Nigeria: Persecution is not slowing down
Luke Randall
Date posted: 16 Oct 2026
More than 4,200 Christians in Nigeria have been killed during 2026, with one dying every 86 minutes, according to a new report which suggests persecution in the West African nation is not slowing down.
Newly released research from Equipping the Persecuted (ETP) revealed that over five million believers have been displaced, while more than 600 communities have been destroyed this year, particularly focused in the nation’s Middle Belt, dubbed the “epicentre” of the crisis.
ACNA bishop censured for misconduct
Milla Ling-Davies
Date posted: 15 Oct 2026
A bishop of the Anglican Diocese of South Carolina, part of the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA), has been censured after taking part in a service alongside a bishop from the Episcopal Church, despite the two denominations being in broken communion.
Orthodox Anglicans were left upset and confused in August, when Bishop Chip Edgar publicly dedicated a school chapel with his counterpart in the Episcopal Church, Bishop Ruth Woodliff-Stanley, during an ecumenical service – implying a unity and theological alignment between the two denominations that doesn’t exist.
One-year-old euthanised in Netherlands
Milla Ling-Davies
Date posted: 15 Oct 2026
A one-year-old in the Netherlands has become the youngest known person to die by euthanasia.
The child, who died at the end of last year, had been born prematurely at 26 weeks and suffered brain damage, severe cerebral palsy, visual impairment and epilepsy. Upon the parent’s request, the child’s life was ended by gradual sedation with “coma-inducing substances”, according to a Dutch review committee report.
Lahore: New law protecting girls from child marriage
Christian Daily International / Morning Star News
Date posted: 13 Oct 2026
Christian leaders and attorneys are welcoming a Lahore High Court (LHC) ruling that says living in a marital relationship with a girl under 18 can constitute child abuse even if the minor consents.
They described the decision as a significant development in efforts to protect minority girls from child marriage and forced religious conversions. In an 11-page written judgment in the case of a Muslim minor, Hina Aslam, LHC Justice Munawar Iqbal Duggal ruled that a marriage involving a person younger than 18 falls within the definition of child marriage under the recently enacted Punjab Child Marriage Restraint Act 2026. The court said the new law had changed the legal position on child marriage and must be applied accordingly.
letter from Egypt
How an Egyptian holiday led to ongoing ministry
James Paice
Date posted: 11 Oct 2026
A holiday trip to Luxor in January 2023, coupled with reading the DayOne guide to Biblical connections to Egypt, planted the initial seed for what would become an unusual ministry.
Alongside historical photographs and archaeological descriptions, the DayOne guidebook contained a small paragraph detailing P64 – thought to be the earliest papyrus fragment of Matthew’s Gospel, acquired by the English Chaplain in the 1890s.
Iran: 'Pray we aren't released until our mission is complete'
Luke Randall
Date posted: 10 Oct 2026
As Christians in Iran continue to face hardship from all sides, their witness also continues - both outside and inside of prison.
As turbulence continues in Iran, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) continues to hold on to power, leaving Christians and other minority religious groups vulnerable to discrimination, including prosecution and jail terms. Elam Ministries's Chrissy Parkes, however, has revealed that there are also reasons for encouragement: Iran’s church is standing firm amid the darkness around them.
I passed the ‘kill fence’, entered the prison and found grace...
Krish Kandiah
Date posted: 9 Oct 2026
Around the perimeter of Jefferson City Correctional Centre, Missouri, one of North America’s maximum-security prisons, runs what they call a kill fence. It sits between two razor wire fences. It looks innocuous enough until you see the warnings informing you that it carries a lethal voltage. One touch, they say, and it’s lights out.
You have to wonder why it needs the razor wire fencing, let alone the numerous men with machine guns lurking in watchtowers. This seemed to me, as I was ushered through the metal detector, to be quite literally overkill.
Christians 'effectively forced underground' in Algeria
Luke Randall
Date posted: 8 Oct 2026
Persecution of Christians continues to grow in Algeria, with Christians now effectively forced underground due to pressure on church premises, personnel and resources.
en has previously reported on growing persecution in the African nation, mostly driven by the state. A Voice of Persecuted Christians (formerly Release International) partner has told us about how the situation continues to deteriorate.
Australia: the nation’s youngest premature baby survives
Luke Randall
Date posted: 7 Oct 2026
Amid recent bad news concerning the advancement of abortion (see this article here and here), a new arrival in Australia provided some much-needed good news, with a baby born at 21 weeks recently successfully discharged from hospital.
Little Makerita Miracle Tanuvasa, who spent five months in hospital after being born at 21 weeks and three days, is believed to be the nation’s youngest premature baby to survive, according to the Christian Institute. She has grown to almost five times her birth weight of 351 grams, having initially been too small for her parents to hold her, described as roughly the size of their hands.
