Kazakhstani Pastor, Five Foreign Visitors Fined for Holding Baptisms

Kazakhstani Pastor, Five Foreign Visitors Fined for Holding Baptisms

(Forum 18) — A local Protestant pastor and five foreign visitors were fined for holding baptisms in hot springs near Kazakhstan’s commercial capital Almaty. One of the foreigners–a United States-based Canadian citizen—was ordered deported. A court in Akmola Region overturned a summary police fine on a Baptist pastor for leading a church that chooses to […]

Drug Deaths Reach Record High in England, Wales

Drug Deaths Reach Record High in England, Wales

(The Christian Institute) — Drug-related deaths reached a record high in England and Wales last year, new figures have revealed. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has reported that there were 3,744 deaths from drug poisoning registered in 2016, the highest since comparable records began in 1993. The study found that deaths involving heroin and […]

Microchip Implants Chart New Territory, But Some Experts Say They Are Ethical Nightmare

Microchip Implants Chart New Territory, But Some Experts Say They Are Ethical Nightmare

(Yahoo News/Good Morning America) — A vending machine software firm recently implanted about four dozen of its employees with Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID) microchips that it says will allow the employees to navigate the office more conveniently. But the move has raised concerns about potential ethical and security issues. Three Square Market, based in Riverdale, Wisconsin, […]

King, Queen of Spain Receive Evangelicals at Royal Palace

King, Queen of Spain Receive Evangelicals at Royal Palace

(Evangelical Focus) — A delegation of Spanish evangelical Christians were welcomed at the royal palace La Zarzuela on July 27. King Felipe VI, Queen Letizia and the Justice Minister Rafael Catalá met 14 Protestant leaders. This reception was organised two weeks after the celebration of the 8th Evangelical Congress, in which 1,000 representatives analysed the […]

Church of England Minister Raises Concerns for Hosting Homosexual Pride Service

Church of England Minister Raises Concerns for Hosting Homosexual Pride Service

(The Christian Institute) — A Church of England minister has come under fire for holding an “LGBT+ Service” to mark the city’s homosexual pride celebrations. Canon Dr Neal Barnes, Vicar of Hull Minster, held an evening service on July 21 to coincide with Pride in Hull and the 50th anniversary of the 1967 Sexual Offenses Act. […]

Vietnamese Pastor Freed Early From Prison in Return for Exile to US

Vietnamese Pastor Freed Early From Prison in Return for Exile to US

(World Watch Monitor) — Vietnam has released a Lutheran pastor and deported him to the United States, reports UCA News. Nguyen Cong Chinh, was serving an 11-year prison sentence for “undermining national solidarity” through religious activities with ethnic groups in the country’s Central Highlands. He was also a director of the Vietnam-U.S. Lutheran Alliance Church. A […]

Churches Should ‘Embrace Gay Marriage,’ Says U.K. Equalities Minister

Churches Should ‘Embrace Gay Marriage,’ Says U.K. Equalities Minister

(The Christian Institute) — People want churches to “keep up with modern attitudes” and carry out same-sex “weddings,” Justine Greening has claimed. The U.K. Education Secretary and equalities minister said she did not want to “prescribe” how faith groups deal with the issue, but that “it is important that the church in a way keeps […]

July 30 Is World Day Against Trafficking in Persons

July 30 Is World Day Against Trafficking in Persons

India (Mission Network News) — This coming Sunday, July 30, is World Day Against Trafficking in Persons. The International Labor Organization estimates at least 21 million people are in forced labor and sexual exploitation today. The blight is widespread, not isolated to particular countries and communities, and is something several Christian ministries are combatting as […]