08.19.2023

Pray for Christians in China

Nicaragua: Please continue to pray for Bishop Rolando Álvarez Lagos

Pray this encouragement over Bishop Rolando Álvarez Lagos today. 

China: This Week: Plans to resume cross demolition in Zhejiang

Lawyer Gao: six years of silence 

After Pakistani mob torched 32 churches, Christians fear more attacks

A mob in the Punjab province of Pakistan torched up to 32 churches and several homes in a Christian neighborhood.

Blasphemy Accusation Sparks Attacks on Christians in Pakistan

Two Christian brothers charged after Muslims frame them, relative says.

USCIRF Releases New Report on Religious Freedom Conditions in Nepal

Nepal Country Update – This report provides an overview of religious freedom conditions in Nepal by examining how the country’s criminalization of proselytism, blasphemy, and cow slaughter in the National Penal (Code) Act, 2017, violate protections for the right to freedom of religion or belief under international human rights law. 

Pakistan Christians are Targeted by Angry Mobs after Blasphemy Charge

Churches and Homes are Burned, and Many Christians Displaced, in Latest Attack

RUSSIA: Pacifist Christian musician fined, banned from internet posting

A court in Siberia has handed musician and teacher Anna Chagina a fine and
a ban on posting on the internet as punishment for her opposition to
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. 

Pakistan’s third-largest city sees mob targeting Christians, burning churches

Christians are being hunted and attacked in Pakistan’s third-largest city, Faisalabad.

BELARUS: Pastor jailed – to stop him attending "extremist materials" hearing?

Minsk's New Life Church organises camps for children every summer, and on
10 July a bus carrying 50 children overturned due to a poorly-maintained
road. No serious injuries were reported, and parents have not made any
complaints about the accident, the camps, or New Life Church and its
leadership. 

21 Villagers Killed in Night Raid in Nigeria

Despite warnings of an attack earlier in the week and the presence of security guards, 21 villagers were killed by suspected radical Fulani militants in north-central Nigeria on Thursday night.

Two Tanzanian Christians Kidnapped in Nigeria

A Catholic Priest, Paul Sanogo, and a seminarian, Melkiori Dominick, were kidnapped from their church on the morning of August 3. 

Indonesian Church Repeatedly Denied Permit to Hold Worship Services

An Indonesian church in East Jakarta has gone viral on social media because of pressure to shut down from government authorities and the local Muslim-majority community. 

Sahel: Dire Need for Humanitarian Aid in the Lake Chad Basin

Due to religious extremism, climate change, economic challenges, displacements, and unstable governments, 11 million people in Cameroon, Chad, Niger, and Nigeria are affected by crises in their daily lives.

China: Legal Church Will Be Fully Sinicised (plus: Yang Maodong)

Since February 2018, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has introduced a number of administrative measures, each of which further limits the space in which the Church can legally operate [overview].

USCIRF News Digest - August 15, 2023

13 imprisoned Eritrean Christians freed after letter-writing campaign

Sometimes it just takes a letter, fax, or email to make a difference!

USCIRF Calls On Congress to Protect Religious Minorities Fleeing Iran 

The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) again called on Congress to reauthorize the bipartisan Lautenberg Amendment, a family reunification program providing a legal path for resettlement for Iranian religious minorities fleeing government persecution.

Mobs Impede Christian Worship at Two Churches in Indonesia

Building under construction damaged.

Algerian Christian released early after imprisonment for social media post

An Algerian Christian is free today after spending over two years in prison.