Persecution

“Terrorists killed Lawan Andimi yesterday (Jan. 20), according to Today.NG, which described Andimi as a Michika pastor who led a local chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN).” - BPNews

“Its Religious Affairs Office has announced that not only must all religious organizations get state approval for any activity they undertake. They are also expected to ‘spread the principles and policies of the Chinese Communist Party.’” - Acton

“China will enforce new restrictions on religious groups, organizations, meetings, and other related events starting on February 1.” - Catholic Herald

“Major news outlets are reporting that a secretive court in China has sentenced detained Christian pastor Wang Yi to 9 years in prison for inciting subversion of the government. Yi is one of the country’s most famous Christian leaders who founded and leads a large, well-known house church in the country.” - RNS

“As more government officials in China are empowered to close churches and a ‘social credit’ system threatens to block Christians from schools, bank loans and jobs, authorities have taken harsh measures against more churches, sources said.” - Church Leaders

“The percentage of Christians in Turkey declined from nearly 25% in 1914 to less than 0.5% today.” - The Conversation

“Around 60 incidents of hate crimes against Sikhs were reported to the FBI in 2018, making the community the third most commonly targeted religious group after Jews and Muslims in the US, according to an annual report released by the bureau.” - PTI

“Authorities in China forcibly removed Christians and arrested several faith leaders gathered at a state-recognized church that suddenly was deemed ‘illegal’ by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), moments before it was demolished, according to a Chinese persecution watchdog.” - Fox

“From that day on, the lesson has been branded on my heart: freedom of religion and conscience is a precious, foundational, and indispensable right, and we must never take it for granted.” - Os Guinness

“A new film tells the story of the ‘fastest-growing church’ in the world, an underground, persecuted Christian movement in a country known for exporting radical Islamic terrorism.” - Fox