Russia is making expulsion of foreigners mandatory for a wider range of religious offenses. According to persecution watchdog Voice of the Martyrs Korea, the new law, signed on August 4 and due to go into effect on November 3, could lead to mandatory expulsion of foreigners for simple acts like inviting someone to a religious ...
VIETNAM: RURAL PASTOR RECEIVES 7 YEAR SENTENCE FOR “UNDERMINING NATIONAL UNITY”
A 59-year-old pastor from Vietnam’s Central Highlands region was sentenced to seven and a half years in prison last month by a court in Đắk Lắk Province on the charge of “undermining the national unity policy”. Pastor Y Nuen Ayun, a member of the Ede ethnic minority, was also sentenced to four years of probationary ...
ONLINE PETITION CALLS ON TRUMP, XI TO LET CANCER-STRICKEN PASTOR RETURN TO FAMILY IN U.S.
A humanitarian campaign is calling on U.S. President Donald Trump to raise the case of Pastor John Cao with Chinese President Xi Jinping during the scheduled September 24 meeting between the two leaders. Organizers say that the goal of the campaign is to secure permission for Pastor Cao, who has been diagnosed with stage 4 ...
RUSSIA: PASTOR FINED BECAUSE CHURCH HAD MISSION EURASIA BIBLES
Voice of the Martyrs Korea has learned that a Moscow court fined a Russian pastor in June because scripture portions published by Mission Eurasia were found at his church ten days after Mission Eurasia was declared to be an “undesirable organization”. The court ordered the scriptures—178 copies of the New Testament and 74 copies of ...
RUSSIA: TRIAL RESUMES THIS WEEK FOR KOREAN MISSIONARY PARK TAE-YEON
The trial of Korean Missionary Park Tae-Yeon resumes this week in Khabarovsk. According to persecution watchdog Voice of the Martyrs Korea, a verdict was originally expected in the case by August 10, but the judge’s rescheduling of the trial dates could mean no verdict until September 24. Missionary Park, who was detained in January one week ...
CHINA: HUNAN POLICE DECLARE “ANYONE WHO DOESN’T ENTER THREE-SELF CHURCH IS A CULT”, RAID PROMINENT HOUSE CHURCH
In what persecution watchdog organizations are calling a long-planned coordinated operation, authorities in Yueyang City, Hunan Province, China, carried out a large-scale raid on multiple meeting locations of Rock Bible Church, a prominent house church, on Saturday evening July 11. Pastor Huang Lei as he ended detention in April 2024 (file photo) Those arrested included ...
IRAN: AUTHORITIES SEEK TO SEIZE OLDEST PROTESTANT CHURCH BUILDING IN “FUTILE SYMBOLIC MOVE”
A historic Christian compound in Tehran, which was established in 1876 and is home to Iran's oldest Protestant church building, is facing possible confiscation by the country's government. But according to Voice of the Martyrs Korea Representative Dr. Hyun Sook Foley, the action is a “futile symbolic move” which, while unfairly punishing the small number ...
RUSSIA: CHILD EVANGELISM FELLOWSHIP DESIGNATED “UNDESIRABLE ORGANIZATION”
Voice of the Martyrs Korea has learned that Child Evangelism Fellowship-USA (CEF) has been added to the Russian Federation’s list of undesirable organizations. The ruling comes as CEF Korea Missionary Park Tae Yeon faces a possible 17-year sentence in a trial set to begin July 28 in Khabarovsk, according to Voice of the Martyrs Korea. ...
OCCUPIED UKRAINE: NATIVE-BORN PASTOR TO RECEIVE DEPORTATION VERDICT THIS WEEK
Persecution watchdog Voice of the Martyrs Korea is calling for prayers this week for a 67-year-old pastor in Occupied Ukraine who is facing deportation from his native city and country because of his ministry activities. “Pastor Vladimir Pavlovich Rytikov was born in Krasnodon in 1959, in what was then the Voroshilovgrad Region of Soviet Ukraine,” says Voice ...
CHINA: MAPPING AND RECAPPING JUNES “MASSIVE UPSURGE” IN CHRISTIAN PERSECUTION CHINA: MAPPING AND RECAPPING JUNES “MASSIVE UPSURGE” IN CHRISTIAN PERSECUTION
Voice of the Martyrs Korea is reporting what they call a “massive upsurge” in Christian persecution across China in June. “In recent weeks, authorities literally in the north, south, east, and west of China have detained, questioned, or investigated house church believers and ministry workers, reflecting a significant increase in pressure on unregistered Christian congregations,” says Voice ...