It’s been a tough time to be a Christian in Laos.
In Luang Namtha Province, Pastor Seng Aroun of Kon church and three other Christians from Sounya village were arrested in July by provincial authorities and detained at Luang Namtha’s provincial prison. Although most were soon released, the authorities ordered all Christians in Sounya village to stop worshiping in private homes, according to Human Rights Watch for Lao Religious Freedom.
The Tajikistan Parliament recently adopted two new laws that could ban children from participating in religious activities.
Pastor Shi Enhao, deputy chairman of the Chinese House Church Alliance, has been sentenced to two years of “re-education through labor,” an extra-judicial punishment handed out by police that requires no trial or conviction of a crime, Worthy News has learned.
Protestants in the eastern Turkish province of Van have finally succeeded in opening a house church after seven years of struggling with local bureaucracies, yet they are still concerned by the hostile rhetoric coming from their local officials.
Last month, in June, the Burmese (Myanmar) military ended a 17-year ceasefire causing more than 20,000 civilians to flee their homes in Kachin state, Worthy News has learned.
Two Indian Christians of a thriving Pentecostal house church in Saudi Arabia were back in their home country Sunday, July 24, after they were unexpectedly released by Saudi officials from an overcrowded prison, a church official confirmed to Worthy News.
An Iranian house church Christian was spending another day in brief freedom Thursday, July 21, after he was temporarily released from jail following the payment of a bail amount of some $101,000 in local currency, Iranian Christians said.
Police arrested three pastors of the Gospel Messengers Team along with the couple who hosted them in Bighapur on false charges of forcibly converting people of other religions.
Facing a possible death sentence, Eyob Mussie, a Christian refugee living in Saudi Arabia, was instead informed that he will be returned to Eritrea, a nation where returnees often face imprisonment, torture and even death.
Christians prepared for a difficult weekend in Nigeria amid reports of a second bomb attack on a church close to the capital Abuja following deadly violence by suspected Muslim militants that already killed several Christians.
Several Gospel for Asia missionaries are encountering intense opposition, but persecution is not uncommon in this part of the world: entire families have been forced to leave their homes and villages because of the cause of Christ.
An unofficial translation of the Iranian Supreme Court’s decision to execute Pastor Youcef Nadakhani was obtained by Worthy News on Monday, July 18.
Rights activists and religious groups in Armenia say new legislation will increase intolerance towards the country’s evangelical Christians and other minorities, some of whom already face prosecution for their church activities.
Since the Egyptian “January 25 Revolution,” the number of Christian girls coerced into converting to Islam has skyrocketed, according to Father Filopateer Gamil of St. Mary’s Church, Giza.
A feud between the Kona and Mumuye tribes in eastern Nigeria has resulted in the deaths of as many as 100 people, including Christians, more than previous estimates, missionaries said.
Vietnamese security forces beheaded pastors and shot to death “many” other Hmong Christians who gathered to await Christ’s return after a false prophecy by an American preacher, according to a leading advocacy group’s leader.
Amid all the news over the world’s newest nation, South Sudan, Carl Moeller of Open Doors fears something was overlooked.
“We are rejoicing that there are increased freedoms in the South,” said Moeller, “but we have to ask the question: What about the Christians in the North?”
The Iranian Supreme Court’s ruling on the appeal against the death sentence of Youcef Nadarkhani by a lower court was finally delivered to his attorney.
Two pastors arrested six months ago on charges of holding a “secret meeting” during a Christmas celebration without government approval languish in prison without a trial. Officials continue to offer them the option of renouncing their faith and walking free.
The United States has condemned reported plans by Iran to execute an Iranian pastor if he does not abandon his faith in Christ, Worthy News established Tuesday, July 12.