PRABUMULIH, Indonesia – An education official in Indonesia sparked a firestorm of criticism after he suggested that teenage girls should undergo virginity tests before entering high school. Muhammad Rasyid is the education chief in Prabumulih, Indonesia—a city of 130,000 in South Sumatra. Indonesia is a southeast Asian country with a population of 240 million. Over […]
SUDAN – Following increased persecution in northern Africa, a major Christian organization has announced plans to evacuate over 3,000 Christians from Sudan in coming months. Since South Sudan seceded from its northern counterpart two years ago, Christians in Sudan have suffered under heavy persecution from the predominantly Islamic culture, where Sharia law is enforced. Demographic […]
EGYPT – As violent unrest continues to throw Egypt into chaos, Christians are increasingly finding themselves to be the targets of persecution and abuse. Presently, the greatest threat to Egyptian Christians comes from supporters of Mohamed Morsi—the Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated president who was ousted last month. According to recent statistics, only 13% of Egypt’s 85 million […]
EDINBURGH – A high court in Scotland has charged a man with the equivalent of over $60,000 for criticizing a homosexual woman on Twitter. Earlier this month, the Court of Session in Edinburgh—known as the supreme civil court of Scotland—ruled that 54-year-old David Shuttleton should give Jaye Richards-Hill $62,000 as restitution for Tweets he posted […]
CAMEROON – The government of Cameroon is severely cracking down this month on Pentecostal churches, vowing to shut down nearly 100 congregations. Paul Biya, the president of the western African nation, says the closures are an attempt to prevent Pentecostal pastors from conducting “criminal practices” that allegedly threaten Cameroon’s national security. Thus far, at least […]
Murrieta, Calif. — An attorney for two Christians who were vindicated in court this week after being arrested in 2011 for reading the Bible outside of a Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) office in California says that the case resembled more of his childhood memories of communist Romania more than the USA. As previously reported, Pastor […]
An American pastor who is imprisoned in his homeland of Iran for planting house churches in the country over a decade ago is suffering with increasing pain, reports state. The American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ), which has been fighting for the release of Saeed Abedini, a 32-year old pastor who has been incarcerated in […]
An American Christian who was sentenced to 15 years of hard labor in North Korea earlier this year has been hospitalized due to failing health, reports state. As previously reported, Kenneth Bae, who operates a Washington-based tourist company, was arrested not far from the city of Yanji last November, where some Christian groups provide aid […]
GUANGZHOU, China – One of the most influential leaders of China’s Christian home church movement has died at the age of 88. Samuel Lamb (known by some as Samuel Lam) was born in 1924 to Christian parents in mainland China. As reported by World Watch Monitor, Lamb preached his first sermon when he was only […]
PHOENIX — A family from Arizona was scheduled to returned to the states on Sunday after they embarked this past spring to find refuge elsewhere due to their concerns about the American government’s increasing infringement upon religious freedom. Hannah Gastonguay and her husband Sean gathered their two children and Sean’s father this past May and […]