Violence has so far claimed 1,116 lives between October 2014 and May 2016. Local NGOs wrote a letter to the President, denouncing their situation and demanding a solution.

84 houses were attacked after evangelical Christians refused to pay their contribution to the Catholic festivities. 350 believers have been displaced.

A team of local believers, along with Wycliffe Associates, has translated the New Testament. “They have endured persecution, and struggled to teach the Word in other languages.”

Syria, Central African Republic, Egypt, Iraq, and Vietnam are also among the “countries of particular concern.” For the first time, Western Europe is in the list as a place that “deserve monitoring.”

The 1569 Bible translation “is an unknown masterpiece”, Spanish academic Antonio Muñoz Molina says in an interview at the public television.

The new religious law worsens conditions for believers. Church members are questioned and fined for talking about their faith publicly.

The regime claims Billy Graham told a North Korean newspaper Kim Il Sung was “God” who “rules the human world.” Voice of the Martyrs says the controversy is an example of why religious figures should not travel to the isolated country.

President Xi Jinping threatens non-official churches with more controls and says Communist party members must remain “staunchly atheist.” State media spread the conclusions of governmental conference on religion.

Five evangelical families declined to pay the quota for the Roman Catholic patron saint celebration, and the local authorities cut off their water supply. Several organisations confirm rising trend of persecution in rural Mexico.

Believers of churches in Córdoba (Spain) gathered after the Sunday worship services to pray and demand action “against terrorism, and in favour of Christian minorities”. Media should inform fairly about persecution.

Bishoy Garas was jailed in September 2012 for offensive Facebook posts found on a fake page opened in his name.

Assemblies of God pastor: “There is no security, our non-Christian neighbours insult us almost daily, and we are scared.” 

An evangelical emphasis on nurturing societies that encourage openness, tolerance, and diversity of religious expression should be seen as a benefit to all citizens and beneficial to mission and ministry globally.

“The state must assume its responsibility”, CDU leader Volker Kauder said in a guest article for the German newspaper “Welt am sonntag”. He praises Open Doors and encourages local churches to get more involved.

Taliban faction Jamaat ul-Ahrar claimed responsibility for the attacks. "The target were Christians", they said. Al least 72 have died, 29 children.

Although about 85 percent of the people in Uganda are Christian, many have died, kidnapped, or threatened just for confessing their faith in the last months.

Wycliffe Associates informs that “several others were injured in a raid on a translation office in the Middle East”. Books and equipemnt were destroyed, but hard drives containing the translation work for eight language projects were not affected. 

Christian Solidarity Worldwide demands that the North Korean regime should face the International Criminal Court, for its “egregious human rights abuses.”

David Guttenfelder wins 2016 World Press Photo prize for long-term project on the daily life of the closed country's inhabitants. 

Muslim leaders have caused upset by validating President Jammeh's declaration of Gambia becoming an Islamic state without having a referendum.

“Pray that all those who were abducted and have been released will know the Lord's comfort, healing and restoration.”

During his visit to the region, Pope Francis condemned the exploitation and social exclusion of the indigenous peoples. But Roman Catholics in Chiapas continue to persecute evangelical believers.

Local church members “invite refugees to their homes, let their children get to know their children, show them where to get a discount on children’s clothes.” 

They were expelled for refusing to renounce their faith. Christians hope this case will set a precedent for religious freedom in Mexico.

“As I fled, I could see two houses burning. Those who were attacked are Christians. I am very sure that the attackers were looking for Christians”, explains survivor.