Church leader in southwest India loses hearing in one ear.

The danger to the Christian community has increased after the coup in February. Churches keep serving their neighbours and sharing the gospel.

“Do we deserve to live and die like this in our own country?”, a relative of a killed Christian student asks. Nigeria led the world in number of kidnapped Christians last year with 990.

“The stones were thrown from neighbouring courtyards” , the pastor explains. The church has been attacked before, as other churches in nearby areas.

A large number of Islamist lawyers swarmed the courtroom during a hearing, an intimidation tactic designed to obtain convictions and harsh sentences.

Christian girls and women are “doubly vulnerable”, says Open Doors. “Preventing women from freely raising their children as Christians is an effective means of controlling the Christian population”.

An interview with the pastor of New Life Church in Minsk, Vyacheslav Goncharenko: “We are praying for this nation, that we have a great revival”. Other churches and secular groups have expressed solidarity with the evangelical community.

“Most Somali Christians are underground believers. We are a persecuted community”, explain the leaders of an online community of believers in the country.

Vijayesh Lal, leader of the Evangelical Fellowship of India, says Christians are making a difference in times of Covid-19: “Local churches are providing relief to their neighbouring communities”.

An interview with Salah Chalah, President of the Eglise Protestante d’Algérie. “2020 was a very difficult year for us Protestants, who have been deprived of our places of worship - until today”.

In a written statement to the UN Human Rights Council, the WEA also addresses the deteriorating environment for religious minorities in India and the incitement to violence of anti-conversion laws.

Officers and Hindu extremists threaten and beat Christian men, women and children.

Traditionalist Catholics in San Cristobal (Mexico) destroyed the houses of 5 evangelical families and arrested two believers.

A Korean Christian and three nationals have been accused of fraudulent conversion attempts while distributing food to people in need.

“We thought Covid-19 was going to minimize the effect of persecution, but it has been the opposite. Persecution has increased”, says the director of Open Doors Spain. The organisation releases its annual World Watch List.

Islamic extremist groups have kidnapped, killed and executed Christians throughout the country. Many villages have been attacked and churches destroyed.

A large mob brutally attacked a home and a church, accusing Christians of converting people and celebrating with loud music.

Olivier Giroud, David Luiz, Alisson Becker, Kevin Durant, among others, offered their jerseys. “260 million persecuted Christians is unacceptable”.

A report of the Korea Future Initiative (KFI) presents well-documented violations in North Korea. Investigators conducted 117 interviews with survivors, witnesses, and perpetrators.

Violence keeps escalating despite the pleas of evangelical leaders who denounce lack of effort by the Nigerian government to free church members.

The pastor had received threats from Muslims. He and his son were slain after visiting the Congo border for missionary work.

Mainline Protestant and Catholic churches in Pakistan have decided to petition courts against forcible conversion of underage girls.

A Pew Research analysis combines data of a dozen of trusted sources. It concludes that “most of the 56 countries with high or very high levels of government restrictions on religion are in the Asia-Pacific region or the Middle East-North Africa region”.

The church is one of the few that keeps a legal status, because it was registered before 1959. “As repression has spread, the bonds between pastors are stronger than ever", a pastor said.

An Iranian Christian who fled his country continued to receive threats from his countrymen in Spain, where the authorities have not granted him asylum after 16 years. “I have confidence in God”, he says.