Photo credit: Seb Rumsby In the communist country of Vietnam, religious liberty is not a reality. Recent improvements to their laws are not being followed in practice. In particular, local & provincial government officials and police remain harsh-to-violent in their treatment of Christians and other religious groups. Vietnamese authorities have always been extremely suspicious of … Read more
The pastor of the Early Rain Covenant Church in Chengdu, China Wang Yi, his wife Jiang Rong, and more than 100 church members were arrested in December 2018. Sixty more were arrested later. They are still imprisoned, charged with “inciting subversion”, a crime that carries a penalty of up to 15 years in prison. Other … Read more
Pakistan’s highest court re-affirmed that Asia Bibi is not guilty of blasphemy. Pray for her safety. She is free to leave Pakistan, but radical Islamists may always pursue her. Asia Bibi was found innocent of all charges in October 2018. But protesters shut down cities and demanded the Supreme Court review the case – and not allow … Read more
“An ongoing nightmare in Egypt has gone virtually unnoticed for years. Victims fall silent. Authorities turn a blind eye and religiously-motivated kidnappings are extremely difficult to document,” Lela Gilbert wrote. “But the truth is that Christian women in Egypt face an epidemic of kidnapping, rape, beatings and torture. Innumerable girls and women vanish forever, and even … Read more
Iran arrested 9 Christians after Christmas, accusing them of working with foreign agents to spread “corrupt Christian beliefs and ideas.” This follows a “staggering” number of arrests of Christians before Christmas. About 150 Christians were arrested as a “warning” against evangelizing during the Christmas season, a time that causes many Iranians to be attracted to … Read more
Please pray for the persecuted Church, the remnant of believers in Syria who are in immediate and significant danger from jihadi elements present in Turkish forces advancing in Syria. Specifically pray for Christian converts in the area of Kobane. Conversion is forbidden by Islam, and these Kurdish converts will be both isolated and exposed by … Read more
Iranian intelligence agents raided a Christian family’s home and arrested the parents, leaving behind their 7-year old daughter. They are the latest in a sweep of nearly 150 Christians arrested over the last month. The mass arrests in the lead-up to Christmas is the government’s attempt to “warn” Christians against evangelizing over Christmas, a religious … Read more
Two Christian brothers, accused of blasphemy after a mistaken identity, were sentenced to death last week by a Pakistan court. World Watch Monitor reports that Qaisar and Amoon Ayub were arrested for allegedly posting “disrespectful material” on their website. Qaisar said he closed the account in 2009 but a Muslim acquaintance brought it back online while … Read more
Chinese officials swept up the outspoken pastor of a prominent house church in Chengdu along with elders, members, seminary students and parents of students in a crack-down on Sunday night, December 9, 2018. Several government departments scoured the city to locate the Christians in their homes and workplaces. “Police have broken down doors, swarmed apartment … Read more
CFI received this report from our co-worker in Egypt: On Sunday evening, 25 November, a Coptic Christian minor girl named Mary Hanna, from the village of Salamoun, Tema, disappeared. Mary had gone to Saint Mary Coptic Orthodox church in Salamoun village at 6:00 pm to attend the church prayer meeting. After the prayer meeting at … Read more