Pakistan: Easter Tense Following Anti-Christian Attack
Pakistani Muslim and Christian leaders are working to defuse tensions in a Punjab city after rumors of “blasphemy†sparked mob action against the Christian community this week.
Christian
China House Church Leader Gets One Year “Harsh Labor” For Preaching To Communist Official
China has sentenced a key house church leader “to one year re-education through labor” for explaining the Gospel of Jesus Christ to a Communist Party official, fellow believers confirmed Saturday, March 31.
Pakistan: Christian Prisoners Win Back Jail ‘Church’
More than 160 Christian prisoners ended a two-day hunger strike last week after authorities in Pakistan’s Punjab province permitted them to resume religious services, a non-governmental organization worker said.
Iraq: Christian Sisters Slain in Robbery Attempt
The murder of two Christian women in their Kirkuk home this week highlights growing insecurity facing Christians, often targeted for money in war-torn Iraq.
India State “Closes” Church For Singing Loud Amid Violence Against Believers
There was concern Wednesday, March 28, about the plight of evangelical Christians in the Indian state of Kerala after reports that the local government for the first time shut down a church amid violent attacks against believers.
Ethiopia Muslim Militants Kill Evangelist; More Violence Feared
An Ethiopian evangelist was beaten to death by militant Muslims as he and two young women were evangelizing in the Ethiopian city of of Jimma, and there were fears the incident could spark widespread violence against Christian believers, Christian rights investigators said Thursday, March 29.
Pakistani Christian man booked under blasphemy law
Pakistani Christians continue to bear the brunt of the country’s blasphemy laws as yet another Christian man has been booked for allegedly tearing and setting ablaze the pages of the Quran, the Muslim holy book.
Nigeria: Muslims Club Christian Teacher to Death
Christianah Oluwatoyin Oluwasesin, a teacher at Government Secondary School of Gandu in this northern Nigerian town, was in high spirits last Wednesday (March 21) as she made her way to school where she teaches government.
India Hindu Militants Threaten To Burn Christians; Attacks Against Pastors And Evangelists
Tensions remained high Monday, March 26, in a Christian area of the Indian state of Orissa after Hindu militants threatened to set homes of Christians on fire while elsewhere in India evangelists and missionaries were attacked.
Two Pastors arrested in Rajasthan
Police arrested Pastor Philip Abraham from Noida and Pastor Jacob Kunjumon from Mumbai in Ganga Nagar, Rajasthan on March 23, 2007 with the charges of alleged force conversion and insulting Hindu gods.
Uzbekistan Pastor Appeals Against Labor Camp Sentence
Protestant pastor Dmitry Shestakov has appealed against the four-year sentence to one of Uzbekistan’s open labor camps which was imposed by authorities in retaliation for his Christian work, investigators and local Christians close to the case said Friday, March 23.
Indonesia Militants Imprisoned For Beheading Christian Girls
An Islamic militant began serving a 20-year jail sentence Thursday, March 22, on charges of plotting the 2005 beheadings of three Christian girls on Indonesia’s volatile Sulawesi island. Two other militants involved in the crime were sentenced to 14 years.
Nigeria: Sokoto State Stifles Growth of Church Buildings
The Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), one of the largest Pentecostal churches in Nigeria, is also one of the fastest growing churches in Africa. It is a cradle of miraculous healing, signs and wonders, but there is one miracle the church in this northern city has been unable to muster: keeping a Shiite sect from taking over its property.
China “Beats” And Detains Wife Of Chinese House Church Leader, Group Says
The mistreated wife of a senior Chinese house church leader was sentenced to ten days administrative detention in Henan province on Monday, March 19, on charges of “disturbing public order,” observers close to the trial said.
China Releases House Church Leader; Mother Remains Detained
A senior house church leader was free Saturday, March 17, after being released following ten days administrative detention, but the 77-year old mother of a Christian activist remained behind bars, representatives said.
Indian Hindu Militants Burn Down Church, Attack Pastors
Christians in India’s southern state of Andhra Pradesh on Wednesday, March 14, were preparing to rebuild their church, hours after it was burnt down by Hindu militants, while elsewhere in the country several Christian leaders were recovering from injuries following violent attacks against them.
Nigeria: Muslims Kidnap, Convert Christian Children
Beginning in November of last year, 13-year-old Victor Udo Usen, a member of the Christ Apostolic Church in this northern Nigeria city, went missing.
Uzbekistan: Pastor Condemned to Four Years in Uzbek Gulag
An Uzbek criminal court has sentenced Christian pastor Dmitry Shestakov to four years in a prison colony for alleged “illegal†religious activities.
Four Christians Missing In Sri Lanka As Fighting Intensifies
There was mounting concern Tuesday, March 13, about the whereabouts of an evangelical Sri Lankan pastor, his two sons, and another Christian young man who disappeared this month amid intense fighting between Sri Lanka’s government forces and the independence seeking Tamil Tiger rebels, Christians said.
Vietnam Releases Christian Activist But Human Rights Lawyer Remains Detained
A Christian pro-democracy activist was released by Vietnamese authorities Tuesday, March 13, after spending over 12 hours in police custody, but the whereabouts of a human rights lawyer remained unknown, dissidents told BosNewsLife.