Christian Chinese human rights lawyer Wu Shaoping, who represented persecuted religious believers and other victims of government repression before fleeing China, was released on bond July 24. He had spent nine days in federal immigration custody despite having been granted asylum in the U.S.
Read More(ANALYSIS) What began as an exercise movement of primarily older adults in China’s northeast has proved to provide the largest, best-organized and most-sustained resistance to Chinese government rule since the founding of the People’s Republic of China.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Hundreds of thousands of Haitians in the U.S. are living in uncertain times. On June 25, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Trump administration could proceed with a plan to end Temporary Protected Status — a federal program that allows people to stay in the United States when the government considers their own country unsafe — for around 350,000 Haitians and 6,000 Syrians.
Read More(ANALYSIS) For Iran’s Baha’i community, the country’s latest political upheaval has revived a painful historical pattern: Whenever the Islamic Republic faces existential pressure, one of its first responses is to intensify its campaign against vulnerable religious minorities. The case of Peyvand Naimi and his cousin Borna Naimi illustrates this dynamic.
Read MoreAs global headlines celebrated the release of one prominent Chinese minister, the wife of another pastor is pleading with the world not to forget those still jailed in China. “Zion Church has eight leaders still detained,” said Sister Su Ziming, wife of Pastor Wang Lin, who leads Beijing Zion Church alongside the recently released Pastor Ezra Jin. “Our family and the others all eagerly await reunion.”
Read MoreA 70-year-old Christian artist is facing another day apart from his family and without necessary medical care after almost two years in a Chinese prison, his friends and advocates said. Gao Zhen, part of the famous artistic duo called the Gao brothers, was detained in mid-2024 for “slandering heroes and martyrs,” according to the International Federation for Human Rights.
Read MorePastor Ezra Jin Mingri, founder of Beijing-based Zion Church, one of China’s largest and most influential unregistered Protestant congregations, has been released after nine months in detention following high-level diplomatic engagement between the United States and China. Jin arrived safely in Los Angeles in the early hours of July 4.
Read MoreNine members of Beijing’s Zion Church have been released on bail after more than eight months in detention, while nine remaining church leaders now face more serious criminal charges in one of China’s most closely watched religious freedom cases.
Read MoreAuthorities in southwestern China launched a large-scale raid against Early Rain Covenant Church during its Sunday worship service on June 14, detaining dozens of believers, according to reports received by ChinaAid and a subsequent church statement.
Read MoreMore than 3,000 Christians from multiple countries gathered in person and online on June 9 for a global prayer event supporting believers facing persecution in China, where authorities have intensified pressure on house churches and clergy in recent years.
Read MoreEighteen pastors and church workers, including Senior Pastor Ezra Jin, remain in detention. In an interview with The Free Press published May 11, Jin’s daughter, Grace Jin Drexel, also disclosed previously unreported details of a 2021 incident in which she alleges her father was drugged.
Read MoreA court in central China, issued verdicts on May 22 against 31 members of a house church fellowship in one of the largest coordinated prosecutions of Christians in recent years.
Read More(OPINION) An international investigator will visit Nigeria to assess the religious persecution occurring across the country, and there are so many issues that it’s hard to know where she should begin. Will she detail the mass kidnappings that have occurred regularly over the past decade? The religious and tribal fighting? The terrorist organizations wreaking havoc on the country?
Read MoreOnly days after U.S. President Donald Trump left a Beijing summit with CCP Chairman Xi Jinping where religious freedom and jailed religious leaders were discussed, authorities in eastern China have demolished a prominent church, razing the building with large excavators.
Read MoreThe Big Idea for this podcast? The social-credits system shifted into high gear the year after China, in 2018, launched sweeping new regulations to crush religious activities that lacked formal government approval. Digital technology is at the heart of China’s efforts to control the beliefs of its citizens.
Read MoreAt least 54 Christians were killed early Easter in Nigeria’s Middle Belt, many during worship, with dozens more abducted from Evangelical Church Winning All Souls and other sites, International Christian Concern reported.
Read MorePastor Yuna Sabet of Walnut Creek shares the emotional toll of the U.S.-Israel conflict with Iran on Iranian Christians. His congregation grieves for family in danger while hoping for regime change and religious freedom. Despite fear, they remain prayerful, seeking strength, connection, and future opportunities for ministry and rebuilding in Iran.
Read MoreProtestant pastors overwhelmingly view legal immigration as beneficial and support increasing or maintaining it. Most favor combining stronger border security with a pathway to citizenship for some undocumented immigrants. While divided on deportation levels, pastors prioritize removing violent offenders and emphasize family unity and human dignity.
Read MoreAt least 53 Nigerians were killed in three Palm Sunday attacks in predominantly Christian communities in North Central Nigeria. Not all of the victims were Christians in the deadliest attack when at least 30 people were killed and several others hospitalized, Open Doors UK reported. But all attacks occurred in areas known to be predominantly or significantly Christian, with a Voice of the Martyrs field worker describing the Jos community as “100 percent Christian.”
Read MoreShe walked for days through jungle mountain paths to escape the Myanmar military's campaign of terror. The medical care she needs is out of reach. What keeps her and the more than 600 people around her alive is a fragile web of church donations, local tithes and the tireless intervention of faith-based organizations — a web now stretched to breaking point.
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