As the suppression of Christianity in India continues, earlier this month local authorities in Madhya Pradesh state imposed a ban on Christian religious gatherings in the Jhabua district, effectively shutting down over 50 house churches, International Christian Concern (ICC) reports.
...continue reading this storyChristian villages in Iraqi Kurdistan have been “emptied” in the last year as Turkey’s air force continues to bomb Kurdish forces connected to the PKK movement, Asia News reports. Christians have also fled from the cities of Zakho, Dohuk, Erbil, only to return because of airstrikes on the areas they escaped to.
...continue reading this storyAid workers have condemned the detention of a Nigerian Christian journalist after he covered attacks against mainly Christian communities in Nigeria.
...continue reading this storyA Christian who faced the death penalty in Pakistan for “blasphemy against Islam” was acquitted and quietly released after nearly 10 years in prison, Christian sources say.
...continue reading this storySouth Korea turned down asylum requests from dozens of Chinese Christians despite fears their deportation to China could mean imprisonment, “forced disappearances and torture,” Christians said.
...continue reading this storyA court in Pakistan has released on bail two Christian nurses charged with “defiling the Koran,” deemed a holy book by Muslims, Christians confirmed.
...continue reading this storyThe headmaster and other teachers at the Al-Thawra school in Upper Egypt’s Minya Governorate earlier this month ordered their Coptic Christian students to remove any jewelry with a cross, and then beat them, International Christian Concern (ICC) reports.
...continue reading this storyAs Hindu nationalist persecution of Christians in India continues to intensify, on November 14 a mob of Hindu radicals stormed the Mercy Divine Church in Bangalor, Karnataka state, throwing stones and chairs at congregants, International Christian Concern (ICC) reports. Christian persecution in India has increased dramatically since the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party took power in 2014.
...continue reading this storyIt was only recently reported that Islamic radicals in East Java, Indonesia, attacked and extensively damaged the home of a Protestant Christian man at the end of last month, apparently believing the house to be a church, International Christian Concern (ICC) reports. Indonesia’s Ministry of Religious Affairs has reportedly launched an investigation into the attack.
...continue reading this storyThe wife of Jeff Woodke, an American missionary who has been held hostage in Niger for five years, on Wednesday appealed to the US government to honor its promise to keep all options on the table in seeking her husband’s release, International Christian Concern (ICC) reports. Making her appeal at a press conference in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday, Els Woodke also called on the international church for help to finance the rescue effort.
...continue reading this story