MAN REUNITES WITH BIRTH MOM AFTER 20 YEARS: 'IT WAS A DREAM COME TRUE'
from: LiveAction News

(6 June) Benjamin Hulleberg grew up knowing he was adopted. He was always curious about his biological mother, whom he knew only by the name Holly. Though he had searched for her over the years by writing letters, signing up for an adoption registry, and even taking a DNA test, he was never able to locate her.

"It was always a very positive conversation," he told Good Morning America about discussing his adoption with his adoptive parents. "It was my parents either expressing gratitude for Holly or me talking about how I'm grateful for her and how I want to meet her one day."

Holly Shearer had placed her baby for adoption as a young teen. She had received letters and photos of her son for three years until the adoption agency closed. She said he was always on her mind, especially on holidays and his birthday. Eventually, she searched for Benjamin online and when he was 18, she found his Facebook page.

"The last thing I wanted to do is to throw a wrench in his life," she said. "So I just watched from a distance." Then, six months ago on his birthday, after nearly two years of watching his life from afar, Shearer decided it was time to reach out. She sent him a happy birthday message on Facebook.

"I can remember the exact place that I was at when I got the message. I was at work. I was a machine operator and I remember I was in machine No. 15," Hulleberg said. "I was in between our hourly quality checks and I got on my phone and I saw her message and I just replied."

When Shearer wrote back and explained that she was his birth mother, "it hit me like a load of bricks," he said. "I was crying. It was all very positive emotions," he explained. "But to me, this is a day I had been waiting for the past 20 years of my life and to imagine that it was finally happening was outrageous. It was a lot to take in."

He asked to meet her and the next day they had dinner together with both of their families. "I was not willing to wait any longer," said Hulleberg. "I'd waited 20 years and that was long enough for me."

After arriving at the restaurant and speaking with Hulleberg's parents Brian and Angela, Shearer felt a tap on her shoulder. "[A]nd joy just overflowed me, and we just sat hugging for about five minutes and crying and it just, I can't believe that it happened," she said.

During the three-hour reunion, Shearer and Hulleberg realized they had both worked at HCA Healthcare's St. Mark's Hospital within the previous two years. Shearer is a medical assistant while Hulleberg volunteers at the hospital's neonatal intensive care unit. [read more...]

COMMENTARY: This was on the "warm fuzzy" last segment of ABC News as well as on the "Good Morning America" program. It's a heart-warming story: we can all imagine the joy of being reunited. But what the news won't mention is the flip side: what if Holly Shearer had decided to get an abortion, to kill her baby Benjamin in the womb? She would have had life-long painful regrets instead of this joyful reunion.

EUTHANASIA MAKES CLEAN SWEEP OF AUSTRALIAN STATES
from: BioEdge.org

(22 May) The Australian state of New South Wales legalised euthanasia and assisted suicide last week. Members of the Upper House supported the Voluntary Assisted Dying Bill 2022 by a margin of 23 to 15. Both the Premier and the Opposition Leader had opposed the bill, but they allowed MPs a conscience vote on the extremely divisive issue. The bill passed the Lower House in November by a margin of 53 votes to 36.

This means that "assisted dying" is now legal in every Australian state. And the Federal election on Saturday put a Labor government in power. The new parliament will be immediately be pressured to permit the Australian Capital Territory, where Canberra is located, and the vast but sparsely populated Northern Territory, to legalise it there as well.

Assisted dying has been debated in Australia at least since 1995, when the Northern Territory legalised it, although Federal Parliament passed a law overturning it in 1997, employing a rarely-used constitutional power. At the time MPs were overwhelming opposed to VAD. But in 2017, the state of Victoria legalised assisted dying; in 2019 Western Australia; in 2021 Tasmania, Queensland, and South Australia. Cultural change has been swift.

Independent MP Alex Greenwich introduced the bill to parliament late last year. Greenwich, who was also responsible for decriminalising abortion in NSW this term, eulogised a "day when compassion has won. Now our focus must shift to the federal parliament and it's incumbent on our colleagues and federal partners to pass laws to allow the territories to be able to legislate for this compassion," he said.

