General

Indonesia: Three churches closed in permits dispute

October 3, 2018 Indonesia Banten, Churches, Indonesia, Islamic Defenders Front, Java, Minorities, Sumatra

Officials close and seal the doors of the Assemblies of God church in West Kenali village, Sumatra, who have been meeting since 2004. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

Three churches were closed in an Indonesian village last week amidst rumours Muslims were planning to protest against the churches’ presence because they did not have the required permits. But a pastor from one of the affected churches in West Kenali village, Alam Barajo district, in Sumatra’s central Jambi province, . . . Read More

Sudan releases shipment of Bibles held in port for six years

October 2, 2018 Sudan Bibles, Churches, Human rights, Omar al-Bashir, Sudan, UN, USA

Bibles in Sudan are hard to come by with a government stopping the distribution, and with conflict raging in several parts of the country. such as in South Kordofan's Nuba mountains. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

The Sudanese government has cleared a shipment of Bibles believed to have been held in Port Sudan for six years. The Arabic-language Bibles were released two weeks ago and transported to the capital, Khartoum, after years of appeals by church leaders, a local source told World Watch Monitor. “Since 2011, . . . Read More

China: Christian schoolchildren forced to tick ‘no religion’ box

October 2, 2018 China Children, China, Communism, Education, Religious freedom, USA, Zhejiang

More than 300 Christian children in two high schools in Zhejiang province, which has been referred to as the “Jerusalem of the East” for its strong Christian presence, have been asked to fill out a form stating that they did not follow a religion, World Watch Monitor has been told by a trusted local . . . Read More

Suspected accomplice in Pakistan church bombings acquitted

October 1, 2018 Pakistan All Saints Church, Pakistan, Peshawar, Police, Terrorism

A Pakistani court has acquitted a suspected accomplice in two suicide bombings that targeted a church in Peshawar five years ago. Two suicide bombers blew themselves up as worshippers were leaving the Sunday service at All Saints’ Memorial Church on 22 September 2013. The bombings killed more than 80 people . . . Read More

Pakistani Christian family flees after home set on fire, told they’ll be killed if they return

September 28, 2018 Pakistan Gujar Khan, Minorities, Pakistan, Rawalpindi

The only Christian family in their area were beaten and saw their house set on fire last week in a city in Pakistan’s Punjab province. Then they were told they will be killed if they return. The family – an elderly couple with their four sons, daughters-in-law and 11 grandchildren . . . Read More

Sudanese government gives back 19 properties to church body

September 26, 2018 Sudan Churches, Sanctions, Sudan, Sudan Presbyterian Evangelical Church, Sudanese Church of Christ

While church properties were returned to the SCOC, other church bodies like SPEC are also in conflict with the government over the ownership of their properties in Bahri (Khartoum North) and Omdurman. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

The Sudanese government has returned ownership of 19 properties to the Sudanese Church of Christ (SCOC), two years after it confiscated them. The land-ownership documents were handed back on Monday (24 September), a local source told World Watch Monitor. In August a Sudanese court ruled against the government and ordered . . . Read More

Churches in Syria: ‘We live together or we die together’

September 26, 2018 Syria Aleppo, Armenians, Catholics, Churches, Greek Orthodox, Syria, Syriacs

The Syrian civil war seems finally to be drawing to a close, with Idlib province the last battlefield in a long and bloody conflict between government forces and rebel groups. Seven years of war has taken its toll, including the devastation of many Christian sites, which local communities are slowly . . . Read More

Pakistani Christians fear more violence if they press charges over attack

September 26, 2018 Pakistan Catholics, Kasur, Minorities, Pakistan, Police

A land dispute between Christian and Muslim villagers in rural Pakistan ended with a mob attack on the Christian community, but no charges against the attackers. A 10-year-old boy’s arm was broken and two women were beaten and had their clothes torn when a mob of at least men and . . . Read More

27 church members among dead after Islamist assault in DRC

September 25, 2018 Democratic Republic of the Congo ADF, Beni, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Joseph Kabila, North Kivu

In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, dozens are feared killed as armed men believed to be Islamist militants from the ADF group stormed the eastern town of Beni, in the volatile province of North Kivu, on Saturday. According to local sources, the assailants, in great number, attacked the city . . . Read More

Turkish-US officials ‘cautiously optimistic’ of Brunson’s release

September 24, 2018 Turkey Andrew Brunson, Donald Trump, Fethullah Gülen, PKK, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey

Both Turkish and US government officials have voiced cautious optimism that American pastor Andrew Brunson, jailed by Turkey for the past two years on terrorism allegations, could be released at his next trial hearing, set for 12 October. “It’s a possible outcome,” a Turkish official told the Wall Street Journal . . . Read More

Catching Our Eye