ASHEVILLE, North Carolina — An American pastor who was imprisoned in Iran for over three years is now speaking about his time behind bars, acknowledging that he and others were beaten by Iranian authorities. “In interrogation, once they beat me very badly,” Saeed Abedini told Fox’s Greta Van Susteren on Monday, “because they wanted me […]
GUIZHOU, China (China Aid) — After serving two administrative detention and one criminal detention sentences, the pastor of a house church in China’s southern Guizhou province was arrested on suspicion of “divulging state secrets” today, shortly after officials rejected his colleague’s administrative reconsideration application on Jan. 11. Li Guozhi, also known by his alias, Yang […]
ASHEVILLE, N.C. — An American pastor who was imprisoned in Iran for over three years and was among four U.S. citizens released on Saturday in a prisoner swap has now landed on American soil. Saeed Abedini flew into North Carolina on Thursday afternoon, where he met his parents at the Billy Graham Training Center in Asheville. […]
(KSDK-TV) — An American missionary was among at least 28 people killed in an attack Friday night in West Africa that has been claimed by al Qaeda. The family of Mike Riddering told NBC news that his wife Amy identified his body at the morgue in Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso. The St. Louis-based […]
KARAJ, Iran — An American pastor who has been imprisoned in Iran for over three years as part of an eight-year prison sentence has been set free in a prisoner swap between the U.S. and Iran. “It is confirmed: Saeed is released!” Saeed Abedini’s wife Naghmeh posted on social media this morning. As previously reported, […]
LAHORE, Pakistan (Morning Star News) – Muslims in a town in Pakistan’s Punjab Province who seized a church property have disrupted a prayer meeting at a private residence, sources said. After police arranged a reconciliation meeting between the Muslims and members of the congregation in Sialkot District on Jan. 4, the Muslims instead armed themselves with […]
PYONGYANG — An American being held in North Korea on espionage charges is a Christian missionary who was working in the nation to help the poor, reports state. The man, who served as a pastor in Fairfax, Virginia before moving to Yanji, China, was identified as Kim Dong-chul, 60. “He told the churches that he was […]
SANTA ANA, Calif. — A watchdog organization that releases a report each year on the global persecution of Christians states that 2015 marked “unprecedented” levels of persecution on every continent, fulfilling its prediction from it previous report that matters would get worse. “The levels of exclusion, discrimination and violence against Christians is unprecedented, spreading and intensifying,” David Curry, […]
TIZI-OUZOU, Algeria (Morning Star News) – Unknown “thugs” who wrote a jihadist slogan on a church building in the center of this city on the Algerian coast on Thursday night (Jan. 7) looted and damaged the property, sources said. The assailants vandalized or stole furniture, worship items and money worth about US$8,000 from the Light (Tafat) […]
JHENAIDAH, Bangladesh — The barbaric Islamic group ISIS, also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, has claimed responsibility for the murder of a Bangledishi man who reportedly converted to Christianity from Islam. “Soldiers of the caliphate were able to eliminate the apostate, named ‘Samir al-Din’, by stabbing him with a knife,” the SITE Intelligence […]