Employee relations minister Damien Tudehope declared that the bill had "betrayed" people suffering from a terminal illness. "Some will say this is a great moment for NSW," he told The Guardian. "I will leave here today thinking this is a dark day for our state."

And Brigid Meney of Catholic Health Australia said, "This law will force organisations that do not agree with assisted dying to allow doctors onto their premises to prescribe and even administer restricted drugs with the intention of terminating a resident's life – without even informing the facility. These laws ignore the rights of staff and residents who may choose to work and live in a particular residential facility because of their opposition to assisted dying." [read more...]

COMMENTARY: That little patch of land just off the coast from Alelaide is Kangaroo Island, from where my father's family immigrated to the U.S. in the early 1900s. His older brothers were born there but he was born in the U.S. It is tragic that a once-Christian country like Australia could devolve into such a neo-pagan society that kills off its elderly and disabled people. And the U.S. is not far behind. The West may bemoan the 100 million people murdered under communism – see "30 Years in Making, Museum Dedicated to Victims of Communism Opens in Washington"– but it appears that we are set on catching up with communism.

BELARUS: "A CHRISTIAN CANNOT SAY THAT WHAT'S GOING ON IN UKRAINE IS GOOD"
from: Forum 18 News Service

(8 June) Police warned Orthodox priest Fr. Andrei Nozdrin and his church transferred him to a remote parish after he publicly opposed Russia's renewed invasion of Ukraine, and Belarus' role in this. He insisted that "a Christian cannot say that what's going on in Ukraine is good, and should understand that killing is a sin." He told Forum 18 that he will continue to teach these Christian principles.

The regime has similarly targeted other Orthodox and Catholic priests. Their current main focus of its freedom of religion and belief and related human rights violations is monitoring, threatening and punishing religious leaders and people opposing Russia's renewed war against Ukraine and the Belarusian regime's role in this.

From 2014, Orthodox priest Fr. Andrei Nozdrin led the St Spyridon of Trimython parish in Grodno. He also had two diocesan roles. In April, local police summoned Fr. Nozdrin for a "preventive conversation" after complaints from two informers who were not happy with his anti-war position and singing the hymn Mighty God. The hymn is associated with opposition to the regime. Both the regime and the head of the Belarusian Orthodox Church, Metropolitan Veniamin, have banned the singing of the hymn.

"They questioned me about my statements regarding Ukraine and why we sing Mighty God in the church," Fr. Nozdrin told Forum 18. "They even talked to my neighbours and friends but found no criminal wrongdoing."

On 25 April, Grodno's October District Police wrote to Fr. Nozdrin warning him against alleged "extremist violations and crimes." Fr. Nozdrin pointed out that everyone knew that in his sermons and elsewhere he always insisted that "a Christian cannot say that what's going on in Ukraine is good, and should understand that killing is a sin." He maintains that he will continue to teach these "Christian principles."

On 18 May Archbishop Antony (Doronin) of Grodno dismissed Fr. Nozdrin from all his diocesan roles, and transferred him away from Grodno to a small village. Fr. Nozdrin regrets leaving the Grodno parish where together with the parishioners he built a church and the largest Sunday school for children in the city. He told Forum 18 that the parishioners were upset about his transfer.

The regime sent a police unit to attend Fr. Nozdrin's 20 May farewell service, "but the people showed them out because they did not pray," Fr. Nozdrin said. Grodno Diocese spokesperson Fr. Igor Danilchik insisted to Forum 18 on 2 June that Fr. Nozdrin's transfer was Archbishop Antony's decision alone, and claimed that the transfer was not done under pressure from the regime. He did not explain why the regime sent police to Fr. Nozdrin's farewell service. Fr. Danilchik also claimed that Grodno parishioners had not complained to the Diocese..

Two Catholic priests of Minsk-Mogilev Diocese have been accused of violating Administrative Code Article 19.11, Part 2 ("Distribution, production, storage and transportation of information products containing calls for extremist activities, or promoting such activities") by allegedly "spreading information included in the Republican List of Extremist Materials, as well as printing, publishing and storing or transporting for further distribution of these materials." [read more...]

