When fleeing Palestinian fighters forced their way into Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity April 2, Israeli soldiers found themselves laying siege to one of Christianity's holiest sites.
...continue reading this storyOn the day Baku's Protestant Greater Grace church was celebrating Easter, police in the city's central Sabail district tried to forcibly deport a church member, alleging that she had been conducting religious "propaganda". One of the church's pastors, Musfig Bayram, told Keston News Service from Baku that police took Nina Koptseva, a Russian citizen who has a residence permit to live in Baku, to the city's railway station on Sunday morning (31 March), bought her a ticket to the Russian border and tried to place her on the train without any court decision.
...continue reading this storySome time ago I was invited to present a two-day seminar in a church about the Middle East conflict. During the course of those sessions, we used an abundance of scriptures, carefully presented in their context, to clearly explain why the land is God's, that He entrusted it to Israel as a permanent possession, and what are the challenges of Islam. At the end of the two days, the senior Pastor told a couple in his church: "Well, I'd like to hear the Palestinian side..."
...continue reading this storyAn Ethiopian and Filipino Christian jailed since last summer in the Saudi Arabian port city of Jeddah were released and deported to their home countries over Easter weekend.
...continue reading this storyNew Tribes Mission has issued a news release denying "any participation in attempts to pay ransom or raise money for ransom" for the release of missionaries Martin and Gracia Burnham who were kidnapped in the Philippines on May 27 of last year.
...continue reading this storyAttorneys for a Chinese Christian leader who barely escaped execution in January want his retrial to be conducted in public this time, according to sources close to the case.
...continue reading this storyIn a rare criticism of the kingdom's powerful religious police, Saudi media have accused the force of hampering efforts to rescue 15 girls who died inside a blazing school, Reuters news service reports.
...continue reading this storyAs believers who claim their rights have been violated by the state authorities debate and argue over the best way to resolve such violations, Keston News Service has discovered that Rafik Aliev, chairman of the State Committee for Relations with Religious Organisations, has repeatedly warned believers not to take their complaints to foreigners.
...continue reading this storyUnidentified terrorists hurled grenades into a Protestant worship service in the diplomatic quarter of Pakistan's capital city yesterday, killing five worshippers and wounding another 40 members of the congregation.
...continue reading this storyThe treatment of Chinese Christians--who now outnumber Chinese Communist Party members--must be placed near the top of the agenda when President Bush meets Friday with Chinese President Jiang Zemin.
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