Chinese Police Question 13 Christians for Holding House Church Services

Chinese Police Question 13 Christians for Holding House Church Services

JIANGMEN, Guangdong (China Aid) — 13 Christians in China’s southern Guangdong province were interrogated at the police station on Nov. 5 after police broke into their church service, ChinaAid learned recently. During a Sunday morning worship service at Qingcaodi Church on Nov. 5, a team of police officers and religious affairs bureau personnel invaded a […]

Appeal Hearings Set for Iranian, Azerbaijani Christians Sentenced to 10 Years for ‘Missionary Activities’

Appeal Hearings Set for Iranian, Azerbaijani Christians Sentenced to 10 Years for ‘Missionary Activities’

(World Watch Monitor) — Appeal hearings will take place on Sunday (Nov. 12) for an Iranian and three Azerbaijani Christians sentenced in May to 10 years in prison for “missionary activities” and “actions against national security” in Iran. The three Azerbaijanis – Eldar Gurbanov, Yusif Farhadov and Bahram Nasibov – were allowed to leave Iran in […]

Hindu Extremists Beat Pastor Unconscious in Southern India Following Conversions Among Banjaras

Hindu Extremists Beat Pastor Unconscious in Southern India Following Conversions Among Banjaras

HYDERABAD, India (Morning Star News) – Weeks after a pastor led a southern village’s first five families to faith in Christ, masked men on motorbikes intercepted him on his way home from worship and tried to kill him. Pastor Banothu Sevya, 26, was in a coma for 48 hours after the drunken Hindu extremists beat him in […]

Officials, Police in India Halt Worship in 10 Churches

Officials, Police in India Halt Worship in 10 Churches

NEW DELHI (Morning Star News) – Officials and police in Tamil Nadu state, India have ordered 10 churches to discontinue worship services, sources said. Hindu extremists compelled state officials and police to issue orders to the churches in Coimbatore District to stop worship unless they obtain permission from the collector’s office, and the extremists intend to […]

US Senators: Pakistan Should Be Designated ‘Country of Particular Concern’

US Senators: Pakistan Should Be Designated ‘Country of Particular Concern’

(World Watch Monitor) — Pakistan should be designated a “country of particular concern” because of its violations of religious freedom, according to a group of influential US senators. Senators Bob Menendez, Marco Rubio, Chris Coons, Todd Young, Jeff Merkley and James Lankford wrote to US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson ahead of the Nov. 13 deadline […]

Imprisoned Chinese Pastor Sues Government

Imprisoned Chinese Pastor Sues Government

GUIYANG, Guizhou (China Aid) — An imprisoned house church pastor filed a lawsuit against local government departments in China’s southern Guizhou province on Oct. 10, claiming his religious freedom had been violated and that a fine was wrongly imposed on him, ChinaAid learned recently. Li Guozhi, who is known by his alias, Yang Hua, pastored […]

Torture of Pastor in India Ruins His Livelihood, Hearing—But Not His Faith

Torture of Pastor in India Ruins His Livelihood, Hearing—But Not His Faith

HYDERABAD, India (Morning Star News) – A pastor in Uttar Pradesh, India has lost hearing in one ear after Hindu extremists tortured him, pressured police to falsely charge him and prevented doctors from treating him, sources said. Pastor Abhay Sagar, 37, of Biswan town in Sitapur District in the northern state, was about to begin preaching on Sept. […]

‘We Could Have Faced the Death Penalty’: Man Who Escaped North Korea Tells of Having to Keep Church ‘Secret’

‘We Could Have Faced the Death Penalty’: Man Who Escaped North Korea Tells of Having to Keep Church ‘Secret’

A North Korean man who escaped the country after being arrested, and was granted asylum in the United States, is telling his story of how he had to keep a church he founded underground and secret, else he possibly be put to death. “There were about nine people,” Choi Kwanghyuk told Fox News. “I couldn’t […]

Tajik Pastor Placed in Solitary Confinement in Prison Over 200 Miles From Home

Tajik Pastor Placed in Solitary Confinement in Prison Over 200 Miles From Home

(World Watch Monitor) — A Tajik Protestant church leader serving a three-year sentence for “singing extremist songs in church and so inciting religious hatred” has been moved to a prison 350km from his home and placed in solitary confinement. Bakhrom Kholmatov, 42, was sentenced in July under the Tajik Criminal Code Article 189 (“inciting national, […]