Persecuted Christians

01 March 2016 Mercy is a 22-year-old Christian from the beautiful town of Gwoza, in Nigeria's north-eastern Borno State. Before the arrival of Boko Haram militants almost 300,000 people had lived there, the majority of whom were Christians. But, slowly, the militants began entering the area, and in June 2014 they violently took over the town and  declared it an Islamic...
Read More About NIGERIA: FROM CAPTIVITY TO FREEDOM - MERCY'S MIRACULOUS SURVIVAL »

16 February 2016 Many countries in Central Asia are in the Open Doors 2016 World Watch List -  Uzbekistan  is number 15,  Turkmenistan  is 19,  Tajikistan  is 31,  Azerbaijan  is 34, and  Kazakhstan  is 42. Christians in this region are often monitored and controlled by their governments, but converts can also face...
Read More About CENTRAL ASIA: PRAY FOR THREE WHO FACE ATTACK AND IMPRISONMENT »

10 February 2016 Jung Yohan is a gifted musician from Pyongyang. He used to perform before Kim Jong-Il. "Now I use my violin to point to Christ," he says. This is his story: PERFORMING FOR KIM JONG-IL "My grandfather was an elder in the underground church. Only later in my life did I realise he was actually a Christian. He brought me to my music lessons and secretly prayed...
Read More About NORTH KOREA: 'MY VIOLIN AND YOUR PRAYERS SAVED MY LIFE' »

  http://www.asianews.it/news-en/Tamil-Nadu,-priest-and-three-Catholics-assaulted-and-accused-of-killing-a-child-in-a-center-for-AIDS-patients-36562.html INDIA Nirmala Carvalho The priest is still in shock and in intensive care suffering from head injuries. Hindu radicals suspected of attack in attempt to publicize...
Read More About Tamil Nadu, priest and three Catholics assaulted and accused of "killing" a child in a center for AIDS patients »

02 February 2016 The World Watch List is about the big picture - the facts and figures, the global trends. But the big picture is made up of millions of individual faces. Like Ajay, a young Indian Christian who has experienced 8 years of persecution, yet still says God has blessed him in countless ways. Ajay is 21. When he was four years old, his Hindu parents sent him to live...
Read More About INDIA: PERSECUTED, BEATEN, EVICTED - BUT STILL PRAISING GOD »

ICC Note: A Christian girl in Pakistan has reportedly been killed by a group of Muslim men after she refused their sexual advances. As a group of Christian girls walked home, a group of four Muslim men in a car confronted them and made lewd suggestions to the girls. When the girls refused their advances, the Muslims became enraged and hit the group of Christians with the...
Read More About Christian Girl in Pakistan Killed by Muslim Men for Rejecting Their Sexual Advances »

20 January 2016 CHURCH ABLAZE IN MANGA MANDI On 7 January at around 1am, items on top of the church roof were set alight in Manga Mandi, Lahore. "The fire gutted the roof, but it could not enter the building because the iron doors were closed," the catechist, Dildar Masih, told World Watch Monitor. Initially, the police believed the fire to have been caused by a short...
Read More About PAKISTAN: THREE ATTACKS AGAINST CHRISTIANS IN LESS THAN ONE WEEK »

13 January 2016 The 2016 Open Doors World Watch List, released today, shows that global persecution of Christian is more extreme than ever before. Although the attention of the world's press and politicians has been on persecution in Syria and Iraq, those countries are just the tip of the iceberg. Systematic religious cleansing is widespread across Africa and the Middle East....
Read More About NEW WORLD WATCH LIST SHOWS GROWTH IN GLOBAL PERSECUTION »

12/30/2015 Washington, D.C.  ( International Christian Concern ) - A church under construction in central Egypt was attacked on Thursday, December 10, by a crowd of more than 400 Muslim youth, possibly with incitement from local officials. Following the attack, the new church in the Swada village of Minya has now been closed by local officials, despite the church having...
Read More About Church in Upper Egypt Attacked While Under Construction »

12/17/2015 Washington, D.C. ( International Christian Concern ) - Christians in India continue to face immense pressure at the hands of Hindu radical groups even as the country undertakes a debate regarding the rise of religious intolerance. Brutal acts of violence manifest this rise in religious intolerance as communal forces brazenly attack innocent Christians. From physical...
Read More About Christian Persecution Reaches New Heights in India's Telangana State as Country Debates Rise in Intolerance »

14 December 2015 Sunni Islam and the Russian Orthodox Church are considered the traditional religions of Central Asia. All other religious groups are either illegal or subject to serious harassment. In some parts of Central Asia Christians must keep their faith completely secret - this is the story of one of them: EVERYTHING IN MY LIFE CHANGED "I grew up in a Muslim home in...
Read More About CENTRAL ASIA: A SECRET BELIEVER'S STORY »

  http://www.asianews.it/news-en/Dhaka,-brutal-attack-on-Catholic-brothers-leaves-them-fighting-for-life-36112.html »  12/10/2015 BANGLADESH   by Sumon Corraya Rajesh D 'Cruze is a banker and his brother Ranjan D' Cruze works at a private company. They were attacked by more than five unidentified thugs. The dynamics of the attack reminiscent of the one...
Read More About Dhaka, brutal attack on Catholic brothers leaves them fighting for life »

