Christgiving
Most Turks believe being Turkish and being Muslim are inseparably intertwined. Pastor Ramazan Arkan was an adult before he ever met a Turkish Christian. Then he became friends with a coworker who had left Islam to follow Jesus. That friendship started Ramazan on a journey that ev...
A Pakistani Christian man remains detained after police arrested him in August over allegations of blasphemy connected to religious remarks and a video said to have circulated on social media. Amir Masih, a Christian from Dhala Sharif, near Nowshera Virkan in Gujranwala District ...
Christians facing persecution around the world are finding fewer pathways to safety in the United States as the country’s refugee resettlement program remains effectively suspended, and new asylum procedures change how some claims are initially reviewed. A new report from World R...
As the elders of Early Rain Covenant Church met quietly on Sept. 10 at a local teahouse to discuss church matters, communist authorities were already on to them. Around 3 p.m., police entered the teahouse, interrupted the meeting, and arrested 11 of the elders, whom they took to ...
Another pastor has died at the hands of the military in Myanmar. At about 4 p.m. on Sept. 14, the military shot and killed the Rev. Dal Thawn Tuang, assistant pastor of Lamzang Baptist Church in Lamzang Village, Chin state. The Burma Research Institute (BRI) confirmed his death. ...
The witness of the early church was not carried by leaders alone, nor was it limited to those with influence, education, or public recognition. Ordinary believers carried it: young and old, free and enslaved, men and women, whose lives became living testimonies to the worth of Ch...
A Christian man continues faithfully witnessing to Christ despite living in a dangerous area. In the north of Mozambique, a majority-Muslim nation that has been the epicenter of an Islamist insurgency since 2017, being identified as a Christian can cost a person his close relatio...
On Nov. 30, 2025, Kyaw Tun Aung, 22, was forcibly enlisted into military service under Myanmar's conscription law despite a provision exempting religious workers. The young man was raised in a Buddhist family but came to faith in Jesus Christ in April 2022. Following his conversi...
Church leaders in Kyrgyzstan say Christians living in rural villages are facing increasing persecution. “One family was reported to social services for being too poor to care for their children, and now government agents are threatening to take them,” said a front-lin...
USA (MNN) – UN Secretary-General António Guterres recently called for greater action against global religious persecution, giving a speech on the International Day Commemorating the Victims of Acts of Violence Based on Religion or Belief. Todd Nettleton with VOM USA says his comm...
Stephen’s story does not stand alone. It began a pattern that would repeat itself across generations. The gospel continued to spread. And wherever it spread, it confronted the powers, loyalties, and idols of the world. In the Roman Empire, this tension became unavoidable. To say ...
Nigeria (MNN) — A report from independent, nonprofit newsroom The New Humanitarian says Nigeria’s government and Boko Haram have had a secret ceasefire agreement since June. That’s the same month the radical Islamic group released 360 kidnapped civilians in northeastern Nigeria. ...
As Americans marked the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, families in northeastern Benue State were burying 11 people killed during an Islamic extremist attack on their community. Suspected armed Fulani militia attacked and invaded Ayilamo, a predominantly Christian farmi...
At around midnight on Sept. 6, Amina and Shamila were inside their home in Kibenge, Kasese District, Uganda, when their house was set on fire. Their father, Muhamud, had doused the house with petrol, then set it alight while the girls slept inside. He had told them he would act t...
By Pieter Vermeulen, ICC Board Member, as part of a series, “Persecuted but not Forsaken.” We’ve reached a turning point in this journey. In the previous articles, we walked through the pages of Scripture and discovered a consistent, sobering truth: Faithfulness to God has always...
A major legal challenge was filed in the Bombay High Court on Sept. 11 against the Maharashtra Freedom of Religion Act, 2026, arguing that the new legislation overreaches by infringing constitutionally guaranteed rights to privacy, dignity, and personal autonomy. The comprehensiv...
Lebanon has the highest proportion of Christians anywhere in the Arab World and arguably the region’s least restrictive laws on religious freedom. Lebanese Christians also have important positions in society. This includes the presidency, which is reserved for a Christian under t...
In the quiet corners of a refugee camp in South Sudan, a mother of six holds tightly to her faith and to the hope that her children will one day live free from fear. Lulu was once Muslim, a wife to a Muslim husband, and a mother living in Sudan. When she gave her life to Jesus Ch...
Earlier this year, the Supreme Court of Finland found Päivi Räsänen guilty under a legal statute concerning "War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity." Räsänen has been a member of Finland's parliament since 1995 and is a former Minister of the Interior for the nation. Her "crime" ...
A 26-year-old Christian man, Samuel Arif, has been arrested and sent on judicial remand in Lahore after being accused of blasphemy. The incident has again raised deep concerns among local rights activists and the Christian community regarding the misuse of blasphemy laws to settl...
