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Discrimination

• Murderous Raid on Church Service

  

  At least one worshipper was killed and 60 kidnapped after gunmen raided the Emmanuel Baptist Church in Kakau Daji village, Kaduna, on October 31st. The church members had gathered for worship when the attackers suddenly entered the building and opened fire. An uncertain number of Christians were also injured in the attack. Upon fleeing the building, dozens were taken captive by the assailants.

• Politician Claims Associating with Religious Minorities ''Will Destroy You''

  

  A member of the legislature in Madhya Pradesh is facing backlash from religious minority leaders after cautioning Hindus from keeping company with Christians or Muslims. Rameshwar Sharma, a member of the ruling BJP Hindu nationalist party, even urged Hindus to stop using the phrase, "Good morning," a greeting he associates with Western culture and Christianity. The comments were made while Sharma was speaking at an annual Hindu festival on October 17th.

  Religious leaders have expressed concerns about this prevalent attitude among members of the BJP since such comments serve only to drive a wedge between communities. Catholic archbishop Leo Cornelio said that the remarks "hurt the sentiments of peace-loving people" and divert from important issues such as illiteracy, malnutrition and unemployment.

• House Church Denied Reopening

  

  Following an ease of COVID-19 pandemic restrictions, the Cuban government announced that churches could begin meeting again in person as of Sunday, October 10th. However, two days before the restrictions were scheduled to be lifted, a house church led by Amparo Gallo received word that they would not be allowed to meet. The house church, located in the city of Santa Clara, presently has approximately 1,000 members.

• Christians Protest Proposed Legislation and Pastor's Arrest

  

  Hundreds of Christians in India participated in a peaceful rally on October 25th in protest against proposed anti-conversion laws, as well as a recent mob attack on a church that resulted in the arrest of the pastor.

• Christian Escapes the Country

  

  Over the past several months, Christians around the world have been following reports about a Saudi Arabian Christian referred to as "A" or "Adam." For more information, see our previously published reports, which are available at our country report.

• Community Members Pressured to Reject Christians

  

  Two separate incidents that recently took place in Chengdu, the capital of the Chinese province of Sichuan, demonstrate the effectiveness of the Chinese Communist Party authorities in dividing communities to bring about harassment of Christians and, in particular, members of the Early Rain Covenant Church (ERCC). The first incident involved the wedding of a congregation member from the church.

• Evicted Church Warned to Stop Parking Lot Meetings

  

  Since purchasing a former cowshed in 2002 and converting it into a church building, the New Life Church in Minsk, Belarus, has faced opposition from government agencies. After years of court battles, officials accompanied by bailiffs forcefully entered the place of worship on February 17th, 2021, evicting church members from the building. For more information on the eviction, including a video clip, go to this report.

• Legalization of More Churches

  

  Until 2016, it was nearly impossible for churches in Egypt to obtain the required licensing to build or restore a building for worship. As a result, many structures were built without a license. With the passing of legislation in September 2016, a government committee was established to work through the large number of applications that were submitted for the legalization of unlicensed church buildings. Although the committee received 3,730 applications, and officially began the approval procedures a year later, the process has been exceedingly slow. See this report for further coverage of this situation.

• Three Elderly Pastors Arrested

  

  Three semi-retired pastors in the Eritrean capital of Asmara were arrested towards the latter part of July. Since they were all over 70 years old, and only occasionally conducted funeral or wedding services, it is unclear why these elderly Christian men had been targeted for arrest.

• Young Victim’s Funeral Raided by Perpetrators

  

  On July 27th, Celina Ishaku's son was murdered by Fulani militants, the same group that had killed her husband two years earlier. The next day, friends and family gathered to bury the boy. Rather than allow those at the funeral to grieve in peace, however, the assailants attacked the community once again, raiding the service and shooting at the mourners. Along with the destruction of ten homes and multiple farms, three youths were killed in the ambush.

• Christian Medical Worker Forced to Decline Promotion

  

  In recent months, a number of healthcare workers in Pakistan have faced opposition because of their Christian faith. In April, two nurses were charged with blasphemy after following instructions from their supervisor (see this report). In another instance, a nurse was accused of blasphemy by her co-workers for no apparent reason and subjected to abuse (read more). The latest reported case involves a Christian man who had been threatened and assaulted after receiving a promotion to a leadership position at his place of employment.

• Three Churches Sealed for Closure

  

  On July 7th, three more church buildings were sealed by Algerian authorities. These recent closures are part of the government's campaign, which was launched in 2017, to shut down Christian places of worship. This latest incident brings the total number of sealed churches to 16. For details on the previous closures, go to the country report.

• Christian Sentenced for Allegedly Accepting Donations

  

  "Ahmed" (not his real name due to security concerns) knows well the cost of following Christ. When the Algerian man became a Christian in April 2013, his wife began seeing positive changes in his life. As a result, three months later, she also professed her faith in Christ.

• Government Advisor Beaten and Threatened

  

  Masked gunmen attacked a government religious affairs worker on the night of July 2nd, threatening to kill him for supporting the return of church properties to Christian communities. Botrous Badawi, a Christian and advisor to the minister of Sudan's Ministry of Religious Affairs and Endowments, was travelling south of Khartoum when a group of bandits forced his vehicle to stop. Armed with assault rifles, they beat him and threatened to kill him if he continued to advocate for the return of a property that was confiscated from the Sudan Presbyterian Evangelical Church.

• Believer's Family Escapes into Exile

  

  A Christian believer in Saudi Arabia, who was identified in previous Persecution & Prayer Alert reports as "A" or "Adam," has been sentenced with a large fine for allegedly attempting to convert Muslims to Christianity, as well as assisting his sister to flee the country. The accused believer was given 30 days to pay the fine unless an appeal was granted. (For more details about this situation, see this page.)

• Christians in Three Villages Forced to Flee

  

  Tribal animists have forced more than 50 Christians to flee their homes and seek shelter in the jungles of Odisha. These believers represent several families that are now stranded without proper shelter, food and water.

  The conflict began within the past two months in the village of Sikapai where opposing villagers destroyed the roofs of homes belonging to as many as eight Christian families. Not only had the belongings of the targeted Christians been looted, these victims were also subjected to physical beatings and consequently driven into the jungle. When five Christian families in the nearby village of Kotlanga received similar threats, they remembered what had happened in Sikapai and likewise fled their homes, joining the other displaced families in the jungle.

• COVID-19 Outbreak Leads to Opposition

  

  For more than 20 years, Phuong Van Tan and Vo Xuan Loan have served at the Revival Ekklesia Mission Church in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. However, in recent months, they became the targets of major opposition and a potential criminal investigation after a COVID-19 outbreak was blamed on the church.

• Theological Colleges Stripped of Licenses

  

  On April 6th, the Theological Institute run by the Evangelical-Lutheran Church of Ingria was stripped of its higher education license. Another Lutheran college in Russia is in the process of fighting a similar action. The colleges of the Baptist Union and Pentecostal Union have likewise lost their licenses, and other colleges have been banned from accepting new students.

• Church Plundered in Raid

  

  On March 27th, Pastor Yang Jiale of the Yanjiao Abundance Church in Hebei, China, received a phone call from a government official asking him to unlock the door to the church building. Pastor Yang informed the caller that no one was in the building and no events were being held. Therefore, he didn't unlock the door.

• Churches Face Threats and Questioning

  

  Churches in Sri Lanka have frequently faced harassment from community members, Buddhist religious leaders and civil authorities. To read previously published reports on some of these cases, go to our country report. The following three incidents that occurred in mid-March demonstrate some of the challenges regularly experienced by Christians.