>> george: today on christian world news, torture and human trafficking on a massive scale. hear the firsthand account from a victim who escaped. plus thousands flee their homeland because of civil war. see where they're going and who is helping them to survive. and five million believers is 500 cities praying with one voice. ♪ >> george: welcome, everyone, to this week's edition of christian world news. i'm george thomas. my colleague, wendy griffith, is on sign. we begin this week with a shocking story involving kidnapping, torture, and extortion.

the targets are christians, and it is happening in a country that receives billions of dollars of aid from the united states every year. chris mitchell is our middle east bureau chief. he is here. it is great to have him here on the broadcast, and he has uncovered the story. chris, tell us more. >> reporter: george, it is happening all the way from the east coast of africa to the deserts of sinai. they are conducting a human trafficking trade that has human misery and reaps millions of dollars. while it is no secret and could be stopped, so far no one has dared. >> by that time, i had lust and sin. and this was the result of the actual torture, and mainly because both of my wrists were tied up so tight. and i was hanged from the ceiling for three days. >> reporter: he is just one victim of a widespread modern day slavery, kidnapping and torture trade in the sinai desert. you can find many pictures and videos of this horrible

practice on the internet. we call this christian man from the africa country of aratrea, phillip, but that is not his real name. we covered his identity for his protection. >> in some cases, we were tortured because we were christians. >> sinai was always a place for human smuggling, but since around two years ago, it started to be also a place of human torture. >> reporter: she is with physicians for human rights. they've documented more than 1300 cases of torture in the sinai. those survivors like philip made it to israel. but most of the torture cases are not documented. >> they torture them in horrible methods, like hanging up side down from the ceiling, like using electric shocks, like burning them on their bodies. >> reporter: the story begins in aratrea, where many like philip fled from

the beauty dictatorship. he travelled to a u.n. refugee camp in sudan. there he was kidnapped. they transferred him, along with many others, through sudan, egypt, and all the way to the sinai desert, and their torture camps. what happens next in these camps is diabolical. >> what they do is make you call your family and ask them for the money. usually they would do the asking. what you would do is you would say either send this money or your brother would die or your father would die or your son would die. it depends on whoever is picking up the phone. while they're talking to your family, they would pour molten plastic on your body so you would scream, and it may make the families collect the money faster. >> reporter: the tribesman demand from most aratrea

families is a king's ransom. >> the ransom fees can go up to $40,000 for an individual, and even $50,000. and until the ransom fees will not be paid, the people will not be released. >> reporter: the financial burden on the families is devastating. sister aziza is a catholic nun based in jerusalem. she interviews many of the sinai survivors. >> people are scarred psychological, physically because of also that. because they know what happened to their family and thou hohow they are living. >> reporter: but many do not make it out alive. many with philip died. and yet the torture and the dying go on. we talked to a 35-year-old aratrean woman while she was still in captivity. she was five months pregnant. the kidnappers give them cell phones so they can call their family and friends to beg for money.

marone, a human rights activist, living in sweden, arranged our conversation. we talked via skype, linking sweden, jerusalem, and the sinai desert. it was sobering. you could hear the strain in sagan's voice. >> they were asking for money, and every minute they would make him lie down on the floor, and they would hit their feet, so that way they cannot stand. they will torture their feet. and every day they hang them. >> reporter: a majority of the aratreans like philip are christians, and many don't survive. >> there were 7,000 people who went to these torture camps, and 4,000 that died. those are huge numbers. i don't think the world needs to keep quiet about that. >> reporter: philip

miraculously survived and made it to israel, where he received life-saving treatment. >> their location and whereabouts is known already to many high officials. >> reporter: but so far the government of egypt hasn't done anything about them. >> the only way out of this problem is for the international society, for the international community, to put pressure on the egyptian government to release these victims, to stop these human traffickers. >> reporter: mazel, a human rights activity, believes some of the american financial aid to egypt could be used with conditions to help these victims. >> every american listening to us right now, not only americans, anybody in the world, you can make a difference. you can contact your congressman, and you can contact your senator. you can show them you care about these issues. if you send an e-mail or fax or make a telephone call, you can save a life. >> george: chris, amazing story.

