News

Retired Kazakh pastor given suspended jail sentence

  February 18, 2014 Kazakhstan Almaty, Astana, Bakhytzhan Kashkumbayev

The protracted trial of a retired Kazakh pastor ended yesterday (Feb. 17), as 67-year-old Bakhytzhan Kashkumbayev was handed a suspended four-year prison sentence and a fine. Kashkumbayev, former pastor of Grace Church in the Kazakh capital Astana, was ordered to pay 2 million Tenge (€7,900) in damages to Lyazzat Almenova, . . . Read More

CAR Church leaders call again for aid

  February 18, 2014 Central African Republic Anti-balaka, Catherine Samba-Panza, Dieudonné Nzapalainga, Michel Djotodia, Nicolas Guérékoyamé-Gbangou, Oumar Kobine Layama, Seleka, UN

More than 1 million people have been displaced and nearly 2 million require urgent humanitarian assistance, according to aid organisations.UNHCR, S. Phelps / Flickr / Creative Commons Church leaders in the Central African Republic have reiterated their opposition to the ongoing violence in the country and demanded more troops on . . . Read More

Nigeria’s deadly winter

  February 14, 2014 Nigeria Adamawa, Boko Haram, Borno, Christian Association of Nigeria, Fulani herdsmen, Kaduna, West Africa

Attackers stormed this Catholic church during mass, blocked the main door, detonated homemade bombs, and opened fire.Twitter / @ChristianPost   The new year has begun in exceptionally violent fashion in north-eastern Nigeria, prompting Christian organisations to renew their pleas for better government security. Boko Haram, the militant group that wants . . . Read More

Pastor killed, church torched in Nigeria

  February 14, 2014 Nigeria Ansaru, Christian Association of Nigeria, ECWA, Katsina

The charred remains of Evangelical Church Winning All in Kankia.World Watch Monitor   A pastor has been killed and a church set on fire in Nigeria after the body of a six-year-old girl was discovered near his home. Dike Ocha, 50, pastor of the Assemblies of God Church in Kankia, . . . Read More

Freedom of religion an issue ‘whose time has come’

  February 13, 2014 Global News -- No Particular Country Arab Spring, Barack Obama, China, Egypt, Eritrea, Europe, India, Iran, Iraq, Libya, Mali, Middle East, Myanmar, Nigeria, North Korea, Pakistan, Religious freedom, Saudi Arabia, Sharia, Sudan, Syria, Tajikistan, Tunisia, Turkmenistan, UN, USA, Uzbekistan, Vietnam

Freedom of religion and belief is an issue “whose time has come”, the vice chairwoman of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom said yesterday. During the presentation of two reports on religious freedom at the European Parliament in Brussels on Feb. 12, commission Vice Chairwoman Katrina Lantos Swett said . . . Read More

‘Ugly’ charges against Turkish pastor dropped

  February 13, 2014 Turkey Orhan Picaklar

Protestant Pastor Orhan Picaklar was informed last week that what he called “ugly slanders” against his character and conduct have been officially dropped by the Turkish prosecutor investigating his case. Picaklar was detained on Nov. 11, 2013 and held for two days in the Black Sea coastal city of Samsun . . . Read More

Indonesian churches remain closed

  February 12, 2014 Indonesia Java, Pentecostals

All smiles: A Muslim leader shares a joke with local police officers after protests in West Java that secured the closure of four churches.Courtesy Open Doors International   Four churches in Indonesia remain closed two months after local officials yielded to the demands of protesting Muslim hardliners. The Indonesian Full . . . Read More

Evangelism charges dropped against Moroccan convert

  February 11, 2014 Morocco Aïn Aïcha, Fes, Greek Orthodox, King Mohammed VI, Mohamed el Baldi, Proselytism

New Life Church in Fes, Morocco.World Watch Monitor   The case of a Moroccan convert to Christianity sentenced to 30 months in jail for evangelism is expected to be officially dismissed on Feb. 13 when the judge provides his final ruling, after the charges against him were concluded to have . . . Read More

Female church workers raped and killed in South Sudan

  February 10, 2014 South Sudan Bor, Dinka, Episcopal Church of Sudan, Juba, Nuer, Riek Machar, Salva Kiir, South Sudan, White Army

Bor has been the flashpoint of the conflict, with the city changing hands between the government and opposition forces several times. Most of the civilian population has been displaced.Dominika Arseniuk, Polish Humanitarian Action / Flickr / Creative Commons   Scores of female church workers were massacred last month as they . . . Read More

Pastor killed as riots hit Mombasa

  February 7, 2014 Kenya Al-Shabaab, Islamic extremism, Mombasa, Police

An assistant pastor at a church in Mombasa, Kenya was killed on Feb. 2 while guarding his church during the night. Lawrence Kazungu Kadenge, 59, assistant pastor at the Glory of God Ministries Church, died at about 2 a.m. Witnesses reported seeing two men fleeing the area. Senior pastor Andrew . . . Read More