Welcoming an end to the bloodshed, the executive committee appealed for "a lasting peace for the people of Nagorno Karabakh / Artsakh

GENEVE — The WCC executive committee issued a statement calling for calm and wisdom following six weeks of intense fighting for Nagorno-Karabakh/Artsakh, suspended by an agreement announced between the leaders of Azerbaijan, Armenia and Russia. Welcoming an end to the bloodshed and destruction, the executive committee appealed for “a lasting peace founded on justice and…

Trail Life USA free webinar to help churches in the wake of Boy Scouts of America's bankruptcy, and with religious freedom issues

GREENVILLE, SC — The Alliance Defending Freedom, Focus on the Family, and the Evangelical Council for Abuse Prevention will participate in an upcoming webinar Dec. 9 hosted by boys adventure movement Trail Life USA (www.TrailLifeUSA.com) to help churches address liabilities they may face in the wake of Boy Scouts of America’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing…

Coptic Solidarity today published a report, 'Jihad of the Womb' - Trafficking of Coptic Women & Girls in Egypt

WASHINGTON — Coptic Solidarity recently published a report, ‘Jihad of the Womb’: Trafficking of Coptic Women & Girls in Egypt, which addresses the widespread practice of abduction and trafficking of Coptic women and girls in Egypt and how they are a particularly vulnerable group to exploitation. The report has been submitted to the office of…

Gospel for Asia (GFA World) spotlights the huge “uphill battle” facing many of the world’s 258 million widows in a just-released report.

WILLS POINT, TX — One of the world’s biggest poverty-alleviating organizations spotlights the huge “uphill battle” facing many of the world’s 258 million widows in a recently-released report. Treatment of widows is often startlingly unfair and cruel, catapulting them into a crisis of survival, says the new global report by Texas-based Gospel for Asia (GFA…

CS recently sent letters to the corporate sponsors of the EFA and Premier League, informing them of this discrimination & how it is conducted

WASHINGTON – Coptic Solidarity (CS) strongly urges all corporate sponsors of the Egyptian Football Association (EFA) and the Premier League to end their sponsorship of Egypt’s national football team and league teams until they take immediate steps to end rampant discrimination against Coptic and other minority faith footballers. CS recently sent letters to the corporate…

Triumphant Mercy and other NGOs are now participating in efforts to save Syrian refugees from a relatively new, but growing danger: organ trafficking.

BEIRUT – Triumphant Mercy Lebanon recently shared rising concerns about dangers being faced by displaced Syrians living in refugee camps in Lebanon.More than 1.5 million people have fled from the civil war that has raged in their home country since 2011.In mid-2015, the Lebanese government ceased registering displaced Syrians officially as refugees. Unregistered Syrian refugees…

Patients with disabilities face greater challenges during pandemic, we're thankful that federal government & the state of Tennessee are standing in the gap

BRISTOL, TN — The Tennessee-based, 18,000-member Christian Medical Association (CMA, www.cmda.org) lauded a Tennessee patient protection policy that protects disabled patients during the COVID pandemic. The policy was announced this afternoon by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Civil Rights (OCR) and developed collaboratively between HHS, the state of Tennessee,…

Born in Homs & an evangelical Syrian, Tony Alkhoury is 1 of 450 Syrians in the US on an active student visa. In Arabic, his family name means “the priest.”

Following Turkey’s incursion into Syria on November of 2019 and establishment of a “safe zone” in coordination with Russia, the beleaguered nation faces another refugee crisis. According to the United Nations, 6.7 million Syrians have registered with their High Commission for Refugees. Turkey hosts the largest share, with 3.4 million, followed by Lebanon with 1…

USCIRF expressed its concern over reports in Pakistan targeting Hazara Shi’a for the spread of COVID-19 amid the Coronavirus lockdown.

WASHINGTON, DC – The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) today expressed its concern over reports of the provincial government of Balochistan, Pakistan targeting Hazara Shi’a for the spread of COVID-19 amid the Coronavirus lockdown. “We are troubled that government officials in Balochistan are scapegoating the already vulnerable and marginalized Hazara Shi’a community…

International activists are sounding the alarm over what they say is the pervasive and violent persecution of embattled Nigerian Christians

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….

