These articles were first published in our March edition of the newspaper, click here for more.
Muslims in Indonesia have said they will take legal action against a church to ensure the construction of the church building cannot be completed, despite it having already been under way for several months, reports Morning Star News.
The church group in question have approved building permits, but are accused of having been given them without permission from local residents, who were not aware of the construction until it was under way. They are also accused of forging signatures.
A Protestant church leader in Colombia has been murdered by two people on a motorbike after a service. Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) reports that the 28-year-old pastor was shot six times, including twice in the head, while walking along an unlit road with his 14-year-old stepdaughter and six others.
The killing was the second assassination of a Protestant leader in northern Colombia in two weeks. However, the pastor’s wife said that he had never received any threats or warnings, although he had been involved in an armed group before returning to Christianity.
Cuban pastor Lorenzo Rosales Fajardo has been released from prison following the USA’s decision to remove Cuba from its list of state sponsors of terrorism.
He had been charged with disrespect, assault, criminal incitement and public disorder in late 2021, following his attendance at peaceful protests that summer, according to Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW). Rosales Fajardo was one of 553 political prisoners released as a gesture of goodwill. He had been due to serve a seven-year sentence.
A Christian man in South Sudan has been disavowed by his Muslim family because he converted to Christianity. His wife has been convinced to divorce him and he has had to leave his home following increasing persecution from his family and other Muslims in the area since his conversion was discovered, Morning Star News reports.
The man was converted at the start of 2024 and his faith was discovered by a local Muslim in the summer. His relatives told him that he was ‘no longer a member’ of their family because of his conversion.
Five Muslims have abducted a 14-year-old Christian girl in Pakistan and her family now fears that she will be forced to convert to Islam and marry one of them. Her father revealed that she was taken away in a van from outside their house after being ‘lured’ outside their home by a Muslim girl in the area.
Morning Star News reports that the police have made two arrests since the kidnapping, but they have been accused of doing nothing to find the girl since then, with the father believing them to be acting slowly because of his lack of money and his Christian faith.
A 71-year-old pastor has been arrested in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam on charges of spreading anti-state propaganda on social media. His home was raided by local authorities and technological devices were taken, and his son was also arrested before being released hours later following questioning.
Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) reports that the pastor has been charged under Article 117 of the nation’s Penal Code and faces up to 20 years in prison if he is found guilty.
Twin brothers in Pakistan have been acquitted of blasphemy charges after it was revealed that evidence against them was false. The brothers, who are Christians, were released from prison, having been accused of tearing pages from the Quran, which carries a life sentence.
Morning Star News reports that the judge ruled that they had been falsely charged and that the police had failed to properly investigate the incident. None of the eight witnesses could identify which passages from the Quran had been torn, and the brothers were released as a result and are now with their family.
Inmates considered ‘low status’ prisoners are not being allowed to attend Orthodox or Catholic church services in Labour Camp No.2 in Bobruisk, a prison in Belarus. Low-level status is not an officially recognised category but covers about 5% of the inmates in the prison, amounting to about 100 prisoners, according to a Forum 18 source.
Some prisoners were able to attend Baptist meetings in Labour Camp No.2, but the pastor was eventually banned from the facility. This is not the first instance of prisoners being banned from church services in Belarusian prisons, with similar situations also reported in other prisons.
A Christian couple in Ambedkar Nagar, Pradesh, India have been sentenced to five years in prison and fines of 25,000 rupees for attempting to convert other people to Christianity. Religious conversion through force, misrepresentation, coercion, or other fraudulent means, is a crime in India.
The pair were accused of trying to convert vulnerable people in the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, but both claim they simply tried to educate and encourage sobriety, reports Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW).
A Christian has lost his ability to speak after his wife hit him with a heavy metal object. Abdulai Ramadan, who converted from Islam to Christianity in 2020, had been warned by his Muslim wife to stop practicing his faith in their house after he held a Christmas celebration with his friends and his children.
However, Morning Star News reports that Ramadan ignored his wife’s request and held a Bible study when she was out. The two later argued and she hit him with the object, causing him to pass out. He has been unable to speak since.
Hundreds of people across Switzerland gathered to take part in an annual week of prayer organised by the Evangelical Alliances of Germany, Austria and Switzerland. The event’s theme was ‘Living Hope Together’, and organisers in Switzerland said focusing on Jesus, instead of the many crises and problems in the world, helped shape perspectives.
Evangelical Focus reports that a variety of events took place throughout the week; national and international leaders came together to worship in the Schleife Foundation, an Alliance prayer service was held in Rüti, and 1,500 attended a Hope event at the Expo Hall in Thun.
A mentally ill Christian has been arrested and charged with blasphemy in Sahiwal, Punjab Province, in Pakistan. Farhan Javed Masih was accused of speaking out against Islam and arrested by authorities, even though they knew about his mental state.
A Morning Star News source has revealed that Masih’s mental state deteriorated after his father died, and that his condition was known to the rest of his village. His mother has pleaded for his release, arguing that his mental condition will worsen if they keep him under arrest.
Evangelicals in Spain have celebrated the 40th anniversary of Buenas Noticias TV (Good News TV), an evangelical programme which has been broadcast nationally on every Sunday morning since 1985.
Evangelical Focus reports that about 200 people attended a special celebration event at the First Baptist Church of Madrid to hear the team behind the programme speak about the show, described as something which ‘makes the evangelical community visible’. The presenters also interviewed several people who had given their lives to Christ after calling the phone number advertised on the show.
An Iraqi Christian activist was murdered in the Hovsjö district of Södertälje, Sweden while he was live streaming on TikTok. Premier Christian News reports that the police said the attack was targeted.
Salwan Momika, 38, was known for taking part in Quran-burning protests, and his outspoken views and actions could be what motivated an attacker to kill him. The incident was seen by thousands of viewers watching his live stream, and he died soon after arriving at hospital.
Seven Christians in Shendi, River Nile state, Sudan have been sentenced to between five and seven years in prison for theft. They were imprisoned on the same day they were arrested after being tortured until they confessed, according to their lawyer.
Evangelical Focus reports that all seven, who are members of the Sudanese Church of Christ, were accused of theft and supporting the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), who are engaged in a bitter civil war with the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF).
Luke Randall