(Middle East Concern) — Algerian Christians are grateful that Slimane Bouhafs, imprisoned since September 2016 for blasphemy, has received a partial pardon. His three-year sentence was reduced by 16 months on July 5, the national day of Algeria, following a decree by President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, which provided clemency to several prisoners on account of good […]
HYDERABAD, India (Morning Star News) – A pastor in northern India’s Punjab state was shot dead in front of his church premises two months after Hindu extremists took offense at a gospel event celebrating his church’s 25th anniversary, sources said. Pastor Sultan Masih of Temple of God was found shot dead at Peer Banda Mohalla in the Salem Tabri […]
Eritrea (Mission Network News) — Homes. Graveyards. Shipping Containers. These are the meeting places of the Eritrean Church. Over 100 believers have been arrested in Eritrea during the last month, but Greg Musselman of Voice of the Martyrs Canada says the recent crackdown is nothing new for the nation. Fifteen years ago the Evangelical Church […]
NAIROBI, Kenya (Morning Star News) – Al Shabaab militia over the weekend killed 13 non-Muslims, mostly Christians, in coastal Kenya, sources said. Village Muslims in the Pandanguo settlement of Lamu County helped Islamic extremists from the Somalia-based Al Shabaab identify locations where the Christians resided, a survivor of the attack told Morning Star News from […]
(Middle East Concern) — Iranian Christians request prayer for Pastor Victor Bet Tamraz, Amin Afshar Naderi and Hadi Asgari, who face long prison sentences. Following a hearing on June 11, Judge Ahmadpour issued his verdict on July 3 and 4. Pastor Victor was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment, Amin to 15 years (possibly including time […]
(World Watch Monitor) — Pakistan has ordered a South Korean man to leave the country, accusing him of involvement in “illegal preaching activities” after two of his students at an Urdu-language school were abducted and killed by the Islamic State group, which claimed they had been secretly preaching Christianity. “Investigations have revealed that [Juan Won-seo] […]
OTTAWA (Reuters) — The family of a Canadian pastor serving a life sentence in North Korea is concerned for his welfare after the death of an American student who was imprisoned there. They want Canada to work harder to secure his release, a spokesperson said on Wednesday. Hyeon Soo Lim, who served at one of […]
HUAIBEI, Anhui (ChinaAid) — The local government in China’s eastern Anhui province dispatched more than 10 officers to the home of an incarcerated church pastor on June 14 and searched it, confiscating important materials. Wang Hong, the wife of Caili Church pastor Chen Shixin, told a ChinaAid reporter that group of more than 10 public […]
JIANGMEN, Guangdong (ChinaAid) — Incarcerated Christians endured harsh interrogations in China’s southern Guangdong province this week, during which officials ordered them to confess that they had participated in an “evil cult,” a charge often levied against Christians for their church activities. On June 12, authorities stalked Ruan Haonan, a member of Fengle Church who hosts […]
(World Watch Monitor) — Two-year-old Anita Sihotang cannot bear the sound of her father’s motorbike because it reminds her of the noise of the explosion last November, when a petrol bomb was thrown into a church park where children were playing, killing one child and seriously injuring Anita and two four-year-olds. Whenever her father turns […]