Christian Daily International

The accolades recognise 310 global faith-based organisations and Christian-owned businesses honored for their work.  Pixabay Best Christian Workplaces in the U.S. has announced “Certified Best Christian Workplaces” with 310 global faith-based organisations and Christian-owned businesses honored for their work.  The ministry said the honors represented a variety of Christian organizations, including churches, parachurch ministries, mission organizations, Christian-owned businesses, Christian schools, and universities.  Certified Best Christian Workplaces are spread across the United States, Canada, and 15 countries in Asia, Africa, Latin America, Europe, and Oceania.  On a 5-point scale, certified organizations score at 4.0 and above on Best Christian Workplaces’ Employee Engagement Survey, which is based on rigorous research reflecting more than 20 years of experience. Jay Bransford, President and CEO of Best Christian Workplaces, reflected on the importance of healthy workplaces.  “I commend each of the leaders on this year’s list of Certified Best Christian Workplaces,” said Bransford.  “These leaders have invested in the health of their workplaces by listening to their staff and taking concrete actions to strengthen their culture and overall employee engagement.  “Their faithful efforts over the long haul mean that their employees can have joy in their work and serve their stakeholders more fully to accomplish their mission.” The organizations listed seek to honor God and reflect biblical values at work, according to Bransford.  “We have seen many organizations move from unhealthy to healthy to flourishing, as they have utilized the data from our research-based assessment,” he added. “These organizations make an eternal difference while setting the standard as the best places to work.” There has been a significant increase in the number of Certified Best Christian Workplaces over the last five years, from 208 in 2021 to 310 in 2025.  This year, a higher proportion of Certified workplaces are in the “Flourishing” range with Employee Engagement scores of 4.25 and above. In healthy workplaces, employees bring their full energy to their work, which is reflected in higher productivity. Organizations with engaged employees are more effectively able to accomplish their mission and vision, expanding their kingdom impact, according to the ministry.

Panelists take part in the affiliated session “The Kremlin’s Use of the Russian Orthodox Church in the War Against Ukraine,” sponsored by the National Endowment for Democracy, during the International Religious Freedom Summit on Feb. 3, examining how religious institutions are being instrumentalized by the Russian state to justify war and suppress dissent at home and abroad. Christian Daily International The regime of Vladimir Putin is using the Russian Orthodox Church in efforts to repress other faiths not only in Ukraine and other foreign countries but within Russia’s borders, clergy and rights defenders said. Dmytro Koval, co-director of Truth Hounds, a Ukrainian human rights organization documenting Russian crimes in Ukraine, told participants at the International Religious Freedom Summit on Feb. 3 that Kremlin use of the Russian Orthodox Church goes back to early years of occupation in eastern Ukraine in 2014 and prior. “There were for instance units called the Russian Orthodox Army, and it’s institutionally connected to the Russian Orthodox Church,” Koval said. “And these units, again, they practically realized this doctrine of a Russian world and this new Russian imperialism, this new Russian attempt to rebuild the empire, either Soviet or Russian; these forces showed us how the church is used and how it’ll be used in the future to come.” The Russian Orthodox Army, a Russian separatist paramilitary group founded in 2014 fighting Ukrainian forces in Donbas, was reportedly later absorbed into the Oplot Fifth Separate Infantry Brigade. It is used to mobilize the Russian population and Russians in the occupied territory to take active part in the war and give their lives for the causes of the Kremlin, Koval said. “What is quite interesting is the language used in the Russian Orthodox Army – they were talking about crusade, but in their imagination that crusade had its enemy not only in Ukraine but also in the West,” Koval said. “So basically, the crusade had to continue beyond Ukraine in Western Europe, but also the U.S. was always mentioned.” Understanding how Russian occupation has impacted religious freedom – including killing of church leaders and other Christians and closing churches – is key to understanding Ukrainian resilience and opposition to “so-called peace talks” with Russia, he said. Dr. Dmytro Koval (right), co-director of the Ukrainian human rights group Truth Hounds, speaks during the International Religious Freedom Summit on Feb. 3 about the Kremlin’s use of the Russian Orthodox Church to legitimize occupation and repression in Ukraine, describing how religious language and institutions have been mobilized to advance Russian imperial ideology. Christian Daily International “One of the reasons why Ukraine is so unapologetic regarding [opposition to] any territorial deals, it’s because Ukraine is fighting not for territory, but for people,” Koval said. “And very much was learned from this eight to 10 years’ experience of occupation before the full scale invasion – what the occupation actually means for people, including what it means for the freedom of the region.” Russia has long wanted to repress religion beyond its borders, as a 2017 U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom report noted, he said. “What is sad in that report is that Russia is one of the few states that is not only organizing repressions in the country, but it’s also exporting religious persecution,” he said. Koval said he would add to the report that repressions abroad are practice for repression within Russia. “Russia is not only exporting persecutions, but it also testing persecutions on the occupied territory to later lay out them on the internationally recognized territory of Russia,” he said. “So, what we are seeing on the occupied territory, and what we saw on the occupied territory since 2014 until now, it’s in a way a test for the whole country. So it’s coming to Russia as well.” Asked for recommendations, Koval said one priority would be disengagement with official church authorities. “I don’t think that it’s a secret in this room that Russian authorities, including church authorities, are investing heavily into infiltrating to American political circles,” he said. “And basically, they want to start this conversation with politicians speaking about the suppression of religious freedoms in Ukraine, but it’s vice versa – it’s actually in Russia that these freedoms are being suppressed.” Dr. Vira Iastrebova, director of the Eastern Human Rights Group, addresses participants at the International Religious Freedom Summit on Feb. 3, warning that the Russian Orthodox Church is being used to militarize children and youth through paramilitary camps that combine weapons training with ideological indoctrination. Christian Daily International Vira Iastrebova, director of the Eastern Human Rights Group, told the summit that the Russian Orthodox Church has become a tool of militarizing young people by implementing various youth programs and paramilitary clubs. “One is called Camps, Et cetera; one is called Orthodox Warriors,” Iastrebova said. “And in those camps and programs, children are trained to use firearms and also are indoctrinated in ideologies of hatred and violence. Understandably, this is going to have very grave consequences for the future that we must take into account as we focus our attention on reunification of Ukraine’s territories and working towards better freedoms for all people of faith.” The Rev. Andrey Kordochkin, a Russian Orthodox priest based in Europe who was sanctioned and suspended from the Moscow patriarchate after co-authoring an open letter condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, told participants that the Kremlin’s use of the patriarchate goes as far as propaganda found in official prayers. “If you look at the text of the prayer which was introduced in September 2022, you can see that liturgically, it has a form of a prayer, but in fact it’s political declaration,” Kordochkin said, noting that it implicitly denies the existence of Ukraine as a country. “Then this prayer also presents Russia not as an aggressor but as a victim of some hostile forces that had wanted to destroy it in a conspiracy kind of mindset.” Most importantly, he said, the liturgical prayer speaks about victory rather than reconciliation. A priest obliged to read the prayer changed the word “victory” to “peace” and was defrocked, he said. The Rev. Andrey Kordochkin, a Russian Orthodox priest suspended by the Moscow patriarchate for opposing Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, speaks at the International Religious Freedom Summit on Feb. 3, criticizing state-mandated prayers that frame the war as a sacred struggle and punish clergy who call for peace rather than victory. Christian Daily International “Now a spokesman for the Moscow patriarchate, when he was asked by a journalist whether these punishments upon these priests are not too cruel, said, ‘Well, the church is like the army. If people in the army give an oath and if they do something that goes contrary to it, they have to pay the price, and the priest and the deacons before they’re being ordained, they also give this oath.’ So, the patriarchate itself is describing itself in kind of paramilitary terms.” Recently Moscow Patriarch Kirill said those who question the national consensus in Russia should be treated as betrayers of the motherland, Kordochkin noted. “Now, betrayal of motherland is not a moral term, it’s a legal term because it’s a criminal article which implies punishment up to a death sentence,” he said. “So, you can see this repressive symphony in both the church institution and the state.”