COMMENTARY: Christians in Russia and Belarus are not allowed to publicly protest against or even question Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the atrocities being committed there. It is extremely painful for us because we have many Christian friends in both Russia and Ukraine.

DRUMMING IMPROVES BEHAVIOR IN YOUNG PEOPLE WITH AUTISM, STUDY FINDS
from: Disability Scoop

(14 June) Learning to play the drums could make a big difference for adolescents with autism, with new research finding that acquiring the skill leads to better emotional control and fewer behavior issues.

Researchers looked at 36 people with autism between the ages of 16 and 20 with no drumming experience. Nineteen of them received 45-minute drum lessons twice each week for eight weeks while the rest took no lessons. All of the participants were given a drumming assessment and an MRI scan at the beginning and end of the study and their guardians were asked about their behavior.

At the conclusion of the intervention, those who improved their drumming abilities showed a reduction in hyperactivity, inattention and repetitive behaviors and they displayed better control of their emotions, according to findings published recently in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Moreover, the MRI scans showed that drum training helped synchronize brain regions that are responsible for inhibitory control, preventing impulsivity, the researchers said. Those behind the study indicated that the results support anecdotal reports that drumming is beneficial to those with autism.

"These findings provide direct evidence that learning to drum leads to positive changes in brain function and behavior among autistic adolescents," said Marcus Smith, a professor of applied sport and exercise science at the University of Chichester in the United Kingdom and a co-author of the study. [read more...]

COMMENTARY: It's very interesting that something as simple as playing drums can help autistic teens control their hyperactive, inattentive, and repetitive behaviors and their emotions. Perhaps this is related to the way we all can calm ourselves by exercising habitual acts such as praying and singing some of the same prayers and hymns every day and every week.

"LOGIC OF 'APPEASEMENT' DOES NOT LEAD TO PEACE, BUT ONLY INCREASES AGGRESSOR'S APPETITE," HEAD OF THE OCU SAID IN BERLIN
from: Religious Information Service of Ukraine

(15 June) "We absolutely deny the logic of 'appeasement' when they offer to 'surrender' a certain territory to Putin in exchange for the promise of peace. Such logic never leads to peace! The experience of the 'Munich conspiracy,' when Hitler was given the Sudetenland in exchange for the promise of peace, shows that the aggressor's appetite for victories only increases. Moreover, there are no uninhabited territories in Ukraine. People live on all lands. Are we offered to give up our citizens to the totalitarian power of Russia? This approach is absolutely unacceptable in the modern world."

The Primate of the OCU, Metropolitan Epifaniy, said this in the speech he delivered on June 15 during the visit to Berlin as part of the event "Religious Communities of Ukraine and the Russian Full-Scale War."

"We want the peoples of Europe not to know from their own experience what we know, what the Ukrainian people know. Therefore, together we must stop the evil of Russian aggression so that this aggression does not move further into Europe. We are fighting for democracy and freedom not only for ourselves but for the whole of Europe. And we should not think that if Putin succeeds, the wall will pass somewhere on our lands. This wall may reappear here in the center of Europe. Only together, only by joining forces, can we defeat and stop this evil and prevent a new division of Europe."

"The Ukrainian people have a strong spirit and will to fight. We were given a few days to lose, and we have been fighting for more than three months – and we will continue to fight. After all, we know what to expect from the Russian occupation – the entire territory that Putin will seize will become 'Bucha' and a 'bloody land'."

"That is why we ask for all possible assistance from the democratic world, the European Union, and Germany in particular. The more aid is provided and the sooner it arrives, the sooner we will be able to reject the aggressor and regain sovereignty over our territory," the Metropolitan stressed in his speech.

The Primate of the OCU assured that representatives of the religious community of Ukraine demonstrate unity in the face of war and aggression, and show that there are no religious, national or other internal reasons for the conflict. The only reason, Metropolitan Epifaniy notes, is external – Putin's desire to restore the "Russian Empire" and restore the "Yalta system" of dividing Europe and the world.

