(Mission Network News) — FARMS International is grateful for the ministry they were able to engage in this past year as they make plans for growth in 2021. FARMS’ interest-free loans create a dependency-free way for families to establish agriculture and small businesses, breaking the cycle of poverty. The pandemic was especially hard on […]
(Article18) — Iran has denied systematically persecuting Christians, in response to a formal enquiry by six senior UN rights experts. In a letter dated Nov. 11 but only made public after Iran failed to respond within the 60-day deadline, the experts – including the special rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief, Ahmed Shaheed, and […]
(Barnabas Aid) — A significant Hindu religious ceremony (pooja) to a Hindu deity was held on the grounds of a Christian church in Sancoale, Goa, India but police have not yet filed a report on the church minister’s complaint under Indian laws that ban deliberate and harmful acts intended to “hurt the religious feelings” of […]
(Evangelical Focus) — During the period prior to the approval of the euthanasia law by the Spanish Parliament, several institutions, such as the Spanish Evangelical Alliance or the Spanish Bioethics Committee, expressed their public assessment of the regulations. After the law was ratified on Dec. 17, more voices have continued to speak out about its […]
(Barnabas Aid) — The Evangelical Fellowship of India (EFI) recorded 327 instances of discrimination and targeted violence against Christians in India in 2020, including five murders, at least six churches burned or destroyed, and 26 incidents of social boycotting, according to its yearly report, published on Jan. 14. The EFI acknowledged that the number of […]
(Radio Free Asia) — A prominent pastor of an unofficial Protestant “house church” in Beijing has been denied his state pension, with officials citing a criminal conviction linked to his faith activities, RFA has learned. House church elder Xu Yonghai, who just turned 60, was turned away by a Beijing municipal government service center after […]
SANTA ANA, Calif. — The annual World Watch List released by the watchdog Open Doors USA shows that the COVID-19 pandemic presented another avenue for those hostile to Christianity in Asia and Africa to persecute believers. It also finds that an estimated one in eight Christians worldwide suffers for their faith. “The coronavirus pandemic was […]
(The Christian Institute) — University College London (UCL) has apologized for its “fundamental role” in the development of eugenic beliefs and practices. Following an independent inquiry into the history of eugenics at UCL, the institution expressed “deep regret” for “legitimizing” the harmful ideology. Eugenicists associated with UCL include Sir Francis Galton — who coined […]
(Evangelical Focus) — A group of people of the “Tzotzil” ethnic group destroyed five houses of evangelical families in the Mitzitón community, in the municipality of San Cristóbal, Chiapas (Mexico). The leader of the evangelical organization Alas de Aguila, Esdras Alonso González, reported that the events took place on Sunday January, 10. Two evangelical “Tzotzil” […]
India (Mission Network News) — For the second year in a row, Open Doors ranks India 10th on the list of countries where it’s most challenging to be a Christian. “But even [amid] that persecution, God grows and strengthens his Church,” says David Reeves, President and CEO of unfoldingWord. The resourcing ministry is celebrating unexpected […]