Anti-Christian surge in Austria
Luke Randall
Date posted: 31 Aug 2026
The number of anti-Christian hate incidents in Austria increased by 29% in 2025, with property damage, threats, terror offences and theft featuring prominently, according to new research.
The Austrian Hate Crime Report for 2025, carried out by the Ministry of the Interior, revealed that Muslims and Jews experienced a greater number of hostile incidents, but the number of attacks against Christians has increased from 111 in 2024 to 133 last year.
Sensational find backs Biblical account
Nicola Laver
Date posted: 30 Aug 2026
Archaeologists have reported finding charred wooden beams from Solomon’s Temple, which was razed to the ground by the Babylonians in 586 BC.
The Israel Antiquities Authority said the sycamore beams were discovered during a dig on the Givati Parking Lot – a major archaeological excavation site in the Jerusalem Walls National Park.
Vietnam Christians under pressure
Luke Randall
Date posted: 27 Aug 2026
Christians in Vietnam are increasingly being charged for alleged involvement with separatist groups, with 119 arrested in the Central Highlands during the first half of 2026.
Authorities accuse some of those arrested of being involved with the United Front for the Liberation of Oppressed Races (FULRO) and De Ga Protestantism, characterised by the state as illegitimate Protestant practices in support of ethnic minority self-determination in the mountainous region.
Child euthanised in Netherlands
Luke Randall
Date posted: 24 Aug 2026
Warning: readers may find the contents of this story distressing.
A child under 12 in the Netherlands has been euthanised for the first time since assisted suicide provisions were expanded nationally in 2024 in a move described as “an abject failure of the state in safeguarding the vulnerable.”
Ukraine: Good news amid war
Lydia Houghton
Date posted: 23 Aug 2026
European Christian Mission International (ECMI) says that, among Baptists alone, around 160 Ukrainian churches have been planted across Europe during the past four years.
ECMI’s Strategic Partnerships Director, Jim Memory, recently attended the Ukrainian Baptist Churches in Europe Conference in Poland. “He came away deeply encouraged by what God is doing through Ukrainian Christians across the continent,” ECMI said.
German evangelicals celebrate 140 years
Emily Pollok
Date posted: 23 Aug 2026
The Evangelical Alliance of Germany (EAD) is celebrating its 140th anniversary this year alongside the 180th anniversary of the World Evangelical Alliance.
Celebrations took place at the Bad Blankenburg conference in Thuringia, first held in 1886.
‘New’ ancient sermons found
en staff
Date posted: 21 Aug 2026
Two newly-discovered sermons by one of the early church’s leading theologians, both on a notoriously difficult Biblical passage, are set to be published later this year.
The talks are by Augustine of Hippo, one of the most significant Christian leaders in post-New Testament history, and focus on the Witch of Endor in 1 Samuel 28.
Famous missionary marks 60 years
Luke Randall
Date posted: 21 Aug 2026
Renowned missionary and author Jackie Pullinger is celebrating 60 years of work in Hong Kong, having journeyed from Britain with little before working to support the needy in the notorious Kowloon Walled City.
St Stephen’s Society, the charity set up by Pullinger in 1981 as her work grew in impact, is hosting an anniversary event in Hong Kong in honour of her years of service. The week-long event, dubbed “Sound the Trumpet”, will feature an exhibition, music, documentaries and testimonies which will be open to the public, before friends of Jackie and the charity gather at the end of the week for worship.
Spain: Christian camp survives inferno
Emily Pollok
Date posted: 21 Aug 2026
A Christian camp located in the region of Madrid, where officials say the wildfires raging this summer are the worst they’ve experienced, is still standing.
Pinos Reales, part of Evangelismo en Acción (Evangelism in Action), is a Christian camp and retreat centre which was established in 1974. However, situated 70km from Madrid, the ministry has been facing the possibility of destruction with devastating wildfires spreading across Spain and other parts of Europe this summer.
Anglican Church in North America moves Archbishop's trial up
Emily Pollok
Date posted: 16 Aug 2026
The Anglican Church in North America (ACNA) is moving up the trial of Archbishop Stephen Wood, who is facing accusations of sexual misconduct and other violations of church canons.
