>> today on "christian world news.">> we are here in new orleans, louisiana, where hurricane isaac dumped massive amounts of rain. christians have moved in to help feed the victims and help them to rebuild. >> nominee, mitt romney becomes the first mormon to win the party's nomination for president of the united states? will evangelicals give him their vote? >> and fight for freedom. we update you on the pakistanian girl arrested for blasphemying the koran.

>> hello everyone i am george thomas. >> and i am wendy griffith. hurricane isaac brought a deluge of water to the u.s. gulf coast. the storm lingered over new orleanss, parts of the gulf coast for more than a day. isaac dropped rain and a million house holds and louisiana and mississippi as well lost power. >> now the long road to recovery begins, cbn's operation blessing is on the grown in the hardest hit areas. reporter efrem graham was there, too. >> reporter: a flood wall separates st. bernards parish

from plaquemines parish. flood waters are higher than most homes. >> we were supposed to be moving in next month. might be a delay now. >> becky and husband have spent years fixing one of the homes. >> believe it or not there was less water during katrina than now. >> i am standing on top of a levee eight to nine feet. there is a breach in that levee right here. it runs six to seven feet deep. >> the levee authority caused the breach to drain the water and eventually open the flood wall, still workers estimate it will be another two weeks for

the water to recede. they take comfort as a caravan of e relief. >> most of us devote christians, it helps. >> jodie and team from operation blessing were here seven years ago when katrina hit. it was her first day on the job. >> when i saw the boats floating, they can't take this again. my heart goes out to them. if there is anything i would ask people to do, pray for them. >> disaster response begins with a hot meal. katherine white and infant haven't had a hot meal since

monday. >> lawrence is grateful for a hot meal and home after living in a fema trailer for a year after katrina. >> when you eat snacks, you expecting something a little more nourishing. >> james shepherd simply exhausted after living through katrina and isaac. >> i think this is it for me. >> a hot meal is where operation blessing begins this mission from here the team begins restoring hope by helping people to rebuild homes and lives. >> with katrina, we grew so much in capacity and inexpertise. there are a lot of things similar. we are seven years down the road. we can help a lot more people in a more efficient manner. >> efrem graham, cbn news, st. bernards, parish, louisiana.

>> he will tell us how new orleans has come from the disaster, including the mayor who found a plan for recovery in the bible. >> another big event in the u.s. for us, mitt romney, candidate for president of the united states. romney, former businessman and governor of massachusetts. he is also a member of the church of ladder day saints. he is not so different from other people of other faiths. >> we were mormons. my friends cared more about what sports teams we followed than what church we went to. >> mr. romney faces president barack obama in the november presidential election. he pledged to create 12 million new jobs. he promised to protect life,

honor traditional marriage and stand firmly for religious liberty. >> former arkansas mike huckabee ran for president in 2008. he told the convention that policies count more than religion in electing a president. >> of the four people on the two tickets, the only self-professed evangelical is barack obama. he supports changing the definition of marriage, believes human life is exposeable and expendable at any time in the womb even beyond the womb and tells people of faith they have a bow their knees to the god of government and violate their faith for health care. i care far less as to where mitt romney takes his family to church than i do where he takes this country.

>> huckabee said opposition to obama's policies has united evangelicals, catholics and people of all faiths. >> conservative christians are an important part of the republican base. there is a growing number of believers not supporting republicans or democrats. >> the ongoing attacks against religious freedom. paul strand reports. >> politics, that is the emphasis of most people at the convention. it is becoming spiritual. religious gatherings becoming more visible. >> we want to cover the conventions, both republican and democratic one with prayer. >> reverend justin peters want to commit to praying 15 minutes a day for the conventions while they are in session.

>> only the lord can solve these problems. >> tampa's women have been interceding since 1999. >> it started with prayer with four or five women. i started getting up at 3:00 a.m. i would find myself on my face before the lord weeping and crying out for our nation. >> that sense of urgency swept the prayer circle and resulting in conventions prayer coverage, around the clock, non-partisan intercession for political leaders for both parties. >> we are bypassing candidates and going back to god. he can turn the hearts of either one. >> some 4,000 people committed to the effort. >> it is all that we get jesus and god in our country again. >> researchers like the family

research council's group and liberty institute have put out a thick report documenting the attacks. >> other 600 cases. it is alarming. our first freedom is in jeopardy. >> there is a reason this report's release came on the cusp of this republican national convention. >> there needs to be people that stand up and defend the freedom. >> secularists seem to be saying... >> get it out of sight. >> they want to treat christians like smokers, you can do it at home but not in public. >> warning is attacks are on the decrease. when we stand upmost of the time we prevail. >> paul strand, cbn news,

reporting from the gop republican national convention. >> up next, crisis in pakistan. a young girl sits in jail and hundreds of christians hiding in the woods. what will the courts decide?

