It’s a story that works to break down the walls between Muslims and Jews. It’s the story of Kevin, a 14-month-old Indonesian boy diagnosed with Congenital Heart Disease just eight days after his birth. His fate looked grim—the heart malformation is responsible for more deaths within the first year of life than any other birth defect.

Kevin’s misfortune was an opportunity for Save a Child’s Heart, an Israel-based international humanitarian project focused on improving the quality of pediatric care for children from developing nations, to treat its first Indonesian child.

Kevin’s surgery, which was made possible by donations from the American Jewish Committee (AJC), was a success and doctors are optimistic that Kevin will make a full recovery. Perhaps when he does, he’ll remember the kindness of the Israeli people.

“Bringing a Muslim child from Indonesia to Israel for life-saving surgery exemplifies the compassion of the Israeli people and the highest standards of health care, which they are proud to share,” says AJC Executive Director David Harris. “In this spirit, we also advance AJC’s mission of deepening interreligious and international understanding and cooperation.”
 
To date, Save a Child’s Heart has provided care to nearly 2,500 children from Africa, South America, Europe, and Asia including throughout the Middle East, and has trained 56 physicians and nurses at the Wolfson Medical Center in Tel Aviv from a host of countries from around the world.
 
In addition to treatment and training in Israel, the Save a Child’s Heart medical team travels to partner sites throughout the developing world in order to perform surgery, conduct cardiology clinics that evaluate pre- and post-operative patients together with local cardiologists, and give local medical personnel onsite training in pediatric cardiac care. Save a Child’s Heart is dedicated to the idea that every child deserves the best medical treatment available, regardless of the child’s nationality, religion, race, gender or financial situation.

Many are outraged by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals’ Jan. 4 ruling that the cross within the Mt. Soledad Veterans Memorial in San Diego is unconstitutional because it sends the message of “state-endorsed religion.”

So outraged, in fact, that hundreds of citizens, alongside local and national leaders, are planning a rally to defend the memorial on Saturday, Jan. 15 atop Mt. Soledad.

“The Mt. Soledad Memorial, including its centerpiece cross, has honored our military for decades until an ‘enlightened’ judge had an epiphany which ignores such foundational truths as the fact that our nation’s Capital Building was even used—at one time—as a church, attended by no less than President Thomas Jefferson himself, one who might know something about the alleged ‘separation of church and state’,” says Dr. Jim Garlow, senior pastor of Skyline Wesleyan Church in San Diego, and Chairman of Renewing American Leadership in Washington D.C.

“These revisionist judges consistently confuse the historic recognition of the role that the Christian faith—embraced by 90 percent of our citizens—and Christian symbols have played and continue to play in our national life with the ‘establishment’ of religion. Not one truly informed person driving by the Mt. Soledad Veterans Memorial has ever assumed that they are required to embrace Christianity as an ‘established,’ government sponsored religion.”

The 43-foot cross, located in a San Diego public park was dedicated in 1954 to honor veterans of the Korean War. It has been the subject of repeated legal challenges for more than 20 years.

A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals’ unanimous ruling said the decision was in no way “meant to undermine the importance of honoring our veterans.” Indeed, there are countless ways that we can and should honor them, but without the imprimatur of state-endorsed religion.”

The legal battle over the cross began in 1989 when Vietnam veteran Philip Paulson, an atheist, sued the city of San Diego. He argued that the cross excludes veterans who aren’t Christian. A Jewish veterans’ group has also been a plaintiff in the case, and is represented by the American Civil Liberties Union.

Federal courts have ordered the cross removed. In 2005, San Diego residents overwhelmingly approved a measure to preserve the cross by donating the land on which it sits to the federal government. While the land transfer eventually took place, the 9th Circuit ruled that this did not protect the cross from the constitutional dispute.

The court’s ruling rejected the notion that the cross serves a legitimate secular purpose as a war memorial. It said that for most of its history the cross served as a site for annual Easter services. A plaque designating it as a war memorial was not added until the legal controversy began in the late 1980s.

“In reaching their radical decision, the activist judges on the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ignored the fact that the Mt. Soledad Cross is now part of a multi-faceted, fully-integrated, world class war memorial, a constitutional tribute to those who have served our nation in uniform, many of whom made the ultimate sacrifice for our precious freedoms,” says Charles LiMandri, a San Diego attorney who has fought pro bono to defend the Memorial for the last six and a half years. “Therefore, despite its appropriate religious significance to many people, it is properly being used for a legitimate secular purpose, that is to honor all of our nation’s veterans.”

Vanderbilt University is requiring nursing residents to take part in abortions—whether it harms their conscience or not.