The trial, which was set for October, will now begin in September. Originally, Wood’s trial was to start in July but was postponed so that the Court for the Trial of a Bishop could “better fulfill its goal of providing a full and fair adjudication of the allegations in this matter,” it said in a statement.
Grenoble growth brings bureaucratic challenges
Blaine Vorster
Date posted: 15 Aug 2026
The city of Grenoble in the French Alps has seen remarkable church growth in recent years. Over the last two years, no less than five evangelical churches have found themselves looking for new worship spaces, three of them specifically to accommodate their growing congregations.
Another encouraging development is that recent church plants are already seeing full Sunday services. As building size becomes a constraint, the solution, in theory, seems simple enough: move to a larger space. Yet this is where the challenge comes in.
China ‘criminalising core elements of ministry’
Luke Randall
Date posted: 14 Aug 2026
Significant persecution continues for Christians in China, with raids becoming increasingly common and house churches facing increased surveillance as Xi Jingping’s administration continues a campaign of “sinicisation of religion”.
Following various reports of raids and arrests, en spoke to ChinaAid News to ascertain what is a constantly moving situation. While persecution varies by province, we were told how the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) continues to ramp up its crackdown on independently minded Christianity, driven by a fear of “independent civil society and loyalty to God above the party.”
Wheelchair landmark gift
James Patterson
Date posted: 9 Aug 2026
Disability ministry Joni and Friends has donated its 250,000th wheelchair to an 11-year-old girl in Thailand.
The girl, Nada, had been carried around by her mother, Mim, before the donation, owing to her cerebral palsy. The pair were presented with the wheelchair alongside ministry president Shawn Thornton. They also received a Bible in their native language and a copy of disability advocate Joni Eareckson Tada’s autobiography.
letter from South Asia
India: Amendment threatens multiple ministries
Joseph D’Souza
Date posted: 9 Aug 2026
The frontline of faith in South Asia is a place where the Kingdom of God is bearing fruit, even amidst incredible pressure on Christ’s people that grows heavier by the month.
In May 2026, the US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, made his first official visit to India, and he chose to begin it at Mother Teresa’s home in Calcutta – attending Mass, speaking openly of his faith, honouring the Sisters of Charity who have spent themselves among the poorest of the poor. In a culture as steeped in symbolism as India’s is, no-one missed the meaning. Nor did our critics: within days, the familiar online attacks on Mother Teresa and her sisters – the old, tired charges of “forced conversion” – surfaced once more.
Hope and uncertainty after Colombian election
Luke Randall
Date posted: 6 Aug 2026
Christians remain hopeful but uncertain that the new Colombian administration will restore protections for religious leaders following the recent national election which allegedly featured coercion by armed groups.
Abelardo de la Espriella narrowly defeated leftist Iván Cepeda in the second round of a close presidential ballot in an election which appears to have been marred by allegations of coercion by armed groups.
Bible passages to be mandatory in Texas schools
Luke Randall
Date posted: 5 Aug 2026
Several Bible passages will soon be mandatory reading in schools across Texas following their addition to a new obligatory reading list by the State Board of Education.
Alongside texts from other writers, including Charles Dickens, William Shakespeare and Martin Luther King, the state’s five million school children will also study passages about Adam and Eve, the burning bush, David and Goliath, Job and excerpts about Jesus from the Gospels.
Nigeria: Lesser known terror groups have ‘tacit approval’
Luke Randall
Date posted: 2 Aug 2026
An average of seven deadly terror attacks took place every day in Nigeria in recent years, but much of the blame goes to the wrong parties and does not acknowledge that the country is “incubating a terror network”, according to new research.
A six-year study released by the Observatory for Religious Freedom in Africa (ORFA) revealed that 79,323 people were killed in Nigeria between 2020 and 2025, with more than 42,000 victims believed to be innocent civilians.
Your church may be bulldozed – warning
James Patterson
Date posted: 2 Aug 2026
Officials in Sudan are warning the leaders of a church in the capital Khartoum that their building could be demolished at any time.
The director of planning of the Jebel Aulia District notified the leaders of the Sudan Presbyterian Evangelical Church in June, but did not give a date nor any details of compensation. The reason given for demolition is that the building is on land not designated for religious buildings. Sudanese authorities have previously claimed this without evidence. The building was constructed in 1991 after the congregation’s previous building in another area was demolished.
