The broken doors have been repaired, the benches were returned to their places, and the Bibles were gathered from the floor, but the fear remained. In several Muslim-majority communities along Tanzania’s coast, small Christian churches continue to worship under growing pressure, ...
Part Three of the series, “When Creation Groans” By ICC Fellow Lisa Navarrette Imagine you are at your Sunday morning church service. Hands raised in worship. The Spirit filling the space. Then, all of a sudden, gunmen kick in the door and open fire. Those who are not instantly k...
A pastor has faithfully shared the gospel while imprisoned on false charges. Pastor Sang Te was arrested by Myanmar military authorities on Sept. 16, 2021, accused of having connections with resistance groups. Christian leaders insisted that Sang Te was not involved in armed acti...
Courageous Christians are finding ways to take Bibles to those in need despite the ongoing threat of Islamist attacks. Bible distribution is difficult in Burkina Faso, where many Bibles have been destroyed or lost when Christians have been forced to flee. One pastor who received ...
Several countries bordering Afghanistan — including Iran, Pakistan and Tajikistan — have deported hundreds of thousands of Afghan refugees back to their home country, including Christians who are interrogated upon their return. “Now that the Taliban has full con...
Syria (MNN) — For those who have converted to Christianity living in Muslim-majority nations, their new and sometimes secret faith carries legal consequences that aren’t always visible. Yet these consequences reach into the most personal areas of life. Meet a Syrian husband and w...
The Nigerian Army arrested a 48-year-old Fulani Muslim suspected of participating in an attack that killed at least 30 Christian residents of Naridon village in Kaduna state. Troops from Sector 3 of Operation Enduring Peace arrested Salihu Miakailu during an intelligence-led oper...
In Zanzibar’s Magharibi region, 21-year-old “Faraja” is quietly holding on to a recent decision she made that has transformed her life. Faraja comes from a deeply devoted Muslim family and is known for her knowledge of Islam’s teachings. However, since May, she has been secretly ...
Part Two of the series, “When Creation Groans” By ICC Fellow Lisa Navarrette Across Nigeria’s Middle Belt, the rhythm of daily life has long been shaped by the land. Before sunrise, farmers walk to fields cultivated by their families for generations. Seasons are measured by plant...
Part One of the series, “When Creation Groans” By ICC Fellow Lisa Navarrette The first light of dawn stretches across a farming village in Nigeria’s Middle Belt as Samuel walks slowly through the field his father once cultivated before him. He kneels and scoops a handful of dry s...
Upper Kauda St. Vincent Catholic Parish in Sudan’s Nuba Mountains had long served as a place of worship, education, and humanitarian care for a community living amid conflict. On June 19, the place of refuge came under attack after a 48-hour ultimatum issued by Izzat Kuku, a Musl...
Seven Christians from India’s Madhya Pradesh state have been sentenced after a court found them guilty of forceful conversions during a birthday party. The convictions, which follow a legal battle that’s lasted since April 2024, are the latest example of the growing persecution a...
By Greg Cochran, PhD, ICC Fellow A couple of years ago, International Christian Concern (ICC) published an article regarding the blind spot Christians possess when it comes to awareness of and concern for Christian persecution. Since then, has any progress been made? What about C...
Until two months ago, Sauda’s life in Western Uganda was marked by fear, abuse, and hopelessness. For years, her father — a prominent local Muslim leader — abused her in multiple ways. “My father was merciless,” Sauda told an International Christian Concern (ICC) staffer. “He cou...
Last October, Pastor Wang Lin, one of the leaders in Zion Church in China, was arrested and imprisoned under false charges of "fraud" and "illegal business practices." Sarah Su (Su Ziming in Chinese), wife of Pastor Wang, recounts the day her husband was arrested and the Christia...
Egypt’s Ministry of Education recently announced the country’s top-performing students in the 2025–2026 General Secondary Certificate examinations, but the list has drawn attention from Christian advocates after no Coptic Christians appeared among the nation’s 30 highest-ranked g...
Members of the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) attacked communities three times in just a few days in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), killing more than 20 people. From July 14 to 16, the ADF raided the primarily Christian commune of Mangina twice. Mangina Mayor Nic...
India’s Parliament is considering a sweeping amendment to the country’s foreign-funding law that critics warn could give the government unprecedented authority over the assets of NGOs, including Christian ministries, hospitals, schools, and charitable organizations that rely on f...
Four Christians, including a former extremist, are in hiding after being harassed. As a young man, Mukesh joined a Hindu extremist group but became interested in dating a Christian woman who shared the gospel with him. After he placed his trust in Christ, they married and began a...
On June 4, 2026, workmen under orders from the Iranian regime bulldozed the Evangelical Church of Mashhad, Iran, without explanation. The church was around 80 years old but had been closed by Iranian officials for more than two decades. Still, some Iranian Christians hoped that i...
