General

Violence topples Nigeria’s ‘bridge’

July 26, 2012 Nigeria Church of Christ in Nigeria, Jos, Nigeria, Plateau

Gyang Dantong was killed while attending a funeral. He was among a handful of elected members of Nigerian government attempting to bury the more than 100 Christians killed just the day before, when Muslim gunmen had rampaged through several villages in Nigeria’s central Plateau state. The sheer scale of the . . . Read More

Indian Christians forced into Hindu worship, driven from homes

July 17, 2012 India Anti-conversion law, Burial, Chhattisgarh, Hindu nationalism, India

JAWANGA, Chhattisgarh state, India, July 17 (World Watch Monitor) – Hindu extremists forced 15 Christians to participate in Hindu worship rituals, then beat them up and rousted them from their village, according to an evangelical organization in India. The Evangelical Fellowship of India said that on June 19, 150 Hindus . . . Read More

Church of Christ in Nigeria reeling from massacre

July 12, 2012 Nigeria Boko Haram, Church of Christ in Nigeria, Islamic extremism, Nigeria, Plateau

In the Plateau state of central Nigeria, tensions had run high all week between ethnic Fulani, who are mainly Muslim, and ethnic Birom, mainly Christian. It was only the latest outbreak of anger in a decade-long cycle of aggression and reprisals. But this time, anxiety ran high enough that, by . . . Read More

Nigerian attackers kill dozens of Christians

July 9, 2012 Nigeria Plateau

The news is distressingly familiar: A series of attacks on African Christian communities leaves many dead or injured. On Saturday, July 7, coordinated attacks killed dozens of people in Nigeria’s Plateau state. One news report claims the death toll, from the initial attacks and reprisals, has risen to more than 100. . . . Read More

India briefs: recent incidents of persecution

June 29, 2012 India Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Burial, Chhattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh, India, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Sangh Parivar

Police arrested three Christians on charges of “abetment of a thing” in Hubli, after Hindu extremists verbally abused them and seized tracts from them on June 21. The Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC) reported that at about 2:30 p.m. Pastor Manju Nath and two Christians identified only as Stella . . . Read More

Sudanese authorities demolish two churches

June 28, 2012 Sudan Catholics, Churches, Education, Khartoum, South Sudan, Sudan

Authorities in Khartoum demolished two church buildings last week, days after confiscating three Catholic schools, sources told World Watch Monitor. Officials from the Ministry of Planning and Housing of the local government authority on June 18 sent bulldozers that destroyed a church building belonging to the St. John Episcopal Church . . . Read More

Vietnamese officials destroy two new church buildings

June 27, 2012 Vietnam Churches, Dien Bien, Evangelical Church of Vietnam, Hmong, Vietnam

Vietnamese officials in Muong Cha district, Dien Bien Province, destroyed two new church buildings of ethnic minority Hmong Christians this month and threatened to tear down a third. The Ho He Church, erected in April by the unregistered Vietnam Good News Mission, was demolished on June 17. The Phan Ho . . . Read More

Christian legislator in Pakistan stuck with Muslim ID

June 26, 2012 Pakistan Converts, Human rights, Islamic extremism, Minorities, Pakistan, Punjab

Pakistan’s rigid system of prohibiting Muslims from changing their religion status on their national ID cards nearly cost a Punjab politician his post – even though he has always been a Christian. Rana Asif Mahmood’s political opponents in April sought to disqualify him from the Punjab Provincial Assembly seat reserved . . . Read More

Three Lao, two Thai Christians arrested in Laos

June 25, 2012 Laos Converts, Laos, Luang Namtha, Proselytism, Savannakhet

Lao officials arrested two Lao and two Thai Christians in Luang Namtha Province earlier this month, seizing them from a private residence in Long district, according to Human Rights Watch for Lao Religious Freedom (HRWLRF). Officials also arrested a pastor in Luang Namtha and dismissed two civil servants in Savannakhet . . . Read More

Appeals Judge in Azerbaijan to Decide Fate of Church

June 22, 2012 Azerbaijan Baku, Churches, Protestants

A Christian congregation in Azerbaijan is waiting pensively to see if a judge will uphold a court order that banned its right to meet and “liquidated” the church. “They are upset, but at the same time they continue coming out hoping for the best,” said Mechti Suleymanov, an elder at . . . Read More

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