Campus group formed to advocate human rights of Christians

A human rights advocacy group for persecuted Christians worldwide launched recently its first campus chapter in Maryland.

The International Christian Concern launched its first ICC campus chapter at the University of Maryland, College Park. The ICC has served for 15 years as an activist for the rights of persecuted Christians worldwide, The Christian Post reported.

“Many students were not aware of the issue of religious persecution,” club president Jessica Ford told The Christian Post. “They thought that worldwide religious freedom was like here in America. When they realized the terrible circumstances some Christians live under, they wanted to assist and learn more.”

Ford also told The Christian Post, “To date, there isn’t one (campus group) with the mission of helping persecuted Christians overseas. We are changing that.” She noted that there are some 27 Christian organizations existing on her campus, but they focus either on a specific denomination, or on bible study.

ICC president Jeff King expressed excitement at the launch of the UMCP campus chapter. He told The Christian Post, “College students around the country have been trying to do this for years and seeing this finally happen is a huge boost to religious freedom.”

He told The Christian Post, “I think college students are a large untapped resource in helping their vulnerable brothers and sisters around the world.”

The role of the ICC campus chapter will be to spread information to college students about the human rights violations of Christians around the world. They will also help to raise funds for orphans in conjunction with their special blessing campaign, The Christian Post reported.

The Washington-based ICC has been in operation since 1995with a vision to promote religious freedom and to help international Christians who are victimized by persecution or discriminated against because of their faith, according to their website.

A large part of their work involves helping to raise awareness and to generate aid and advocacy for persecuted Christians. As of today, some 200 million Christians worldwide are victims of arrest, interrogation, physical abuse, violence and even death because of their Christian faith, The Christian Post reported.

The ICC has through the years lobbied at the State Department, U.S. Congress and the White House for changes in legislation and for the leverage of government pressure on countries where persecution of Christians is rampant, as well as to work for the release of Christians in prison, The Christian Post said.