TURKEY – Secret Deal with Turkey Paves Way for American Pastor’s Release
NBC News | Oct. 11, 2018 The White House expects North Carolina pastor Andrew Brunson to be released by the Turkish government and returned to the U.S. in the coming…
NIGER- Anti-FGM Priest Kidnapped
Clarion Project | Oct. 11, 2018 An anti-FGM (female genital mutilation) Catholic priest was kidnapped by suspected jihadi terrorists in Niger for educating women and girls against the brutal practice. Local sources say…
UGANDA – Abused and Abandoned: Woman and Four Children Chased Away for Faith in Christ
International Christian Concern | Oct. 10, 2018 Two years ago, Dorika Kabuo and her four children were chased from their home by the one they called “protector and provider,” Dorika’s…
NORTH KOREA – North Korea’s Kim invites Pope Francis to visit Pyongyang, Seoul says
The Japan Times | Oct. 9, 2018 North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has invited Pope Francis to visit Pyongyang, a spokesman for South Korea’s presidential Blue House said Tuesday.…
NIGERIA – ‘Does the World Know? Do They Care?’ 15-Y-O Christian Girl Leah Sharibu Days Away From Execution
The Christian Post - Oct. 9, 2018 (SCREENSHOT: YOUTUBE/INTERNATIONAL CHRISTIAN CONCERN)A photo of Christian schoolgirl Leah Sharibu's family in Nigeria in this September 2018 video. The parents of Christian schoolgirl…
MALAYSIA – In Their Own Words: Prayer Requests of the Persecuted
Radical | Oct. 9, 2018 After Secret Church 18 participants wrote letters to persecuted believers in Malaysia, a team from Open Doors was able to deliver these letters personally to a church in the…
PAKISTAN – FMI Requests Prayer as World Awaits Asia Bibi Verdict
Mission Network News | Oct. 9, 2018 Pakistan (MNN) — Three Pakistani Supreme Court judges decided the fate of Asia Bibi yesterday, but they’re keeping that verdict under lock and…
SUDAN – Sudanese Agency Admits to Religiously Motivated Seizure of Property
International Christian Concern | Oct. 9, 2018 International Christian Concern (ICC) has learned that the National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS) of Sudan admitted that they seized the property of…
IRAN – Iran’s Idea of ‘Human Rights’: Persecute Christians
Raymond Ibrahim | Oct. 9, 2018 In his recent speech before the United Nations, and as a way to support his claim that Israel is “a rogue and racist regime [that] trample[s]…
EGYPT- Church Legalization Remains Hot Issue Seven Years After Maspero Massacre
International Christian Concern | Oct. 9, 2018 International Christian Concern (ICC) and Egypt’s Christian community are commemorating today as the seventh anniversary of the Maspero Massacre. On October 9, 2011,…
IRAQ – Iraqi Archbishop Fears more Persecution, says IS Went Underground
Crux | Oct. 9, 2018 Christianity in Iraq is just one wave of persecution away from extinction, said the Chaldean Catholic archbishop of Basra. In an interview with Catholic News Service,…
PAKISTAN – Pakistan’s Supreme Court Reserves Judgment in Asia Bibi’s Final Appeal
International Christian Concern | Oct. 8, 2018 International Christian Concern (ICC) has learned that the final appeal for Asia Bibi, a Christian woman sentenced to death for allegedly committing blasphemy…
PAKISTAN – Pakistan Islamists Warn of ‘Terrible Consequences’ of Blasphemy Appeal
Reuters | Oct. 8, 2018 ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - A hardline Pakistani Islamist group has warned of “terrible consequences” if a Christian woman sentenced to death for blasphemy is granted leniency…
United States – Why America’s Religious Freedom Ambassador Thinks Everyone can Help ‘Fight’ for this ‘Foundational’ Right
Desert News | Oct. 8, 2018 Ambassador Sam Brownback delivers a speech about religious freedom during the 25th annual International Law and Religion Symposium at BYU's J. Reuben Clark Law…
Pakistan – Defend Dying Christians in Pakistan
American Center for Justice and Law | Oct. 5, 2018 Pakistan is one of the most pernicious persecutors of Christians ever. Pakistani Christians are tortured, raped, and burned alive. Some…
TURKEY – Brunson Appeals to Turkey’s Highest Court
Biblical Truth Media Excellence Free Speech | Oct. 5, 2018 Pastor Andrew Brunson’s attorney, Ismail Cem Halavurt, this week filed an appeal with Turkey’s highest constitutional court. Pastor Brunson, a North Carolina…
INDONESIA – Indonesia: Three Churches Closed in Permits Dispute
World Watch Monitor | Oct. 3, 2018 Members of one of the closed churches hold a sign that says: “Our Assemblies of God church has been sealed by the government.”…
IRAQ – Turkish Airstrikes Target Iraqi Assyrian Villages — Call for War Crimes Investigation
Assyrian International News Agency | Oct. 3, 2018 The Turkish military launched airstrikes targeting Iraqi Christian villages in northern Iraq, a rights group warned. Local sources have told International Christian…
IRAQ – IS Sex Slave Recalls having to Watch Torture of Other Women
World Watch Monitor | Oct. 3, 2018 One of the Christian women who was captured, trafficked and used as a sex slave by ISIS has told The European Post she was forced to watch public…
INDIA – Christian Teen Imprisoned on Baseless Rape Charges
International Christian Concern | Oct. 3, 2018 A 16-year-old Christian and three others in eastern India have been in jail for more than a month on a baseless rape charge,…
