SUDAN-DEATH SENTENCE-US
Sudan woman who faced death for faith adjusting to life in US
MANCHESTER, N.H. (AP) β The Sudanese woman who refused to renounce her Christian faith in the face of a death sentence is adjusting to life in New Hampshire.
Meriam Ibrahim, her husband and their two small children arrived in Manchester last Thursday.
Local pastor Joel Kruggel (KROO’-gul) says after less than a week in the U.S., they’re still exhausted from her imprisonment, delayed release, subsequent celebrations and now culture shock. Ibrahim doesn’t speak English. Her husband, Daniel Wani, is a naturalized American citizen from South Sudan who used to live in Manchester.
Kruggel’s Bethany Covenant Church helped launch Manchester’s Sudanese Evangelical Covenant Church. He says the two congregations are working together to provide Ibrahim and her family with furniture, funds and a larger apartment.
Ibrahim was raised by her Christian mother but was sentenced to death for apostasy from Islam because her father was Muslim. Her conviction was overturned on appeal.
Sound: (3:06 a.m. audio feed)
246-w-33-(Steve Coleman, AP religion editor, with the Reverend Joel Kruggel, pastor of Bethany Covenant Church)–The Sudanese Christian who refused to renounce her faith in the face of a death sentence is starting a new life with her family in New Hampshire. AP Religion Editor Steve Coleman reports. (6 Aug 2014)
< 247-a-06-(The Reverend Joel Kruggel (KROO’-gul), pastor of Bethany Covenant Church, in AP interview)-“experience of course”-The Reverend Joel Kruggel, pastor of Bethany Covenant Church, says Meriam Ibrahim and her husband aren’t ready to do media interviews. (6 Aug 2014) < 248-a-11-(The Reverend Joel Kruggel (KROO’-gul), pastor of Bethany Covenant Church, in AP interview)-“courageous and faith-filled”-The Reverend Joel Kruggel, pastor of Bethany Covenant Church, says he met and prayed with Meriam Ibrahim and her husband Wednesday. (6 Aug 2014) < 249-a-08-(The Reverend Joel Kruggel (KROO’-gul), pastor of Bethany Covenant Church, in AP interview)-“on around her”-The Reverend Joel Kruggel, pastor of Bethany Covenant Church, says Meriam Ibrahim is a little overwhelmed in a new culture. (6 Aug 2014) < 250-a-13-(The Reverend Joel Kruggel (KROO’-gul), pastor of Bethany Covenant Church, in AP interview)-“churches and friends”-The Reverend Joel Kruggel, pastor of Bethany Covenant Church, says Meriam Ibrahim and her husband are getting plenty of support. (6 Aug 2014) < CHINA-CANADA-STEALING SECRETS China investigates Canadian Christian couple BEIJING (AP) β Chinese authorities are investigating a Canadian pastor and his wife on suspicion of stealing China’s military and defense secrets. The official Xinhua News Agency said Monday that Kevin and Julia Garratt were being investigated in China’s northeastern city of Dandong that borders North Korea. The Canadian newspaper The Globe and Mail says the Garratts have run a coffee shop in Dandong since 2008. The newspaper says Kevin Garratt is a Pentecostal pastor, that he and his wife have hosted church services in their home and that they’ve taken food and aid into North Korea with the Pyongyang government’s permission. 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