Barnabas Fund, 25 September 2018

Al-Shabaab terrorists flagged down a bus in north-eastern city Kenya and ordered the passengers to produce their identity cards. They separated three “non-local” (i.e. non-Muslim) passengers and asked them to recite the shahada Islamic creed which is considered conversion to Islam.

Two passengers who refused, a boy called Joshua and a labourer from farther south, were tied up and murdered.

In 2014, 28 Christians travelling on a bus in north-east Kenya, were singled out and killed by Al Shabaab jihadists.  As in this recent attack, passengers thought to be non-Muslim were ordered to recite the shahada.

Kenya is around 80% Christian and 10% Muslim.  Somali-based Al Shabaab repeatedly targets Kenyan Christians.

Christian Solidarity Worldwide, September 25, 2018

The shocking genocide of the Rohingya people is now being followed by an appalling escalation of violence involving crimes against humanity against the Kachin, a largely Christian ethnic group.

7,000 Kachin have been displaced from their homes in the past year alone, while 66 churches have been destroyed since 2011. And a recent UN report said that abuses against the Kachin (which include rape, torture, and enslavement) “undoubtedly amount to the gravest crimes under international law”.

The world must act now to protect the Kachin. Their suffering has been ignored too long.

Barnabas Fund, 11 September 2018

Chinese authorities shut down one of the largest unofficial churches in Beijing on Sunday 9 September.

The church has been permitted to operate for years with relative freedom, but since church leaders refused a request from authorities to install CCTV cameras inside the building in April the church has come under growing pressure. 

The government introduced new religion regulations governing church registration in February.

As many as 1,500 people attend the church’s five weekly services. Police officers are now guarding the building. Prior to the church being shut down the congregation had been threatened with eviction.

China’s Communist government only recognises state-registered churches, which are closely monitored.

World Watch Monitor, September 17, 2018

In Central African Republic, dozens of people are feared killed after suspected Islamist rebels attacked a group of civilians in the central town of Bria earlier this month.

Local sources contacted by World Watch Monitor said as many as 42 were killed, as details about the attacks are now emerging.

Sources said the victims were mainly women who were hacked to death while returning from farms to the predominantly Christian quarter of the town, to sell their farm products.

Despite the presence of UN peacekeepers, the town of Bria witnessed a wave of violence at the end of August.  The Christian populations of the town said they had been particularly targeted.

“The Seleka militants don’t want to see any Christians here,” one church leader said. “We Christians have nothing else to do, no food to eat, no place to go. We rely only on prayers.  It is a very difficult situation for us here. We pray for God’s help for us,” another church leader in the camp said.

Central African Republic has witnessed an upsurge of violence in recent months, notably with attacks targeting churches and clerics in Bangui, the capital.

Morning Star News, September 17, 2018

Under the influence of Hindu extremists, police and media campaigns against Christians in Uttar Pradesh state, India have mushroomed.

After false media reports of large-scale, fraudulent conversions of Hindus by pastor Durga Prasad Yadav went viral in July, followed by false police charges, there have been multiple area reports of disrupted worship meetings, pastors and evangelists arrested since September 13th.

“Hindu extremist groups are shouting anti-Christian slogans around the churches, threatening believers with severe consequences and asking every believer how much money he has been given to convert.”

Christians have been targeted in at least five cases and at least 12 pastors have gone into hiding, but attendance at Yadav’s church’s worship services has nearly doubled since Hindu extremists began targeting him.

Morning Star News, August 22, 2018

A church near Kampala, capital of Uganda, has closed after months of area Muslims pelting its gatherings with rocks.

On Aug. 4, a stone thrown through a window struck Pastor Moreen Sanyu and knocked her unconscious.  Next Sunday, Aug. 11, no one came to the worship service.

The church had grown quickly since May 2017 in a predominantly Muslim area, swelling to 400 people at one point before all worshippers stopped coming after the Aug. 4 attack out of fear for their lives.

“We cannot watch our children joining infidels’ church,” said a sheikh, adding that local Muslims will not allow the church to operate.  “We have not persuaded the Christians to join our faith, hence why should the church keep on stealing our members?”

Pastor Sanyu told Morning Star News that she just shared the gospel of Christ and his love for humanity with her Muslim neighbours, and they freely accepted the Christian faith, especially when many sick people that she prayed for were healed.

Voice of the Martyrs, 30 August 2018

The enactment of new legislation criminalising religious conversion in Nepal has sparked a heightened sense of fear and insecurity among Christian minorities.

The Civil and Criminal Codes, which came into effect on 17 August to replace the General Code that was in place for 165 years, comprise a set of laws guiding civil and legal proceedings, including restrictions on religious conversion, in the Hindu-majority nation.

One new law states that anybody who encourages or is involved in religious conversion using any means will be booked under a criminal offence and will face a jail term of five years and a fine of 50,000 Nepalese rupees ($605). Any foreigner found guilty of encouraging or promoting religious conversions will be deported within a week.

Christian leaders believe the move is targeted at Christians, who have been accused of forceful proselytising of Nepalis, particularly those from vulnerable and lower castes. They fear the law will be used as a tool to harass and persecute Christian minorities for practising their religion.

Morning Star News, August 30, 2018

A pastor could face life in prison after police in eastern India falsely charged him with leading a tribal rebel movement.

 Christian leaders in Jharkhand state suspect Hindu extremists are behind the sudden, baseless accusations against pastor Jidan Herenz in March, when he was charged with sedition for allegedly leading the rebellious movement by tribal Adivasis to fight for indigenous rights.

After police booked him, accusing him of convening unlawful assemblies, altering the appearance of Indian currency, criminal conspiracy and sedition, Pastor Herenz and his family fled deep into district forests. He has since planted a church among remote tribal people there.

“It worries me, it is difficult to gather as a church, and several false cases have been booked against me,” wrote Pastor Herenz, 55, last month. “There is severe opposition, threats, but the ministry must continue.”

Barnabas Fund, 14 August 2018

Mobs shut down multiple church services across Sri Lanka in July, with Christians facing intimidation and violence.

On 15 July, Buddhist monks, accompanied by 20 villagers, gathered at a church in south-west Sri Lanka following the service. They demanded a halt to the services, threatened to assault the Christians unless they complied, and shouted abuse and death threats at the church members.

A church in eastern Sri Lanka, halted its service on 8 July when a 50-60 strong mob, including public officials, surrounded it. They threatened to attack the church if they did not stop their service within 15 minutes. The pastor complied, after which the mob dispersed.

Another service was also disrupted on the same day after Buddhist monks, supported by villagers, invaded the meeting, assaulted a church member and took Bibles.

World Watch Monitor, August 16, 2018 

 A Mexican pastor who survived an assassination attempt in the notorious border city of Juarez in June says he was targeted because his church’s work is seen to negatively impact upon the efforts of drug cartels.

 A hitman entered the pastor’s home on 12 June, making him kneel on the floor and telling him “you don’t know who you are messing about with”. The man then pulled the trigger on his gun, but it failed to fire, so he knocked the pastor unconscious and stole his wallet, before fleeing.

 “All I can say is that with the work we do as a church we have affected the activities of those groups involved in drug trafficking and organised crime. We are not sure what comes next,” said the pastor, whose name is being withheld to protect him.

 The attack came just days after the murder of fellow local pastor Eduardo Garcia.