Christian Converts Sentenced In Iran
Seven people who turned from Islam to Christianity have received prison terms, fines, or work restrictions in Iran for “propaganda against the state,” trial observers confirmed Wednesday.
Christian Persecution
Messianic congregation wins decisive legal victory against anti-missionary organization
After suffering many years of sustained harassment by anti-missionary group Yad l’Achim, the Beit Hallel Messianic congregation in Ashdod has just won a lawsuit against the organization, Kehila News Israel (KNI) reports. In a resounding victory for believers in Israel, a local court issued a restraining order against Yad l’Achim activists that prevents them, among other things, from coming within 100 meters of Beit Hallel property and congregants’ private homes.
Yazidis and Christians face existential threat in northeast Syria following Turkish intervention and US pull back of troops
The US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) heard last week that President Donald Trump’s partial withdrawal of American troops from northeast Syria in 2019 created a vacuum in which Turkey and Turkish-backed militia have been able to threaten local vulnerable civilian populations including Christians and Yazidis. Condemning Turkey’s latest airstrikes and ground operations in the region, the USCIRF called for the US government to “utilize all diplomatic and economic leverage to protect vulnerable religious minorities in northern Iraq — as well as neighboring northeastern Syria — from Turkey’s indiscriminate military operations,” the Christian Post reported.
Iran Christian Convert: ‘15 Christians Detained for Faith’
An Iranian Christian rights activist who was jailed for protesting against Iran’s Islamic government says more than a dozen Christians remain behind bars in the country’s overcrowded prisons.
Iranian Christians Risk Their Lives to Help Neighbors in COVID-19 Crisis
Religious freedom group Open Doors USA has been told that Christians in Iran are risking their lives to help fellow citizens with food and hygiene parcels during the coronavirus outbreak, Fox News reported Thursday. Known internationally for its radical Islamic terrorism, Iran is the epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic in the Middle East.
Christian Family Shot and Injured in Pakistan
Two members of a Christian family have been shot and wounded after buying a house in a Muslim neighborhood, Christian activists said Friday. The shooting happened after Nadeem Joseph reportedly purchased a home in the TV Colony in Pakistan’s volatile northwestern city of Peshawar in late May.
UK Parliamentary Report Warns of Christian Genocide in Nigeria
Thousands of Christians in Nigeria have been murdered by Muslim militants in recent years, and now a UK parliamentary report has warned of an “unfolding genocide” in the African state, Christian Today reports. The UK All-Party Parliamentary Group for International Freedom of Religion or Belief (APPG-FoRB) said in its report that armed Muslim Fulani herdsmen have caused “untold human and economic devastation” for Christian farming communities.
South Korea Halting Bible Deliveries To North Korea
South Korea’s government is cracking down on efforts to get Bibles into North Korea, Worthy News learned Saturday.
Washington Outraged Over Beheading of Christians And Other Religious Rights Abuses
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo expressed concern Wednesday about ongoing beheadings and other abuses of Christians and other faith groups in several nations.
US Condemns China Over ‘Repression’ of Christians and other Minorities
The United States accused China’s leadership on Wednesday of increasing repression of Christians and other minorities while forcing religious groups to adopt its communist ideology. In remarks obtained by Worthy News, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that “In China, state-sponsored repression against all religions continues to intensify.”
Christian Boy Hacked To Death in India
Suspected Hindu nationalists hacked to death a Christian teenage boy in eastern India amid efforts to eradicate devoted Christians from the area, Worthy News learned Wednesday.
Muslim Fulani in North-Central Nigeria Slaughter Nine Christians, Including Women and Children
Muslim Fulani herdsmen hacked to death and shot nine Christians in Nigeria’s Kaduna state on June 3rd, Morning Star News (MSN) reported. Women and children were among those slain and seven other people were kidnapped at gunpoint during a Muslim Fulani assault on the predominantly Christian Tudun Doka village in Kajuru County. MSN sources said this latest Fulani attack occurred while the bodies of over 30 Christians murdered in previous invasions still lay in nearby villages: surviving residents had to flee and have not been able to bury their loved ones’ corpses.
Islamic Militants Murder at Least 58 in Attacks Targeting Christians in Burkina Faso
Targeting Christians, Islamic militants in Burkina Faso murdered at least 58 people in attacks carried out on May 29 and 30, the Christian Post reported. Burkina Faso has been besieged with armed groups linked to al-Qaeda and the Islamic State for more than four years.
China Government Resumes Crack-Down on Churches
Having relaxed its COVID-19 restrictions, in April the Chinese government resumed and intensified its crack-down on churches, the Christian Post reports. At least 48 Three-Self churches and meeting places were reportedly shut down in Yugan County in the province of Jiangxi from April 18 to 30. Over 10 percent of the more than 1 million residents of Yugan County are Protestants attending some 300 official Three-Self churches.
Hindu Violence Spreading In East India
Hindu violence and threats against minority Christians spread in eastern India, a leading advocacy group says.
27 Killed In Attack On Mali Christians
Heavily armed suspected Islamic jihadists on motorcycles targeted mainly Christian Dogon farming villages in central Mali, killing at least 27 people, aid workers said Tuesday.
India Christian Families Injured and Hiding after Hindu Attacks
Three Christian families were hiding in India’s Chhattisgarh state on Sunday after they were attacked by Hindu nationalists while sleeping in their homes, rights investigators confirmed.
Uganda Muslim Father Burns Daughter Over Christian Conversion
Christians remained concerned Thursday about the plight of a young woman in Uganda who was reportedly burned by her father for converting to Christianity.
Christian Families in India Threatened with Death if They do not Reconvert to Animism
Sixteen Christian families from a church in India’s Jharkhand were physically threatened every night for nearly three weeks by gangs of animist worshippers demanding they reconvert to the Sarna religion, Morning Star News reported on May 26. The families (around 130 people) have ancestral connections to the religion, whose followers worship a god called Dharmes.
Eritrea Online Protest Targets Massive Detention of Christians (Worthy News In-depth)
Leading rights groups and church officials will hold Thursday their annual protest and prayer vigil against the reported massive persecution of Christians in Eritrea for the first time online, amid ongoing coronavirus lockdown restrictions in Britain.