>> today on "christian world news" our best stories of 2012, including the shake up in the middle east and how the revolution in egypt is affecting the country's 2000-year-old christian community. in nigeria, the deadly terrorist group waging war on the church. and our visit with gracea burnham, 10 years after the rescue that freed her from muslim rebels and took her husband's life. welcome to our year in review edition of "christian world news" i am wendy griffith. elections brought the mouslim brotherhood into power. thousands are fleeing the

country. as this wave of unprecedented immigration grows, they maybe on the verge of an awakening. >> you have an emboldened local islamist, that one of their brethren is in power to what they see is god's message on the grounds without a government. >> creeping islamization has the coptic christian community nervous. many have left the country. >> it is an exodus. >> david alton is with the human rights campaign. >> a lot of killings. churches bombed. christian women raped. all sorts of things taking

place. 100,000 coptic christians have fled the country. >> my local church in fairfax, we have seen a serious wave of immigration from egypt since the revolution. that is one church in the u.s. >> iranian pastor says some of his members fled for the united states. that is not just christians leaving. >> they fled the country. they don't feel safe with coming with the muslim brotherhood. >> many egyptians remain because they can't afford to go anywhere else. >> in the sense of the better educated, more well off, people that are the job creators, ones that give higher donations to the church, those will be the ones that will be leaving. >> that will mean less

opportunity and help for needy christians. western aid should be stop until the government upholds religious liberties. >> we need to be insisting it be the key for the western government. >> still many like these say they will stay in egypt. others say their church members are focussed on god's promises. >> he cares for us and will not forsake us. we believe in god's plan for egypt and follow it. >> the rise of the islamist and increased persecution is bringing egyptian christians closer together. >> all the churches are doing a lot of prayer and talking about the future, giving hope for the future. >> events like this in the

desert north of cairo attracted more than 50,000 egyptian christians and four days of prayer. >> american christians are concerned about brothers and sisters in christ. >> we definitely need your prayers. lord tells us to pray for one another. you pray for us and we will pray for you. >> you can look at coptic history with a sense of sadness of the continuous decline. you can look at it to the sense of how the hands of god has protected his people and made them survive through everything they have been through. >> gary lane, cbn news, cairo. >> thanks, gary, a radical muslim group in nigeria killed 800 people this year. the al-qaeda-linked fightered declared war on christians carrying out multiple attacks on christian homes and churches, including a devastating car bomb

on christmas day one year ago. as george thomas reports there are calls for revenge, also forgiveness. ♪ >> it was a beautiful day, we came to church to celebrate the birth of jesus christ. people started coming as early as 6:00 in the morning. it was going to be a joyous occasion. >> reporter: but it never turned out that way. a suicide bomber in a vehicle packed with explosives drove up this busy street and stopped in front of this church. this man and 17-month-old son just walked out the church front doors when the explosion happened. >> around me i could see bodies on fire. within minutes, husbands became

widowers and parents childless. >> it was shortly after 8:00 that christmas morning, one service just concluding and the next about to begin. >> 26 of the 44 people that died attended st. theresa's church. >> the people that carried out the attack are of the devil. >> boko haram claimed responsibility for this and several more attacks in other parts of nigeria that christmas day. boko haram's goal is to turn it into an islamic country. >> i am very angry. they are trying to get me to respond out of anger, i will not. >> he and son spent several weeks in the hospital recovering

from burns, today you will find them praying for the attackers. they talk about the importance of forgiveness. >> boko haram should repent, stop doing evil work and confess. >> that isn't likely to happen any time soon, 200 miles north of the church. >> so many people loved my husband. >> they would not let me see my father's body. he was beyond recognition. >> he was shot in the mouth, elbow and back. >> i am asking god to bring peace to our city. >> northern nigeria's important city of kano with prayer. on january 20th, 26 days after the christmas day massacre, boko haram killed 185 people in a

string of coordinated attacks in kano. it was the group's deadliest strike to date. among the dead were loved ones of these christian families. >> i can't do anything to bring my husband back. bible says we should love our enemies and pray for them. >> boko haram spokesman has declared war on the government and the christians. in a video released he said i enjoy anyone that god commands me to kill the way i enjoy killing chickens and rams. evenly split between christians in south and muslims in the north. kano is overwhelming muslim. they use the city and surrounding areas as a base of operation. >> this is difficult to share the gospel in the extreme northern parts of nigeria. >> joshua works quietly. cbn news agreed to conceal his

identity. he says the indigenous people consider christians as invaders and members of a western religion. >> i was born and raised here. because i am a christian, i am viewed and treated as a second and third and fourth-class citizen. >> boko haram is provoking christians into attacking muslims. some neighborhoods are taking measures to defend themselves. others rely on god for protection and take comfort in his word. >> even when i walk through the dark valley of death, i will not be afraid, for you are close beside me. >> george thomas, cbn news, kano, nigeria. >> thank you, george. up next, the gracea burnham story, how she and her kids are still serving the lord, today,

stay tuned.