Editor’s Note: The following is an interview with “Rebekah,” a missionary whom International Christian Concern (ICC) supports in Somaliland, where sharing the gospel is extremely difficult and dangerous. Some details have been altered or omitted to protect her. Your generous gift...
Local churches are the engine of cross-cultural missions, but it is easy for a church to see itself only as the benefactor and not also as a beneficiary. I’ve seen the shift occur in two ways. Sometimes, a local-church missions program becomes a grant-writing foundation. A commit...
A 21-year-old woman was fatally shot inside her home in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, by her Muslim neighbor, according to a report by Christian Daily International. Her killer then abducted her 16-year-old stepbrother, coercing him to confess to her murder. Saba Mehboob and her two daug...
A Christian family has returned to Syria and asks for prayer. Sister K and her family are Syrians who fled to Jordan to escape the civil war that began in 2011. While in Jordan, she and her husband became followers of Christ, were discipled in the faith and became leaders in the ...
In western India, as restrictive laws targeting Christian ministry have gone into effect, Christians have faced challenges in maintaining fellowship. A 300-member church has been partially closed since Hindu radical groups began to oppose it. The pastor conducts early morning ser...
A Christian woman’s husband has abandoned her after multiple abductions. Islamists in the central Nigerian state of Kaduna first kidnapped Mary Abeni in February 2022 and held her for six months. In November of the same year, Mary was abducted by militant Fulani Muslims. Af...
At least 11 people were killed in the early hours of Monday, Sept. 7, as suspected Boko Haram terrorists invaded Zaranga village in Gombi Local Government Area of Adamawa state, Nigeria. The attackers reportedly entered the community before dawn, shooting residents and setting ho...
A 17-year-old Christian man named Ikhlaq Masih was severely beaten by a mob in Nasrat Colony, a town in Ajnianwala, Sheikhupura, Pakistan, where many Christians reside. Masih works making pizzas at a restaurant, while his father, Saleem, works at a brick kiln and his mother, Zakr...
In the high-stakes humanitarian landscape of central India’s Chhattisgarh, addressing displacement has become a critical strategic priority. For families in this region, persecution is not a theoretical risk but a physical onslaught that has reached the “point of death.” The situ...
War persists in Iran and Christian persecution is ramping up against believers who face interrogation, beatings and imprisonment. Joe and Dawn, front-line workers in the Middle East, are helping deliver God's Word into the Islamic Republic of Iran. When one of their Iranian cowor...
The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), India’s leading Hindu nationalist organization and ideological parent of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), has taken its campaign to reshape its international image to one of the world’s most prominent stages. On Aug. 29, RSS Chief Mo...
Morocco has recently received an unusual degree of attention amid viral videos showing tens of thousands of people heading away from the country into a North African territory technically part of Spain. Much of Morocco is so close to Europe geographically, and yet the demographic...
A pastor who regularly baptizes Christian converts from Islam is being threatened. “I asked him if he might consider taking a break for a little while,” said a front-line worker. “His response was to send me videos of him baptizing more people.” While this...
A Christian girl who was assaulted and kidnapped has escaped from her abductors. On March 25, 2026, a 14-year-old Christian Pakistani girl named Abigal and her sister walked to school, unaware it was closed for a holiday. The older sister’s class was having a party, so she ...
Peng, a 53-year-old widow and mother of four, sought spiritual refuge from the Christian God. She wanted to protect herself and her children from what she perceived as a curse on their family that had killed her husband and his father. As Peng grew in her understanding of Christ,...
A radical Hindu mob recently attacked a Christian family in Chhattisgarh after they refused to participate in a Hindu reconversion ceremony called Ghar Wapsi. The mob tore down the roof of the family’s home, leaving seven people exposed to heavy monsoon rains and unable to live s...
For many years, Pastor “Emmanuel” faithfully served the church in Khartoum, Sudan, as secretary of the pastors’ council. When the government, operating under Sharia influence, formed an organized body to bring churches under its control, Pastor Emmanuel initially thought it could...
Plateau State Governor Caleb Manasseh Mutfwang has ordered security agencies to shut down unauthorized activities by a group reportedly operating as Hisbah, warning that anyone attempting to enforce Islamic rules, intimidate residents, or exercise powers outside Nigeria’s legal s...
By Greg Cochran, PhD, ICC Fellow Recently, International Christian Concern (ICC) released a report on religious liberty in Morocco. According to that report, three areas of persecution still restrict freedom for Christians and minorities there: “Freedom of Religion in Morocco ide...
As the death toll from Nepal’s floods exceeds 900 people and the number of missing sits at more than 4,400 people, narratives are starting to emerge about the lives that got swept away. In addition to the horrific loss of life, the floods have also affected churches in the region...
