Washington – Politicians, church leaders, victims of Christian persecution and their family members gathered from around 130 countries for an international conference organized by Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, where Hungarian Baptist church leaders, including the President of Hungarian Baptist Aid, Sándor SZENCZY, is participating.

According to local time, on Wednesday evening, Franklin Graham, Billy Graham’s son, said a  welcome speech in the opening assembly, and he emphasized that nowadays Christians are persecuted not only in a few countries, but all across the Middle East and Eastern Africa. They are tormented and killed only because they confess their Christianity. Franklin Graham listed up examples from Sudan, Libya and Syria, and he stated that Christians today have to face a more violent threat than before after the political expansion of terrorist organizations such as ISIS. He also mentioned the mass murder and burning down of temples of Iraqi Yazidis, Egyptian Copts and Sudanese Christians. Attendees stood up and applauded for the relatives of the 21 Christians who were beheaded in Libya.

The goal of the conference is to give a voice of the oppressed and draw the public opinion’s attention to the spreading of anti-Christianity that is becoming more and more violent.