Persecution

BARTLESVILLE, Okla. (BP) -- When Abdiwelli Ahmed met his future wife Helen, she recalls, the first thing he confessed was his love for Christ and his willingness to die for Him.

SUDAN, NORTHERN AFRICA (BP) -- War, conquest, colonization, coups and dictators — Sudan’s history runs red. Blood flows now, leaving a trail behind the men, women and children who have, and are, fleeing to bordering countries.

FORT WORTH (BP) -- Pastor Pan Yongguang prayed for his flock throughout their more than three-year ordeal, when he and members of his persecuted church feared deportation back to China.

NORTHCENTRAL NIGERIA (BP) – At least 450 Christians have died in a series of attacks on Christian villages in three northcentral Nigerian states since May, according to reports from governmental and nongovernmental religious freedom advocates.

MANIPUR, India (BP) – Violence erupted against Christians in Manipur, India, last week amid political turmoil and tension between the Hindu population and minority Christian groups.

WASHINGTON (BP) – The U.S. State Department should add Nigeria, Afghanistan, India, Syria and Vietnam to its list of countries with “particularly severe” religious freedom violations, the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) said May 1 in releasing its 2023 Annual Report.

KHARTOUM, Sudan (BP) -- At least four churches have been destroyed and a congregation directly assaulted in Sudan, signaling the earliest reports of religious suffering in the fight for governmental control that erupted April 15.

BENUE, Nigeria (BP) – More than 200 Christians have been killed in terrorist attacks in Benue and Kaduna states in Nigeria since the election season ended in March, according to news reports and statements from religious freedom advocates.

TYLER, Texas (BP) – Sixty-three Chinese Christians landed safely in Texas on Good Friday (April 7) after fleeing persecution in their homeland and receiving a less than warm welcome in South Korea and Thailand.

Authorities in Thailand fined but did not immediately deport members of a persecuted Chinese church, but the Christians continue to be detained three days after their deportation hearing.