Front-line workers report that Pastor Moussa Bagwari was “falsely accused and imprisoned in what seems to be an effort to destroy his reputation and Christian influence.” Due to his imprisonment, his wife, Lariya, and their four children were left without any financial support and were forced to return to Pastor Moussa’s home village. His extended family should have cared for them, according to cultural norms. But Pastor Moussa’s family are all Muslims and would not allow Lariya or her children to live with them.
Read MoreDuring a worship service on Sept. 9, 2023, members of Hindu radical groups and Hindu media outlets aggressively disrupted the service and blamed elder Omkar Lohoni for promoting Christianity in the area. Police arrested Omkar and held him in custody for six hours. Brother Omkar leads three fellowships with about 250 believers, and he thinks Hindu radicals targeted him because he is a well-recognized person among the Christians in this area.
Read MoreChristians in Bhutan often risk losing their citizenship or other rights because of their faith in Christ. Pastor Abhaya and his wife have been denied a marriage certificate by the government, which jeopardizes their whole family, especially their children, who have been denied citizenship. The family may have to relocate to another country for the sake of their children.
Read MoreChurch deacon Akua Kwame was attending a morning prayer meeting in May 2023 when radical Fulani tribesmen attacked his village. When the militants shot bullets and arrows through church windows and tried to break into the building, the pastor yelled for everyone to get out. As they fled, the pastor and the church administrator were shot and killed. Akua said several arrows pierced his clothes, but none hit him. Later that day, he was tasked with the painful job of identifying the bodies of 12 people killed in the attack, including a two-year-old child.
Read MoreThe pastor of a small underground church for Christian converts on the Arabian Peninsula suspected that one member of the group wasn’t a genuine follower of Christ. Though the man had attended meetings for several months, the pastor felt unsettled toward him. When the pastor confronted the man, he admitted to being part of a group working to stop Muslims from placing their trust in Christ. Surprisingly, the infiltrator still wanted to participate in the meetings even after he admitted to spying on the group.
Read MoreTwo brothers, Pastor Pramod and Pastor Dilip, lead a group of 17 growing churches, and the members of one of these churches began constructing a new church building. Suddenly, a group of Hindu radicals swept into the location and completely destroyed the newly laid foundation.
Read MoreXavia, 30, survived a brutal assault eight years ago. During a 2016 attack, rebels with a militant group set fire to numerous homes in her village. Her husband, mother, father and sisters were burned alive. Xavia was tied up and subjected to horrific torture, rendering her unable to have additional children. She doesn’t know how she survived the assault but only remembers waking up in an evacuation truck. She was sent to another country for surgery, but her emotional wounds need additional healing.
Read MoreAn Iranian pastor who was released from prison in 2023, after serving many years for leading a house church, reported that God enabled him to work as an evangelist behind bars despite constant surveillance. He said that when he started his sentence, “I began to think that this was a dangerous place and that it would not be possible to witness to anyone.” But later he found ways to secretly witness to others and eventually led 13 prisoners to Christ. “During the recreation times, I would walk around in a spirit of friendship with these new believers and teach them how to grow in their faith and answer their questions,” he said.
Read MoreLate in 2023, police in Laos arrested three Christians from the Akha people group for building a church and held them without giving any information to family or friends for several months. On January 26, 2024, authorities demolished the building these brothers in Christ had constructed.
Read MoreIn December 2023, Mauritanian authorities arrested a group of around 15 Christians after a video of them participating in a baptism was posted online. All of the arrested Christians were former Muslims. Mauritania is dominated by Islamist leadership, and conversion from Islam is illegal. “At first, no lawyer would defend them,” said a front-line worker. “The officials tried to get them to apologize on social media for spreading the gospel, to agree to never promote Christianity, and to return to Islam,” he added.
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