one update, good news, sagan is out? >> sagan is out. we assume her family or friends gave the ransom money. >> george: why are the christians targeted? >> many of the aratreans are christians, so they're targeted. one of the things they use when they're tortured, she said they're hapgd lik they were hanged like the jesus christ. in practice, there is much of the territory they don't control. many of the tribesman have free reign rein, and that is why it is going on. >> george: you have a new book called "dateline jerusalem" and a show called "jerusalem date line." >> reporter: the show is hopefully soon to be weekly, and there are many stories, like these stories from aratrea, and we're able to go into more depth and give

historical perspective. we do a number of different stories. the book is about the many experiences i've had in the last 12 years living in the middle east, and using that as a segue into many of the theemtion othemes of what is happening in the middle east. >> george: you're a prophetic voice for us on the walls of jerusalem. it is a privilege to have you here in our studios. >> reporter: thank you so much, george. >> george: you can see his dateline jerusalem show, just go to cbnnews.com. just head, syrian refugees take shelter in lebanon, and find compassion from >> george: welcome back to this show. the death toll in syria's civil war has topped 100,000. the unreported crisis is the nearly two million refugees living in temporary settlements in neighboring countries. this week five major aid agencies warned that the situation is stretching their resources to the limit, and they called on the world to do more.

our senior reporter, gary lane, has been to the refugee camps. she joins us from our cbn news room. gary, is there any end in sight to this humanitarian crisis? >> reporter: george, it doesn't look good. more refugees, about 3,000, continue to pour out of syria every day. and there are ministries working to ease the suffering, that's the good news. cbn, in partnership with a lebanese group, is at work in the macau valley. >> reporter: 17-year-old marash injured himself on a way to his camp. he nearly died in syria, when a rocket exploded in his living room, tossing him like a ragdoll from a second story balcony. hot sha shrapnel fell in his arm and chest. >> i did not wake up until i was in the hospital here in

lebanon. the doctors didn't think i would survive. >> reporter: his little brother, mohammed, has his own challenges. he is still tramtized by their father's death. he was sitting beside his father in a car, when a sniper's bullet struck his head. his father's bloody body fell into his lap. >> i told my mom what happened. i waited there with the blood-soaked clothes until someone came to pick me up. >> reporter: and marash's 19-year-old brother disappeared during the fighting 20 months ago. the family thinks he was either captured are killed. cbn is partnering with lebanon to help refugees, including marash and his family with monthly food bills and medical bills. this young mother travelled to lebanon alone with her four children. she left syria after a sniper killed her husband. >> the worker who visited us

is close to our heart. we lack nothing because she is a good lady. she has compassion for us and is a sweetheart. >> reporter: this family of 10 arrived the day we visited one of the camps. military planes bombed their syrian village. >> we came with nothing but the clothes we are wearing. >> reporter: the united nations reports 650,000 syrian refugees now live in lebanon. in this country of four million, that means one of every six people is a syrian refugee. it is the worst humanitarian crisis in the world today. and they have sought refuge in places like this camp. this is in lebanon, not far from the syrian border. they're getting food and water and shelter and safety, but they say what they need most of all at this time is education for their children. >> reporter: heart for lebanon has responded, helping these at-risk children develop emotionally, socially, and spiritually. fatma is a shy 10-year-old,

who is making remarkable progress in and out of the classroom. she lives in this tent with her father's two wives and their 15 family members. >> fatma has been good with her school attendance. she is better educated than before and has even learned english. >> fatma now has more confidence and is more outgoing. she now interacts with her friends and can share more easily. and, also, she knows now that god loves her and conditionall unconditionally and completely. >> reporter: 6-year-old mossa is among the students receiving much-needed meals. not only has he learned to

read and write, he has been taught biblical lessons. his mother sas tha says that makes a big difference. >> he is now more obedient and respectful, and doesn't use as many bad words as before. >> reporter: last year 6-year-old mahan spent much of her time dodging cars along the road, begging for money. she now has a safer and brighter future attending heart for lebanon classes. she enjoys reciting the english alphabet. for a few moments each month, these syrian kids laugh and maybe even forget their heartship far from home. they sing songs and perform skits. many have moral lessons taken from the bible. this one teaches them about sharing. cbn and partner heart for lebanon are demonstrating the love of christ, meeting the physical needs of refugees in crisis, reaching

out and touching syrian hearts and young lives in lebanon. in lebanon's macau valley, gary lane, cbn news. >> george: up next, a new sound rises from the largest nation and the muslim world.

