News

Beyond count

  August 6, 2013 Arab Spring, Copts, Egypt, Iraq, Lebanon, London, Middle East, Netherlands, Syria, Turkey

This much seems certain: Christians are leaving the birthplace of Christianity in large numbers. Just how large those numbers are, however, is a matter of educated conjecture, according to a new report on Christian migration from the Middle East. A precise accounting is impossible, but report author Markus Tozman says . . . Read More

Chinese house church leader Samuel Lamb dies

  August 5, 2013 China Guangzhou, Mao Zedong, Three-Self Patriotic Movement

One of the most well-known Christian leaders in China, Pastor Samuel Lamb, died on Saturday (Aug 3) in Guangzhou, aged 88. He had been arrested during one of the first big waves of persecution in Mao’s China and was first imprisoned from 1955 to 1957, when estimates put the number . . . Read More

Madhya Pradesh awaits decision on stricter ‘anti-conversion law’

  August 1, 2013 India Anti-conversion law, Bhopal, BJP, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Hindutva, Madhya Pradesh

Protesters gather in Jhabua, a town in the west of Madhya Pradesh, on July 24.World Watch Monitor   Madhya Pradesh state in central India awaits the outcome of proposed amendments to its ‘anti-conversion law’, which would lengthen prison time and fines for anyone convicted of forcing someone to change their . . . Read More

Sectarian violence spirals in Guinea’s volatile southeast

  July 31, 2013 Guinea Beyla, Guinea, Koulé, Nzérékoré

Judicial authorities in Guinea are investigating an outburst of deadly violence two weeks ago that left 95 people dead and 130 wounded. The murder of a suspected thief on July 14 in Koulé, a city 40 kilometres from Nzérékoré, the regional capital of Forested Guinea, has led to acts of . . . Read More

Bombs in Nigerian Christian district kill at least 12

  July 31, 2013 Nigeria Boko Haram, Jama'atu Nasril Islam, Kano, Nigeria, Pentecostals, Sabon Gari

Police say 12 people are dead after multiple explosions on Monday night that rocked the Christian Sabon Gari area of Kano State in northern Nigeria, despite continuing government efforts to restore peace. No group has claimed responsibility for the July 29 blasts, but it is widely believed that the outlawed violent . . . Read More

In India, a familiar pattern of pressure on Christians

  July 29, 2013 India Andhra Pradesh, Anti-conversion law, BJP, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Hindutva, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Manipur, Odisha, Pentecostals, Tamil Nadu, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh

In vast and diverse India, Christians often live freely. Yet India ranks among the 50 countries where life as a Christian is most difficult, according to Open Doors International, a global ministry that serves Christians who are pressured because of their faith. The country is No. 31 on Open Doors’ . . . Read More

After 12 years, Turkey closes the door on American church volunteer

  July 29, 2013 Turkey Diyarbakir, Jerry Mattix, Protestants, Recep Tayyip Erdogan

Jerry Mattix makes a presentation on Luke in an undated photoSpecial to World Watch Monitor   After 12 years serving a church in Turkey voluntarily and peacefully, Jerry Mattix suddenly is on the country’s blacklist. Officially, the government has deemed Mattix a threat to national security. Yet the police have . . . Read More

Christian jailed for text messages in Gojra, Pakistan

  July 26, 2013 Pakistan Blasphemy, Gojra, Islamic extremism, Jamaat-ud-Dawa, Lashkar-e-Taiba

Tensions are high in the Punjabi city of Gojra after a court sentenced a Christian man, Sajjad Masih, to life imprisonment for blasphemy, only weeks before the fourth anniversary of an outbreak of extreme violence against Christians in the same city. In August 2009, seven Christians from the same family . . . Read More

Iranian Christians continue to face arrest, imprisonment

  July 25, 2013 Iran Apostasy, Converts, Ebrahim Firouzi, Exile, Mostafa Bordbar, Shiraz, Tehran

Ebrahim Firouzi, 28, jailed for “promoting Christian Zionism, attempting to launch a Christian website, contact with suspicious foreigners and running online church service”.Mohabat News   The steady flow of Iranian Christians facing arrest and imprisonment on spurious charges continues. In Shiraz, famous for its cultural significance to Iranians as the . . . Read More

Pakistani Christians angered by ‘sweeper’ comment

  July 24, 2013 Pakistan Asia Bibi, Balochistan, Caste, Gilgit, Imran Khan, Joseph Colony, Kasur, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Lahore, Pakistan Muslim League, Pakistan Peoples Party, Pashtun, Paul Bhatti, Peshawar, PTI, Punjab, Quetta, Rawalpindi, Sialkot, Sweepers, UN

Pakistani Christians have been angered by a statement by the Chief Minister of the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa that only “non-Muslims will be recruited as sweepers”. The province, known for short as KPK, borders Afghanistan. Its Chief Minister, Pervez Khattak, who is in former international cricketer Imran Khan’s party, Pakistan . . . Read More