WASHINGTON — Rev. Justin Murff, FRSA, Executive Director of the MENA Collective, submits the following and is available for comment: With all of the uncertainty surrounding the (current coronavirus outbreak crisis), one thing churches and pastors can be sure about is that streaming your online service is simply not enough. As ministers of the Gospel,…
WARRENTON, MO — Child Evangelism Fellowship operates over 99,000 after-school clubs around the world. GOOD NEWS CLUBS feature Bible teaching, music, games and snacks for children once a week. When schools and churches closed for weeks in South Korea due to COVID-19, a plea went to CEF International Headquarters in Missouri for help with an…
The International Committee on Nigeria (ICON) launched a campaign Wednesday titled the “Silent Slaughter” to raise awareness about the estimated more than 60,000 Nigerians who have died as a result of religious conflicts since 2001. Already this year, ICON reports more than 400 Nigerians were killed because of their Christian faith, with thousands more displaced….
KHARTOUM – The nation of Sudan has been a veritable poster child for the persecution of Christians. Recent news, however, indicates that things may be about to change. The World Watch List 2020, published by Open Doors, ranked Sudan as the seventh most dangerous country for Christians, mainly due to extremely high levels of violence….
MIDLAND, TX — ChinaAid released its 2019 Annual Report on Friday, detailing persecution and key findings for the year. The report covers the period from January-December 2019 and provides information on the targeting of Chinese Christians. Throughout the year, ChinaAid observed escalated instances of religious oppression, driven by the government’s campaign to develop “religion with…
WASHINGTON D.C. – The wife of a Malaysian pastor who was abducted in 2017 was among 12 women honored Wednesday with the U.S. State Department’s International Women of Courage Award. Susanna Liew, the wife of pastor Raymond Koh, was honored by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and first lady Melania Trump for fighting on behalf…
NIGERIA – The Nigerian government now agrees with what church leaders have been complaining for years: Christians are the target of jihadist terrorism. “In the wake of a renewed onslaught by our tireless military against Boko Haram and their ISWAP (Islamic State West Africa Province) allies in recent times, the insurgents have apparently changed their…
MYRTLE BEACH, SC – Liberty Counsel is a Christian ministry that “proclaims, advocates, supports, advances, and defends” religious freedom, the sanctity of human life, and the biblical model of marriage and family. The Orlando-based ministry maintains offices in Virginia and Washington, DC. The ministry is best understood as it is self-described on the Liberty Counsel…
NIGERIA – The recent news reports about Christian persecution coming out of Nigeria are horrifying. A day after Christmas, extremists who identified themselves as part of ISIS murdered 11 Christians in Nigeria. A few weeks into the new year, on Jan. 19, the Islamic State of West Africa released a video of a child —…
COLORADO SPRINGS, CO – During the weekend from May 14 through 17 this year, the Colson Center for Christian Worldview and Breakpoint will present China Aid founder, Bob Fu, with the 2020 William Wilberforce Award. The Wilberforce Weekend is the annual flagship event for the Colson Center. The China Aid website describes Bob Fu as…
Yael Eckstein, president of the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, discusses reasons why we need to pray and speak out against anti-semitism today. On International Holocaust Remembrance Day, which is observed annually on Jan. 27, we proclaim “Never again!” Yet the increase in anti-Semitism in the U.S. and around the world has many people…
TEHRAN – Concerns are being raised internationally about the well-being of an Iranian Christian convert who was arrested during an anti-government protest in Tehran last week. The Human Rights Activists News Agency first reported on the arrest of 21-year-old Christian convert Fatemeh Mohammadi, who prefers to go by the name “Mary” since her spiritual conversion….
