Tag: Churches

Copt’s fields torched after rumours he was turning his house into a church

June 26, 2018 Egypt Beni Suef, Children, Churches, Copts, Egypt

A Coptic Christian from Beni Suef governorate in Egypt saw his wheat fields set on fire, just four days after he was accused of planning to turn his house into a church. On 2 June, Ibrahim Sadeq Ayad from Ezbed Ragy village, near the city of El-Fashn, informed the police . . . Read More

Chinese pastor released after two and a half years in prison

June 20, 2018 China China, Churches, Guizhou, Huoshi Church, Prisons, Religious freedom, Su Tianfu, Yang Hua

A Chinese pastor was released yesterday (19 June), after being detained for two and a half years for “illegally possessing state secrets”, reports Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW). Pastor Yang Hua of Huoshi Church (which means Living Stone), in the south-western province of Guizhou, was arrested in December 2015. He was . . . Read More

India: Police slow to register case after church burnt down by suspected Hindu extremists

June 15, 2018 India BJP, Churches, Hindu nationalism, Hindutva, India, Pentecostals, Police, Puducherry, RSS, Tamil Nadu

A church in Puducherry in southern India was set ablaze recently, after upper-caste Hindu neighbours had objected to worship services in the area. Puducherry, formerly Pondicherry, was a French colonial settlement until 1954. Pastor David Santosham and members of the Bible Presbyterian church in Karaikal District left for home after . . . Read More

Muslims and Christians unite to restore ancient Iraqi church

June 14, 2018 Iraq Baghdad, Churches, Erbil, Iraq, Islamic State, Kurds, Nineveh Plains, Ramadan, USA

An historical Christian site in Iraq is receiving visitors again for the first time in 20 years, having previously been shut off due to security concerns, Al-Monitor reports. The remnants of the first-century Church of Kokheh, located 20 miles (32 kilometres) south of the capital Baghdad, were discovered and excavated . . . Read More

Myanmar: ‘400 villages destroyed, 150,000 people displaced’ in Kachin

June 13, 2018 Myanmar Churches, Genocide, IDPs, Kachin, Minorities, Myanmar, Rakhine, Rohingya, Shan, UN

An elderly Kachin woman looks for shelter after fleeing fighting between Myanmar's army and Kachin rebels in December 2011. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

More than 400 villages have been damaged or destroyed and 150,000 people displaced since the collapse of a ceasefire in 2011 between Myanmar’s army and rebels in northern Kachin state, reports Catholic website AsiaNews. In 2018 alone, 50 villages were abandoned and more than 7,000 people fled their homes, seeking . . . Read More

Pakistan: Christians told they can’t have a church in Muslim-majority village

June 4, 2018 Pakistan Churches, Crosses, Faisalabad, Minorities, Pakistan, Pakistan Muslim League, Punjab, Terrorism

Christians in a village in Pakistan’s Punjab province have been told to remove every visible sign of Christianity from their church, six months after being forced to sign a form pledging they would no longer hold services. The 40 Christian families in Nayya Sarabah (Chak 336) village, part of Toba . . . Read More

Copts persuaded to drop charges against mob who attacked their church

May 30, 2018 Egypt Alexandria, Beheira, Beni Suef, Churches, Copts, Egypt, Islamic extremism

Copts in a village near the Egyptian city of Alexandria have been persuaded to waive the charges against an extremist mob who pelted their church with Molotov cocktails, in order to retain the use of the building for worship, World Watch Monitor has learnt. Seven Copts were injured when a mob . . . Read More

Indonesia: Death toll ‘unimaginable’ if bomb had exploded inside church

May 18, 2018 Indonesia Churches, Indonesia, Islamic extremism, JAD, Surabaya

The leader of the Indonesian church most badly damaged by the suicide bombing attacks last Sunday, 13 May, has said he “can’t imagine” how much greater the damage could have been had the attacker detonated the bomb inside the church. Rev. Yonathan Budiantoro of Surabaya Pentecostal Church, told the Christian . . . Read More

China: Pastor and 200 church members detained for commemorating earthquake

May 17, 2018 China Chengdu, China, Churches, Communism, House churches, Mao Zedong, Religion Law, Religious freedom, Sichuan, Sinicisation, Xi Jinping

People are sifting through the rubble to look for personal items after their homes were destroyed in an earthquake. (World Watch Monitor, 2008)

A church in Chengdu, the capital of China’s southwestern Sichuan province, was raided by police on Saturday (12 May) as it prepared to commemorate the 10th anniversary of an earthquake that killed almost 90,000 people and left millions homeless. Pastor Wang Yi of Early Rain Covenant Church was arrested alongside . . . Read More

Can the Scouts help safeguard the future of the Church in Syria?

May 17, 2018 Syria Children, Churches, Damascus, Greek Orthodox, Homs, IDPs, Refugees, Syria, Women, Youth

As the war in Syria enters its eighth year, clergy who have watched their congregations dwindle fear that those who have left the country may not return. One priest expressed his fear that “Christianity will be erased” from certain areas of the country “because the Christians who left these places . . . Read More

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