Malaysia (Mission Network News) – Mystery and frustration surround the abduction of a Malaysian pastor. His disappearance reads like the script of an action movie. On Feb. 13, a group of masked men surrounded 62-year-old Raymond Koh and whisked him off the streets, all while another person stood recording the incident. It took 40 seconds […]
(China Aid/Morning Star News) – China Aid’s 2016 Annual Persecution Report details a seismic shift in the Chinese government’s approach to religious policy that is expected to lead to further persecution. The report’s core subject tracks a deviation in the Chinese government’s ideological approach to religious management. During the National Conference of Religious Work held […]
BABILE, Ethiopia (Open Doors USA) — Four teenage believers, three of them minors, served a one-month jail sentence after being convicted on charges of distributing Christian literature and “inciting religious violence.” The girls were reported to be “in good health” following their release from prison on Dec. 22. Gifti, 14; Mihiret, 14; Eden, 15; and […]
(Open Doors USA) — In parts of Mexico, going to church is risky and dangerous. Drug cartels are treading on the heels of churches in Mexico, extending their gripping power beyond the northern states where, for many years, they have been harassing entire communities ruthlessly. A very common practice drug traffickers have implemented to control whole […]
LIAOYANG, Liaoning (ChinaAid) — A court in China’s northeastern Liaoning province sentenced five Christian leaders to three to seven years behind bars on Wednesday for purchasing and selling prohibited Christian material. On Feb. 22, the defendants, comprised of four women and one man, learned they would be imprisoned for allegedly buying and selling “officially forbidden […]
JUBA, South Sudan (Morning Star News) – Sudan released Czech aid worker Petr Jasek on Saturday (Feb. 25), nearly one month after a court in Khartoum sentenced him to life in prison for espionage and other charges, according to reports. Jasek returned to the Czech Republic on Sunday with Czech Foreign Minister Lubomir Zaoralekj, who had […]
BEIJING (ChinaAid) — Fractured into small groups by persecution, a house church in Beijing recently informed China Aid that authorities were restricting their pastor. Meanwhile, their church is being refurbished without their approval. Six years after authorities banned Shouwang Church members from holding meetings outdoors, they revealed that their pastor, Jin Tianming, is still under […]
LAHORE, Pakistan (Morning Star News) – A 16-year-old Christian in Pakistan is languishing in jail under a baseless blasphemy charge after a judge declined to grant him bail this month, his attorney said. The judge in Punjab Province’s Kasur District on Feb. 7 denied bail to Nabeel Masih, who has been jailed since Sept. 18, 2016 […]
(World Watch Monitor) — The man charged with killing 39 people on New Year’s Eve at Istanbul’s exclusive Reina nightclub attack, Abdulkadir Masharipov, has testified before a Turkish court, saying, “My purpose was to kill Christians.” The Uzbek national was arraigned in court 11 Feb., nearly a month after he was captured by Istanbul police […]
WASHINGTON — Nearly 80 members of Congress have signed a letter to Turkish President Recep Erdoğan, calling for the immediate release of an American pastor who was jailed on an accusation that he is a member of a “terrorist organization.” Andrew Brunson and his wife Norine, who have been living in Turkey for over 20 […]