The Alliance Defense Fund filed a complaint on Tuesday with the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) against Vanderbilt University for this action. Vanderbilt receives more than $300 million in federal tax dollars each year, and federal law prohibits grant recipients from forcing students or health care workers to participate in abortions contrary to their religious beliefs or moral convictions.

ADF attorneys filed the complaint on behalf of a fourth-year nursing student at another university who wants to apply to Vanderbilt’s nurse residency program. The student is unable to apply because the admission forms require her to promise to participate in abortions.

“Christians and other pro-life members of the medical community shouldn’t be forced to participate in abortions to pursue their profession,” says ADF Legal Counsel Matt Bowman. “People enter the medical profession to protect and heal the helpless. Federal law protects them from being required to kill the helpless. The law clearly states that grant recipients cannot accept taxpayer dollars and require health care workers to participate in abortions, which is precisely what Vanderbilt is doing.”

Vanderbilt’s nurse residency application states, “If you are chosen for the Nurse Residency Program in the Women’s Health track, you will be expected to care for women undergoing termination of pregnancy. Procedures performed in the Labor and Delivery unit include…terminations of pregnancy…. If you feel you cannot provide care to women during this type of event, we encourage you to apply to a different track of the Nurse Residency Program to explore opportunities that may best fit your skills and career goals.…”

In a letter accompanying the complaint, the ADF said that because the deadline for Vanderbilt’s nurse residency applications is January 28, 2011, it is imperative that HHS immediately act to prohibit Vanderbilt from rejecting or discriminating against nurse residency applicants…who do not wish to promise that they will assist abortions.

The ADF letter further stated that the student filing the complaint “can and is prepared to submit all that the application requires and to fulfill all of the program’s requirements, except only that she has a religious objection to participating in abortions and to promising to do so by signing the application’s letter.”

“We repeatedly see universities and other users of taxpayer dollars tell students and staff that they must submit to the institution’s preferred ideology or take a hike,” says ADF Senior Counsel David French. “What many of these institutions truly want–besides money–are people who share their leftist political and social views.”

ADF is currently litigating several cases involving Christians required to act against their conscience, including a nurse forced to assist in an abortion procedure at New York’s Mt. Sinai Hospital, a student rejected from Eastern Michigan University’s counseling program because she would not agree to affirm homosexual behavior as morally acceptable, and a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention counselor fired because she would not provide counseling that would directly affirm or promote behavior contrary to her religious beliefs.

Bible translators are working to make it possible to not only “go ye” into all the world with the Gospel, but to “go ye” with a Bible penned in the country’s native language.

Bible translators like The Seed Company report great strides with translation efforts in 2010. The Seed Company’s strategy is to come alongside a country’s natives to help them with the work of accurately translating the Word of God.

“The Seed Company was privileged to participate in an amazing acceleration of Bible translation work around the world this past year,” says Larry Jones, senior vice president for Field programs for the company, told Mission Network News (MNN). “Ninety-three new people groups were engaged, and we got them started on the process of having Scripture in their own language.”

Jones told MNN that the company also enlisted 26 more people from Africa, Asia and Latin America as Bible translation consultants, putting them on a development path to be professional contributors to the Bible translation cause.

The Seed Company cites more than 400 active Bible translation projects around the world. The group hopes to have similar growth this year. Jones says there are certain areas that need support.

“Nigeria in Central Africa is one of the key areas,” Jones told MNN. “Indonesia and the Pacific Islands, including Papua New Guinea—that’s the huge concentration of remaining need for Bible translation. And the third one is in India and the Himalayan region in South Asia.”

Will we see a translation started in each of the remaining 2,000 languages? As Jones sees it, 2,000 is really not all that many in terms of an absolute number when you consider the size of the church globally.

“So, is it possible that we’ll see this in our life-time? I think it’s very possible,” Jones told MNN. “We’re also seeing tremendous innovations in technology that enable us to apply Bible translation disciplines. It’s making it possible for us to accelerate this even more.”

Christian news around the world—and right here in the U.S.—is horrifying in some cases and ridiculous in others. Here are some of the stories I came across as I was scouting for the most important Charisma news headlines:

An attack on a Christian village in central Nigeria early Tuesday morning left 13 people dead. CNN offers more details on the report of yet more violence, which is mostly blamed on Islamist extremists. Not surprising.

You’ve heard about the Church of Hate… Well, the Arizona state legislature is planning to limit the ability of members of that infamous church, formally known as the Westboro Baptist Church, to disrupt the funerals of victims of Saturday’s deadly shooting, TPM reports. Finally.

Are military chaplains a faith mismatch for the personnel they serve? A story in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch explores the issue, relaying heavily on Department of Defense data to offer a resounding “yes.” What can we do about it?

