EDITOR'S NOTE: This article first appeared in The Baptist Paper (click here). American missionary pastor Josh Sullivan is a free man and reportedly back safely with his wife and children, according to media reports. The 45-year-old missionary from Tennessee was rescued in dramatic fashion Tuesday (April 16) in South Africa following a deadly shootout between police and his kidnappers. Sullivan had been abducted at gunpoint while preaching a sermon April 10 at Fellowship Baptist Church … [Read more...]
Christian forgives would-be killer, leads her to Christ
IMB missionaries testify to power of prayer by Emily Hall When Ruth visited Fran in summer 2023, Ruth didn’t expect to end up in the hospital, fighting for her life. International Mission Board missionaries Wade and Catherine Hampton have seen God work in Southeast Asia, but they don’t always see Him work through an attempted murder. This story is one they shared with Southern Baptists, asking for prayer. Ruth met Fran at a park earlier that year, and despite Fran’s initial … [Read more...]
USCIRF urges State Department to call out nations for violating religious liberty
WASHINGTON (BP) — The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) continues to call for Nigeria, Afghanistan, India and Vietnam to be added to the U.S. list of Countries of Particular Concern (CPC) for religious liberty violations. Conditions in Afghanistan and India continued to deteriorate and remained poor in Nigeria and Vietnam, USCIRF commissioners said March 25 in its 2025 Report on International Religious Freedom, calling out countries where Christian minorities … [Read more...]
‘Just not bearable’: 70 Christians beheaded in Democratic Republic of Congo
NORTH KIVU PROVINCE, Congo (BP) – The beheaded bodies of 70 Christians were found in a Protestant church in North Kivu Province in the Congo (DRC) around Feb. 15, several religious freedom advocates said, blaming the extremist Allied Democratic Forces (ADF). The ADF is accused of approaching homes in Mayba, in the Lumbero territory, beginning Feb. 12 and capturing as many as 100 Christians through Feb. 15, marching them to a Protestant church in Kasanga affiliated with the Evangelical … [Read more...]
Protestant pastors bring attention to global Christian persecution
BRENTWOOD, Tenn. (Lifeway Research) – As pastors speak and pray with their congregations, they say they’re also keeping persecuted Christians around the world in mind. More than 9 in 10 U.S. Protestant pastors (93%) say their church has engaged in at least one of six ways to bring attention to Christians suffering persecution within the past year, according to a Lifeway Research study. Around 1 in 14 (7%) say they haven’t done any of those six, and less than 1% aren’t sure. “The United … [Read more...]
Iran’s Christians suffer sixfold increase in prison time, report says
LONDON (BP) – Christians in Iran suffered combined prison sentences amounting to a sixfold increase over time levied in 2023, all as punishment for their faith, London-based religious advocacy group Article 18 said in its latest annual report. The courts sentenced 96 Christians to a combined 263 years in prison in 2024 on faith-related charges, compared to 22 Christians sentenced in 2023 to a combined 43.5 years, Article 18 said in the report released Jan. 20 in collaboration with Open … [Read more...]
Cuba frees pastor after U.S. drops island from state sponsors of terrorism list
SANTIAGO DE CUBA, Cuba (BP) – Evangelical Protestant pastor Lorenzo Rosales Fajardo is among hundreds of prisoners, including several religious leaders, Cuba released last week after the U.S. removed the island nation from the list of state sponsors of terrorism. Cuba released Fajardo Jan. 17 from Mar Verde Prison in Santiago de Cuba, international religious freedom advocate CSW said upon his release, after President Biden’s 11th hour announcement that he would remove Cuba from the … [Read more...]
Open Doors: Violence, civil wars drive global Christian persecution up 4.1 percent
BRIDGEVILLE, Pa. (BP) – Africa, with more Christians than any other continent, has in Nigeria the deadliest nation for believers at the hands of Islamic terrorists and suffers persistently high violence in a dozen countries in its sub-Saharan region. Add to that the civil war in Sudan that has created the largest displacement crisis in the world, as well as lingering civil wars elsewhere, and it’s no wonder that an additional 15 million Christians are suffering high levels of persecution … [Read more...]
Global Christian persecution up; religious restrictions at peak levels, studies show
WASHINGTON (BP) – Religious nationalism, mass displacement, authoritarianism, surveillance technology and other trends combine to persecute 300 million Christians globally, International Christian Concern (ICC) said in its 2025 Global Persecution Index released Jan. 2. Targeting 20 countries, the latest annual report identifies 20 persecution zones, spotlights underlying factors that make each region increasingly unstable, and details the growing persecution Christians are suffering at … [Read more...]
11 killed in airstrike on Baptist church in Sudan
KHARTOUM NORTH, Sudan (BP) – An airstrike on a Baptist church in Sudan less than a week before Christmas killed at least 11 people, including eight children, an organization focused on international religious freedom reported. The Sudan Armed Forces airstrike hit Al Ezba Baptist Church in Khartoum North on Dec. 20. It damaged the worship facility, the church’s nursery – which was occupied at the time – and several residential buildings, Christian Solidarity Worldwide … [Read more...]
100 Christians banned from villages in India if they don’t denounce faith
CHHATTISGARH, India (BP) – At least 40 members of New Bethesda Jesus Tribal Ministry in Michwar Village remain sheltered at the church two weeks after the village council banned them from the community unless they renounce their faith. The Christians are among 100 impacted by a joint resolution adopted Nov. 17 by eight village councils in the Sukma District of Chhattisgarh State. Christians who don’t denounce Jesus must leave the villages or their fields, belongings and property will be … [Read more...]
Baptists in Mexico still displaced after Catholic leaders renege on agreement
HIDALGO, Mexico (BP) – About 150 Baptists forcibly displaced from their homes in Hidalgo, Mexico, since April have sought refuge in a neighboring state after Catholic village leaders reneged on an agreement that would have welcomed the Protestants home. According to a Nov. 21 report from Christian Solidarity Worldwide, the members of Great Commission Fundamental Baptist Church began moving to Chalma, Veracruz, after it became clear that the Sept. 27 agreement would not be … [Read more...]
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