>> today on "christian world news" what is to become of egypt's coptic christians? how these believers are struggling to protect their faith and families as islamist target them for revenge. >> plus dig this! archaeologist discover an ancient home in the holy land. could it be the home of one of the most revered prophets. >> why do christians suffer from depression and how can they

overcome it? egypt's christians faith wrath over angry islamists. hello everyone, i am george thomas nuch. >> and i am wendy griffith. christians have suffered even more since ousted president morsi. young women targeted and forced conversion to islam. gary lane has more. >> reporter: this time it is the funeral of a beloved coptic priest july 6th as he drove his car after an afternoon of shopping in northern sinai town. father's murder is no surprise to the christians.

christians have struggled for years not only to protect their churches, homes and businesses, but also their daughters. >> reporter: one of the challenges facing christian families particularly in upper egypt is the kidnapping of young christian girls. it happens when they enter their early teen years. some relocate to christian villages. >> manil wanted to protect herself from forced conversion. she noticed muslim girl and boys attempting to lure mariam away from family and faith. >> the girls said come with us, you will give you money. you are having a hard life. young boys sending young girls to do this. i feared they would kidnap her and demand a lot of money or return her and not be in the

same way. >> her husband has difficulty finding work. >> i am much happier, it is safe for my daughters. the working opportunities for my husband are little. >> reporter: mariam's family borrowed money for food and their house payment. she and family are not alone. last year a hearing revealed number of disappearances and abduction of christian girls increasing. human trafficking expert michelle clark told of 800 cases. still government officials debunk claims christian girls are being trafficked. they insist they are not doing this. freedom and justice party secretary. >> boy and girl from different religions love each other and thus one converts in order to

get married. families do not accept that. neither of church accept them. >> reporter: they claim it is a social problem not a religious one. they told me it often fails. >> this is a very sensitive issue for us. we tried the government. sometimes we succeed. sometimes no. >> reporter: the morsi government did little to curtail the trafficking. political change give many egyptians hope. they pray the next government will treat the kidnapping complaint seriously.

cbn provided seed money for a small clothing business. >> we will sell new clothing and it will help feed my family. may the american christians that help us have a long life and may god be with them to help me and others become self-supporting. >> reporter: it brings a climer of hope in egypt. >> gary, mubarak, under mubarak for christian was tough. >> it is. on july 6 when the father was killed, another one severed head from his body. christians are leaving northern sinai. >> because the christians overwhelming supported morsi's

removal? is it a backlash? >> >> reporter: they did. the extremist are attacking the christians. in the southern part of the country, upper egypt, christians are not going out on the streets. they are closing the businesses. they are being marked. ones for christian have a red x and reminiscent of the holocaust and the jews. they are only to protect federal institutions. christians are basically on their own. >> what do they hope for the future? >> more participation in the government. already seen two christians apointeded to the cabinet. >> thank you. >> the biblical prophet elijah

healed the sick, raised the dead and called down fire from heaven. cbn news looks at an archaeological site. it could contain elijah's house. >> reporter: this is in the jordan valley. during 16 years of digging, archaeologists found a 3,000 year old well planned city and a unique house that might have been house of elijah. >> house was found of a unique type, two pottery altars used for burning. >> reporter: lead archaeologist points out the difference in the structure of the house. >> normally houses have one entrance leading to a large space with rooms all around. this was divided into two wings. two wings connected with a

bedroom. each of the wings has an opening to the street. >> reporter: outside the room incense altars may have been used to send an offering to god. archaeologist discovered a room with a table and bench and a pottery shard dated to the 9th century with elijah. >> we find red ink on pottery. broken unfortunately. >> reporter: elijah went throughout the kingdom of israel from jericho to samaria. >> it is very tempting. it is exactly the period when

elijah acted, 2nd half of 9th century. >> reporter: he was told to sell them to pay creditors. raising dead and instructing syrian army commander to wash in the jordan river 7 times to be healed of leprosy. >> we can some how believe either it was the luck this holy man was by the name of elijah or elijah, the prophet himself. >> reporter: another discovery is discovery of two different inscriptions mentioning family of menshi. >> elijah told the anoint jhood. he passed that out to do the

anointing. >> reporter: many archaeologist shy away from drawing conclusions about the bible. some see it as a way of putting pieces together. >> archaeologist is like a huge puzzle. we put the excavations together. we bring it in into a large picture, large puzzle. trying to decipher the culture of the isrealites. >> reporter: for kerry summers it is even more. >> it is like any other archaeological site, every scoop of dirt proves the bible. >> reporter: future of the site is uncertain, mud bricks are deteriorating. experts are hoping it can be preserved. chris mitchell, cbn news, tellrahove, israel.

