Christian Persecution

Americans Free But Thousands Still Jailed, Executed In North Korea

An international Christian advocacy group welcomed Wednesday, August 5, North Korea’s decision to release American journalists Euna Lee and Laura Ling but warned that at least 200,000 religious and political prisoners remain behind bars in labor camps across the isolated Communist nation, where executions of inmates continue.

NEWS ALERT: Pakistan Christians Mourn Eight Killed In Violence

Christians across Pakistan closed their schools Monday, August 3, to mourn the killings of at least eight fellow believers in troubled Punjab province, as the Vatican condemned what was the second incident of violence against Christians in a week.

NEWS ALERT: Trial Of Detained Chinese Uyghur Christian To Start Tuesday

Uyghur Christian prisoner Alimujiang Yimiti was to appear in front of a Chinese court Tuesday, July 28, on what human rights groups have described as “false charges” of “revealing state secrets or intelligence to overseas organizations,” but his wife and children are not allowed to monitor the hearing, Christians said.

Turkey Christians Fear No Justice For Killers Of Publishers

Turkish Christians fear those responsible for murdering three Christian publishers will not face justice and that authorities will be unable to tackle “structural injustice” towards the country’s Christian minority, trial observers said.

Chinese Christians Sue Authorities Over Detentions, Raids

Christians in China’s Shaanxi Province are suing law enforcement authorities for “illegally” detaining and fining them and confiscating their personal properties, in a case that could impact house churches, Worthy News learned Saturday July 25.

China Forces Raid Bible School

Security forces raided a Bible school in eastern China run by the vice-president of the Chinese House Church Alliance (CHCA) and briefly detained a dozen people, a Christian advocacy group said Monday July 20.

BREAKING NEWS: Prominent Vietnam Pastor Flees Encircled Home; Wife Beaten, Dissidents

A prominent Mennonite pastor and religious rights advocate has escaped from his besieged home in central Vietnam after “several months of police encirclement” to seek “help, food and medication” for his children and frail wife, who has been abused by police, dissidents said in messages obtained by BosNewsLife Monday, July 20.

100,000 Protest Detention Chinese Christian Lawyer

A petition calling for the release of a prominent Christian human rights lawyer, which was signed by some 100,000 people around the world, has been delivered to the Chinese embassy in Washington and the U.S. State Department, organizers said Friday, July 17.

Laos Christians Pressured To Worship “Local Spirits”

Dozens of Christian families in a village in Laos have been warned they will lose their homes and remaining live stock unless they abandon Christianity and start worshiping “local spirits” in accordance with Lao traditions, rights investigators said Thursday, July 16.

Belarus Threatens To Close Down Evangelical Church

An evangelical church in the Belarus’ capital Minsk faced uncertainty Thursday, July 16, as authorities threatened to close it because a foreign pastor preached at a worship service.

Indonesia Muslim Groups Oppose Church Construction

Muslims have protested the construction of a Protestant church in the capital of Indonesia’s South Sumatra Province, the latest in a series of obstacles against church projects in the mainly Muslim nation, news reports said Wednesday July 15.

China “Detains” Christian Teenagers For Organizing Youth Camp

At least five Christians, including two teenagers, were behind bars Wednesday, July 15, in China’s Shandong province, where worshipers and rights investigators said security forces raided a Christian youth camp and abolished a house church.

Cuba Evangelical Pastor Sentenced To Six Years Imprisonment

There was international concern Tuesday, July 14, over the detention of a Cuban Evangelical pastor, after news emerged he has been sentenced to six years in prison on charges that include “counter-revolutionary conduct and attitudes” as part of what rights investigators called “mounting state hostility towards religious groups.”

NEWS ALERT: American Missionaries Missing, Christians Detained In China

Two Chinese American missionaries were missing and at least four Christians remained detained Monday, July 13, following a police raid on a church in China’s volatile Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region where a riot last week left 184 people dead, Christians said.

Laos Authorities Slaughter Livestock Christian Families

Several impoverished Christian families in a rural area of Laos were without livestock Sunday, July 12, after authorities slaughtered the animals because they refused to renounce their faith, religious rights investigators said.

Worthy Christian News