are they wanting us to do? prayer, of course. >> absolutely. the cholera epidemic is continuing to claim lives. we should be in prayer for the nation and that something happens quickly to end this. >> wendy: david, thank you so much and good luck with the movie. and you can

>> george: one of the poorest areas of india boasts a thriving christian community that not only supports itself financially, but has managed to send out hundreds of missionaries. >> wendy: it is a simple practice called "a handful of life." here is their story as produced by alex and pearl ganta. >> lanlua lives in a tiny

village. her family sustains on a meager income of less than $1 a day. despite abject poverty, simple women like lanlua are spearheading a revolution that is sweeping the world of missions. it is a practice where each family puts aside a handful of rice every time they cook a meal. and later gather it and offer it to the church. the church, in turn, sells the rice and generates income to support its work. >> ru-48 rice has been the staple food of the people. you are giving what is a basic, fundamental to your life. you are haringthat with god. you are sharing that with god. >> with the passage of time, they have given more than

rice, firewood, and they're regular tithes, empowering the church to be self-sufficient. >> it is the poorest of the poor, but, still, we can raise funds for the ministry of the lord. at the close of this last fiscal year, we saved, all together, around $13 million u.s. dollars. out of that, 12% of our total income is from the handful of rice collection. >> with 1800 missionaries in india, and many oversees, the muslim church is known as a missionary church world over. this success is attributed to their selfless and creative giving. >> it is not our richness or our poverty that makes us serve the lord, but our

willingness. so some people say as long as we have something to eat every day, we have something to give to god every day. >> wendy: beautiful pictures. >> george: yes. it is awesome to see how god in different cultures, different places around the world is moving in great force. and we get a chance to report about it. >> wendy: we do. it was a great show. i enjoyed it. hope you did, too. >> george: that's all for this week's edition of christian world news. thank you so much for joining us this week. >> wendy: until next week, from all of us here, good-bye and god bless you.