>> later on the broadcast. mental illness, how christians are dealing with an iss >> cory monteith's death from toxic mix of alcohol and heroin sheds light. he admitted to struggling with addiction since he was a teen and completed a drug rehab program last april. we asked dr. linda mintle. >> you need more and more to get the same power of the effect that the drug does to you. the drug gives you such an incredible feeling and a high, you want more and more. it is harder to break the cycle

because of the supposed positive effects. this is not about will power. you cannot will yourself off of this biological pull in the brain. you need to have something bigger than yourself and transstran transcendent power of god is necessary in any addiction treatment. >> thanks, dr. linda. you can see the full interview at cbn.com. >> mental health is becoming a major topic for many in america, after suicides rocked two prompt prominent families. >> reporter: frank page alone at home when the call came that would change his world. his 32-year-old daughter,

melissa had taken her life. although she struggled for years, page knew something changed. >> two days before she died, i said nobody knows you like your daddy, i know something is bad wrong. please. she was getting ready to go talk to your mental health physician. tell him your daddy thinks you need to be hospitalized. >> reporter: he served as a megachurch pastor. he called parenting his older daughter his most daunting task. that is why we wrote "melissa." page and wife invited us to talk about their daughter, enduring grief and hope. pages say melissa accepted christ as a child.

her life wasn't easy. >> we worried about her constantly. wanted to help her. >> she struggled with addictive issues, behavioral issues, rebellion issues. she was gifted beyond words and struggled beyond words. >> reporter: in her 20s, reached stability, she married. then a bout with cancer led to a prescription drug addiction. she never mentioned suicide leaving the pages in shock. >> she committed suicide in november. what was it like the first christmas? i don't remember. i don't. >> we were still in that fog. >> second christmas, it was even worse. >> reporter: after more than

three years, pages describe the grief as waves rolling in with frequency and intensity but their great comfort knowing melissa is in heaven. >> people say if you commit suicide you are going to hell. >> reporter: it is a belief pages want the church to challenge. >> you have to get to the point if you belong to christ and you are his child nothing can separate you. >> it is a family thing. family never changes. >> reporter: pages hope to change growing awareness on mental health awareness. started in newtown, connecticut and in april with pastor warren's son's suicide. >> in a short period of time, i think god is going to use all

those things, bad things to bring forth a movement among god's people. >> reporter: at its annual convention in houston, they present an awareness of mental health issues and ease stigma to encourage to proactively minister to those suffering. >> there are legitimate issues people struggle with. the church needs to be a place where we say we understand. >> reporter: page says the local church can help through support groups, counseling or simply awareness of community resources, more than 36,000 people taking their lives each year, it could meet an enormous need. heather sells, cbn news. >> up next, meet an american missionary that risked its life

in rio's most dangerous slums and the gang leader that just days before his death.

>> welcome back to the show. brazil has one of the fastest growing church populations in latin america. poverty is still a huge issue with more than 11 million people living in slums. >> american missionary erick rees spent days in poverty and brings light to rio de janeiro. >> what makes me love rio is seeing the hurting people in communities like this just trying to survive. trying to pay the bills, put food on the tables. i see that every person here is a creation of god and that when christ went to the cross, he went for these people, too.

>> reporter: this is where erick rees works. he thinks often of the danger knowing he might not come back. >> i wrote a letter to my wife, if i don't return, you be strong, let my girls know dad is going to miss them. >> reporter: ministry is hard even for the brazilians. >> it is hard because the christian people here in brazil think in other countries don't want to do these kind of jobs, don't want to go at night to speak the word of god, to preach the word of god. they want to stay in their big church and watch a good sermon. >> reporter: yet the american couple keeps reaching out to gang members, prostitutes and drug dealers.

>> from the beginning, it is not so hard for us to understand the people we are ministering to. it is trying to be, minister to somebody who needs jesus who just so happens to be a drug trafficker or militia. >> reporter: rees and family came to brazil 13 years ago as southern baptist missionaries from albany, georgia. his biggest challenge gaining a talk with the god father. the god father used to want to kill rees. >> he helped the community which has many needs, financially. he didn't come to help with the financial peace but bring the

peace many need. >> reporter: shortly after the interview, a rival gang killed the god father. he first accepted christ. >> people are dying and going to hell. needing to know life can be changed. >> reporter: rees now finds help from a brazilian pastor with a background. >> i tried to see at times. when i looked behind there was a police guy shooting at us. one of those shots got me here. even if it were the last minute of my life, god would forgive me of my sins. that time has come. i started a new life with jesus.

>> grace of god has brought that god not from near death, shootings, to now, a beautiful family, a lovely wife, awesome kids. only the grace of god could do that. >> reporter: ramona rees supports her husband in ministry. she befriends other women. a mother and former prostitute. >> when the holy spirit does his work and that person receives christ and i can see them being baptized and join in the church, that is the biggest reward. >> as the reese's deal with the work, they remind them why they came in the first place. stan jeter, cbn news. >> thanks, stan. great story. you can find daily stories

around the globe go to cwnews.org. we'll be right back.

>> finally this week operation blessing is helping a small farming community deep in the forest. >> the village is located hundreds of miles from electricity and running water. operation blessing team set up a free medical clinic. families received filters to purify water and farmers given new tools to help them farm hundreds of miles from electricity and water. i can't imagine. >> operation blessing doing great work around the world. folks that is it for this week's edition of "christian world news.">> that's right.

>> today on aspiring women when a christian couple signs up for surrogacy they're shocked at the results. >> god made it clear that he doesn't care what the doctors say or what med medicine you're using or frozen embryos. >> welcome to "aspiring women. " as usual, we have a very