‘Burnings, suffocation, simulated drowning’ for Afghan Christians
Luke Randall
Date posted: 6 Oct 2026
Christians in Afghanistan are being subjected to crimes against humanity, and face the real prospect of genocide five years after the Taliban rose to power. However, their plight is often forgotten as other world events take centre stage, according to new research.
A new large-scale report on Taliban laws and ideology and life for Christians in the Asian nation by the Lindisfarne Centre for the Study of Christian Persecution reveals that believers face danger from all sides: they are not recognised as an official religious group by the state, despite numbering several thousand; they are regularly subjected to extreme persecution, including torture and executions; and little real scrutiny exists due to a state-imposed media blackout.
New Bible for 14.4 million Africans
Luke Randall
Date posted: 4 Oct 2026
The Trinitarian Bible Society (TBS) has completed the Chichewa Bible translation, to provide 14.4 million speakers from several African nations with an accurate translation in their own language after 11 years of work.
TBS undertook the project in conjunction with the Free Grace Evangelistic Association (FGEA) since there were several “textual and translation issues” with existing Chichewa translations. An accurately translated New Testament was released in 2020, and the TBS aim to distribute the fully translated Bible early next year.
Australia: New hope in ‘inaccessible’ areas
Jo Lamb
Date posted: 2 Oct 2026
Life-threatening conditions are being treated across Australia’s inaccessible Northern Territories thanks to aviation and local, holistic care.
A high-impact partnership between local healthcare providers Laynha Health and Christian air service Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF), is providing 20 indigenous villages with vital healthcare, offering emergency medical evacuations, immunisations and vital checkups.
India: Three pastors killed
Nicola Laver
Date posted: 1 Oct 2026
An Indian pastor and Bible reviser has been killed in a targeted attack, the Trinitarian Bible Society reports. The tragedy occurred as Christians in India are facing increasing persecution - mostly from Hindu extremists.
Vumthang Sitlhou and two other pastors, Kaigoulun Lhouvum and Paogoulen Sitlhou, were killed in a deliberate ambush on a remote highway, when returning from a conference. Other church leaders were also reportedly injured.
Brazil: a quarter of population are evangelical, new survey shows
Luke Randall
Date posted: 30 Sep 2026
Over a quarter of Brazil’s population identify as evangelical Christians, amounting to around 56 million people, while the number of Roman Catholics continues to gradually shrink, according to new research.
A census, carried out in 2022 by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE), revealed that more than 80% of the nation’s 210 million population identifies as Christian (when Roman Catholics are included), although an increase in non-religious affiliation was also seen alongside encouraging statistics for evangelicals.
Ugandan beaten by sons for converting to Christianity
Milla Ling-Davies
Date posted: 29 Sep 2026
A Christian in eastern Uganda has been hospitalised after his Muslim sons beat him for leaving Islam.
Kibirige Abumusa, 52, put his faith in Christ on 1 June at an open-air evangelistic event in Jinja City, which he had been encouraged to attend by a business colleague. When he returned home two months later, his adult son, 28-year-old Kibirige Nudallah, confronted him about his conversion, before beating him with a stick so badly that he was unable to leave hospital for a week. Abumusa’s four other sons also joined in.
‘At least 11 churches’ affected in Nepal flood tragedy
Luke Randall
Date posted: 24 Sep 2026
Relief efforts continue at pace as Nepal recovers from devastating flash floods which have seen more than 70 Christians numbered among around 1,000 killed, and 75 more numbered among the thousands missing.
The disaster, believed to have been caused by a melted glacier, saw many communities hammered by floodwaters, with mud, rock and debris brought down by the waters leaving entire villages swept away and buried underground. The Nepalese government is coordinating relief efforts but ruined infrastructure, including roads and bridges, as well as ongoing flood warning alerts, make rescue efforts challenging.
US missionary released from captivity in Niger
Lydia Houghton
Date posted: 20 Sep 2026
An American missionary has been released after more than nine months in captivity in Niger.
Kevin Rideout was kidnapped from outside his home in Niamey, Niger, in October 2025. Serving In Mission (SIM) International have now confirmed his release, describing him as being in good health in the care of United States officials.
Flooding devastates church in Japan
Luke Randall
Date posted: 19 Sep 2026
A church in Chiba Prefecture has suffered “particularly severe” damage following recent flooding that hit areas of eastern Japan, marking the second such incident to hit the congregation in 16 years.
Members of Masago Baptist Church, located in Mihama Ward, within the city of Chiba, meet together for worship in a sanctuary on a semi-basement level but were devastated to find that floodwater had torn through the building, rising to around 60cm above the floor, and leaving almost all of the room’s furnishings damaged beyond repair.