A front-line worker reported that the Ebola outbreak has increased pressure on churches in the DRC as they carry out their ministry. “Pray for those ministering within the local church while they serve as critical front-line responders,” he asked. “Many people d...
The expiration of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) protections for Syrians in the United States this week has renewed attention on the fragile security environment facing civilians in Syria, particularly religious minorities who remain vulnerable a year and a half after the fall ...
Christians across Ethiopia are grieving after reports that a drone strike hit the historic Arsema Monastery in South Wollo, Amhara Region, during a time of worship on July 22, killing clergy and worshippers. According to multiple reports, two nuns and six priests were among those...
Rt. Hon. Stephen Hajara, spokesperson for the Kauru Local Government Legislative Council and Councilor representing Kamaru ward in Southern Kaduna, has called for immediate security intervention after Islamic extremists killed 30 Christians in the village of Naridon in Kaduna sta...
The Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) of Pakistan has ordered a review of its controversial ruling that previously upheld the marriage of 13-year-old Maria Shahbaz to her abductor, Shehryar Ahmad. During the hearing on July 24, conducted on a petition filed by Maria Shahbaz’s fa...
For the first time, the Christian community in India expressed its solidarity with a non-political students’ agitation movement against alleged irregularities in the country’s top educational competitive testing system. The youth-led Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) demanded the resig...
Becky Graves was living a comfortable American life when her husband suggested a family mission trip to Haiti. She told him—forcefully—NO! But then God changed Becky's heart; that "short-term" trip became a defining moment in her life. Fourteen years later, Becky is still serving...
The Supreme Court of Pakistan has ordered the release of the final three men on death row in the 2014 murder case of a Christian couple, Shahzad Masih and his pregnant wife, Shama Bibi. With this decision, along with the dismissal of a state appeal against the acquittal of 102 ot...
The Supreme Court of India, on July 15, heard a petition that highlights the rising hate speech against Christians, especially vigilante violence during Christian festivals. Commonly known as the “Violence Petition,” the petition originated in 2022 due to rising localized intimid...
Pastor Ezra Jin Mingri, 56, reunited with his family on July 3 after spending 266 days in a Chinese prison. In an op-ed published by the Wall Street Journal on July 8, Jin detailed his experience behind bars, which he endured alongside 28 other leaders of the underground Zion Chu...
Villagers from the town of Kokoana, in far western Burkina Faso near Mali, request prayer after Islamists killed 21 people in an attack on May 11, 2026, in which Christian leaders were deliberately targeted. “The terrorists went to the home of Pastor Etienne Keïta and ...
An abducted Christian girl has been rescued and reunited with her family. In January 2026, 16-year-old Reena was kidnapped while walking home with her sister. Family members later learned that a Muslim man claimed Reena had converted to Islam and married him. When a lawyer sought...
On Sunday, June 14, 2026, local authorities halted worship services at Early Rain Covenant Church and arrested church leaders, members and several children in Jiangyou City, Sichuan Province, southwestern China. About 70 government personnel stormed the conference room where memb...
A day after he baptized 175 people, a 36-year-old Catholic priest was killed by gunmen in the Central African Republic. Father Crépin Martial Monga, vicar of St. John the Baptist Parish in Zémio, in the Diocese of Bangassou, was shot in the head at around 6:40 p.m. on June 29 as ...
Born into a Muslim family in Haroji Wado, a community near Ethiopia’s western border with Sudan, 14-year-old Fatuma’s life changed after she decided to follow Christ in November 2025. Instead of finding acceptance, she became the target of persecution from her community and famil...
Russia (MNN) — Earlier this month, the Russian Federation added Child Evangelism Fellowship (CEF) to its list of “undesirable organizations.” It gave no explanations for the decision, which essentially shuts down all organizational operations. “[The designation] also means that e...
Islamic terrorists, suspected to be Boko Haram or the Islamic State of West Africa Province (ISWAP), abducted the wife of a pastor and their three children on Saturday, July 18, along the Maiduguri-Damasak highway in Northeast Nigeria. The family of Pastor Moses Guguma was on its...
During a worship service on Sunday, July 19, at Christ the Answer Tabernacle Pentecostal Church (GPT) in Medan City in Indonesia’s North Sumatra Province, an angry mob of Muslims forced the church to shut down, claiming it lacked a building permit. A video of the incident has sur...
Members of the Beth-El Tabernacle Church of Christ Alpha Omega Congregation (GBT KAO) in Semarang Regency, Central Java, Indonesia, have claimed that various parties obstructed their efforts to build a church building. On July 15, they reported the leader of Leyangan Village in E...
Overcome by thirst after working under the sweltering summer heat in Pattoki, Pakistan, a Christian brick kiln worker reached for the closest water cooler and took a sip. Doing so cost him his life. The worker, a 39-year-old man named Sadique, had just finished stacking bricks be...
When the pastor began to weep, Cade Jefferson, the leader of VOM's work in the Middle East and North Africa, wasn't quite sure how to respond. He had just explained to the pastor how The Voice of the Martyrs comes alongside persecuted Christians and how the ministry was ready to ...
