In Depth:  persecuted church

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North Korea: ‘Rulers fear Christians’

North Korea: ‘Rulers fear Christians’

Iain Taylor
Iain Taylor

China has subjected hundreds of North Koreans to atrocities in the last year by forcibly returning them home. The North Korean government believes that religion, especially Christianity, is the greatest threat to its power, experts said at a recent US hearing.

Christian Daily International reports that torture, sexual violence, enslavement and murder await those repatriated from China to detention centres in North Korea.

The least of these
editorial

The least of these

Editorial
Editorial

The news that 47% of the estimated 280 million migrants around the world are Christians (see report here) should bring us all up short.

Our brothers and sisters are, it seems, the largest single bloc of people among those moving across the world because of persecution, poverty, war, and so on.

Persecution escalating in Pakistan

Persecution escalating in Pakistan

Luke Randall
Luke Randall

Christians are facing significant persecution for their faith in Pakistan, with recent incidents reported by the British Asian Christian Association (BACA) including arrests, robbery, rape, forced abortion and murder.

In one incident, 30-year-old Marshal Masih, from Lahore, was shot 16 times in front of his wife and three children, and died of excessive bleeding due to a delayed response from emergency services.

Almost half world’s migrants ‘Christian’

Almost half world’s migrants ‘Christian’

Iain Taylor
Iain Taylor

A new report by US thinktank the Pew Research Centre says 47% of the estimated 280 million migrants around the world are Christians, while 29% are Muslim and 13% do not identify with a specific religion. That total has grown by 83% in the last 30 years.

Christians comprise about 30% of the global population but represent almost half of the migrants in the world. Other faith groups such as Muslims and Jews are also highly represented among the migrant communities.

Mali: Believers facing stark ultimatum

Mali: Believers facing stark ultimatum

Luke Randall
Luke Randall

Christians in central Mali have been told to support Islamic terrorists in their fight against the country’s military power or leave.

Pastors in the Mopti region were told by extremists that they could either provide men to join their fight against the army, give them money to hire mercenaries, or convert to Islam and close their churches, or they would be forced to leave the area.

Afghan convert speaks of her life under Taliban

Afghan convert speaks of her life under Taliban

Luke Randall
Luke Randall

A woman from Afghanistan was given a Bible by her boss, and this led to her, her husband and her entire family converting from Islam to Christianity.

Khada, whose name has been changed for security reasons, remains in Afghanistan, where life has become even more difficult since the Taliban’s takeover of power in 2021, and she is a member of a secret church.

Christians targeted in the Democratic Republic of Congo

Christians targeted in the Democratic Republic of Congo

Luke Randall
Luke Randall

Christians are being targeted by Allied Democratic Force (ADF) militants along the Eastern border of the Democratic Republic of Congo, (DRC) even though about 80 percent of the country’s population is considered to be Christian.

Voice of The Martyrs (VOM) revealed the story of local woman Kimboti on X, who, along with her eight children, was spared in an attack on Christians by ADF militants in their campaign to assert Islamic rule in the region. During their attacks, they often release local Muslims caught up in military action but kill Christians who refuse to convert to Islam.

Burkina Faso: Up to 400 people killed in latest Jihadi attack

Burkina Faso: Up to 400 people killed in latest Jihadi attack

Release International

Hundreds of civilians have been slaughtered in a devastating Islamist attack on a town in Burkina Faso.

Townsfolk in Barsalogho, which is less than 100 miles from the capital of Ouagadougou, were digging defensive trenches – to aid the country’s beleaguered security forces – when they came under attack from a heavily armed, Al-Qaeda linked group. Eyewitnesses later reported seeing bodies strewn around the trenches – alongside the shovels they were using. Reports suggest between 200 and 400 people were killed, and many more injured.

North Korean Christian escapes at second attempt

North Korean Christian escapes at second attempt

Luke Randall
Luke Randall

A Christian woman from North Korea has successfully escaped from her country five years after her first attempted defection, having spent time in prison and re-education camps.

So Young, whose name has been changed for security reasons, was returned to North Korea, after escaping the first time, by the Chinese authorities. China does not view North Korean defectors as refugees who require protection, but as illegal immigrants to be returned.

Eritrea: Horror grows for  believers in E. African state

Eritrea: Horror grows for believers in E. African state

Iain Taylor
Iain Taylor

A number of children are among the 218 Christians arrested by the Eritrean Government in the last year as it steps up its campaign against Christianity across the country. This latest crackdown means that around 400 Christians are currently imprisoned – indefinitely, without trial or charge – because of their faith.

