A blind activist who became a symbol of the fight more religious and political rights in China has fled to the United States embassy in Beijing after escaping from house arrest, but others close to him have been detained, Christian rights activists told Worthy News.
There was concern over the plight of several Iranian Christian asylum seekers in Sweden Tuesday, April 24, after Swedish authorities decided to deport them despite fears they may be jailed or even executed there, Christians said.
Suspected Iranian nationals used portable radios to hide bombs that Israeli authorities claim were intended for use against Jewish targets in Bangkok.
Embattled Iranian Christians urged prayers Tuesday, February 14, as Iranian security forces reportedly launched a crackdown on devoted ‘official’ churches and house congregations operating outside government control.
As protesters demanding more freedom and fair elections prepared to demonstrate in freezing temperatures in Moscow Saturday, February 4, a major Russian mission group warned of more difficulties for evangelical Christians and other, religious, minorities in Russia and other former Soviet Union nations.
Evangelical Christians in southeastern India were due to worship Sunday, January 29, amid heightened tensions after Hindu hardliners attacked a pastor and church members, representatives said.
Syrian and Iranian Christians are being targeted for further persecution, according to Christian news reports.
A Christian woman who was detained as part of Iran’s crackdown on devoted Christian converts has been released after more than nine months imprisonment, but concerns remain over other jailed believers, Worthy News learned January 1.
Hindu militants twice attacked evangelical Christians in India’s southern state of Karnataka, injuring several believers, including women and children, Christians told Worthy News.
A senior evangelical pastor and his wife are spending Christmas behind bars in southern Iran after security forces raided their Assemblies of God-affiliated church, detaining everyone in the building, including children attending Sunday School, a friend of the couple told Worthy News.
Iranian pastor Youcef Nadarkhani has to serve at least one more year in prison before he may be executed for refusing to abandon his faith in Christ and return to Islam, an official assisting him told Worthy News Thursday, December 14.
Authorities in eastern Uzbekistan have warned local churches not to allow youngsters and children to attend their worship services and not to carry out missionary activities or “proselytism”, the word for evangelism, local Christians and activists said.
Iranian officials are trying to convince an imprisoned pastor to return to Islam while he awaits word from Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on whether he should be executed for converting to Christianity.
Evangelical Christians in Belarus and Kazakhstan faced increased pressure Friday, October 21, to halt unauthorized worship services after pastors were fined and churches raided in the former Soviet republics.
Iranian Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani learns early next week whether he will be executed for refusing to recant his faith in Jesus Christ and return to Islam, as the court needs more time to consult with the country’s leadership, trial observers told Worthy News Thursday, October 6.
Militants with suspected ties to Iranian security forces have threatened to kill nearly a dozen evangelical Christians who fled Iran unless they “repent” and return to Islam, well-informed sources told Worthy News early Sunday, October 2.
Security forces on Wednesday, September 28, still searched for three Iraqi Christians, a week after they were reportedly kidnapped by suspected militants in Iraq’s northern city of Kirkuk.
An Iranian court has asked the pastor of one of Iran’s largest house church movements to abandon his faith in Christ and return to Islam if he wants to avoid execution, a church official told Worthy News Sunday, September 25.
China has unexpectedly released a prominent house church leader from prison amid international concerns about his health, his family and rights activists confirmed Monday, September 19.
Iran on Tuesday, September 6, ordered five Iranian Christians, including a heavily pregnant woman, to report to prison on charges linked to their Christian activities, a mission group working in the region said.