India: Christian persecution expected to intensify in 2021
A new report forecasts that Christians in India will be subject to increased persecution in 2021, International Christian Concern (ICC) reports.
Christian Persecution
Important new report on religious persecution in North Korea: Christians are the most targeted among faith groups
A groundbreaking new study entitled “Persecuting Faith” has found that Christianity is the most persecuted faith in secretive North Korea, Christianity Today reports. Drawing on the testimonies of 117 defectors, the 2020 report was published by the Korea Future Initiative (KFI) in the hope it will inform any future human rights sanctions applied to North Korea by Western countries.
Sudan: Amid hope of less Christian persecution, church tent is burned down 5 times and congregants threatened
Islamic terrorists in Sudan have burned down a church’s worship tent five times and have threatened to kill congregants if they put up another tent and continue to worship, Morning Star News reports. Sudanese Christians hope that Islamic persecution against them will diminish as dictator Omar al-Bashir was deposed in Apr. 2019 and Sudan has a new transitional government led by Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok.
Hungary Praising Trump For Supporting Persecuted Christians
Hungary, where believers suffered under communism, has praised “the Trump administration” for raising the issue of persecuted Christians amid concerns about terror attacks.
Hungary Warns Of Christian Persecution in Europe
Hungary’s anti-migration government has warned that surging Christian persecution must end worldwide, including in Europe, which faced several Islamic terror attacks.
Eritrea Releases 69 Christian Prisoners After Years In Jail
Eritrea released at least 69 Christian prisoners this month, including many detained in horrific circumstances for their faith “for up to 16 years without trial,” aid workers told Worthy News.
Wycliffe Associates Provides Technology to Keep Projects Moving Forward Despite Coronavirus Restrictions
Wycliffe Associates, an international organization that empowers mother-tongue Bible translators and partners with local churches in the advancement of Bible translation, is providing computer tablets and virtual tools to help mother-tongue translators continue their work in spite of COVID-19 and oppression from anti-Christian authorities.
Member of Anglican Church in Iran imprisoned for being hostile to the regime
A Christian convert in Iran has won an appeal against conviction for “insulting the sacred beliefs of Muslims,” but lost his appeal against two charges of inciting “propaganda against the state” and for “membership of a [“Zionist” evangelical] group hostile to the regime” respectively, the Christian Post reports. Ismaeil Maghrebinejad was arrested in January 2019 and sentenced by a civil court in January 2020 to a total of six years imprisonment on the original three charges.
Maoist Rebels Murder Protestant Pastor in India
Indian church leaders have condemned the killing of a young Protestant missionary and pastor by suspected Maoist rebels in western India.
Doubts Over Hungary‘s Support For Persecuted Christians
Hungary’s right-wing government has come under pressure amid reports that it spends more on anti-migration propaganda than on support for persecuted Christians.
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.
Hindu Violence Spreading In East India
Hindu violence and threats against minority Christians spread in eastern India, a leading advocacy group says.
Christians in India berated and falsely charged by police for handing out food to the poor
A pastor and a team of youth missionaries from his church were abused and falsely charged in India earlier this month for providing food and clothing to the poor, in another instance of police complicity with the radical Hindu nationalist agenda.
Hindu nationalists and police in India siding together against Christians
A young pastor in India and his congregation were attacked by a 200-man-strong mob of Hindu nationalists brandishing hockey sticks last week, sending the Christians to prison, where they endured a demonic level of police brutality.
China take advantage of crisis to demolish churches, destroy crosses
China is using the widespread coronavirus outbreak within its borders as an opportunity to attack Christian faith, with the communist government demolishing churches or removing their crosses over the month of March.
Iranians to be released from prison in droves as government fumbles to contain coronavirus
Iranian Christians are asking for prayer support as the Islamic Republic, in an effort to stop the spread of coronavirus, has begun releasing huge crowds of prisoners that include persecuted Christians.
Locust plague begins to spread from Africa to Middle East and Asia
Locusts swarming across eastern Africa have now made their way out of the continent, into the Middle East, and as far as India, Pakistan, and China, though authorities in east Asia say they are not yet worried about the locusts coming further inland.
Kidnapped Christian girl in Pakistan returned to family, which is still receiving threats from captors
A 14-year-old Christian girl kidnapped from her school in Pakistan in January as been restored to her family, but not before receiving severe beatings and being raped by her captors, who are still threatening her family.
‘Pirated Bibles’ now the object of raids in China
Bibles have become a target of government raids in China, where the communist regime is now attempting to eliminate all ‘pornography and illegal publications,’ forcing some believers to consider hiding stashes of Bibles in the mountains.
Christians deploy to help east Africans against locust swarms ‘as big as major cities’
Christian aid groups, along with pesticide-wielding UN troops, are deploying to eastern Africa to fight a locust swarm that experts say is the worst to hit the region in 70 years and could grow by 500 times between now and June.