UK-based Release International (RI) partner Dr Berhane Asmelash, a former prisoner of faith, says: ‘Most were taken from their houses, some at 3am. In the last round of arrests not only have children been arrested with their parents, but in some cases entire families are now in prison.

Survey reveals  faith fears

Survey reveals faith fears

en staff

A survey of 1,562 Christians says believers in the UK feel under attack.

The report, published by campaigning organisation Voice for Justice UK, states: ‘Christians do not feel free to say what they think... A lack of freedom of expression is experienced generally, not just in the workplace.

Helping the persecuted

Helping the persecuted

Jordan Brown
Jordan Brown

Web Review Open Doors UK

Read review
March persecution report: Pakistan

March persecution report: Pakistan

Release International

How can we pray for Christians in Pakistan this month?

Pakistan has had a change of government following elections in February. One challenge facing the new Prime Minister and his party will be to protect the country’s Christian minority from violence.

5,000 martyrs in 2023 – new report

5,000 martyrs in 2023 – new report

Iain Taylor
Iain Taylor

There were 5,000 Christian martyrs in 2023, a new report reveals.

The persecuted church agency Open Doors has published its annual World Watch List (WWL). This ranks the 50 countries where it is most difficult to profess and practice the Christian faith. Evangelicals Now was given an advance copy of WWL 2024, together with an exclusive interview with Henrietta Blyth, CEO of Open Doors UK & Ireland.

Iran: weekly questioning ‘became  normal’ and I was threatened often

Iran: weekly questioning ‘became normal’ and I was threatened often

Iain Taylor
Iain Taylor

Dabrina Bet-Tamraz, a Christian Iranian- Assyrian rights activist, was born in Iran in 1985. In this interview with en’s Iain Taylor she reflects on recent events there and tells her story. She is no longer in Iran.

en: Can you describe your experiences with the Iranian Morality Police?

Persecution of Christians ‘doubles’ over 30 years

Persecution of Christians ‘doubles’ over 30 years

Iain Taylor
Iain Taylor

Persecution scores have almost doubled over the last 30 years, the latest 'World Watch List' from Open Doors reveals.

2023 marks the 30th year that the gruesome chart has been compiled. To mark the occasion, Evangelicals Now obtained exclusive interviews with Jim Shannon MP, Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group for Freedom of Religion or Belief (APPG FoRB), and Timothy Cho, Open Doors UK spokesperson for North Korea.

UK Christians unite to pray for persecuted believers

UK Christians unite to pray for persecuted believers

Kenneth Harrod

Hundreds of Christians from around the UK joined this year’s online event in November to mark the International Day of Prayer for the persecuted church – and were encouraged to join in the ‘battle’ of prayer for those who suffer for Christ and the gospel.

The live event, hosted by the Evangelical Alliance, featured Paul Robinson from Release International, Henrietta Blyth from Open Doors and Mervyn Thomas from CSW.

Persecution not falling, say Christian groups

Iain Taylor
Iain Taylor

Christian persecuted church agencies, Release International and Open Doors, are casting serious doubts on the accuracy of the latest All Party Parliamentary Group for Freedom of Religion and Belief’s study of global restrictions on religion.

The 12th annual (2019) Pew Report maintains that, globally, social hostilities related to religion declined and the number of countries with terrorist activity related to religion also reduced for a fifth consecutive year, although government restrictions remained at the highest levels.

Persecution ‘very high’ in all 50 ‘most oppressed’ nations

Persecution ‘very high’ in all 50 ‘most oppressed’ nations

Open Doors

The 50 countries where Christians are most oppressed all have ‘very high’ levels of persecution of believers for the first time, Open Doors says in a new report.

The organisation says that never before in its annual ‘World Watch List’ have all of the 50 top nations been categorised with such a level of severity. Twelve countries are categorised as having ‘extreme’ levels of persecution, up from 11 the year before. And there are another 24 countries scoring ‘very high’ or ‘high’ levels of persecution that don’t even make it into the top 50.

Women: sex-specific persecution

Women: sex-specific persecution

World Watch Monitor / Langham Partnership

A report issued in March on the top 50 countries in which it is most difficult to live as a Christian examined the various ways in which men and women experience different persecution.

Quoted by 84% of respondents, the two most-reported persecutions used against Christian women and girls globally are sexual violence and forced marriage.

Christian women persecuted disproportionately

Christian women persecuted disproportionately

Kate Ward

The Leuven Consultation, staged in Belgium in early June, heard that 215 million Christians are experiencing high, very high or extreme persecution in more than 50 countries, with women suffering disproportionately.

The conference of academics and activists from 23 nations heard a catalogue of disturbing crimes against women, and a call was made for the church to listen in a radical new way to Christian women who have been driven to silence by persecution and shame.