Stories tagged with: international christian concern

• Report: In China 'there is no longer a safe place to be a Christian'

  by Diana Chandler, posted Thursday, July 23, 2020 (4 years ago)

  

  International Christian Concern photo

  SILVER SPRING, Md. (BP) -- China persecutes Christians to gain leverage in future diplomatic relations with the U.S., a Christian seeking U.S. asylum claimed in a video released Wednesday (July 22) alongside a new report by International Christian Concern (ICC). Read More

• A return to Mao era persecution in China?

  by Diana Chandler, posted Wednesday, October 03, 2018 (5 years ago)

  

  Screen capture from ABC News

  CHINA (BP) -- Police raided church services Sept. 30 in various Chinese provinces in escalating persecutions said to be "returning to those evident in Mao's era."

  Government officials disrupted services at five or more churches in at least four provinces in central, southern and southwestern China, removing crosses, blocking entrances, disbanding worship and harassing members, International Christian Concern (ICC) reported today (Oct. 3).

  "Christians in China are bracing themselves for the worst clampdown since the Cultural Revolution," ICC Regional Manager Gina Goh said in the ICC press release. "The scale and tactics employed by the authorities are unprecedented and disturbing. Every day there are churches across China that become fresh victims of persecution." Read More

• Christians killed globally for faith at Christmas

  by Diana Chandler, posted Wednesday, January 03, 2018 (6 years ago)

  

  Russian Television video screen capture

  RIVERS STATE, Nigeria (BP) -- The deaths of nearly 150 Christians have been reported in targeted attacks on religious minorities in Nigeria, Cairo and India during the 2017 Christmas season, according to various reports from religious liberty advocates and news agencies.

  Among the latest attacks, unidentified assailants killed between 14 and 16 Christians leaving a midnight New Year's Eve service Jan. 1 in Omuku town in Rivers State, Nigeria, the BBC and Nigerian Independent news reported Jan. 2. The gunmen fired at random and at close range, according to police who said the ... Read More

• U.S. citizen pastoring in Turkey jailed for faith

  by Diana Chandler, posted Friday, December 16, 2016 (7 years ago)

  

  IZMIR, Turkey (BP) -- Religious liberty advocates have joined the U.S. government in seeking the release of an American citizen who pastored a Protestant church in Turkey for 20 years before being imprisoned for his faith.

  Andrew Brunson, formerly of Black Mountain, N.C., was reportedly detained 63 days without charges at the Harmandali Detention Center in Izmir, Turkey, before being imprisoned Dec. 9 at nearby Sakran Prison. He's being held on false charges of being a member of an armed terrorist organization, World Watch Monitor reported. Read More

• Pakistan court orders blasphemy law reforms

  by Diana Chandler, posted Monday, November 02, 2015 (8 years ago)

  ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (BP) -- The effectiveness of a Supreme Court of Pakistan ruling that blasphemy laws be reformed to discourage false allegations hinges on the government's response to the order, a leader of the International Christian Concern watchdog group told Baptist Press.

  The three-judge Pakistani bench called for reforms when it upheld the death penalty imposed upon Malik Mohammad Mumtaz Qadri ... Read More