After being deported from the United States while seeking asylum, a Christian convert who fled persecution in Iran has a new home. Artemis Ghasemzadeh, 27, recently received asylum through Canada’s refugee resettlement program. She arrived at her new home on Denman Island near Va...
The gospel worker from China was stunned by how many biblical resources were available to Christians in America. He created a plan to scan one Bible commentary onto CDs that could be carried back into China and copied for underground Christians there. But he needed help. He reach...
From Aug. 23 to 24, more than 50 people were kidnapped, and 47 people were killed in an attack in Haiti’s Kenscoff commune. Starting at 10:30 p.m. and lasting through the next morning, the Viv Ansam gang terrorized the community, kidnapping people and setting animals and homes ab...
The Burma Research Institute (BRI) has confirmed that Rev. William and another Chin Christian, Nam Ceu, were extrajudicially murdered on June 4 by the Burmese military dictatorship. Rev. William had pastored the Chungcung Baptist Church in Chin state for more than 25 years. He wa...
Christians in Nepal have expressed growing apprehension after a delegation of Hindu religious leaders met with the government and demanded that Nepal be declared a Hindu nation. These concerns intensified following communal violence on July 26 in the Sunsari district of the Tarai...
For many Christian farmers in Irigwe communities in Plateau state, Nigeria, traveling to their farms has become dangerous. Some have stopped going altogether. Others now move in groups, hoping that numbers will offer some protection. But for families who depend on agriculture for...
A pastor and his family remain faithful to Christ despite persecution from radicals and police. When Bhaskar placed his trust in Christ, he immediately started witnessing in the villages around his hometown in West India. He was attacked seven times for the sake of his faith, inc...
A young Christian has been rejected by his family for his faith in Christ. Oya, 22, thought that his parents would be happy or at least interested when he told them about his decision to trust in Jesus Christ and be baptized. Instead, they became angry, scolding him and warning h...
A court has dismissed cases against 10 Algerian Christians, each of which could have carried significant jail time. “All 10 believers were sitting in their homes waiting for the verdict because they were not allowed inside the courts,” said a front-line worker. Later,...
More than 50 Christian and Muslim leaders in Nigeria have signed an interfaith peace accord aimed at reducing religious tensions, rejecting hate speech, and strengthening cooperation between the country’s two largest religious communities. The agreement, signed in Abuja on Aug. 1...
Although Morocco formally recognizes religious freedom in its Constitution and portrays itself as a country that supports religious tolerance, a new report from International Christian Concern (ICC) and Regent University’s Center for Global Justice argues that its laws and admini...
Authorities charged a British Christian leader of Indian descent in Pune, Maharashtra, India, for allegedly attempting to illegally convert Hindus to Christianity under a law that has yet to come into effect. The Pune police filed the chargesheet on Aug. 7 under the anti-conversi...
Negotiators representing the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and the Rwanda-backed AFC/M23 rebel alliance have agreed on a roadmap to guide peace talks, following five days of negotiations in Geneva, Switzerland. The agreement, announced Saturday in a joint statement relea...
On September 11, 2012, Islamist fighters attacked a United States diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya. Four Americans were killed in that attack. Just a few months later, Ronnie and Anita Smith, a young American couple, moved to Benghazi with their infant son. Their goal was t...
The arrest and detention of Pastor Dedi Saputra in February 2026 have continued to spark prolonged public debate in Indonesia. Saputra is an Aceh native who converted to Christianity and resides in Bengkayang, West Kalimantan. The Aceh Regional Police arrested him on allegations ...
Nigerian police arrested a 22-year-old woman for converting to Christianity from Islam. Though the Federal High Court ruled in her favor, the Christian family that helped her is facing false charges of kidnapping. In 2025, “Sarah” fled from her home in Kano state after her elder ...
A mob of hundreds gathered outside a Christian family’s home in Karachi last month after blasphemy allegations began to spread, but the crowd dispersed after police intervened. An initial inquiry has since found the underlying allegation to be false. According to Reuters, the fou...
In early 2026, local Yemeni authorities arrested more than 50 Christians, including pastors and church leaders, who remain in jail without charges. Family members were able to contact one of the imprisoned Christians, a pastor named Jon who was featured in VOM’s August 2023...
Two women have been abandoned by their families for their faith in Christ. Aziza is 17 years old and was kicked out of her home for placing her trust in Christ. A church allowed her to stay in their building for six months while she finished high school and helped her receive cou...
A Burmese teen asks for prayer as she faces opposition from her Buddhist family members. Khin Myaut Noe, 16, became a Christian during childhood through the witness of her Christian mother despite her father’s strong Buddhist family connections. She lives with her father an...