IRAQ – Iraq Inches Toward Governance as Baghdad Christians Consider Fleeing
International Christian Concern | Oct. 3, 2018 International Christian Concern (ICC) has learned that on October 2, 2018, Iraq’s interim government took a positive step toward breaking months of deadlock…
TURKEY – Lawyer of U.S. Pastor says to Appeal to Top Turkish Court for his Release
Reuters | Oct. 2, 2018 The case of Andrew Brunson, whose next regular court hearing is on Oct. 12, has become the most divisive issue in a worsening diplomatic row…
IRAN – Iranian Christians sentenced, Verdict says ‘Claiming Jesus is Lord is Attack Against Islam’
World Watch Monitor | Oct. 2, 2018 Two Iranian Christians have been given prison sentences for “spreading propaganda against the regime”, reports Middle East Concern. Saheb Fadaei and Fatimeh Bakhteri, who…
CHINA – Churches Across China Harassed by Authorities
International Christian Concern | Oct. 2, 2018 International Christian Concern (ICC) has learned that several churches across China were raided and had their crosses removed by authorities over the past…
CHINA – China: Christian schoolchildren forced to tick ‘no religion’ box
World Watch Monitor | Oct. 2, 2018 More than 300 Christian children in two high schools in Zhejiang province, which has been referred to as the “Jerusalem of the East” for its…
SUDAN- Sudan Releases Shipment of Bibles held in port for Six Years
World Watch Monitor | Oct. 2, 2018 The Sudanese government has cleared a shipment of Bibles believed to have been held in Port Sudan for six years. The Arabic-language Bibles…
NIGERIA – Nigeria: 4 Children, Grandmother Among 17 Christians Slaughtered by Radicals in Mass Raid
The Christian Post | Oct. 2, 2018 (PHOTO: REUTERS/AKINTUNDE AKINLEYE)A woman attends a community dialogue meeting as she sits in front of a burnt building belonging to Christ Holy Church…
NIGERIA – Boko Haram Barnawi Faction Kills Another Commander
International Christian Concern | Oct. 1, 2018 Boko Haram’s second faction, under the leadership of al-Barnawi, has killed a second commander in roughly a month. They reportedly killed Mamman Nur,…
PAKISTAN – Pakistani Christian Family Flees After Home Set on Fire, told They’ll be Killed if They Return
World Watch Monitor | Sept. 28, 2018 The only Christian family in their area were beaten and saw their house set on fire last week in a city in Pakistan’s…
BAGHDAD – Social Media Star, a Former ‘Miss Baghdad,’ Shot Dead
CNN | Sept. 28, 2018 Iraqi social media star and model Tara Fares has been shot dead in Baghdad, security officials confirmed to CNN. The death of Fares and other…
TURKEY – Turkey Threatens ‘Operations’ Against Opponents in US
Clarion Project | Sept. 27, 2018 While Pollyanna stories in the mainstream media tout Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s visit to the U.S. for the U.N. General Assembly as “an opportunity to…
NIGERIA – Boko Haram in nine gun trucks attack community, repelled by soldiers – Official
Premium Times | Sept. 27, 2018 The Nigerian Army inflicted heavy casualty on Boko Haram when they attacked Garshigar community of Mobar Local Government Area in Borno on Wednesday, an…
NICARAGUA – Nicaraguan Bishop Laments Death of Teen During Anti-Government Protests
Catholic News Agency | Sept. 27, 2018 Matagalpa, Nicaragua, Sep 27, 2018 / 02:13 pm (ACI Prensa).- Bishop Rolando José Álvarez Lagos of Matagalpa has called for an end to…
RWANDA – Rwandan Government Enforces Widespread Church Crackdown
International Christian Concern | Sept. 26, 2018 This year, authorities in Rwanda have closed down at least 7,000 churches, more than 700 of which were in the capital city of…
PAKISTAN – Pakistani Woman Thrown from Roof for Unwavering Faith
International Christian Concern | Sept. 25, 2018 A Pakistani Christian woman was thrown off a roof last month for refusing to embrace the religion of Islam. Binish Paul, 18, fell…
DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO – 27 Church Members Among Dead in DRC After Islamist Assault
World Watch Monitor | Sept. 25, 2018 In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, dozens are feared killed as armed men believed to be Islamist militants from the ADF group…
International Religious Freedom – What We Can Learn From the History of the International Religious Freedom Movement
Juicy Ecumenism| Sept. 24, 2018 On Thursday, September 20, the Save The Persecuted Christians (STPC) coalition held a summit in Washington, DC to discuss steps forward in the most effective way to…
NIGERIA – Leah 6 Months After Being Kidnapped
Lumen Life | Sept. 24, 2018 Friends, I have encouraging news to share! There is reason to believe that Leah Sharibu, the 15-year-old Christian Nigerian girl kidnapped by the Boko…
TURKEY – Turkish-US officials ‘cautiously optimistic’ of Brunson’s release
World Watch Monitor | Sept. 24, 2018 Andrew Brunson, pictured during his release from prison into house arrest on 25 July, was first arrested almost two years ago. Both Turkish and…
TURKEY- Daughter: U.S. Pastor Imprisoned in Turkey for Terrorism by ‘Christianization’
Breit Bart | Sept. 24, 2018 The pastor’s daughter Jacqueline Furnari declared, “A year and a half after his initial detention [in October 2016], Turkey finally charged him when they handed…