The whereabouts of an evangelical pastor in Iran remained unknown Saturday, August 27, some 10 days after he was detained by Iranian security forces as part of a reported government crackdown on Christian converts, Worthy News established.
Fifteen house church leaders from remote regions of China are being detained while local police attempt to extort money from their families for their release.
Iranian authorities seized thousands of Bibles in north-west Iran and destroyed a church in the Islamic country’s south-east as part of a wider crackdown on Christianity, Iranian Christians said in messages monitored by Worthy News.
An evangelical pastor who faces execution in Iran for refusing to abandon his Christian faith has urged fellow believers to remain faithful to Jesus Christ and the “Word of God” despite persecution, according to a letter obtained by 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.
Yet another case of academic alien-ation in Roswell, New Mexico?
A lawsuit by Liberty Counsel alleges that the Roswell Independent School District retaliated against a school Christian group by suspending its members after giving Krispy Kreme doughnuts with Bible verses to their teachers; one student was sent home and two others spent a Saturday morning alone in a classroom for four hours.
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.
Iran’s secretive supreme court has reportedly overturned a death sentence handed down to an evangelical pastor for leaving Islam, surprising trial observers who were earlier informed about an execution ruling.
Chinese authorities recently expelled yet another member of Beijing’s largest unregistered house churches.
Chuan Liang was the second member of the Shouwang “keeping watch” Church to be expelled from the city since authorities compelled the congregation to meet outdoors; the first expulsion came after Shouwang Church held its fifth consecutive outdoor Sunday worship service when 15 members were taken to 10 police stations across Beijing, but most were released within 24 hours.
Franklin Graham this past weekend held Spanish speaking meetings (Festival De Esperanza) – Festival of Hope – at The Home Depot Center, in Carson, California, where the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association’s Trevor Freeze says hundreds of Hispanic hearts were warmed and changed forever by the saving power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Being a Christian in Uzbekistan can be costly. Just ask Galina Shemetova who was ordered to pay a fine of 2,486,750 som, 50 times the minimum monthly pay for giving a colleague a children’s Bible. This amounts to $60,320US, four times the yearly pre-tax salary of a 40 hour-a-week minimum wage earner. Miss Shemetova not only had to pay the fine, but she was also beaten physically by police, a fact known by the Tashkent Court of Appeals.
Police detained 16 more members of Beijing’s Shouwang House Church and placed others under house arrest: two were held in protective custody while the rest were sent to 10 different police stations; most were released by Sunday morning.
An international advocacy group urged the U.S. government Friday, June 17, to condemn Indian authorities for reportedly asking three American Christians to leave India because they allegedly participated in evangelism.
Five Iranian house church Christians were behind bars Wednesday, March 15, after being sentenced to one year imprisonment on charges of “crimes against the Islamic order” and there were reports that Iranian authorities have been burning Bibles.
The often prosecuted founder of one of India’s largest evangelical mission groups that rescues orphans and abandoned children has died after a long battle with health problems, his family and organization confirmed Saturday, December 4.
Missionary Avery Willis, the co-founder of one of the world’s largest evangelistic movements ‘Call2all’, has died after losing his battle with leukemia, his family and the movement’s president confirmed Friday, July 30. He was 76.
A Turkish court on Friday, June 4, charged a Turkish man with murdering a Roman Catholic bishop — the latest in a series of violent attacks against the country’s tiny Christian minority.
Saudi Arabia’s security forces freed two German Christian girls kidnapped nearly a year ago in neighboring Yemen but the fate of their abducted parents, their infant brother and a British engineer remained unknown, officials and Christians said Tuesday, May 18.
An Iranian pastor jailed for 54 days on charges of “converting Muslims” to Christianity, spent Easter in freedom this weekend after he was temporary released on bail along with several other believers, Iranian Christians and rights investigators said.
Pakistani security forces freed hostages held in a church compound by over a dozen armed men and women on Friday, April 2, and detained several suspects, police officials and Christians told Worthy News and its partner agency BosNewsLife.