WARRENTON — People of faith are celebrating this week, and none more than the teachers of nearly 5,000 Good News Clubs in the nation’s public schools. On National Religious Freedom Day, January 16, President Trump signed new guidance rules to protect, among other things, freedom of prayer in public schools. He was surrounded by students…
Yael Eckstein, president of the International Fellowship of Christian and Jews, shares her thoughts on Hanukkah and her hope and prayer for divine intervention, for the power of light to overcome the darkness of religious oppression wherever it exists. Hanukkah, which began Sunday night this year, commemorates a great Jewish victory over oppression by the…
COVENTRY, ENGLAND – On May 7, 2019, the military council in control of Sudan declared that Sharia would continue to be the rule of law throughout the country. By July, it had become clear that Christian women and children comprised the majority of those imprisoned under the strict Islamic law codes. The Barnabas Fund, based…
PAKISTAN – New reports highlight continuing concern over Pakistan’s blasphemy laws, six months after Asia Bibi was finally allowed to leave the country. The reports come from sources as diverse as the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCRIF) and Humanists International. The USCIRF reports there are still 80 people in Pakistan imprisoned on blasphemy…
TOKYO – Japan rose like a phoenix out of the ashes of World War 2 to become the world’s third-largest economy and a leading producer of in-demand passenger vehicles. The country has taken a back seat over the last several decades as other developing nations have become giants of industry and technology. Yet millions of…
WASHINGTON, DC – A recent meeting of the US Commission on International Religious Freedom declared that “Places of worship and other religious sites should be sanctuaries where worshipers feel safe to practice their faith.” Based on statements made at meetings of, or contained within documentation published by, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights,…
ANHUI – According to China Aid authorities have destroyed a church in China and detained its pastors. No legal papers ordering the church’s demolition were provided, but officials tore it down on Friday October 18. It could seat more than 3,000 people and was part of the country’s officially-recognized church network. The large building –…
ALGERIA – In an unprecedented crackdown on Algerian Christians, 8 churches have been shut down in the North African nation in this year alone. Just last week worshipers were forcibly removed from church services by police. The church closure are based around a law from 2006 which prevents any new non-Muslim places of worship which…
NEW YORK, NY – Christians around the world are invited and encouraged to engage in prayer and supplications on behalf of our brothers and sisters in Christ who are being persecuted for their faith. Sunday, November 3, has been set aside as the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church. We should not be…
NEW YORK — In an era in which places of worship have become, too often, targets for violence, United Nations officials and religious leaders gathered in New York City on to talk over plans for preventing attacks against people of faith.The event, titled “Uniting to Prevent Violence in Places of Worship,” was held at the…
JERUSALEM, Israel – Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the terror attack near a synagogue in Halle, Germany that killed two people Wednesday is “additional testimony that anti-Semitism in Europe is increasing.” The anti-Semitic attack took place during Yom Kippur, the holiest day on the Jewish calendar. Witnesses say the gunman tried but failed to break…
CAIRO – It was only a decade ago that the Muslim Brotherhood – recognized by the United States as an Islamic terrorist group – seized control of the Egyptian government. Although Egypt is a Muslim nation, the March 12, 2013 edition of the Egypt Daily News cited the Brotherhood as the enemy of Egypt just…
ABUJA – Conducting charitable humanitarian work in any developing country or crisis situation is difficult at best. Working in disease or conflict-ridden regions is not only hard but sometimes downright dangerous.This is rapidly becoming the scenario for NGOs working in strife-torn Nigeria where Boko Haram rebels are attempting to establish the Islamic State in West…
BEIJING – For more than two years, Missions Box News has brought our readers reports of the Chinese Communist Party’s widespread campaign to clamp down on Christianity in mainland China. The big news out of China in January 2019 was not tariffs and trade wars. The CCP demanded that the first of the 10 commandments…
WASHINGTON, DC – The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) was founded in 1998. The mission of the USCIRF is “To elevate and promote international religious freedom as a norm and practice.” During the past year, the USCIRF has issued four factsheets that summarize four types of laws used internationally to prevent the…
BEIJING – Barely six months ago, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIFR) identified its current Countries of Particular Concern (CPC). Sixteen of the CPC were ranked as Tier One, those of the most significant concern. Of those, committee member Gary Bauer said,“If we were going to rank the Tier 1 countries, China would…
BOSTON – Liberty Counsel was in court yesterday presenting oral argument regarding its motion for summary judgement requesting the United States District Court in Boston to rule that Boston resident Hal Shurtleff and his Christian civic organization, Camp Constitution, can fly the Christian flag on Boston’s City Hall flagpoles on the same terms as other…
BOSTON — Liberty Counsel has asked a federal district court to forgo a trial and order the city of Boston to allow its resident Hal Shurtleff and his Christian civic organization, Camp Constitution, to fly the Christian flag on a city flagpole that Boston has opened to hundreds of other organizations. The city censored the religious viewpoint…
ISTANBUL – A recent report published by the Middle East Forum noted that “There is an atmosphere in Turkey right now that anyone who isn’t Sunni (Muslim) is a threat to the stability of the nation.” The once widely heralded agenda of Kemal Ataturk to establish a democratic, secular republic is now a fading memory….
