WASHINGTON — Andrew Brunson, an American missionary to Turkey who had spent two years in prison after being falsely accused of using “Christianization” to overthrow the government, testified before the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom on Thursday. He explained his belief that his case was used to cause the general population to think negatively and […]
(Bitter Winter) — For Christians, even getting together for a meal is now off-limits in China. It seems that dinners are now considered religious gatherings, which as such should be authorized. That’s the hard lesson 11 believers from a Sola Fide house church in Xiangyang city in central China’s Hubei Province learned on March 13, […]
XIAMEN, Fujian (China Aid) — Church members across China still continue to grapple with persecution at the hands of government officials. Authorities in the country have settled into a practice of raiding churches during Sunday service. On June 16, authorities marched into the Shanxi-based Taiyuan Cornerstone Church, closed down the building, and hauled off worshipers. […]
AKWANGA, Nigeria (Morning Star News) – As a Baptist church member tried to fight off an armed Muslim Fulani herdsman in a village in north-central Nigeria, he told his 7-year-old nephew and other relatives to run. The boy remained, crying and calling for help. Jerome, whose real name is withheld for security reasons, recalled how gunshots woke […]
(Bitter Winter) — Campaigns to eliminate house churches are underway across China. In May, the United Front Work Department of Yanhu district in Yuncheng city in the northern province of Shanxi convened a meeting for grassroots-level officials to discuss religious affairs. One of the primary messages: to keep an eye on and prevent “foreign forces” […]
TIZI-OUZOU, Algeria (Morning Star News) – A judge on June 16 handed a Christian father of two in northwest Algeria a suspended prison sentence and a hefty fine for holding worship at his house, four days before another judge fined the owner of land that a church uses. Prosecutors had sought a six-month prison sentence and a […]
(International Christian Concern) — Young girls from a majority Christian community in Punjab, Pakistan were discovered to be repeatedly sold off into sex trafficking in China. These girls, who are from extremely poor Christian families, are sold with dreams of marrying some rich businessmen in China, but instead are forced into sex slavery. In one […]
(Evangelical Focus) — Despite the recent release of Catholic prisoner Asia Bibi, 218 people of faith are still in jail in Pakistan, due to the blasphemy laws; churches and Christian communities are targeted by Islamic terrorism, and religious freedom is far from being a reality in the country. Christian schools are also threatened by radicals, […]
(Persecution Relief) — Kerala police have detained a man for distributing Christian literature in a hospital in Kottayam. Evangelist Boban Koshy was picked up by police for passing out religious literature, called tracts. He asserts that he has the right to express his beliefs according to his constitutional rights and contends he did not disturb […]
(International Christian Concern) — A protestant church in central Ethiopia was asked to evacuate its premises after 10 years in the community. According to the Oromia Regional State Authorities, complaints were made about the level of noise made by the church. Sources close to the church and the pastor have said that the evacuation request […]