Metropolitan Epifaniy once again assured that the religious communities of Ukraine fully support and bless the course of Ukraine's European integration: "The issue of granting Ukraine the status of a candidate for EU membership will soon be resolved. We want to show support for the candidate application and bless this good cause," the Metropolitan of the OCU emphasized. [read more...]

COMMENTARY: Since Russia's Feb. 24 full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Over 400 communities of the Moscow Patriarchate joined the OCU. This is exactly the opposite of what Russia had thought would happen.

PRO-ABORTION "JANE'S REVENGE" FIREBOMBS BUFFALO PREGNANCY CENTER IN TARGETED ATTACK
from: LifeSite News

(7 June) Pro-life pregnancy center CompassCare in Buffalo, NY was firebombed early this morning in the latest attack by pro-abortion group Jane's Revenge. Pro-abortionists smashed windows in the reception room and nurses' office and threw firebombs inside, CompassCare reported.

"This is the pro-abortion ‘Kristallnacht,'" CompassCare's CEO Jim Harden said, referring to the wave of violence and destruction meted out by the Nazis and their supporters against the Jews in Germany and occupied territories in November 1938. Jane'' Revenge, a violent pro-abortion group, has been attacking numerous pro-life organizations in what they call a "Night of Rage."

"Because of this act of violence, the needs of women facing unplanned pregnancies will go unmet and babies will die," Harden said. "I wonder if Gov. (Kathy) Hochul will veto the Pregnancy Center Investigation Bill? I wonder if Attorney General Letitia James will investigate these cowardly criminals?"

Despite the recent violence against pro-lifers, Hochul pledged $35 million of taxpayer funds to increase security at abortion clinics. Additionally, New York passed legislation investigating pro-life pregnancy centers for not performing abortions.

CompassCare is a pro-life center that offers help to pregnant women, including ultrasounds that show women their unborn children. The organization also helps women to carry their babies to term. "CompassCare will rebuild because women deserve better," Harden promised. "CompassCare will not stop serving because pre-born boys and girls deserve protection." [read more...]

COMMENTARY: See also "Churches, Pro-Life Organizations Attacked 41 Times in Past 6 Weeks." The fact revealed by these attacks is that the pro-abortion, anti-life movement is in a panic because their neopagan human-sacrifice altars might be torn down.

Just last week, I was interviewed by Phil Miglioratti for his website The Reimagine.NETWORK about my book The Ministry Driven Church. Here's an excerpt that I hope you'll find interesting:

PHIL >>> Before inserting ministry as the central role, what would leaders need to "re-place" or reposition?

ROBERT >>> Some of my later research shows that the church expanded greatly because it built hospitals, orphanages, and old folks homes and staffed them with Christian doctors who were often also priests, Christian nurses and other staff (see "HEALTH AND HEALING IN BYZANTIUM" and "Seek the Welfare of the City.") But over the centuries, especially in the last century, we have allowed these functions to be taken over by the secular state's welfare programs and socialized medicine. So in order to grow again, it must be relevant to society: the church needs to reclaim her social ministry.

The Evangelical movement is based upon witnessing, soul winning and studying the Bible. But if the main thing is just to get people saved from sin and on their way to heaven, why didn't Jesus, right after His baptism when John said: "Behold, the Lamb of God Who takes away the sins of the world!" – go immediately to Calvary, be crucified and rise from the dead? NO! There's more to salvation than just going to heaven. "Salvation" is "soteria" in Greek and it has the dual meaning of healing as well as going to heaven. Jesus came to heal body and soul. In my role as editor of a revision of the Russian Bible and producing a harmony of the Gospels during our 17 years as Evangelical missionaries in Russia, I studied the ministry of Jesus, the Messiah (Christ). He began His ministry by reciting in the synagogue the prophecy of Isaiah that the Messiah would heal the sick, give sight to the blind, etc. Then He spent 3.5 training His disciples: showing them how to do diakonia-ministry and then sending them out to actually do that kind of ministry. Only then did His time come to die, rise again, and go to heaven.

Here's how to learn about our "Agape Restoration Communities" – then scroll down halfway to see how to get a free copy of my e-book The Ministry Driven Church.

(Get this as a separate article on our "ARC-News" blog at blogspot.com.)