>> george: welcome back to the show. a powerful prayer movement is rising in the world's largest muslim station. 24 hours a day, seven days a week, indonesia christians are interceding for their country. iit was a scene never witnessed before in indonesia's history. >> i don't know another nation on earth, like indonesia, where the church has become so passionate and united in prayer, but with each other. >> george: last year more than 9,000 christians from around the world met here for a massive prayer event. ♪

>> led by scores of indonesian churches, united to see the name of jesus christ lifted. dr. bongbong was a key occupant of that event. >> we have seen it among the pentecostal, and also in the main line christians and the catholic, that we need to spread the good news of christ all over the country. >> george: global prayer leaders were amazed at the indonesian believers' unity in praying for their country and the world. >> the father is looking out over the corridors of heaven, and he is saying, jesus, come here, look down at indonesia. they really love jesus. and he is going, aahhhh. and everything is just going to a new dimension. something that we don't understand in the natural. there is favor, there is faith, and there is praise. they're transforming a

nation. >> a spiritual transformation that christians say is bathed in 24-hour prayer. 30 miles outside the sprawling capital city, jakarta, sits this multi-story building that serves as a prayer tower for around the clock intercession. what does it sound and look like? come with me. ♪ >> 24 hours a day, we're praying for churches in indonesia, all of the pastors and lay leaders. there is not a single hour or day that goes by without prayers lifted up for our country. >> george: jeffrey is caretaker of the prayer tower. for several years, this simple room has been his home away from home. >> we take shifts of four hours a day. when people get tired, they come in here and take a short rest on one of the bungbeds, and then back to praying.

>> george: dee dee works with petros, and says the prayer rooms are packed with people at all hours of the day. dee dee believes the prayers lifted from this place and other sites across indonesia are shaking the spiritual foundation of his nation. >> there is power when hundreds of thousands of believers meet in small prayer groups, houses, or towers like this one. >> george: 13% of the globe's muslims live here in indonesia. located between the indian and pacific oceans in southeast asia, indonesia boasts a thriving economy and is one of the key political power houses in the region. >> for years we've been praying for a government, the media, and young people. we also pray for better relations between christians and muslims. god is answering those prayers. >> george: and christianity is growing, despite the occasional reports of muslim harassment. christians credit the massive prayer movement that is connecting some 500

indonesian cities, with more than five million intercessors, with giving them a deeper passion to see the nation and the world won for jesus. >> i do believe there is a power in prayer, especially in the united prayer, like the body of christ, like this. >> and in an unprecedented show of unity, christians filled the country's national stadium last year, with millions more watching on television as they pledge to reach every village, town, and city in indonesia, with the gospel of jesus christ. >> all of them know that jesus is the only answer for the country. >> george: back at the prayer tower, the intercession continues. >> day and night, weekends and holidays, we'll be here, crying out to god for the country and the world. this is our calling, to be it's watchmen on the walls

of indonesia. >> george: some once said, jesus goes where he is needed the most. clearly indonesians are desperate for him. i hope that encouraged you. folks, we'll be back with more of this edition of christian world news right after this.

>> george: christians hiked through america's great smoky mountains led by one of the foremost creation scientists in this country. they searched for geologically evidence of christianism and the biblical account of the great flood. russ jones joined the exhibition. >> reporter: dr. andrew snelling, director of research led the half day of the e escurtcurtion. they wanted to teach about creationism.

perhaps one of the world's leading researchers in flood geology, snelling claims clingman's stone is an example of how catastrophic events challenged the idea of an earth formation that took billions of years. >> one of the key events in the earth's history is the flood. jesus even spoke of the flood. peter spoke of the flood. so noah and the flood are key to that history being proved. true. and if that history is true, then the gospel message founded on that history is true, and challenges people that they must respond to the creator, jesus christ. >> reporter: joshua just moved to knoxville, tennessee from spain, where his parents were missionaries. he said he was excited to discover evidence of the flood so close to home. >> there is so much evidence that what the bible says actually really happened. there is so much more evidence than any other

theories. and that is just so cool. of course we can't know everything. we have to have faith, but it is great to know, too, there is also much evidence that the bible is true so that we can have more confidence in god and trust in him more. >> reporter: while this small group of adventuresome christians are here in the great smoky mountains exploring the book of genesis, there is a much larger group in tennessee for the mega conference. some 1500 christians from across the nation gathered at the seville center to hear people speak. believers like james jones the second of atlanta georgia attended. >> i like the way they answered the questions. >> reporter: jones, who works with inner city youth says he needs all of the tools he can get to defend the gospel. >> it really helps a lot

when you're around other believers, who are like-minded, from different areas, to be able to help share with you their experience fares talking, their experience as far as having the courage to be able to talk to people, as well as share information. >> reporter: tools and encouragement to help others realize that our world and existence isn't an accident, but the handy work of a purposeful and loving creator. i'm russ jones. >> george: thanks, russ. that's it for this edition of christian world news. on behalf of everyone here in the studio, or cameraman, and our producer, steve

other guest today says we need move from the church age to the kingdom age. what does he mean by that? find out right now on "significant insights". welcome to "significant insights". it is good to have you with us today. my guest is pastor swanny he prophetic voice in the church today and his ministry is four runner generation international and he travels throughout the united states ministering to congregations and following a call from god on his life. pastor swanny left hisom