Bible theme parks are gaining momentum—at least in some states. But the Huffington Post tells the story about how a huge replica of Noah’s Ark might have a different fate in Kentucky and Tennessee. What’s going on here?

CBN reported in December that Iraqi Christians want their own province amid the reality that Christians have suffered some of the deadliest attacks against their community since 2003. Are we in for another fight in the Middle East?

What are some of the most horrifying and ridiculous Christian news themes you’ve seen lately?

Are our public colleges and universities a marketplace of ideas or a prison of censorship? ADF Senior Legal Counsel Casey Mattox is fighting to make sure educational facilities conform to the First Amendment and remain campuses of free thought.

Mattox’s latest case represents Young Americans for Freedom. Palm Beach State College banned two members of the group from distributing leaflets and talking with people on campus about their cause. The all-out literature distribution ban hindered the group from administering its “Get out the Vote” campaign before last November’s midterm elections.

In a small victory, Palm Beach State College has agreed to let Young Americans for Freedom distribute its Heritage Foundation literature several days a month while the lawsuit progresses. The college also agreed to revise its policies, including its restrictions on off-campus meetings of student groups, to ensure they comply with the First Amendment.

“Palm Beach State did the right thing in agreeing to suspend this outright ban on free speech while it is being challenged in court,” Mattox says. “From its outright ban on student speech to its regulation of student group meetings—even when off campus—Palm Beach State’s policies are among the most offensive to the First Amendment. This is the first step toward permanently removing these burdensome restrictions on First Amendment-protected liberties.”

Palm Beach State College officials had cited the school’s speech policies as their reason for denying Young Americans for Freedom members from distributing the literature at a
student organization fair. However, the students were also prohibited from handing out information within the “free speech zones” on several of the college’s campuses.

According to ADF, Palm Beach State College policies also deny constitutionally protected rights by requiring advance permission even for off-campus events held on weekends or past 9 p.m. on weekdays. Permission from the student services dean had to be requested two weeks prior to such events.

Are college campuses going too far to restrict freedom of speech? Or do they have a right to oversee what happens on campus?

Convoy of Hope is breaking ground on a 35,000-square-foot warehouse just outside of Port-au-Prince, Haiti early this year. Once completed, the warehouse will have the capacity to hold up to 6 million meals.

“The site is prepared and I expect construction of the prefabricated steel building will progress quickly once begun,” says Kevin Rose, International Programs Director for Convoy of Hope. “I am optimistic we will be utilizing the building by early summer.”

Hal Donaldson, president of Convoy of Hope says, “The warehouse will allow us to continue to expand our rapidly-growing feeding initiative in Haiti’s schools and orphanages.” Convoy of Hope’s goal is to provide a nutritious daily meal to 40,000 school children in Haiti this year.

Convoy of Hope is a non-profit organization that has served more than 37 million people around the world since 1994 through international children’s feeding initiatives, community outreaches, disaster response and partner resourcing. Every day Convoy of Hope feeds more than 49,000 children in El Salvador, Haiti, Kenya, Nicaragua and the Philippines.

Reality TV isn’t all about American idols and island castaways. The NRB Network is rolling out a new Christian reality TV show as part of its winter lineup.

Starting tonight, the NRB will begin airing new Christ-centered shows across a variety of genres, including devotional, talk, fitness—and its own take on reality TV—on DirecTV, SkyAngel and live on .

“We’ve added a number of quality programs this season we think our viewers will appreciate,” says NRB Network President and COO Troy Miller. “It’s important to us to introduce new content regularly that ministers to our viewers and meets their educational and entertainment needs.”

The reality series is called “FamTeam.” It features the Arndt Family—parents Rick and Cathy, 13 sons and one daughter. The Arndt siblings range in age from seven to 30 years old, setting the stage for episodes that offer both laughter and life lessons. Viewers can also watch reflections from the patriarch of the family, Rick Arndt, in his own series called “Safe at Home.”

Also coming to NRB Network on Monday is a series entitled Leon. Hosted by Miracle Channel CEO, Leon Fontaine, the half-hour program features interviews and biblical teaching from respected Christian leaders around the globe.

Early risers will awaken to two new morning devotional programs. “Bethlehem Glory,” a daily show with Pat Huber, takes viewers on a verse-by-verse journey through God’s Word.  In his show, “Time of Grace,” Pastor Mark Jeske shares real hope for those searching for fulfillment.

Returning to NRB Network for the New Year is the popular fitness program, “Faithful Workouts.” Host Michelle Spadafora helps viewers keep both their bodies and their faith in great shape with heart-pounding exercises to contemporary Christian music.

Do you think there’s room on TV for a Christian-themed reality TV series?