>> six army soldiers are blamed the burning the koran. it resulted in deaths of four u.s. service members. defense department found the soldiers displayed no malicious intent to disrespect koran or defame islam. miscommunication and ignorance about the handling of korans. >> in pakistan, a young girl is behind bars and entire christian community hiding in the woods. she is accused of blasphemying

the koran. >> christians demand that this young girl be released. she was arrested on august 17th when muslim extremist accuse her of burning pages of islam. >> we gather to protest for our girl who is only 11 and can't read. how could she burn a book. >> meanwhile pakistani christians pray they will be allowed to return to their homes. 600 families live in the park and woods. they were forced to flee their homes. the christian built a makeshift church in the wilderness. their new place of worship and presence unwelcomed by local muslims. >> this woman said muslims

burned the church and we were forced to enter the forest. >> this man wants christians to leave the area. we live in the surrounding area and houses affected. >> chairman says the christians are still afraid to return to their homes. >> we are trying our best to send them home safely and demanding they should give them the compensation of the lord. >> christians are unlikely to return to village and freedom is unlikely for remsha. even if she is cleared of blasphemy charges, extremists may try to kill her if she returns home. mark martin, cbn news. >> coming up, thousands flee

their homeland because of civil c2r. se where they are going and whoo is t taking ththem in.

>> welcome back, ongoing civil war in syria has thousands racing to escape violence. christians in the region see an opportunity to bring hope in the midst of tragedy. >> as gary lane reports, they are stepping in to bring refugees hope and help. here is their story in jordan. >> reporter: government war blames bomb victims north. syria is marked by death, destruction and darkness. tens of thousands flee for their lives. cbn news, obtained this rare look into the plight of one christian family. their home destroyed, they now live with friends in another city. >> it is so hard to be out of

their home. >> i am sad we left all of our memories mind. our church was destroyed. my children with baptized there and married there. we hope god will keep us safe. >> most christians remain in syria. others are leaving. united nations estimated the refugees at more than 170,000. they have scattered ended up in turkey, lebanon, iraq and jordan. >> their needs are overwhelming. churches are doing what they can to help them. >> many people get to jordan with the shirt on their back. >> they bring help and hope to the refugees. many of the syrians move from border camps to arms.

>> they have nothing on the floor. they are empty apartments. not the best places in town. >> we met one family helped by the effort. their faces covered to protect their identities. this man is a sunni-muslim who served for the syrian army. that led government agents to torture and imprison them. >> they made it worse for us medics they were seeking information about my friends and their movements. i refused to tell them anything. it was terrible. they beat me so badly, i couldn't lie down for one week. >> he says their captives let them go. they later fled to jordan and now live in this apartment. he is unemployed but it is food deliveries from caring

christians that have made a lasting impact to his family. >> they have been a great help to us. i see them as brothers. i don't have a problem with them being from a different faith. >> some of the refugees attend church services like this one. >> most of the other organizations are not providing help. biggest difference between the church and other organizations is the love and feeling christians have for us. >> as believes get a chance to feed them and they are trusted as safe people, they have had many opportunitys to share the gospel with these refugees. they have started house churches. god is glorified in the midst of this mess. >> doyle told us how he saw it effect the life of the refugee.

>> some of the people were pushing them around. this woman said it was the bible people that came and gave us food and clothes and loved us and played with our children. it was the bible people there for us. when she got done sharing her story, she looked at me and said i want you to know, i love jesus now. >> the bible people, christians sharing the love of christ with people experiences chronic darkness. gary lane, cbn news, jordan. >> this entire part of the world is bubbling. thank god for ministries like those guys

>> welcome back as we reported earlier, hurricane hit new orleans on the same day hurricane katrina landed seven

years ago. >> could that be a coincidence. it forced thousands to flee. since then the city has mostly recovered and tourism booming. efrem graham takes a look at the renewal that has been seven years in the making. >> music, art, and people fill each corner of the same french quarter, that makes this the perfect place to start our tour of new orleans rebirth. >> i think the city has come a long way. >> and former mayor ray naggin is the tour guide. >> last report, 87 percent of the people back, unemployment at historic lows. construction everywhere. >> flash back to august 29th, 2005 destruction everywhere,

hurricane katrina hit, leaving failed levees and flood waters in her wake. >> this hurricane his plaq plaquemines parish. >> this boat was here and wound up a mile at the front levee close to a river in the trees. levees full of boats turned upside down, broken up. >> mayor naggin ordered evacuation, in the end, estimated 700 residents died. >> i didn't sleep much for a long time. as a matter of fact, i have been out of office two years and now sleeping decently. it was quite a toll. >> naggin shares his story in "katrina's secrets storms after the storm."

one secret, where he looked for guy dense guide dense. >> guess where i find the answer? nehemia. jerusalem was destroyed. i start reading nehemia. it gave me a road map for how to approach the rebuilding of this city. for me god was definitely involved every step of the way. there was no way we could have recovered the city without his hand being involved in it. >> the story of new orleans's recovery still being written. a new report estimated 8,000 properties repaired or rebuilt from september 2010-march 2011. for the first time in seven years, the city no longer tops the list of the most blighted in

america. >> we are still dealing with our struggles. for the most part, we are pretty much back. >> many bright spots to new orleans recovery, there are still dark spots, and the rebuilding in the lower ninth ward. fred looter is the preacher at this church. it took two years to rebuild his church home. however back in the lower ninth ward, overgrown trees cover the lot where looter's childhood home once stood. naggin stays away from the city. he is greatful for its most unalmosted visitor, hurricane

katrina. >> it strengthened me in my faith. i prayed even more during katrina and the aftermath. it sustained me to this day. >> efrem graham, cbn news, new orleans, louisiana. >> incredible story of how he used nehemia. >> he was looking everywhere else and taublging to the experts. right back to the word of god. >> i was in new orleans. we did praying. god has been amazing and faithful. we are seven years down the road, thanks for that. thanks fo