Tag: Converts

For Chinese Muslims the cost of becoming a Christian is loneliness

January 24, 2018 China China, Converts, Hui, Uyghurs, Xinjiang

"Id Kah Mosque", the 500-year-old main mosque in Kashgar, one of the westernmost cities of China, in Xinjiang, where up to 7,000 Muslims gather every Friday for prayer. (Photo: World Watch Monitor, 2009)

For the few thousand Muslims in China who have become Christians, life is characterised by loneliness. Cast out from their families and communities, in the rural areas where most of them live it is difficult to find other Christians, especially under China’s strict religion regulations. Often Christians of Muslim background . . . Read More

Malaysian pastor Raymond Koh’s kidnap inquiry halted

January 19, 2018 Malaysia Borneo, Converts, Joshua Hilmy, Kidnapping, Malaysia, Minorities, Police, Proselytism, Putrajaya, Raymond Koh, Religious freedom, Sabah, Sarawak

The fragile hopes of a Malaysian family in search of answers to the abduction of church leader Raymond Koh were dashed by a surprise development on Wednesday (17 January). Almost a year after Koh went missing, after little or no progress in police investigations, Malaysia’s newest Inspector General of Police . . . Read More

Afghan convert ‘could face death’ if deported from Switzerland

January 18, 2018 Afghanistan Afghanistan, Asylum seekers, Converts, Minorities

An Afghan convert could face persecution, imprisonment and even death if the Swiss government succeeds in deporting him, a religious liberty advocacy group has said. The Vienna-based organisation, ADF International, announced today (Thursday) that it filed an expert brief with the European Court of Human Rights in support of the . . . Read More

Nigerian student arrested after converting from Islam to Christianity

January 16, 2018 Nigeria Converts, ECWA, Islamic extremism, Jama'atu Nasril Islam, Jos, Nasarawa, Nigeria, Plateau

A Nigerian university student who converted from Islam to Christianity has been arrested by state security forces, as has the man who introduced her to Christianity. Nabila Umar Sanda, 19, is a student at Bingham University in Karu, in the central state of Nasarawa, which is owned by one of . . . Read More

‘Unprecedented’ persecution of Egypt’s Christians heads 2018 World Watch List

January 10, 2018 Global News -- No Particular Country Africa, Anti-conversion law, Boko Haram, Cairo, Central Asia, Churches, Converts, Copts, Egypt, Eritrea, Fulani herdsmen, Hindu nationalism, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Islamic extremism, Islamic State, Jharkhand, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Maldives, Marawi, Middle Belt, Middle East, Mindanao, Minorities, Nepal, Nigeria, North Korea, Philippines, Somalia, Southeast Asia, Sudan, Syria, Tajikistan, Turkey, Upper Egypt

More Christians abused in India than in all other countries combined; Nepal enters list Islamic extremists driven out of Iraq and Syria are behind a new intensity of Christian persecution in surrounding countries, says global charity Open Doors in its latest annual survey of countries where it is most difficult . . . Read More

Nigeria: Boko Haram survivor and her baby ‘shamed’

December 1, 2017 Nigeria Acid attacks, Boko Haram, Borno, Converts, Gwoza, Islamic extremism, Nigeria, Rape, Trauma, UN, West Africa, Women

Boko Haram survivor Esther*, holding her daughter Rebecca in her arms. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

As Islamic extremist group Boko Haram continues to hold young women captive in West Africa, some have been rescued only to return to their homes in shame, finding themselves labelled “Boko Haram women”. Until October 2015 Esther* lived the normal life of a 17-year-old in Gwoza, a town in southern . . . Read More

Iran: Christian convert loses appeal against 10-year sentence for ‘missionary activities’

November 24, 2017 Iran Bahram Nasibov, Converts, Eldar Gurbanov, House churches, Iran, Naser Navard Gol-Tapeh, Religious freedom, Tehran, Yusif Farhadov

An Iranian convert to Christianity has had his 10-year prison sentence upheld after losing his appeal. Naser Navard Gol-Tapeh was sentenced in May alongside three Azerbaijanis. All four men were given 10-year sentences for “missionary activities” and “actions against national security” in Iran. However, the three Azerbaijanis – Eldar Gurbanov, . . . Read More

Iranian Christian convert released on bail days after threat of ‘indefinite’ incarceration

November 23, 2017 Iran Abdol-Ali Pourmand, Converts, Dezful, House churches, Iran, Islamic extremism, Khuzestan, Mohammed Ali Torabi

An Iranian convert to Christianity arrested on unspecified charges has been released on bail just days after his family was told he would be detained indefinitely. Mohammed Ali Torabi, 39, was ordered to pay 200 million tomans (around US $57,000) to secure his release from prison in Ahvaz, capital of Iran’s . . . Read More

Iranian Christian converts ‘to be detained indefinitely’

November 22, 2017 Iran Abdol-Ali Pourmand, Converts, Dezful, House churches, Iran, Mohammed Ali Torabi

Two Iranian converts to Christianity arrested last month in the western city of Dezful have been told they will be kept in prison until further notice. Mohabat News reports that Abdol-Ali Pourmand, 38, and Mohammed Ali Torabi, 39, who are both members of the same ‘house church’ – Payam-e Aramesh (Message of . . . Read More

To flee or not to flee?

November 17, 2017 Civil War, Converts, Egypt, IDPs, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Middle East, Migrants, Refugees, Syria

It is sometimes said that the Middle East is being denuded of Christians. Against this, church leaders throughout the Middle East urge Christians to remain in their country, or, where conflict makes that impossible, then to at least stay in the region. The emigration of Christians from the Middle East . . . Read More

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