There was concern Friday about the declining health of Pakistani Pastor Zafar Bhatti, who has been held in prison for 12 years and faces execution by hanging for alleged blasphemy against Islam.

Iranian Christian Esmaeil Narimanpour, who was released on bail after more than four months in detention, faces new charges linked to his decision to leave Islam and follow Christ openly, Worthy News learned Friday.

Reverend Ghirmay Araya, one of the founders of the Full Gospel Church in Eritrea who spent nearly three years behind bars for activities linked to his faith in Christ, has died, supporters told Worthy News late Thursday. He was 83.

The United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) reported on Monday that conflict, drought, and massive flooding has caused the internal displacement of 140,000 people in Somalia in the last four months, Medicine Reports.

In a rare victory against Islamic terrorists in northern Nigeria, the country’s military forces on Tuesday were able to rescue 350 hostages taken captive by the Boko Haram jihadist organization over a period of years, International Christian Concern (ICC) reports.

A local government-backed advertisement campaign for sanitation workers targeting the Christian minority in Pakistan has highlighted concerns that only Christians should work in these low-paying, dangerous jobs in the mainly Muslim nation.

Baptist Christians in southern Kazakhstan have suffered a surge in police raids upon their churches, as well as arrests and fines for expressing their faith, Christian Daily (CD) reports.

A group of 150 Baptist Christians in Mexico have been pressured by the government to sign an agreement that would allow officials to forcibly displace them from their communities on account of their faith and refusal to engage in local religious practices to which they do not adhere, Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) reports.

A new study on faith in the United Kingdom shows that faith is of greater value and significance to Britain’s “Generation Z” (those aged between 18-24) young adults than it is to older generations.

Christians across Latin America, most notably in Cuba, Mexico and Nicaragua, are facing intensified persecution for their faith, International Christian Concern (ICC) reports.

Islamic terrorists in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) on Monday slaughtered 11 Christians, abducted several others, and burned down homes in Ndimo village, Ituri province, International Christian Concern (ICC) reports. 

A lawyer in Pakistan is demanding that reluctant police authorities arrest an Islamist employer who caused a young Christian female employee to lose an ear and most of her scalp when he pushed her into an electric chaff cutter last month, Morning Star News (MSN) reports.

Nine students who were abducted from Nigeria’s Confluence University of Science and Technology last week have all now been rescued, Reuters reports.

Pastor Joby Martin, founder and lead pastor of Florida’s The Church of Eleven22 reports that his church witnessed a record 1,614 people publicly declare their faith in Jesus through baptism during an annual one-day Gospel event earlier this month, Crosswalk reports. The yearly event took place at Hanna Park Beach in Jacksonville, Florida on May 5.

Concerns are intensifying for the health of two house church leaders in eastern China who have been imprisoned on charges of alleged fraud, International Christian Concern (ICC) reports.

The pastor of a Christian ministry in Pennsylvania says God protected his congregants when a tornado tore into their church building during a worship service Saturday, ripping off the steeple and a roof, and smashing windows Crosswalk reports. According to the National Weather Service, the twister was probably an EF-2 tornado with winds between 111-135 mph.

A new study sponsored by the British and Foreign Bible Society shows that the Chinese Church in the United Kingdom grew by an average of nearly 29% between 2021-2023, making it the fastest-growing church in Britain, International Christian Concern (ICC) reports.

The United States Commission for International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has recommended that the transcontinental country of Azerbaijan now be placed on the US State Department’s list of Countries of Particular Concern (CPC) because of intensifying violations of religious freedom, International Christian Concern (ICC) reports. The USCIRF made its recommendation in its new annual report on the status of religious freedom around the world.

Suspected angry Muslims raided a house church in Indonesia’s East Java province, just days after a similar incident in which two were injured, a pastor and other Christians told Worthy News on Friday.

A pastor in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania says he has forgiven the man who nearly shot and killed him during last Sunday’s church service.