International Christian Concern, 27^th January 2024

Armenian Christian Hakop Gochumyan is still being detained in Iran. Last summer Hakop, an Armenian citizen, travelled to Iran to visit his wife Elisa’s family, an Iranian-Armenian.

On August 16th, they were arrested while visiting their friend’s home. Their arrests coincided with arrests of dozens of other Christian converts in Iran. Elisa was held for several months but was released and returned to Armenia with their children. Hakop’s trial was scheduled for January 7th. His current location and well-being are still unknown.   

While Hakop and Elisa live in Armenia and only were visiting family in Iran, Elisa’s father, Rafi Shahverdian, was a well-known pastor in Yerevan after fleeing Iran in the 1990s. It is reported that Christian literature was found with them when they were arrested in Iran.

The minority Armenian Christians are given certain protections under the Islamic Republic’s legal system. They are, however, forbidden from any proselytizing to Iranian Muslims, and Farsi language Christian literature is banned. Iran is estimated to be holding more than 100 Christians in prison detention by the end of 2023.

Barnabas Aid, January 24th, 2024 (excerpts)

Islamists have boasted of killing ten Christians in a series of attacks waged over two weeks against Christian villages in northern Mozambique.

The onslaught claimed by Islamic State coincided with the launch on 4 January 2024 of the group’s new global terror campaign, “Kill Them Wherever You Find Them”, announced in an audio message by its spokesman, Abu Hadhayfah Al-Ansari.

The wave of renewed violence in northern Mozambique centred on three districts in Cabo Delgado province, already known as “the land of fear” because of repeated Islamist terror attacks.

It began on 3 January in Mocimboa da Praia district when IS fighters struck the village of Ntotoe, two days later they hit Chimbanga village, and on 7 January gunmen opened fire with machine guns on a village in the same district.

Two Christians were murdered, and 16 houses burned down in attacks on Chai and Litamanda villages in Macomia district on 4 and 9 January, respectively.

The village of Chinda in Muidumbe district was struck on 5 January, and two believers were killed.

Around 1,800 Christians have been murdered in northern Mozambique since October 2017 in sustained anti-Christian violence.

They are among more than 50,000 Christians slaughtered in a genocidal campaign waged by Islamists across parts of sub-Saharan Africa.

Voice of the Martyrs, January 25^th, 2024

Gabriela lives in a rural village in Oaxaca, Mexico, where members of her Mixteca community adhere to Christo-paganism, a syncretistic blend of pagan practices and Roman Catholicism that is opposed to the gospel.

Because of her boldness in sharing her faith, she has been attacked by her neighbours as well as her husband, who is embarrassed by her commitment to Christ. She has been beaten an estimated 40 times and hospitalized on several occasions.

Despite this opposition, she continues to make outreach trips into the Mixteca regions of the mountains of Oaxaca to spread the gospel where few others can go.

Specific areas within Mexico have a high concentration of indigenous minority groups. Minority communities like these, keeping a separate identity and language, are systematically oppressed by local authorities. Christians among them are persecuted by Marxist and animist groups as well as village leaders.

Tribal leaders persecute Christians in defence of their indigenous culture in several rural areas, and the federal government allows this. These communities are remotely located and difficult to reach. Despite persecution, the number of Christians has continued to grow in these areas. 

Joshua Project, January 31^st, 2024

The Rahmani work mainly as farmers. Many do not read, so the gospel will need to be given in oral forms. However, there are also prominent people among them, and the Rahmani surname is well known across a number of countries.  

They are Sunni Muslims, and there is much social stigma about becoming a Christian in their families and communities. They need to find a way to embrace Jesus Christ without alienating the people they hold dear.

Culturally appropriate music and skits about the miracles of Jesus might help to turn their hearts and minds to the only Saviour.  Pray for an eagerness to hear and heed God’s word among this people group.

Pray for a spiritual breakthrough as there may be no followers of Christ among this Muslim people group. Pray for a spiritual hunger that will draw the Rahmani people to the only One who can save them from sin and death.

Pray for workers to go to them and find those who will welcome them and listen to the message. Pray for Rahmani community leaders who will give Jesus a chance to provide their community with the abundant life He offers in John 10:10.

Pray for a Disciple Making Movement to Christ among the Rahmani people group in this decade.

Forum 18, 19^th December 2023

Military officials have denied four young Baptist men in Siberia and the Far East the opportunity to carry out alternative civilian service, rather than military service, despite their efforts to demonstrate their pacifist religious convictions to the military authorities. All had applied for alternative civilian service.

As of mid-December, only one – Timofey Reznichenko from Primorye Region – has successfully challenged this refusal in court, thus gaining the right to have his application re-examined (see below).

Brothers Daniil and German Strelkov, from Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Region, failed in their attempts to have their refusals ruled unlawful in court and are now preparing to appeal. “Faith forbids him to take up arms, kill, or take oaths,” a witness in Daniil’s case told the court. In German’s case, his father testified that he “is a deeply religious person and will not take up arms or take an oath, as this is prohibited by his religion”.

Krasnoyarsk Region courts twice declined to uphold Zakhar Asmalovsky’s lawsuit against the military authorities, meaning he will now be subject to conscription in the future.

A higher-level Conscription Commission in Kemerovo Region granted a fifth Baptist, Sergey Myalik, the right to undertake alternative service after his initial application was rejected at the district level.

According to the Council of Churches Baptists, all five young men are members of the church, which has a strong pacifist tradition.

Release International, December 17^th, 2023

As India heads towards elections in 2024, violence towards Christians is growing. Partners of Release International warn that persecution has increased under the current Hindu nationalist government. And if the ruling BJP is given a fresh mandate in 2024, they fear persecution will rachet up again.

Two factors are indicative of the growing hostility towards Christians. The first is the spread of anti-conversion laws and the arrests of Christians who share their faith.

The second is the ethnic violence in Manipur in northeast India which broke out in May 2023, and turned into religious persecution. Indian media estimate 175 were killed. Release International (RI) sources say around 300 churches were burned down and 60,000 people were driven from their homes.

One pastor has been unable to hold Sunday services for the past for five months. In September, he had to resort to conducting services over the telephone. Another congregation whose church was destroyed in May has been unable to hold meetings. To care for his congregation, the pastor must visit them individually.

Threats and persecution have now spread to surrounding areas. But wherever possible, pastors continue to conduct Sunday services. 

Voice of the Martyrs, 28^th December 2023

Sed, the headman of his village and a faithful Christian, hosted a worship service in his home.  District officials reprimanded him and gave him an ultimatum: stop believing in Christ or lose his position in the village. Sed chose to follow Christ, telling the authorities, “I will not recant my faith.  I love God because he brings peace to my family.  I rejoice in my God.” He was immediately forced to sign a resignation letter, losing the post he had held for 18 years and the income he received from that position.

Villagers have begun to mock him and threaten his family with being shunned in the community. Despite this, Sed told a front-line worker that he felt stronger in his faith and still loves God very much. “I do not regret losing this income,” he said. “I want to follow my God and have eternal life.”   

The Communist government, in conjunction with Buddhist monks, persecutes Christians, with the exception of the government-controlled Lao Evangelical Church. Poverty, lack of infrastructure and mountainous terrain make evangelistic outreach challenging. Thanks to bold evangelists, churches continue to grow even as they experience ongoing persecution.

Some in Laos, particularly those in government leadership, view Christianity as a foreign religion and a tool used by the West to undermine the Communist Laotian regime. There are many house churches and some church buildings, but the vast majority do not have a trained pastor.