Religious freedom activist Johnnie Moore received the Simon Wiesenthal Center’s Medal of Valor Wednesday. The Jewish humanitarian organization recognized Moore for his work raising $25 million for Christians and others persecuted by ISIS. A number of religious leaders and Hollywood notables attended the gala.

During his acceptance remarks, Moore said he felt unworthy of the honor. He accepted the award “on behalf of every pastor or priest whose church was burned to the ground, every mother and father whose child was sold as a slave, every one of the two million Iraqi and Syrian Christians still largely displaced.”

“I’ve just done what I could,” he continued. “What if we all did what we could to help everyone we could? Soon such acts of kindness would be so commonplace that they would no longer merit honors like the one I have receive [sic] tonight.”

Advocate for Persecuted Christians

When ISIS began gaining power in 2014, Moore urged leaders on Capitol Hill to pay attention. Soon afterward he traveled to the Middle East and recounted the atrocities he saw in the book Defying ISIS. His advocacy has helped inspire U.S. and world leaders to take action against the terror group.

Moore also urges everyday U.S. Christians to help their persecuted fellow believers. 

“We must do more,” he said in an email to The Stream. “Not just because we can, but because we should. Compassion requires action.”

He said persecuted Christians in the Middle East feel forgotten. “A little bit of love and generosity affects us little, but to them it’s like the parting of the Red Sea.”

For those who want to help persecuted Christians overseas, Moore recommended supporting World Help and Open Doors International.

Moore’s next book, The Martyr’s Oath, will debut later this year.

Two other Medal of Valor awards were given Wednesday night. Longtime Israeli politician Shimon Peres received the award posthumously. Eddie Strong, an American WWII veteran and POW, received the award for standing up to his German captors in the face of death.