John F. Kennedy was assassinated. President Ronald Reagan was shot. But in a peaceful democracy the attempts on the lives of public officials seem few and far between—until this weekend.

Rep. Gabrielle Giffords remains in critical condition after accused gunman Jared Lee Loughner allegedly opened fire at a community political event. Giffords took a bullet to the head. Gabe Zimmerman, 30, a Giffords staff member, was killed, along with Chief Judge Roll and four others.

President Barack Obama led the White House in a moment of silence to honor the victims of the tragedy in Tucson, including those still fighting for their lives. Meanwhile, Christian leaders are speaking out on the event.

Franklin Graham, president and CEO of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, says as the American people grapple for answers to the question of how something as senseless as this shooting could happen, we need to be measured and cautious before we place blame.

“Hasty accusations have already been made before much information is known and an investigation has occurred. I believe this is counterproductive and could in itself incite hatred. This is not a time for political opportunism,” Graham says.

“Just because we disagree with someone from another political party does not mean we wish them harm. Furthermore, if something horrific happens to a person, it does not mean those who hold differing views are responsible for the actions of a disturbed individual.”

Graham says what frightens him most is that our country has accepted murder, violence and rape as entertainment that we see portrayed every day on TV, movies and video games.  He agrees with Sheriff Clarence Dupnik when he alluded to the fact that this country needs some serious soul searching.  If we as a nation are not careful, he says, we could see the destruction of the foundation upon which this nation was built.

“Clearly our politicians and pundits on the left and right must also be careful. Their leadership and rhetoric must set an example for decency and civility,” Graham says. “My prayer is that God will put His loving arms around the families and victims in their time of loss and great suffering, and that they would sense His presence and comfort in their lives.”

(Read Franklin Graham’s entire statement, here.)

Richard Viguerie, Chairman of , says sent his heartfelt sympathies out to the family of Giffords, as well as all the families of the wounded and deceased.

“Regardless of political party, Americans are drawn together at this time of tragedy, and our prayers go out to the families of all the victims of this shocking act of violence,” Viguerie says. “We are all Americans, and there’re no Democrats, Republicans, conservatives, or liberals at times like these. When the violent acts of an individual aim to tear our society apart, they instead cause Americans to come together and unite stronger than ever. We pray for the lives lost, and for the full and speedy recovery of all who were wounded.”

Alliance Defense Fund President, CEO, and General Counsel Alan Sears spoke directly to the  shooting death Chief Judge John McCarthy Roll of the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona.

“Chief Judge Roll was a great lawyer, sound jurist, and a long-time friend. Our hearts are deeply grieved over this tragedy,” says Alliance Defense Fund President, CEO, and General Counsel Alan Sears regarding the shooting death Chief Judge John McCarthy Roll of the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona.

“His untimely death is a huge loss for America’s judicial system and for all of us, personally. One consolation we have in our grief is that because of John’s fervent love for the Lord, he is right now rejoicing in the loving presence of his Creator. We will keep the judge’s family and his countless friends and students in our prayers.”

As Christian reality TV shows start to emerge, Oral Roberts University (ORU) is taking a classic approach to broadcasting with its new “Face to Face” television series.

In each 30-minute episode of “Face to Face,” ORU President Mark Rutland will interview prominent individuals—industry leaders, ministers, writers, and musicians—to ask about their lives, how they arrived at their current position, and what their thoughts are on leadership, faith, culture, and other questions of the day.

“Some things about a person you can’t learn from a distance,” says Rutland. “That’s the reason I like to be face to face with somebody, and really get to know them.”

“Face to Face” will debut on Jan. 13 at 6 p.m. CST on Golden Eagle Broadcasting, DirecTV and . The first episode features James Robison, host of Life Today and founder of Life Outreach International.

Here’s a line up of individuals that will appear on “Face to Face”:

• Basketball coaching legend Eddie Sutton
• Author Stephen Mansfield
• Mardel Christian and Education founder and ORU Board Chair Mart Green
• Author, speaker and ORU trustee and alumna Lynette Lewis
• Relevant Media Group founder and CEO, and ORU trustee and alumnus Cameron Strang
• Building Community Institute founder Clifton Taulbert
• Author/speaker Simon T. Bailey
• Victory Christian Center Senior Pastor Sharon Daugherty
• Daughter of Oral Roberts and ORU trustee and alumna Roberta Potts
• ORU International Worship Center Director Wayne Lee
• Tulsa County District Attorney Tim Harris

“I think viewers will enjoy the style as well as the substance of ‘Face to Face,'” Rutland says. “It’s not a grilling; it’s two people talking about topics that matter. People say fascinating things when you ask the right questions.”