The European Parliament condemned Pakistan on July 7 for its violation of human rights, citing a 13-year-old Christian Pakistani girl who is still fighting for her freedom from the 30-year-old Muslim man who abducted her. Maria Shahbaz was kidnapped in July 2025 by Shehryar Ahmad...
By Pieter Vermeulen, ICC Board Member, as part of a series, “Persecuted but not Forsaken.” By the time we come to the life of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the question of persecution had taken on a new and deeply unsettling form. In earlier centuries, believers were often opposed by open...
Following the August 2024 ousting of Bangladesh’s longtime leader Sheikh Hasina, the country fell into a power vacuum. Amid the ensuing upheaval, some people in this nation of 175 million (91% Muslim, 8% Hindu, and about half of 1% Christian) seized the opportunity to attack reli...
India (MNN) — A petition to prevent mandatory Hindu prayers at school was recently struck down by the high court of Chhattisgarh, India. On June 12, the Chhattisgarh state government ordered that schools must institute prayer three times during the school day. The morning assembl...
Middle East (GCM) — The world is watching war continue to unfold. Peace deals crumble, then bombs drop. Every day brings new headlines of escalating conflict, political instability, displaced families, and deepening uncertainty. Nations are being shaken. Communities are living in...
In early 2026, Christian translators in Morocco started printing full versions of the Bible in Darija, including the entire Old Testament, for the first time. Darija, the commonly spoken dialect of Arabic, is a mix of Berber, French, Spanish and Arabic and distinct from the Moder...
A man placed his faith in Christ after the witness of his wife. Si Si Than, 35, was raised in a devout Buddhist family but experienced real peace when she heard the gospel. After her husband discovered her new faith, he began to insult, rebuke and physically abuse her. On one occ...
Christians in western India have experienced ongoing persecution since the arrest of a faithful pastor on conversion charges. Pastor Lakshya and his family moved to a remote village to begin a church that, over three years, grew to include house fellowships in 12 nearby villages....
At least 25 Christians, including a 2-month-old, were killed in separate attacks during the weekend in Nigeria’s Middle Belt region. The first attack occurred on Saturday night, July 11, in the Kum and Wereng-Comp communities of Ryom County in Plateau state. Residents told Intern...
On July 8, the government of the Indian state of Maharashtra ordered a time-bound, statewide audit of land parcels owned by churches and Christian missionary organizations to identify illegal encroachments, disputed land titles, and unauthorized transfers dating back to the Briti...
India (MNN) — A mob of tribespeople in Chhattisgarh, India recently attacked 60 Christians, including children, with axes, curtain rods, and sickles, sending 13 to the hospital with severe injuries. The attackers were quickly released on bail. Greg Musselman with Voice of the Mar...
Growing up in a Buddhist family in Vietnam, Brother Daniel went through a lot of pain. He felt hopeless and wanted to kill himself. But on his way to get a gun, he stopped by a church. Everything changed. "I don't know why I went to the church." Brother Daniel says, "I met the pa...
By Pieter Vermeulen, ICC Board Member, as part of a series, “Persecuted but not Forsaken.” By the time we encounter the story of Jim Elliot, we are no longer in the world of the Reformation or the early church, but in the modern era, the age marked by unprecedented global access,...
According to a six-year study conducted by the Observatory for Religious Freedom in Africa (ORFA), Islamic Fulani militias are by far the deadliest persecutors of Christians in Nigeria. The network of militias is responsible for four times more civilian deaths than the two promin...
Hours before giving birth to her first child, a 22-year-old mother became a widow after an Islamic Fulani militia attacked her rural community in Nigeria. The attack, which occurred between June 21 and June 22, claimed 22 lives. On June 21, Longdi ThankGod and her 26-year-old hus...
An elderly bishop, who has a pacemaker and is a cancer survivor, was subjected to short-term arbitrary detention on June 29 and 30 in Estelí, Nicaragua. Bishop Juan Abelardo Mata Guevara serves as bishop emeritus of the Diocese of Estelí. The bishop retired in 2020 and had not ma...
A statewide mobilization program to counter an alleged surge of fabricated social media content and false allegations of mass religious conversions has been announced by West Bengal’s top Christian body on July 3. The program, titled “Memorandum Submission Fortnight,” will run un...
Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa had hoped to showcase his country’s transformation toward democracy during French President Emmanuel Macron’s historic visit to Damascus this week. Instead, the visit was overshadowed by violence after explosions in the capital injured at least 18...
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Recent coverage curated from local and regional sources.
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International (MNN) — Having the right tools makes any job easier. unfoldingWord just created an entire toolkit for church-centric Bible tra…
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In a few short days, I’ll pack up the dorm essentials, pretend to be totally fine, and send my oldest child off to college. While my husband…
Countries: Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova, Poland, Romania . The war in Ukraine has created a protracted humanitarian crisis marked by intensifyi…
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