Muslim Extremist Murders Kurdish Christian
Kurdish Christian Ziwar Mohammed Ismaeel was shot dead in front of his taxi stand last month in Zakho, the northern-most city in the Kurdish safe-haven of Northern Iraq.
...continue reading this storyChristian Persecution
Uzbekistan Christians Forced Underground
Presbyterian Christians are forced to meet secretly in the former Soviet republic of Uzbekistan as the authorities are increasing pressure on non Muslim groups, ASSIST News Service monitored Thursday March 13.
...continue reading this storyAssyrian Christians Found to be "Strong, Full of Hope" Despite Major Difficulties
"Prayer is everything! God brought us safely from Baghdad to Mosul/Dohuk and the many small Assyrian Christian villages in the north of Iraq," writes Ken Joseph of a recent visit to northern Iraq.
...continue reading this storyPhilippines: Mindanao Suffers Continued Terrorist Attacks
Terrorists apparently have stepped up their attacks on Mindanao Island in southern Philippines.
...continue reading this storyFourteen Killed in Attack on Christian Village in the Philippines
Fourteen Christians, including three children, have been brutally killed in an attack on a Christian village in the southern Philippines by Islamic separatists.
...continue reading this storyAmericans Freed in Afghanistan Ask Prayer For Philippine Hostages
WACO, Texas (Compass) -- Imprisoned Christian aid workers Heather Mercer and Dayna Curry were freed from Afghanistan's Taliban as the country fell, city by city, to opposition forces. But a homecoming worship service showed they haven't forgotten believers still in captivity.
...continue reading this storyIndia's Christian Leaders Brace for Anti-Caste Rally
NEW DELHI, October 26 (Compass) -- Christian leaders planning to attend a large anti-caste system "conversion" rally in New Delhi on November 4 are bracing for a Hindu extremist backlash.
...continue reading this storyArab Christian Blocked From Leaving Sudan
ISTANBUL, January 30 (Compass) -- A Sudanese convert to Christianity was refused permission to board a flight to Uganda this morning at the Khartoum airport, where state security police said their computers identified him as a criminal.
...continue reading this storyTurkmenistan Atakov Freed from Prison, but Pressure Continues
Turkmenistan's most prominent religious prisoner, the Baptist Shageldy Atakov, has been freed before the end of his four-year sentence, Keston News Service has learnt. The US-based Russian Evangelistic Ministries and the German-based Friedensstimme Mission, which maintain close ties with Baptists in the former Soviet republics, have both confirmed that Atakov was released from prison in the Caspian port city of Turkmenbashi (formerly Krasnovodsk) early on 8 January and has now been reunited with his wife Artygul and five children in the town of Kaakhka close to Turkmenistan's southern border with Iran. "Jesus has given me a Christmas gift," Atakov was quoted as saying (many Christians in the region celebrate Christmas on 7 January).
...continue reading this storyAzerbaijan Baptist Pastor Vows to Fight Court Liquidation
Sary Mirzoyev, pastor of the Love Baptist Church in the Azerbaijani capital Baku, has told Keston News Service that he will fight attempts next week to liquidate his church as a legal entity. The hearing in the liquidation suit, brought by Rafik Aliev, chairman of the State Committee for Relations with Religious Organisations, begins on 23 January at the court of Baku's Narimanov district. Aliev is alleging that Pastor Mirzoyev preached against Islam and that therefore the church has violated the country's religion law and should be liquidated. "They have alleged that we are arousing religious hatred," Pastor Mirzoyev told Keston from Baku on 18 January. "I said nothing against Islam or against Muslims."
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