China: Crackdown and closure of house churches continues

China’s ruling Communist Party is continuing its crackdown and closure of evangelical house churches: earlier this month, the Covenant Home Church in Shanxi province was issued with an official notice that it has been banned and must close, reports Bitter Winter, a news outlet focused on religious liberty and human rights in China.

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Nigeria: Parish priest kidnapped by Islamist gunmen in Enugu state

Suspected Fulani Islamic jihadist gunmen forced their way into a Catholic Church in Nigeria’s Enugu state on Saturday and kidnapped the parish priest, Vanguard reports. More than 2,300 Christians in Nigeria were kidnapped by jihadists in the first ten months of this year alone, according to the International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law.

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UK street evangelist charged with public order offense after preaching on homosexuality

A UK Christian street preacher charged with a Public Order offense for telling a same-sex married couple that their union is against the Bible’s teaching has had his case dropped after the couple refused to engage with it, Christian Concern (CC) reports.

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India: Newly Christian man beaten unconscious left for dead after refusing to renounce faith

A former Hindu who gave his life to Christ just four months ago was beaten unconscious and left for dead after a mob of Hindus attacked a gathering of believers at a house church in India’s Odisha state earlier this month, International Christian Concern (ICC) reports.

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Christian persecution is worsening amid Western denial

A new report by Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) attests that persecution against Christians in certain parts of the world is worsening dramatically - and that Western denial of the situation is endangering believers, Christian Today reports. Titled 'Persecuted and Forgotten?,’ the ACN report documents an increase in Christian persecution in 24 countries between October 2020 and September 2022.

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500 anti-Christian hate crimes documented in Europe last year

Europe saw over 500 documented Anti-Christian Hate Crimes in 2021, the Observatory on Intolerance and Discrimination Against Christians (OIDAC) says in its annual report available online. In addition to the incidents documented, OIDAC attests there is a “reasonable probability” of even higher numbers of incidents that were not reported on.

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