General

90 days to freedom

January 28, 2013 Kazakhstan Almaty, Astana, Kazakhstan, Makset Djabbarbergenov, UN, Uzbekistan

For 90 days last autumn, Makset Djabbarbergenov lived in a Kazakh prison cell, under threat of deportation to his native Uzbekistan to face almost-certain years of harsh jail time. His alleged crime: Leading small Christian communities in house churches without official registration. By 2007, this had made “Pastor Makset” a . . . Read More

Threat to burn Bibles in wake of Sultan’s ban on word ‘Allah’

January 24, 2013 Malaysia 'Allah', Apostasy, Bibles, Converts, Islamic extremism, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Najib Razak, Sabah, Sarawak, Selangor, The Herald, UMNO

A threat this week to burn Bibles in the Malay language is the latest in a series of attacks on the Christian faith in Malaysia. A note sent to a Christian priest in Butterworth on Tuesday, 22nd January 2013 said a Bible-burning pesta or festival would take place in the . . . Read More

US demands release of American pastor from Iranian prison

January 18, 2013 Iran Ayatollah Khamenei, Evin Prison, House churches, Iran, Religious freedom, Saeed Abedini, USA

Stepping up the urgency of American response, the White House on Friday called on Iran to release a jailed American pastor facing a trial that could send him to the gallows. Saeed Abedini, a native of Iran and a naturalized American citizen, is expected to enter one of Iran’s revolutionary . . . Read More

Police break up plot to assassinate Turkish pastor

January 18, 2013 Turkey Converts, Diyarbakir, Izmit, Malatya, Turkey

Police in Turkey say they thwarted an assassination plot against a Christian pastor Tuesday when they arrested 14 suspects, two of whom had been part of his congregation for more than a year. Emre Karaali, pastor of Izmit Protestant Church and the target of the alleged plot, said two of . . . Read More

Pakistan Supreme Court confirms decision to drop blasphemy case

January 16, 2013 Pakistan Blasphemy, Islamabad, Pakistan, Paul Bhatti, Punjab, Quran, Rawalpindi, Rimsha Masih, Salmaan Taseer, Shahbaz Bhatti

The Pakistan Supreme Court on Tuesday threw out an appeal to reopen a blasphemy case against a Christian teen who had been accused of burning pages containing verses from the Quran. Rimsha Masih had been acquitted of the charges in November by the High Court in Islamabad. The lower court’s decision was appealed . . . Read More

Hope in Mali rises with international military intervention

January 15, 2013 Mali Bamako, Burkina Faso, France, Gao, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Sharia, Timbuktu, Tuareg, West Africa

French troops have launched a military operation in Mali, aiming at stopping the advance of Islamists from their bases in the north to the South. The French intervention started on Friday, Jan. 11 with air strikes, and had enabled the Malian troops to regain control of the cental town of . . . Read More

Colombia: Murdered evangelist’s widow also killed after threats

January 9, 2013 Colombia Arauca, Colombia, ELN

Four months after guerrillas of the National Liberation Army (ELN) sent a murdered evangelist’s wife their first demand to abandon her home in northeast Colombia’s volatile Arauca department, the militants made good on their threats, report sources close to Open Doors, a ministry to persecuted Christians. On Monday, Jan 7th . . . Read More

Africa rises on World Watch List of worst persecutors

January 8, 2013 Global News -- No Particular Country Africa, Al-Qaeda, Arab Spring, Bashar al-Assad, Boko Haram, Egypt, Eritrea, Hindu nationalism, Islamic extremism, Kenya, Mali, Mao Zedong, Niger, Nigeria, Sharia, Somalia, Syria, Tanzania, Uganda

Africa, where Christianity spread fastest during the past century, now is the region where oppression of Christians is spreading fastest, a new report says. The two-year-old Arab Spring has toppled autocrats across Northern Africa, but it also has energized militant Islamist movements that have killed hundreds of Christians and endanger . . . Read More

Nigeria – 30 Christians killed in eve of New Year massacres

January 7, 2013 Nigeria Boko Haram, Borno, Christmas, Goodluck Jonathan, Maiduguri, Nigeria, Yobe

Thirty people were killed in two separate attacks carried out by armed men ahead of the New Year, in north-eastern Nigeria. 15 people were killed in a single attack which occurred on Sunday 30th, when armed men stormed a church service in Kyachi village, outside Chibok, near Maiduguri. According to . . . Read More

China’s Christians seize internet opportunities

December 31, 2012 China Censorship, Religious freedom, Shaanxi, Shanghai, Shouwang Church, Zhang Kai

Chinese Christians are sharing their faith on Weibo, China’s giant, state-regulated, social network – and some are beginning to challenge the censor by speaking out against religious persecution. When Christian band Rainbow Come appeared on China’s equivalent of “The X Factor,” Christians turned to social networking to drum up votes . . . Read More

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