In Depth:  Iain Taylor / Evangelical Focus

A new global network to fight human trafficking is getting off the ground.

The World Evangelical Alliance (WEA) and the European Freedom Network (EFN), which campaigns on the issue among continental believers, are working together on the initiative.

The Spanish Government has approved a proposed change to the law which is likely to mean no medical or legal report will be needed to process a sex change.

The preliminary draft law approved by the Spanish Cabinet will soon be discussed in the national Parliament and is widely expected to become law.

Tribal animists have forced more than 50 Christians from three villages to flee their homes and take shelter in the jungles of eastern India. But when they notified the police about the attacks, instead of receiving help, they were told to renounce Christ to resolve the conflict.

One Christian said: ‘They told us that we should step back, deny our Christian faith and come back to our tribal fold; only then peace will return. But what is the use of such a faith?’

The first stone of the facilities of the Nou Hospital Evangèlic in Barcelona has been laid at a public groundbreaking ceremony attended by members of the board of trustees of the hospital and regional and local authorities.

The evangelical hospital, which is set to open in early 2023, will extend over six floors, and provide 190 intermediate healthcare beds and an outpatients department. It will succeed an existing evangelical health-care facility which dates from 1904.

New official data reveals that almost 2% of the Spanish population now identifies as Protestant or evangelical.

In the 20 years to 2018, this group multiplied eightfold, to become the fastest-growing denomination in the country. And those evangelicals are now worshipping in well over 4,200 churches across Spain, opening on average 16 new churches a month.

A Pakistani father has spoken of his joy and delight at having his 12-year-old daughter returned home following her alleged kidnapping, forced conversion and marriage to a 45-year-old Muslim.

Asif Masih, from Faisalabad, said: ‘Praise God, for He has answered our prayers and rescued my daughter,’ after a Session Judge ordered that Farah Shaheen be released to her father from a government shelter ‘because she wants to go with him.’

More than 100 people were killed after a massive explosion in Equatorial Guinea (central West Africa) in March, with 600 injured and almost 300 in hospital. More than 60 people were rescued from under the rubble by the civil protection corps and the fire service.

Local Christians and churches were badly affected too, with a Baptist pastor (as yet unnamed) killed and several members of the Baptist Church of Bata killed or injured.