Mining activity is shown in a video screenshot as researchers and ethicists debate alternative ways to source rare earth elements — including recovery from waste and domestic sources — amid growing concerns over environmental damage and human rights linked to conventional mining. Youtube Screenshot / Associated Press Scientists exploring new ways to extract rare earth elements from domestic waste and polluted land say their work could help address long-standing ethical and environmental concerns tied to global mineral supply chains. According to a recent report by the BBC, researchers are developing methods to recover rare earths without conventional mining, including using fungi to absorb valuable minerals from contaminated soil and extracting rare earths from industrial waste such as coal ash, mine tailings and discarded electronics. The approaches could allow countries to source critical materials locally while cleaning up environmental damage left by earlier industrial activity. Rare earth elements are essential for modern technologies, including batteries, magnets and renewable energy systems. Yet their extraction has often been associated with pollution, labor abuses and geopolitical conflict, particularly in parts of the developing world. Those concerns have been highlighted in previous reporting by Christian Daily International, including an investigation into allegations that Apple used minerals linked to armed groups in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Rights advocates have warned that the mining of cobalt and other critical minerals in the region has been tied to child labor, unsafe working conditions and violence, raising difficult ethical questions for global technology companies and consumers alike. The BBC report notes that many rare earth elements are not truly scarce but are widely dispersed in low concentrations — including in waste generated by mining, energy production and manufacturing. Researchers say recovering these materials from existing waste streams could reduce pressure to open new mines in environmentally sensitive or politically unstable regions. Environmental scholars cited by the BBC argue that the United States and other developed economies already possess significant quantities of rare earths in coal ash piles, red mud from aluminum production and discarded consumer electronics. In some cases, concentrations in waste are higher than those found in natural ore deposits. While the technologies remain under development and face economic hurdles, researchers say the long-term potential is substantial. Beyond improving supply security, the methods could allow governments and industries to address legacy pollution while reducing reliance on mineral extraction linked to human rights abuses abroad. If proven viable at scale, the emerging approaches could help reconcile economic demand for critical minerals with environmental stewardship and ethical responsibility — turning industrial waste into a resource and easing the moral costs embedded in today’s global supply chains.