Hundreds of displaced Christian residents will likely celebrate Christmas outside their homes in an area of Indonesia’s conflict-stricken easternmost Papua province unless Indonesian security forces withdraw there, a bishop says.

With Christmas approaching, Christians urged prayers for their community in war-stricken Sudan, saying they are in the crossfire as a bishop and a pastor were among those being attacked.

Christians expressed concern Thursday about the rapidly deteriorating security situation in Syria, a day after gunmen attacked an Orthodox church in the west-central city of Hama following other anti-Christian incidents.

A Christian family in Pakistan’s Sindh Province is rejoicing over the return of their 15-year-old daughter after she escaped from the Islamist who abducted her and forced her to marry him earlier this year, Morning Star News (MSN) reports.

The Christian community in northern Mozambique prepares for a violent Christmas after at least ten more Christians were killed by Islamists in the closing days of November, Worthy News learned Wednesday.

Two house church pastors in Vietnam have been wounded in separate shooting incidents they each believe are connected to their congregations not not being registered with the Vietnamese communist government, International Christian Concern (ICC) reports.

Three Iranian Christians, who were previously known as Muslims, have been released after ten days in detention just weeks after another Christian was freed after years in jail for his faith, Christians say.

The Pepperdine Christian university in Malibu, California is thanking God for hope after a 20-foot wooden cross set up by the school memorial survived the recent devastating wildfire that destroyed thousands of acres of land surrounding it. The Franklin Fire began on December 9 in Los Angeles county.

The US God Behind Bars (GBB) ministry has reported baptizing more than 140 incarcerated women across America in the last three months, CBN News reported on December 17.

Amid ongoing extreme violence by radicalized Fulani Islamic herdsmen and other terror groups against Christians in Nigeria, fears are growing for a retired Anglican archbishop and his driver who went missing in Anambra state on December 6, Morning Star News (MSN) reports.

A young newly Christian mother in northwest Somalia has had to leave her children and go into hiding after her husband violently attacked her for leaving Islam, Morning Star News (MSN) reports. Ruled by an oppressive extremist Islamic regime, Somalia ranks 2 on the Open Doors World Watch List 2024 of the top 50 countries where Christians are persecuted.

Urging world leaders “not to look away,” the US-based International Rescue Committee (IRC) aid organization has warned that Sudan is “collapsing” as it faces the “fastest” and “biggest” humanitarian crisis ever documented, Straight Arrow News (SAN) reports.

In a move that appears to violate India’s constitutionally protected right to freedom of religion, the Hindu-nationalist-led state of Rajasthan has approved an anti-conversion law that provides prison terms for anyone who “unduly influences” a person to change their religion and requires citizens who want to change their faith to inform authorities 60 days in advance, International Christian Concern (ICC) reports.

The US-based Global Christian Relief ministry has reported that humanitarian supplies delivered for 20,000 Christians in Syria have been hijacked by militants with the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) Islamist rebel group which captured Aleppo and toppled the Syrian government on Sunday, December 8, Crosswalk reports.

While converts to Christianity in Nepal are vulnerable to persecution from radical Hindu groups and from within their own indigenous communities, positive reports are emerging of the Gospel’s advancement in the isolated mountainous country. There are now 1.3 million Christians in Nepal, 4.4% of a population of 30.5 million, and that number is reportedly growing.

An American prison ministry is set to deliver 65,000 Christmas “Hope Packs” to incarcerated men and women in 18 US states and 20 countries internationally, CBN News reports. There are currently more than 11 million incarcerated people around the world, with over 2 million in the United States.

Amid a wave of violence against Christians in north-eastern Nigeria’s Taraba state, suspected Islamic extremists murdered a pastor and a female Christian student in separate attacks last week, International Christian Concern (ICC) reports.

Continuing their years-long slaughter of Nigeria’s Christians, Fulani herdsmen murdered at least 96 Christians in neighboring Benue and Taraba states since October 22, Morning Star News (MSN) reports. Tens of thousands of Christians have been murdered by Islamist terrorist groups including Fulani herdsmen, Boko Haram, and Islamic State West Africa Province since Islamic jihadism took hold in Nigeria in 2009.

An 82-year-old pastor in Louisiana is enjoying the “best” ministry of his life after setting up a roadside prayer station at a busy intersection, Baptist Press (BP) reports.

A Christian choir in Indonesia’s South Sulawesi province pondered Monday how to perform this Christmas after local Muslims objected to their rehearsal.