WILLS POINT, TX – The closure of yet another Christian church and its Bible school by authorities in Algeria spurred one of our reporters to dig a little deeper. He decided to investigate government restrictions and political persecution against the Church. He didn’t have to look far. A recent report by the Pew Research Center…
BOSTON — Liberty Counsel has asked a federal district court to forgo a trial and order the city of Boston to allow its resident Hal Shurtleff and his Christian civic organization, Camp Constitution, to fly the Christian flag on a city flagpole that Boston has opened to hundreds of other organizations. The city censored the religious viewpoint…
FRANCE – The Open Doors website explains that Christian persecution today in some countries is far worse than many of us in the Western Hemisphere understand. “In some countries, familial and social pressure make it terribly difficult to follow Jesus, while in other places, faith in Christ is threatened by daily risk of violence and…
MIDLAND, TX — When Liao Qiang and his family of six arrived in Taiwan last week, it’s because it was their only option for keeping their children safe. The family, which is affiliated with Early Rain Covenant Church, has been under constant surveillance from the Chinese authorities ever since a December crackdown on the church…
CAIRO – On July 1, the presidential committee for the legalization of churches announced that it had processed yet another wave of approvals. Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly told reporters that another 127 previously unlicensed Coptic Christian churches had been added to the list of properties approved as places of worship. The reauthorization was mandated by…
WASHINGTON — Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), co-chairman of Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission along with Rep. Jim McGovern (D-MA), today held a bipartisan hearing on the perilous state of religious freedom for Christians in China, Nigeria, Iran and other places around the world. Ambassador-at-Large for Religious Freedom Sam Brownback, head of the U.S. State Department’s Office…
WILLS POINT, TX – June 20th is World Refugee Day. The annual observation is particularly important this year as we are currently facing the worst refugee crisis in recorded history. Measuring the Problem According to the UNHCR, the United Nations Refugee Agency, at least 68.5 million people around the globe have been displaced from their…
BWERA, UGANDA – Several Christian churches in western Uganda began an outdoor evangelistic campaign in Bwera on May 20. It was evident that the event was going well as Muslim people listened and responded positively to the Gospel message.Because so many were publicly professing their faith in Christ, Muslim leaders began staging demonstrations. The demonstrations…
SHANDONG PROVINCE – The Chinese government initiated the Sharp Eyes project following its approval by the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in 2016. Sharp Eyes is the beginning of a program to dramatically increase video surveillance throughout the nation. The goal of the project is to have “coverage across all regions, sharing…
BEIJING – According to the 2018 Chinese census, there are 40 million professing Christians living in mainland China. Some informed individuals believe the number of Christians is actually closer to 100 million. Given the rising repression of Christianity under the administration of President Xi Jinping, it is reasonable to assume that many did not publicly…
A local government communications agency in China held a seminar in April to discuss with Communist Party members the “enormous harm” the growth of Christianity is to the atheist nation. The Chinese Christian persecution watchdog China Aid raised an alarm about the event, titled “Christianity’s Enormous Harm on China’s Security,” held on April 22 in the…
OSLO – In my youth, when inviting friends to come to church with me, not all of them knew where Park Avenue Baptist Church was. But, when I simply said, “You know. The church with the sign.” Everyone knew where that was. It was impossible to come into town from the west and not see…
‘Overjoyed that Asia is finally free – but why has it taken so long?’ Asia Bibi is finally out of Pakistan. Officials have confirmed that Asia has been released. Her lawyer has told CNN she is now in Canada, where two of her daughters have already been granted asylum. The Christian woman was acquitted of…
AMSTERDAM — A Chinese petitioner is on track to be repatriated by the Netherlands back to China, where she will likely face severe persecution and may even lose her life. Chen Yan sought asylum in the Netherlands after she faced persecution for petitioning the Chinese Communist Party. Now, shortly after she protested during Chinese Premier…
STOCKHOLM – Mention the words “immigration” or “asylum” and the average American’s thoughts turn to our southern border. The issues are so controversial in the U.S. that we tend to think that we are the only country in the world restricting immigration and that the refugees at our border are the only ones finding borders…
NAIROBI – When a young Muslim imam in the eastern Uganda village of Kerekerene began missing prayers at the local mosque, his family and friends became concerned. Three weeks passed before they found him. Rather than relief, their concerns escalated. Someone had spotted him on March 16, entering a building where they would have least…
LUHANSK, Ukraine – The unrecognized People’s Republic of Luhansk, an independent quasi-state of Ukraine drafted a law requiring all churches`to “re-register” just four years after declaring its independence during the armed conflict of 2014. The February 2018 legislation pertained to all Protestant churches and required them to re-register by October 2018. The re-registration was required…
Religious freedom, i.e., the separation of church and state appears to be gaining greater legal standing around the globe. Yet, according to the latest Open Doors World Watch List, persecution of Christians is on the rise. Christians are not the only ones being persecuted. People of any faith who are in the minority are increasingly…
PENANG – During the recent testing of lighting fixtures at a residential high-rise under construction in the city of Penang, a local Muslim mufti complained to local authorities because the resulting pattern was in the shape of a cross. The mufti insisted that the authorities investigate why the lights had been arranged as a cross…
