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2018-04-19

• Christians Facing State of Emergency

  

  Hundreds of thousands of Kurdish people of northern Syria are being forced to flee for their lives as they face attacks from Islamist militias supported by the Turkish military. Many from rural areas surrounding Afrin (a city located in what was considered the Kurdish region) had initially fled into the city. However, on March 18th, Kurdish soldiers in Afrin were also forced to flee, leaving the city under the control of the Islamists. Turkish president Recep Erdogan has promised to repopulate the city with non-Kurdish Arab Syrians who are presently dwelling in Turkey as refugees.

• Believers Charged for Protesting Takeover
  
  The SPEC church building in Omdurman, Sudan.
  Photo: Morning Star News

  In April 2017, a group of Christians had gathered to prevent the confiscation and sale of a church-owned school in Omdurman. The three-day protest ended when police arrested a number of the men. Soon afterwards, an armed mob attacked the women remaining at the scene. Several men rushed to aid these women and, in the mayhem, a church elder named Younan Abdullah was tragically killed. For more information, go to this page.

• Released from Prison!

  
  Photo: World Watch Monitor

  Iranian Christians are thanking God that Hadi Asgari, a Christian convert, has been granted conditional release after 19 months in prison. Hadi was arrested in August 2016 when security officials interrupted a picnic gathering involving a number of Christians. He and Pastor Victor Bet Tamraz were sentenced to 10 years for "acting against national security." Another convert, Amin Nader Afshari, was sentenced to 15 years for the same charges.