04 December 2015 In a week when international attention has been firmly fixed on Syria, our Syrian church family need us to kneel with them in prayer and consider how we can support them in action, as they continue to shine as a light in the darkness. Alongside the violence of the civil war that began in 2011, Christians in Syria have been the targets of Islamic extremists....
Read More About SYRIA: DESPITE PERSECUTION, THE CHURCH IS A VITAL LIFELINE »

ICC Note: Those seeking refuge from the Syrian civil war in Europe have been consistently welcomed by large swaths of humanitarian aid and support. For those in West Africa fleeing persecution and death at the hands of the Islamic terror group Boko Haram, they are welcomed with only despair and menial aid. Once they enter the countless displacement camps in the Lake Chad region,...
Read More About Displaced Christians cannot Escape Violence in Nigeria »

German language 11.11.2015  LAOS Vater und Sohn von den Regierungen in Laos und Vietnam jahrelang verfolgt (Open Doors) – Thomas* folgt Jesus seit 20 Jahren nach, und das mit ganzen Herzen. Viele Menschen haben schon durch ihn den Weg zu Gott gefunden. Seine Mutter stammt aus Vietnam, sein Vater aus Laos, diente jedoch als Soldat in Vietnam. Weil Thomas unablässig das...
Read More About Laos: Gejagt wegen christlicher Aktivitäten »

By Andrew Kerr   11/11/2015 Washington, D.C. ( International Christian Concern ) - Imagine you are going to your church on Sunday morning. It is a warm sunny day and you are looking forward to joining the Christians in your community. However, you pull up to the...
Read More About China: Where Does the Church Stand under Communism? »

ICC Note: A Chinese Christian and former journalist was detained and questioned by Chinese authorities related to his writing in opposition to the removal of crosses in Wenzhou province. Zan Aizong is a writer and member of the Chinese Independent Pen Centre who has written extensively on human rights violations within China while doing much of his work on China's house...
Read More About Christian Writer Detained for Questioning by Chinese Authorities »

By Mark Ellis and Petrina Gratton Chief of the Mosul said that if non-Muslims don’t convert, “we fight them, abduct their women, and we destroy their churches” in a recent televised interview. “If a person is a Christian, he has three choices. Either convert to Islam, or if he refuses and wishes to remain Christian, then pay the jizya” tax to Muslims, said Ahmad al-Baghdadi, the...
Read More About Chief od the Mosul calls for fighting Christians, abducting Christian women, destroying Christian churches »

  German language 02.10.2015    TANSANIA Seit 2013 insgesamt 13 Kirchen in betroffener Provinz bei Anschlagserie zerstört (Open Doors, Kelkheim) - Innerhalb von nur einer Woche sind im Nordwesten Tansanias sechs Kirchen durch Brandanschläge zerstört worden. Es ist der vorläufige Tiefpunkt einer seit zwei Jahren anhaltenden Entwicklung. Örtliche Pastoren...
Read More About Tansania: Wieder sechs Kirchen niedergebrannt »

by Sumon Corraya The attackers wanted money in exchange for the house. They threatened to kill the residents. Christian activist: "Grave injustice to the Christian community. In Bangladesh we are a weak minority and this is why Muslims are attacking us. "   Dhaka (AsiaNews) - About 100 Muslims attacked a Christian family living in Dhaka and forced them to leave their three...
Read More About Expropriation of lands in Bangladesh: 100 Muslims occupy Christian home in Dhaka »

http://www.asianews.it/news-en/Aceh:-thousands-of-people-flee-religious-violence-following-church-attacks-35595.html by Mathias Hariyadi   Jakarta (AsiaNews) – Thousands of people have fled their homes, streaming out of Aceh Singkil Regency, Aceh Province, following sectarian violence two days ago. Hundreds of Muslims from the Islamic Youth Movement  set fire...
Read More About Aceh: thousands of people flee religious violence following church attacks »

http://www.asianews.it/news-en/Arrested-for-praying,-Laotian-Christian-dies-in-prison-for-lack-of-treatment-35373.html »  09/21/2015 LAOS Tiang, a married father of six, died in jail waiting before his appeal could be heard. Although he suffered from diabetes, prison officials repeatedly denied him treatment. He and four others had been convicted for praying on behalf of a...
Read More About Arrested for praying, Laotian Christian dies in prison for lack of treatment »

22 September 2015 If you're not a morning person, you may have joked about needing coffee to 'bring you back to life' - but for Belen, an Ethiopian Christian, God has used coffee to bring real transformation. When Belen's husband rejected her because of her faith, she was able to open a coffee shop to support her family, thanks to the prayers and gifts of Open Doors supporters. "God...
Read More About ETHIOPIA: GOD USES COFFEE TO CHANGE BELEN'S LIFE »

09/23/2015 Washington, D.C.  ( International Christian Concern ) - International Christian Concern (ICC) has learned that the Christians of El Oula village, El Amerya district, Alexandria have been under attack since Sunday. At least two Christians have been hospitalized in critical condition after suffering serious injuries, and four homes have been attacked. On Sunday,...
Read More About Coptic Christians Hospitalized, Homes Attacked, Families Flee Village After Attack Over Land Dispute »

09/11/2015 Washington, D.C. ( International Christian Concern ) - Christian villagers in India's Chhattisgarh state have reportedly been brutally assaulted by Hindu radicals following the passing of a resolution in the village banning all non-Hindu religious activities. As a result of the attack, two Christian women were seriously injured and rushed to a hospital for treatment. This...
Read More About Christians Brutally Assaulted by Radicals in India Following Passing of Resolution Banning Christianity »