EU states ‘must’ recognise LGBT couples
Luke Randall
Date posted: 5 Jan 2026
Member states of the European Union (EU) must recognise legal unions established in other EU countries, even if such unions are not legal within other member states, following a court ruling.
The ruling was given by the EU’s Court of Justice (CJEU), which ruled that the same-sex marriage of two men must be officially recognised in Poland, where same-sex marriage is illegal: they had been refused recognition after moving there, having been married in Germany.
letter from New Zealand
Beauty everywhere but despair still lurks
Charley Ballinger
Date posted: 5 Jan 2026
What do you picture when you think of New Zealand? Perhaps the idyllic scenery and breathtaking vastness made famous by the Lord of the Rings movies. Undoubtedly it’s a country that remains at the top of many people’s bucket lists. Whilst the scenery is truly magnificent, it hides a very dark truth for the people who make up this beautiful nation.
Death by suicide remains alarmingly high in New Zealand, and the shocking reality is that the incidence of self-inflicted death is highest amongst 15–19-year-olds. In a recent report by UNICEF, out of 36 OECD and EU countries, New Zealand ranked bottom in mental health wellbeing for children.
AI and faith converge in Silicon Valley
Emily Pollok
Date posted: 4 Jan 2026
Christianity and tech appear to be converging alongside the development of artificial intelligence (AI) and the questions it’s raising for developers in Silicon Valley.
Prominent figures in the tech world like Peter Thiel, co-founder of PayPal and Palantir, and former Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger, have both spoken out recently about their Christian beliefs, particularly in the context of technological breakthroughs such as AI.
Analysis: Zohran Mamdani – Islam’s smiling NY face
en staff
Date posted: 3 Jan 2026
Who is Zohran Mamdani, the political outsider who has just become Mayor of New York? And should evangelicals be relaxed, concerned, or even alarmed?
Plenty of people have indeed expressed worry. Mike Johnson, the evangelical Southern Baptist speaker of the House of Representatives, described his victory as “without a doubt the biggest win for socialism in the history of the country, and it is the biggest loss for the American people.”
Spain ‘becoming increasingly secular’
Luke Randall
Date posted: 3 Jan 2026
The presence of religion in Spain is in decline, with almost half of the nation’s population identifying as non-religious, according to a new study.
Just 54% of those surveyed for the Barometer on Religion and Beliefs in Spain (BREC) 2025, viewed themselves as religious, while 42% said otherwise, highlighting a national move towards secularism.
Jellyfish sting girl given urgent MAF flight
Gary Clayton
Date posted: 3 Jan 2026
A teenager who received an excruciatingly painful sting from the poisonous, transparent tentacles of a box jellyfish, was flown to hospital from a remote part of Arnhem Land, Australia in just 25 minutes – thanks to the Mission Aviation Fellowship.
By road, the tortuous journey from Nyinykay homeland to Gove would have taken about three hours – assuming that the rough bush tracks could be traversed without trouble or, during the rainy season, flooding.
Iran protests: An Iranian believer's perspective
Pooyan Mehrshahi
Date posted: 2 Jan 2026
I was born in Iran in 1980, after the Islamic Revolution, and I did not witness 1979 with my own eyes. But I grew up under the fruit of it. I lived through the Iran–Iraq war years, when the nation was taught to endure shortages, silence questions, and treat dissent as treason.
I came to the United Kingdom because of my father’s academic studies, and later God showed mercy to me, a sinner and saved my soul, and so I settled here as a Christian. I did not arrive as a refugee, but I carry the weight of what that system did to my people, and what it still does.
Marjorie Taylor Greene: Trump 'has no faith'
en staff
Date posted: 30 Dec 2025
US Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene says she realised Donald Trump "has no faith" after Charlie Kirk's assassination.
The Georgia Republican representative, who is stepping down from her elected role on January 5th, was speaking in an interview with The New York Times.
One child, one prayer, one miracle
Anna-Claire Cusick
Date posted: 28 Dec 2025
I’ll never forget the day I met Baby JS. He had been born just two months earlier in Kurintza, a tiny Amazon community in Pastaza, Ecuador, which can only be reached by a flight in a small Cessna plane. His mother has severe intellectual disabilities, and he had come into the world with only his grandmother to care for him.
When we arrived on our medical outreach, Baby JS was severely malnourished, surviving on nothing but oats mixed with water. There was no formula milk; that was far too expensive for a family with no income, and unreachable without a costly plane journey.
AI artist tops Christian charts, prompting backlash
Emily Pollok
Date posted: 27 Dec 2025
An AI artist recently topped the iTunes/Apple Music Christian charts, prompting a backlash from Christians and discussions over where to draw the line when it comes to artificial intelligence and faith.
