Congressman Wolf Proposes Law to Protect Persecuted Christians

With the recent news coming out of Egypt with all of the violence and concerns many of us have had regarding the persecution of Coptic Christians there in Egypt, it is refreshing to see Congressman Frank Wolf introduce a new bill that would provide for the establishment of the Special Envoy to Promote Religious Freedom of Religious Minorities in the Near East and South Central Asia. 

In an article by Elizabeth Delaney at Examiner.com she explains...

Wolf stated that, “I also think it's important for the Church in the West to advocate for the Christian minorities in the Middle East,” and he is calling on Christians to “contact their congressmen and contact their senators and urge them to support this effort to create a special envoy in our government so there's somebody who can advocate...within our government; [so] there will be somebody at the table. But also, [so] there will be somebody who can advocate with regard to the foreign governments.”

The Washington Jewish Week addresses Wolf's proposed law and explains further...

"The Coptic Christians have been crying out for assistance, [but] don't really see our embassy as an isle of freedom" -- and they're not the only ones, Wolf maintains.

Aiming to boost America's credibility in the region, as well as to provide a safe haven to oppressed groups, Wolf has proposed the creation of a special envoy to promote freedom for religious minorities.

American diplomats publicly pay lip service to matters of persecution, but rarely raise the issue during private meetings with foreign officials, said Wolf and other sources.

"When there are issues that are uncomfortable, oftentimes they're given short shrift by diplomats," explained William Daroff, vice president for policy and director of the Jewish Federations of North America's Washington office.

Wolf's legislation, which is sitting in the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, would streamline matters of religious persecution into a single area of the State Department.

**Please keep this in your prayers so that we will see more help provided for persecuted Christians in these areas.