WHITE HOUSE ATTACK ON CIVIL LIBERTIES - When President George W. Bush conceived the idea of a Department of Homeland Security with control of all law enforcement agencies, many of us feared what would happen if it fell into the hands of a radical Administration. Now, our fears have been realized. Not even 100 days into the Obama Administration, Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano issued a directive to law enforcement agencies nationwide to watch for "rightwing extremists" and then defined these "extremists" as those concerned with illegal immigration, abortion, increasing federal power and restrictions on firearms. She later apologized for singling out veterans who have returned from Afghanistan and Iraq as possible "violent" recruits. Read more

OBAMA,CUBA AND RELIGIOUS FREEDOM - The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) canceled a trip to Cuba just hours after the White House announced that President Barack Obama had eased restrictions on money transfers and travel to Cuba. Why? Because the island dictatorship canceled their visas! The USCIRF is an official body of the government of the United States, but apparently the Obama Administration sees nothing wrong with Cuba denying entry to the group, which investigates violations of religious freedom. Read more

COLLEGE PUNISHES STUDENTS FOR PRAYING - A California college has been sued by two students because they were reprimanded when one prayed and the other happened to be there with her. The College of Alameda made it clear to both students that no prayers were allowed on campus, not even those by students on their free time. A lawsuit has been filed in the case. Read more

NEW April CHAIRMAN'S REPORT - The all new April 2, 2009 Chairman's Report is now available to read in PDF format. This issue contains more information about our work on Capitol Hill with the new 111th Congress, and also about our work on international issues. Help your Sunday School class understand these issues better. Print out and distribute to your class or fellowship this Sunday! Click here to view

RFC SHIPS MORE SUPPLIES TO IRAQI CHRISTIAN REFUGEES - New Shipment of Medical Supplies! This week we have ordered a full consignment of medical supplies to be shipped to our ministry associates in Jordan for the needs of Iraqi Christian refugees. The shipment has a value of $14,000 and includes antibiotics, antihistamines, analgesics, antipyretics, anti-invectives, anthelmintics, antitussives and anti-inflammatory drugs. There are also GI medications such as Famotidine and local anesthetics such as Lidocaine. The shipment will also contain general supplies such as latex gloves, bandages and gauze.

The standard shipment contains some vitamins, but not enough. Today our ministry associate in Amman requested 10,000 more tablets of multivitamins for adults as well as 10,000 chewable animal shaped tablets for children. 10,000 tablets is enough for 333 people for 30 days.

All the supplies have been paid for except the extra vitamins which came to us as a last minute request. One bottle of 1,000 tablets of vitamins is just $14.00. We need just $280.00 to ship the extra vitamins, 10,000 for adults and 10,000 for children. To let me know that you want to specifically be responsible for one bottle of 1,000 vitamin tablets, make a donation for exactly $14.00 at http://www.rfcnet.org/donate.html

CLINTON PETITION DRIVE - The Religious Freedom Coalition is conducting a petition drive asking Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to formulate a policy to stop the persecution of Christians in Iraq and to aid those Iraqi Christians who have been forced to flee. More than 100,000 paper copies of the petition have been distributed, and an online version is now available. Click here to see petition! NOTE: This is part of a large petition drive and you may receive a copy in the mail.

FACEBOOK FOR IRAQI CHRISTIANS - The Religious Freedom Coalition has a new Facebook page to expose the crisis faced by Iraqi Christians. If you have a Facebook account, please become our friend at this link. You can help Iraqi Christians directly by making a donation at the Facebook cause page!