“Solomon Ray”, a computer creation of Christopher Jermaine Townsend (also known as Topher), has “an AI voice and a Mississippi soul” according to the artist’s Instagram page.
Abortion: Progress and setback
Nicola Laver
Date posted: 22 Dec 2025
Monaco has ruled out legalising abortion. Its Minister of State told the Principality’s legislative assembly on 26 November that it was rejecting a bill tabled back in May.
It followed news that Prince Albert II, the Principality’s sovereign, refused to follow up on the proposed bill because of the country’s Catholic religion. Legal experts also said the proposals would amount to recognising an actual right to abortion, which was incompatible with Monegasque constitutional principles.
Iranian converts begin jail sentences
Luke Randall
Date posted: 22 Dec 2025
Three Christian converts in Iran have been imprisoned for two years because of their involvement in a house church – a further sign that persecution in the nation continues to intensify.
Hannah Golami, Daniel Mohammadi and Teymur Hosseini (an Afghan convert) were sentenced for “forming” and “membership” of a “group or association with the aim of disrupting national security” after the authorities carried out raids on house churches and homes, according to Article 18. Another believer has also been handed a year’s sentence for “aiding and abetting” the others.
Iraqi Christians pessimistic after vote
Luke Randall
Date posted: 20 Dec 2025
Many Christians boycotted recent elections in Iraq due to the hijacking of their minority representation seats by a hostile party. Some are believed to have given up on the electoral process altogether, while others no longer have the right to vote in the Muslim-majority country.
Due to their minority status, five of the Iraqi parliament’s 329 seats are reserved for Christians, but have been hijacked in the past by the Babylon Movement, a Chaldean Catholic party which purports to stand up for believers. But it is said by many Christians to be effectively a militant Shia Muslim party supported by Iran.
New report reveals Gen Z's priorities - not just in the West, but worldwide
Lydia Houghton
Date posted: 12 Dec 2025
A new report, published today and authored by Peter Dray, reveals that "Generation Z" prizes living better, not just living longer.
Gen Z Insights for Global Student Ministry - published by the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students (IFES) - examines four "Gen Z" traits across multiple countries: pursuit of wellbeing; digital immersion; cultural awareness; and spiritual openness.
letter from Japan
Please pray urgently for Japan today
John Newton Webb
Date posted: 4 Dec 2025
Recent survey results from the Japanese Government, combined with an estimate of the Japanese population who are Bible believing Christians suggests that the number has fallen from around 500,000 in 2019 to less than 350,000 in 2024 or from 0.4% to 0.28% of the population. Amongst university students, just 0.01% (one in 10,000) are thought to be Christians.
What does this mean for the future of the gospel in Japan? Research predicts that if present trends continue, half of Japan’s Protestant churches will close by 2030. Some of these are churches which have drifted from the Bible, others have not been evangelising; still others have been damaged by splits. But many of them are faithful, prayerful, gospel-preaching churches, who are simply not seeing people converted. Though numbers of missionaries coming to Japan are going up, there is a dire shortage of Japanese full-time gospel workers. Pastors are retiring or dying with no-one coming to replace them. Some Bible Colleges have closed recently due to a shortage of students.
USA: Car parking space – decision reversed
Luke Randall
Date posted: 3 Dec 2025
The decision to deny permission to a senior student at a Colorado high school to paint a Bible verse alongside a Christian image on her personal parking space has been reversed.
Sophia Shumaker wanted to paint a text from 1 Corinthians 13 v4 alongside an image featuring a shepherd, but her request was refused by the school despite it being allowed by other schools within the same district. However, following a letter sent to the school on her behalf by the First Liberty Institute, the school has revised its policy and granted her permission.
Politics USA
Donald Trump: An imperial president?
Tony Bennett
Date posted: 2 Dec 2025
The term “the imperial presidency” gained popularity in the USA in the early 1970s as a consequence of a book of that title by the historian Arthur Schlesinger.
Schlesinger charted what he saw as the abuse of power by successive presidents, most especially by Johnson (1963–69) and Nixon (1969–74). The presidency, claimed Schlesinger, had come to resemble more an imperial court than the office envisaged by the Founding Fathers back in the 1780s.
China: Thirty church leaders arrested
Luke Randall
Date posted: 28 Nov 2025
Over 30 church leaders in China have been arrested as the ruling Chinese Communist Party continues to clamp down on beliefs that do not adhere to state control.
Release International reports that raids have taken place in seven provinces in what their partners describe as “the most extensive and coordinated wave of persecution” against house churches in 40 years. Those arrested include pastors and other church leaders, and include Jin Mingri, founder of the Zion Church network. The state is believed to be using digital surveillance and wrongful charges as it goes after those it deems a threat to state authority.
