At the front of the march (L-R): The Rev. Bruce Lieske, Sister Hatune, Julie Dass (Photo credit: Charlie Marteau)
As you all know by now, I spent four days last week in Orlando for a series of events organized by Burning Bush Ministries and the Central Florida chapter of ACT! For America. I flew in on Wednesday afternoon and met up with some of the usual suspects from Europe and Canada: Elisabeth Sabaditsch-Wolff, Henrik Ræder Clausen, and Valerie Price. That evening I also met Sister Hatune Dogan for the first time.
The first event was on Thursday night, May 15: an ACT! For America meeting where Elisabeth was the featured speaker. The prepared text of her talk has already been posted here. Henrik videotaped all the events, so Elisabeth’s speech and other highlights of the evening will eventually be uploaded to YouTube, and will be posted here.
On Friday night, May 16, we gathered at Prince of Peace Lutheran Church in Orlando for a roundtable discussion on “Current Christian Persecution — A Global Problem”. I’ll have more about that in later posts.
Sister Hatune Dogan of the Syrian Orthodox Church (Photo credit: Charlie Marteau)
Most of Saturday morning and afternoon was taken up by interviews with Elisabeth and Sister Hatune. Those will also eventually appear on video.
The climax of the week began at 6:30 pm on Saturday when we gathered at Lake Eola Park in downtown Orlando for a Prayer March for Persecuted Christians.
Sister Hatune and Fr. Bassam M. Saade of St. Jude Maronite Catholic Church, Orlando (Photo credit: Charlie Marteau)
(L-R) Elisabeth Sabaditsch-Wolff (Austria), Ann Marchini (UK), Valerie Price (Canada), Sister Hatune (Germany) (Photo credit: Charlie Marteau)
Elisabeth Sabaditsch-Wolff and Valerie Price (Photo credit: Charlie Marteau)
A group of more than 200 people marched around the lake and then walked up to Trinity Lutheran Church for a prayer rally. The following speakers were featured at this event:
- USA: The Rev. Bruce Lieske (Burning Bush Ministries)
- Egypt: Dr. Wasfy Mikhael
- Austria: Elisabeth Sabaditsch-Wolff (Bürgerbewegung Pax Europa and Wiener Akademikerbund)
- Pakistan: Julie Dass (Sisters of Faith Mission Society)
- Syria/Germany: Sister Hatune Dogan (Sister Hatune Foundation)
Elisabeth Sabaditsch-Wolff at the prayer rally, Trinity Lutheran Church, Orlando (Photo credit: Charlie Marteau)
The benediction and closing remarks were by Rev. Kenyatta Cobb, the pastor of Our Savior Lutheran Church.
At other meetings (including several held over food and adult beverages) I also had the pleasure of meeting with Mike Skubiak, the leader of ACT! For America Central Florida, Bruce Lieske, and other Counterjihad activists from Central Florida. It turns out that most of them were already Gates of Vienna readers, so I’ll take this opportunity to say “Thank you, Central Florida!”
(Foreground L-R) Sister Hatune, Elisabeth Sabaditsch-Wolff, Valerie Price (Photo credit: Charlie Marteau)
Previous posts about the Prayer March for Persecuted Christians, Orlando, May 2014:
| 2014 | May | 15 | ACT! for America meeting in Orlando | |||
| 18 | Prayer March Held in Orlando for Persecuted Christians | |||||
| 19 | March and Rally for Persecuted Christians |
Well done Baron and everyone else involved. We need more of this; we really need to make this a wedge issue and try to separate people with a functioning moral compass from the rabid true believer fanatics that are embedded throughout our societies. We need to wake people up and have them remember that they already know the difference between right and wrong, and they need to start taking responsibility for the world they’re living in, rather than leaving everything to the state.