ChinaAid released its 2019 Annual Report on Friday, covering January to December 2019, detailing persecution and key findings for the year.

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…

The wife of a Malaysian pastor Raymond Koh who was abducted in 2017 was among 12 women honored Wednesday with the U.S. State Department’s International Women of Courage Award.

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…

Five Christian families recently lost their homes and fields in southern Mexico for not participating in traditional religious festivals.

CHIAPAS, Mexico – Five Christian families recently lost their homes and fields in southern Mexico for not participating in traditional religious festivals. Requests for government intervention were ignored, and nearby churches are providing the displaced believers with emergency supplies and lodging. Evangelical Christians from indigenous communities in southern mexico, are often persecuted simply because they…

Nigeria hosts the highest rate of religiously-motivated violence in the world, according to religious freedom watchdog group Open Doors USA

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…

The violence targeting Christian churches in northern Nigeria has turned that country into “a ticking time bomb,” U.S. religious leaders warn.

ADAMAWA, Nigeria – More than 100 members of the Islamic State of West Africa, also known as Boko Haram, recently swarmed northern Adamawa, a state in northeast Nigeria, and set at least five churches ablaze while they opened fire and indiscriminately killed residents, according to Sunday reports. The violence targeting Christian churches in northern Nigeria…

Liberty Counsel has come alongside UPS employees in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, who have allegedly been harassed by a supervisor for praying together

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…

The NRB Resolution Urging the Supreme Court to Uphold Religious Liberty as a Primary and not Secondary Right was drafted.

NASHVILLE, TN – On the last Friday of February, the Resolutions Committee of the National Association of Religious Broadcasters (NRB) published six significant resolutions in conjunction with its annual convention in Nashville.The sixth and final resolution applies to the preservation of certain inalienable rights recognized by the United States Declaration of Independence and our Constitution.The…

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.

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…

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.

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….

Bolsonaro has upset the applecart once again. On January 26, 2020, he appointed Benedito Guimarães Aguiar Neto to lead CAPES.

SAO PAULO – Jair Bolsonaro has been the elected President of Brazil since January 1, 2019. Brazil’s liberals and secular humanists were unable to prevent Bolsonaro from winning his 2018 presidential campaign. Christians and conservatives rallied to support his campaign that opposed homosexuality, same-sex marriage, abortion, and drug liberalization with 55 percent of the vote….

In the end, numbers & statistics will never suffice to capture the magnitude of the global persecution of Christians. “Too many to count, too many unknown,”

Recently we observed one of the International Day[s] of Prayer for the Persecuted Church (known by the acronym IDOP). Initiated over 20 years ago by the World Evangelical Alliance, 100,000 congregations around the world and millions of Christians participate on this day. “Let us unite in prayer for our persecuted brothers and sisters,” IDOP said…

On this Religious Freedom Day, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is proposing a rule that implements President Trump's executive order that removes current regulatory burdens on religious organizations and ensures that religious and non-religious organizations are treated equally in HHS-supported programs.

WASHINGTON — On Religious Freedom Day, January 16, 2020, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) proposed a rule that implements President Trump’s executive order that removes current regulatory burdens on religious organizations and ensures that religious and non-religious organizations are treated equally in HHS-supported programs. This rule protects HHS-supported religious social service…

Open Doors announced the 2020 World Watch List of religious persecution offenders: Christians in China experience unprecedented levels of persecution...

WASHINGTON – Today Open Doors announced the 2020 World Watch List of religious persecution offenders at a press conference in Washington, D.C, and revealed that Christians living in China are experiencing unprecedented levels of persecution, and their quality of life is deteriorating at an alarming rate. China jumped four spots, from #27 in 2019 to…

The U.S. State Department removed Sudan from its list of governments that are engaging in or tolerating systemic and ongoing religious freedom violations and has placed Nigeria, Cuba, and Nicaragua on a special watch list for “severe violations of religious freedom” for the first time.

The U.S. State Department removed Sudan from its list of governments that are engaging in or tolerating systemic and ongoing religious freedom violations and has placed Nigeria, Cuba, and Nicaragua on a special watch list for “severe violations of religious freedom” for the first time. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced Friday the State Departments’…

Yael Eckstein shares her thoughts on Hanukkah & her prayer for the power of light to overcome the darkness of religious oppression wherever it exists.

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…