Tag: House churches

Iran: Crackdown on Christians continues with reports of beatings

December 19, 2018 Iran Ahwaz, Converts, House churches, Iran, Karaj, Khuzestan, Mashhad

Christian leaders in Iran have said that pressure on Christians increases every year around Christmas but that this year it is particularly severe. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

At least seven Iranian Christian converts have been arrested in Iran in the last two weeks, including two sisters who allegedly have been beaten. Shima Zanganeh, 27, and her sister, Shokoufeh, 30, were arrested by Intelligence Service officials in their homes in Ahvaz, capital of Iran’s western Khuzestan province, on 2 . . . Read More

Two Iranian converts arrested and taken to unknown locations

November 21, 2018 Iran Converts, House churches, Iran, Karaj, Mashhad, Rajaei Shahr Prison

Behnam Ersali and Davood Rasooli were arrested last week Friday, 16 November. (Photo: Mohabat News, Facebook)

Two Iranian Christian converts were taken by Iran’s security agents in two separate raids on houses in Karaj and Mashhad on Friday, 16 November, reports Middle East Concern (MEC). Behnam Ersali and Davood Rasooli had agreed to meet in Mashhad on Friday when they were both arrested. It is believed . . . Read More

Iranian Christians sentenced, verdict says ‘claiming Jesus is Lord is attack against Islam’

October 2, 2018 Iran Church of Iran, Converts, House churches, Iran, Mohammad Reza Omidi, Rasht, Saheb Fadaie, Yasser Mossayebzadeh, Youcef Nadarkhani

Two Iranian Christians have been given prison sentences for “spreading propaganda against the regime”, reports Middle East Concern. Saheb Fadaei and Fatimeh Bakhteri, who belong to the non-Trinitarian “Church of Iran”, were sentenced to 18 and 12 months, respectively. Middle East Concern noted that in the verdict it was written . . . Read More

China: More church closures and Internet censorship in further religious clampdown

September 12, 2018 China Baptism, Beijing, Censorship, Chengdu, China, House churches, Protestants, Zhengzhou

Senior lady looking at Dongguang Church in Shenyang, northeastern China. (Photo: Open Doors International)

One of China’s largest unofficial “house churches” was closed on Sunday, while new measures have been introduced to curb religious activities online. Beijing’s Zion Church had received warnings following its refusal to place CCTV cameras in its auditorium at the government’s request. On Sunday afternoon, 9 September, around 60 government . . . Read More

China ‘uses legal tactics to suppress religious freedom’, says rights agency

September 5, 2018 China Beijing, China, House churches, Religious freedom

People leaving the church after a service in Shenyang, north-eastern Dongguang province. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

China’s churches are experiencing the worst persecution in 40 years, with a government which uses “non-religious reasons” and civil law to close houses of worship, according to the US-based St Charles Institute. Pressure is applied “through opaque queries of fire-protection measures, by questioning the legality of printed materials used by the . . . Read More

China: More church closures as Party tightens rules for its religious members

August 31, 2018 China Beijing, China, Churches, Communism, House churches, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Liaoning, Protestants, Sinicisation, Three-Self Patriotic Movement, Xi Jinping

One of China’s largest “house churches” in Beijing has been threatened with closure by the government following its refusal of a request to install cameras in the church building, reports Reuters. Zion Church received a letter from the city authorities in April, asking it to install 24 closed-circuit video cameras . . . Read More

‘How can reading the Bible be acting against national security?’ asks Iranian Christian from prison

August 9, 2018 Iran Churches, Evin Prison, House churches, Human rights, Iran, Naser Navard Gol-Tapeh

An Iranian convert to Christianity serving ten years in prison for “missionary activities” has written an open letter to the Iranian authorities, asking how his Christian activities could be perceived as anti-state. “Would it even be possible for a committed Christian – who was born and raised in Iran and . . . Read More

Hindu extremist violence on the rise in southern Indian states

August 3, 2018 India Andhra Pradesh, Bajrang Dal, BJP, Caste, Churches, Converts, Dalits, Hindu nationalism, House churches, Hyderabad, India, Narendra Modi, Police, Religious freedom, RSS, Telangana

Good Fruit Ministries church in Sangameshwar village of Siddhipet District, Telangana state was demolished by a bull dozer on the directions of uppercaste Hindus who follow Vaastu shastra.

Religious freedom advocate ADF India has noted a rise in incidents of religiously motivated violence in India’s two Telugu language-speaking southern states, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, including the brutal murder of an elderly Christian woman. So far this year, ADF India says it has verified 17 incidents of anti-Christian persecution . . . Read More

US commission calls for Iranian Christians’ release after ‘new miscarriage of justice’

August 2, 2018 Iran Amir Saman Dashti, Church of Iran, Evin Prison, Hassan Rouhani, House churches, Human rights, Iran, Kermanshah, Mohammad Reza Omidi, Proselytism, Ramil Bet-Tamraz, Rasht, Religious freedom, Saheb Fadaie, USA, Victor Bet-Tamraz, Yasser Mossayebzadeh, Youcef Nadarkhani

From left: Saheb Fadaie, Youcef Nadarkhani, Yasser Mossayebzadeh and Mohammad Reza Omidi.

The US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has called for the “immediate and unconditional” release of an Iranian pastor and three of his church members, after they were taken to prison last week to serve ten-year sentences for “acting against national security” by “promoting Zionist Christianity” and running “house . . . Read More

China: Beijing churches call for government to respect religious rights

July 27, 2018 China Beijing, China, Guangdong, House churches, Religious freedom, Shantou

Cross on Dongguang Church against factory name. Shenyang, northeastern China. Shenyang is the capital and largest city of China’s northeast Liaoning Province. It was the site of the 17th-century Manchu capital Mukden, and the imposing Mukden Palace (Shenyang Imperial Palace) is a blend of Manchurian and Tibetan architectural styles. Mausoleums of Qing dynasty emperors can be found at Zhaoling Tomb, amid the pine forests and lakes of Beiling Park, and at Fuling Tomb in the city’s east. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

In a joint declaration, 34 churches in the Chinese capital, Beijing, have called on the government to respect the freedom and rights of religious citizens, advocacy group CSW reports. The churches, which are independent from the state-sanctioned Three-Self Patriotic Movement, committed to “stand together” in the “new environment” that had . . . Read More

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