On Feb. 13, 2023, village authorities gathered a group of 21 Christians from a minority tribal group in Laos, detaining them at the district meeting hall. The head of the village called them traitors for believing in a religion that does not belong to their ancestors and demanded they renounce their faith in Christ.
Read MoreOn Feb. 13, 2017, Pastor Raymond Koh was abducted off the streets of Malaysia. In 2019, Malaysia’s Human Rights Commission issued a report blaming the abduction on the “Special Branch” of Malaysia’s police. No one has since been held accountable, and Pastor Koh’s whereabouts and condition remain unknown.
Read MoreIn the kingdom of Bhutan, where Buddhism is regarded as the only acceptable religion, Christians are often refused citizenship cards and other official documents needed for employment, education and most necessities. Pastor Deki and her son, Ratno, have been denied citizenship cards because of their Christian work.
Read MoreThough Ethiopia is a majority-Christian nation, many Ethiopians lack access to Bibles in their native languages. VOM is working with front-line ministers to give Bibles to every Ethiopian Christian, including Bibles in native languages such as Amharic, Omoro and Tigrinya.
Read MoreSince the Taliban took control of Afghanistan in 2021, life for Christians is difficult. Most Afghan Christians fled, but some remained. “It is very challenging for the normal Afghan and very, very hard for Christians,” a front-line worker shared. “Persecution has escalated from the government, local religious authorities, family, and community, and it is still escalating.”
Read MoreChristians in Algeria report suffering from a systematic campaign of government persecution. Since the end of 2017, the government has reportedly closed 30 of the 47 Protestant churches in the country.
Read MoreAaron is one of many church planters advancing God’s kingdom in the “Circle of Silence,” an eight-state region in central Mexico of nearly 23 million people with less than 1% evangelical witness for Christ. There is a strong culture of Christo-paganism, which is a syncretistic blend of ancient pagan practices and Roman Catholicism, and front-line workers like Aaron are often opposed by those hostile to the gospel.
Read MoreWhen Kham, a Khmu believer in Laos, planned a thanksgiving celebration for the new year, community elders confronted him and gave him an ultimatum: They forbade him from worshiping the Christian God and demanded that he cancel the celebration.
Read MoreIn September 2022, Muslim extremists attacked the Bokore Full Gospel church in southeastern Ethiopia. Islamists set it on fire, destroying the building and everything inside; fortunately, no church members were hurt during the attack.
Read MorePrakash, Sangeetha and their daughters, Lavanya (8) and Shalini (5), belong to a Hindu community in Karnataka State, India. Lavanya was born with severe disabilities, including paralysis, and no medical treatments helped. The family met a Christian pastor who shared the gospel with them and prayed for the child. Lavanya began to recover and was eventually able to walk; then, the whole family came to Christ.
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