Tag: Missionaries

On trial for terrorism and espionage in a Turkish court

April 25, 2018 Turkey Andrew Brunson, Coup, Fethullah Gülen, Islamic State, Izmir, Kurds, Middle East, Missionaries, PKK, Protestants, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Refugees, Suruç, Turkey, USA

Just one prisoner, slightly built, came through a side door, escorted on either side by armed gendarmerie soldiers, walking him past rows and rows of empty seats. Dressed in a dark suit and white shirt, he glanced up at the impressive state-of-the-art courtroom, built to accommodate 650 people. Its walls . . . Read More

Christian missionaries a ‘threat’ to India’s unity, says MP

April 23, 2018 India BJP, Converts, India, Meghalaya, Missionaries, Nagaland

Houses were vandalised during an attack on four Christian families in Katholi village, Chhattisgarh state, while members of the ruling Hindu nationalist party seek to "sow discord among religious communities". (Photo: World Watch Monitor, 2016)

Christian missionaries are a threat to India’s unity, a Hindu-nationalist parliamentarian told reporters on Saturday (21 April). “Christian missionaries control the Congress,” said Bharat Singh, an MP for the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). “Sonia Gandhi, the mother of Congress president Rahul Gandhi, works on the directions of these missionaries. . . . Read More

North Korean explains growing up under Kim dynasty, and how his perception of Christianity changed

March 20, 2018 North Korea Bibles, Children, China, Communism, Crosses, Education, Kim Il-Sung, Kim Jong-il, Kim Jong-Un, Missionaries, North Korea, Pyongyang, USA

Every year, for the birthdays of North Korea’s Kim dynasty founder, Kim Il-sung, and his son and successor, Kim Jong-il, John Choi* would receive a large pack of sweets from his parents. So would all his primary-school peers. However, before unpacking his present, John was told to follow the ritual . . . Read More

Kazakh ‘sting operation’ to catch out Christian backfires

March 19, 2018 Kazakhstan Bibles, Churches, Kazakhstan, Missionaries, Shymkent

A Kazakhstan court has acquitted a Christian women accused of “missionary activity” after she was caught in an “apparent sting operation”, reports regional news agency Forum 18. Police officers arrested Dilobarkhon Sultanova in January after she helped Elmira Inibekova download a Bible app to her mobile phone. The two women . . . Read More

US agency accuses Russia of abusing anti-extremism laws

February 14, 2018 Russia Churches, Jehovah's Witnesses, Missionaries, Moscow, Protestants, Religion Law, Religious freedom, Russia, Russian Orthodox Church, Soviet Union, Terrorism, USA, Yarovaya Law

Russia’s anti-extremism laws are being used to crack down on peaceful religious minorities such as Protestants, Jehovah’s Witnesses and Hare Krishnas, the top US religious-freedom watchdog says. A report commissioned by the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) found that “vague and problematic definitions of ‘extremism’ in Russian law . . . Read More

23 Catholic missionaries killed in 2017

January 4, 2018 Global News -- No Particular Country Catholics, Gloria Argoti, Jacques Hamel, Mexico, Missionaries, Nigeria, Paolo Dall’Oglio, Philippines, Samaan Shehata, Younan Abdulla

Mourners at the funeral of the popular activist Filipino priest Fr. Marcelito Paez

At least 23 people working for the Catholic Church were killed in 2017, a Vatican agency has said. For the eighth consecutive year the place where most violent deaths occurred was America, where 11 people lost their lives. Ten pastoral workers were killed in Africa, five in Nigeria, and two . . . Read More

Mali: ‘Christians can simply be slaughtered’

December 11, 2017 Mali Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, Islamic extremism, Mali, Missionaries, Tuareg

Christians from northern Mali, displaced by the violence that started in 2012, are settling and building homes in the south. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

Sory* was threatened by Islamists when they heard about his work at a church in Djalloube, central Mali, and fled, leaving his family traumatised. “I started to face serious problems when the Islamists heard about me and the conversion of some of the people [from Islam to Christianity],” Sory says. . . . Read More

As China goes global, its Christian missionaries go too

September 4, 2017 Balochistan, China, Islamic State, Lee Zingyang, Meng Lisi, Missionaries, Pakistan, Quetta, Zhejiang

A Chinese Christian holds a Bible standing outside the largest Chinese church in the world: the Three Self church which seats 5,000 people, in Hangzhou city. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

China’s drive to develop new trading routes to the West and beyond comes with an unintended and often overlooked by-product: Chinese Christian missionaries, who are putting the self-proclaimed atheistic country in a difficult spot, according to the BBC. The latest example is the story of two young Chinese who travelled . . . Read More

Secret ministry of Chinese missionaries in northern Iraq

July 19, 2017 Balochistan, China, Iraq, Islamic State, Lee Zingyang, Meng Lisi, Missionaries, Pakistan, Quetta

Cross on Dongguang Church against factory name. Shenyang, northeastern China. Shenyang is the capital and largest city of China’s northeast Liaoning Province. It was the site of the 17th-century Manchu capital Mukden, and the imposing Mukden Palace (Shenyang Imperial Palace) is a blend of Manchurian and Tibetan architectural styles. Mausoleums of Qing dynasty emperors can be found at Zhaoling Tomb, amid the pine forests and lakes of Beiling Park, and at Fuling Tomb in the city’s east. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

A Christian from China’s underground Church says he feels safer working as a missionary in northern Iraq than he does at home. Such a perspective might seem somewhat surprising: but it says more about returning stability to parts of northern Iraq than it does about possible dangers in China. The South . . . Read More

US missionary receives award for ‘changing hearts’ among Colombia’s FARC

January 24, 2017 Colombia Arauca, Communism, FARC, Juan Manuel Santos, Latin America, Missionaries, Russ Stendal

Russell Stendal, right, meets with FARC negotiators Yuri Camargo, left; and Noel Pérez, center, in Cuba in Early 2015.

Russ Stendal.World Watch Monitor An American missionary has received an award for his decades of work ministering to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or the FARC, whose 50-year fight against the government had been the world’s longest continuous war when it ended in a peace agreement last August. . . . Read More

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