(Bitter Winter) — On Nov. 10, 2019, authorities shut down seven house church meeting venues in Longyou county of Quzhou, a prefecture-level city in the eastern province of Zhejiang, as “unlicensed” venues that “meet illegally” because they refused to join the state-controlled Three-Self Church. According to a government insider, 11 of the 13 house church […]
(International Christian Concern) – A new respiratory virus with origins in the Chinese city of Wuhan has now infected 8,200 people across the world and has claimed nearly 200 lives. The outbreak of the coronavirus, which causes pneumonia-like symptoms, prompted Chinese authorities to quarantine several major cities. The usual lunar new year holidays, which typically last […]
(Christian Solidarity Worldwide) — The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) has called on churches in Nigeria and abroad to join in three days of “Special Fasting and Prayer,” commencing on Jan. 31. The initiative is being launched in response to “the gruesome murder of the Chairman of CAN Michika Local Government Area of Adamawa State, […]
BEIJING (ChinaAid) — The Chinese government will roll out new regulations on religion Saturday. These regulations, consisting of six chapters and 41 articles, will require religious leaders and organizations to display complete devotion to the Chinese Communist Party. Article 5 reads, “Religious organizations must spread the principles and policies of the Chinese Communist Party, as well […]
(Christian Solidarity Worldwide) — Sudanese Christian businessman Ashraf Samir Mousad Obid was detained at Khartoum Airport on Jan. 27 under the orders of the General Intelligence Service (GIS). Obid was returning to Sudan for the first time since fleeing the country in 2015, following a campaign of harassment by the National Intelligence and Security Service […]
(Barnabas Fund) — One Rohingya Christian is missing and twelve were seriously injured, including several children, in multiple attacks by Rohingya Muslim mobs on the isolated Rohingya Christian community in Cox’s Bazar refugee camp, Bangladesh. The attacks are thought to be a backlash in the wake of UN Special Rapporteur Yanghee Lee’s statement, on Jan. […]
JOS, Nigeria (Morning Star News) – Muslim Fulani herdsmen killed two Christians in separate attacks in Plateau state this month, in addition to the 13 Christians from the same denomination killed on Jan. 8, sources said. Herdsmen invaded Torok village in Riyom County on Jan. 20, killing Reuben Bulus, a 25-year-old member of the Church of Christ […]
(Article18) — The grave of the only Iranian Christian to have been executed on official charges of apostasy has been demolished. The body of Hussein Soodmand was buried on the edge of the Beheshte-Reza cemetery in Mashhad after his execution nearly 30 years ago, in December 1990. In all the years since, the only sign […]
(Evangelical Focus) — The issue of sex education in state schools was at the center of a week-long political storm that started after Education Minister Isabel Celáa said in a press conference that “no one should commit the mistake of thinking that children belong to their parents.” In the first public appearance after the conformation […]
MYITKYINA, Myanmar (International Christian Concern) – On Jan. 19, the fifth year anniversary of the death of two Kachin Baptist teachers was held at Jawbwan in Myitkyina. According to Eleven Myanmar, the memorial was organized by Kachin Baptist Convention (KBC) and attended by religious leaders, elders, bereaved families and more than 2000 Christians. At the memorial, the […]