Stories tagged with: persecuted church

• Persecution on the move at home, overseas, panel says

  by Grace Thornton/The Alabama Baptist, posted Wednesday, June 12, 2019 (5 years ago)

  

  Photo by Matt Miller

  BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (BP) -- Persecution is on the move around the world -- and gradually moving into American life -- but God is at work in the midst of it, according to a panel who spoke on the topic during the Monday evening session (June 10) of the Southern Baptist Convention Pastors' Conference in Birmingham, Ala.

  The roundtable discussion -- moderated by Timothy George, founding dean of Samford University's Beeson Divinity School -- highlighted three stories of facing persecution. George interviewed Andrew Brunson, a pastor imprisoned for two years in Turkey, and his wife, Norine; Nik and Ruth Ripken, retiring missionaries; and Jack Phillips, a lawsuit-riddled Colorado cake shop owner, along with legal counsel Jim Campbell with the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF). Read More

• 30 years: Tiananmen rally promotes religious freedom

  by Diana Chandler, posted Wednesday, June 05, 2019 (5 years ago)

  

  Screen capture from Breitbart News

  WASHINGTON (BP) -- Human rights advocates including Christians marked the 30th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre with a rally in Washington yesterday (June 4), calling the U.S. to hold China accountable for past and continued human rights abuses.

  As many as 10,000 died and 28,000 were injured in the massacre while the Chinese government maintains it killed no more than 300, speakers said at the event held by the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation (VOC) with many co-sponsors, including ChinaAid, the Lantos Foundation for Human Rights and Justice, the World Uyghur Congress and the International Campaign for Tibet. Read More

• Armed gunmen kidnap 19 Christians, kill one

  by Morning Star News/Nigeria correspondent, posted Tuesday, May 28, 2019 (5 years ago)

  

  iStock photo

  JOS, Nigeria (BP) -- Suspected Fulani herdsmen stormed a church choir practice and kidnapped 17 Christians in north-central Nigeria the evening of May 18. And the same night gunmen killed a Christian and kidnapped two others at a Baptist church, sources said.

  Each attack took place in Kaduna state, where assaults on Christians with impunity have recently ramped up in the increasingly lawless country. Read More

• Nigeria violence draws joint religious liberty cry

  by Diana Chandler, posted Thursday, May 16, 2019 (5 years ago)

  

  iStock

  ABUJA, Nigeria (BP) -- Escalating violence that has killed thousands of Christians in Central Nigeria must be addressed by the international Christian community and a Nigerian government that has harassed victims, a global religious liberty coalition noted after its 2019 consultation in Abuja. Read More

• Asia Bibi exits Pakistan, joins family in Canada

  by Diana Chandler, posted Wednesday, May 08, 2019 (5 years ago)

  

  LAHORE, Pakistan (BP) -- Persecuted Christian mother Asia Bibi has joined her husband and children in Canada, months after her acquittal of false blasphemy charges and her release from Pakistan's death row.

  Bibi's attorney Saif-ul-Malook told several news outlets of her safe arrival in Ottawa within the past two days, first reported today (May 8). Read More

• Sri Lanka bombings fueled by 'conflict of ideas'

  by David Roach, posted Wednesday, April 24, 2019 (5 years ago)

  

  Screen capture from NBC News

  COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (BP) -- As Sri Lanka continues to mourn at least 359 people who died in Easter attacks against Christians, a Southern Baptist seminary professor has called believers to consider the "conflict of ideas" behind the bombings.

  Meanwhile, the Islamic State terrorist group has claimed responsibility for the April 21 suicide bombings, according to media reports, and Sri Lankan authorities have arrested 60 people in relation to the attacks. Read More

• Sri Lanka Christian massacre 'shocking in its cruelty'

  by David Roach, posted Monday, April 22, 2019 (5 years ago)

  

  Screen capture from CBS News.

  COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (BP) -- Easter bombings in Sri Lanka that targeted Christians and killed at least 290 people have prompted calls to prayer by Southern Baptists who work to take the Gospel to South Asian people groups.

  "As we process the news of attacks on Easter services today in Sri Lanka, our hearts are grieved," the Southern Baptist workers said as a group in written comments. "We weep with those who weep ... As we reflect on the living hope we have through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead (1 Peter 1:3), let us not forget to stay armed for the battle and continuing incessantly in prayer. Let us run this race hard with our brothers and sisters in Christ and intercede for one another and for the lost." Read More

• Hate crime charges added in La. church arsons

  by Diana Chandler, posted Tuesday, April 16, 2019 (5 years ago)

  

  Screen capture from Facebook

  OPELOUSAS, La. (BP) -- Hate crime charges have been filed against a white man accused of arson that destroyed three Louisiana black Baptist churches more than a century old.

  Holden Matthews, 21, pleaded not guilty April 15 to the charges in St. Landry Parish Criminal Court, according to the St. Landry Parish Clerk of Court's office. Matthews is charged with three counts of hate crimes, two counts of simple arson of a religious building and one count of aggravated arson of a religious building, and was denied bond. Read More

• Malaysian pastor abducted by police, panel finds

  by David Roach, posted Monday, April 08, 2019 (5 years ago)

  

  Screengrab from KiniTV documentary.

  KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (BP) -- A kidnapped Malaysian pastor was abducted by police for allegedly proselytizing Muslims, Malaysia's human rights commission has concluded following a two-year investigation.

  The family of 63-year-old Raymond Koh -- who was abducted in February 2017 in Kuala Lumpur -- hopes he is still alive and that the Malaysian government investigates the matter further, a Nashville-area pastor and family friend told Baptist Press. Read More

• Kazakhstan police raid 3rd Baptist church this yr.

  by Grace Thornton, posted Thursday, April 04, 2019 (5 years ago)

  

  iStock

  TARAZ, Kazakhstan (BP) -- A police raid on a Baptist worship service in Kazakhstan is the latest reported incident in a long string of religious liberty violations in the Central Asian country.

  The raid, in early March, brought the total to three Baptist churches invaded and fined in the city of Taraz in a seven-week span, according to news sources. Read More