>> in 2012, gracia burnham marked 10 years since the end of her captivity at the hands of killers. i talk wisdom gracia about her experience and how she has been reaching out to her former captors. >> the couple had been celebrating their 18th wedding anniversary when terrorists attacked them. abu sayyaf first brought them here when they were kidnapped in 2001. they spent a year in these jungles, constantly on the run never knowing where their next meal was coming from. completely dependent on god.

>> if we needed a drink of water, i asked god for a drink of water. if we came to the stream, i drank the water. it was water and god provided it for us even if it was dirty. >> what do you remember most about that day? >> i remember we hadn't eaten for we were going on our 10th day. i didn't know you could live for 10 days without food. we had salt and water. we would eat little leaves from certain plants we would pass by. we were weak and exhausted. i told martin, i don't know how much longer we can do this. he said gracia, i think we are going to get out of here, i don't know when. >> about noon on june 7th, 2002, shots rang out as the philippine military attempted to rescue

them. >> i immediately was shot in the leg and slid down the hill and came to rest beside martin. he was bleeding from his chest. they saw i was alive and came and started dragging me up the hill. i looked back at martin and he was white. that is when i knew he was dead. they kind of bandaged me up at the top of the hill and called a helicopter. it came and lifted me right out of there. yeah. >> before their year in captivity martin was a pilot. martin flew dr. allen millicor to remote villages. >> to me martin and gracia, i

said why not martin and gracia. i think the people abducted see what christians ought to be. >> gracia, the abu sayyaf took so much from you. how do you find forgiveness? >> i asked him, would you build forgiveness in my life? help me start to love these guys, he did it. >> today several abu sayyaf members have come to know the lord because gracia began to forgive. >> some of the very guys that held us hostage got a hold of those things we printed and impacted their lives. god some how used it and so far four, four of them have come to know the lord. >> gracia also wrote the "new

york times" "in the presence of my enemies" she is also a much sought after speaker. her story resonates with everyone. today gracia's youngest son studies music, the same school where his parents met and married. oldest son jeff a mission pilot like his dad and daughter mindy married a new tribes missionary like gracia. >> i am a grandma twice, yeah. the children are grown and fine and love the lord. so, the rest of what happens to me is just icing on the cake. >> gracia says like the title of her second book, she is learning to fly again.

>> it would be awful if i had gone through this horrible thing and come out on the other end thinking i had anything to do with it. so if i am flying today, it is because of god's goodness in my life. >> one of the greatest privileges of my life covering that story and meeting gracia and her family "in the presence of my enemies" i couldn't put it down. you can visit the martin and gracia burnham website. find the link at cbnnews.com. coming up, one of the world's greatest boxers, lucille talusan's conversation with manny packal.

>> champion boxer manny pacquiao became the lastest boxer to use lucille talusan has his story.

>> the boxer's association named manny "pac-man" pacquiao's parents separated when he was in elementary school. extreme poverty forced him to leave home and find a job in manila at age 13 to support his family. he sold flowers and worked in construction sites just to survive. he managed to be on the boxing team. >> the rest is history. the world witnessed pacquiao win. he succombed to the temptations

of the world. >> i went to church but i was drinking and gambling, careless i committed adultery. i didn't care. >> manny fell to the guilt of his sins when he began reading the word of god. he remembered hearing the dream >> my sister stopped going to school because i was not sending them the money. alcohol. on that night i heard the voice of god in my dreams. his voice was 10 times louder than thunder. he said my child, my child, why have you gone astray. when i started reading the bible, the first verse i read said god talked to man through

dreams. wow, my dream was real. >> since then manny became hungry for the word of god leading to a deep personal relationship with jesus christ. now he has bible study everyday memorizing verses by heart. he says the word of god is his weapon against temptation. >> keep this always on your lips so you maybe careful then you will be -- when you meditate the words and keep the words of god on your lips and heart and mind you will be guided. the holy spirit will guide you. >> manny believes jesus is coming soon. he grabs every opportunity to spread the gospel. he believes god uses him and other famous christian athletes like tim tebow and jeremy lin to

spread the gospel. >> they will listen and believe. >> his pastor is his spiritual mentor. jeremy lin and manny pacquiao, it is for the world to see, you like what is happening in their lives? honoring god, fine, what about you? i believe we are in the last world champions to reach out. >> this he says will help him win the ultimate fight and conquer evil. >> you will be hated by everyone because of me. when you accept jesus christ in your life as your lord and savior, you have eternal life. and you obey, huh? obey his commandment. >> lucille talusan,

>> finally today in our opinion, iranian court released nadarkhani from prison. he had been facing a death apostasy. here is efrem graham >> reporter: this the scene christians around the world have yousef nadarkhani alive and free and embraced with his family. an iranian court sentenced yousef nadarkhani to death for the crime of leaving islam. he was given several chances to recant his christian faith. he refused every time. judges. he said repent means to return,

judge replied to the religion of your ancestors. a twitter campaign reached more than three million people a day. pressure. the judge convicted him of for evangelizing christians. he is free but still in great danger. carl muller told cbn news he maybe more at risk after he is released. >> in fact what we have seen in numerous cases in iran, someone maybe jew dsudicially acquitted they can simply disappear or tortured and arrested without any judicial process.

by no means is pastor yousef wow what a story, thanks to you that was a miracle. that is all for this special e edition of best stories of 2012. join us next week for a b