Hundreds of Christians have been arrested or placed under house detainment in China over the past five weeks, according to a Baptist Press report. Easter weekend alone saw the arrests of 500 believers. The crackdown comes on the heels of a clash between one of the largest unregistered churches in Beijing and the Chinese government.
Shouwang Church refuses to register and place itself under the limitations of the communist government. Those limitations include prohibitions against evangelism outside of the church building, conducting Sunday School and the baptism of anybody under the age of 18, according to ChinaAid’s Bob Fu, who was quoted in the report. In addition to the arrests, the government has also forced church members out of their homes in an effort to pressure the congregation into compliance.
Religious freedom is also an issue in India and 12 other nations that top a watch list issued by the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF). According to Mission Network News (MNN), the commission recently released its annual list of countries that it feels requires close monitoring because of violations committed or tolerated by their governments.
In India, the government has been slow to prosecute violence against Christians, with “assaults, burnings, lootings and other attacks occurring on a daily basis,” MNN reports. Joining India on the list are Afghanistan, Belarus, Cuba, Indonesia, Laos, Russia, Somalia, Tajikistan, Turkey and Venezuela. Egypt was recently moved onto the USCIRF “countries of particular concern” list in light of its growing violence against Christians.
Missions awareness is now as close as your cell phone thanks to a new app released by the International Mission Board. CompassionNet is available for Apple’s iPhone and phones operating Google’s Android. CompassionNet focuses on encouraging “strategic” prayer for unreached people groups. It features audio, video and written content that is regularly updated. To download the free tool from Apple, go to http://ow.ly/4Qylu and for Android, http://ow.ly/4Qymy.