A Russian Shahed drone struck the building of The Light of the Gospel Church in Balakliia in eastern Ukraine in the early afternoon on Saturday May 23. Despite severe fire damage, none of the occupants of the building at that time, including the church’s pastor, Alexander Salfetnikov, nor the small group he was preparing for ...
LETTERS OF ENCOURAGEMENT REQUESTED FOR KOREAN MISSIONARY DETAINED IN RUSSIA
Voice of the Martyrs Korea, the persecution watchdog ministry which has been advocating for Korean missionary Park Tae-Yeon since her arrest in Russia in January, is asking Christians in Korea and around the world to send letters of encouragement to the missionary at the detention center where she has now been held for four months. ...
OCCUPIED UKRAINE: AUTHORITIES SEEK TO DEPORT NATIVE-BORN PASTOR FOR MISSIONARY ACTIVITIES
Soviet authorities imprisoned Pastor Vladimir Pavlovich Rytikov for his faith from 1979 to 1982. But now, authorities in Krasnodon are seeking to do something Soviet authorities never did: Deport Pastor Rytikov from the country of his birth because of his ministry. “In the last week of April alone, four Unregistered Baptist ministers faced court hearings ...
VOICE OF THE MARTYRS KOREA DELIVERS PETITION TO RUSSIAN EMBASSY ON BEHALF OF MISSIONARY PARK TAE YEON
Voice of the Martyrs Korea Representative Dr. Hyun Sook Foley and CEO Pastor Eric Foley delivered a 5,000+ signature petition to the Russian Embassy in Seoul today calling for the immediate release of Missionary Park Tae Yeon. The Foleys addressed the media across the street from the Embassy before entering the Embassy. “Missionary Park faithfully ...
RUSSIA MOVES TO BAN PUBLIC WORSHIP IN HOUSES AND APARTMENTS
Churches in Russia are bracing for what may be one of the largest changes in the country’s religious life since the collapse of the Soviet Union. A bill set to come before Russia’s official legislature, the Duma, in June proposes to ban worship services as well as prayer, religious meetings, and evangelistic activities in houses, ...
RUSSIA: KOREAN MISSIONARY NOW FACES TWO NEW CHARGES, POSSIBLE 17 YEAR SENTENCE
A Korean missionary being held in Khabarovsk, Russia now faces a maximum of 17 years in prison on a total of three immigration-related charges. Last week, investigators filed two new charges against Missionary Park Tae-Yeon and were granted a one-month extension to continue their investigation, which has so far lasted two months. The initial court ...
RUSSIA: KOREAN MISSIONARY MOVED TO HOUSE ARREST, THEN TAKEN TO DETENTION CAMP
A Korean missionary imprisoned in Khabarovsk on immigration-related charges was moved from prison to house arrest after agreeing to remain there until after her trial, but witnesses say she was forcibly removed from her home the next day by masked law enforcement agents who took her to a detention center for foreigners. An online petition ...
ONLINE PETITION SEEKS RELEASE OF RETIRING KOREAN MISSIONARY FROM RUSSIAN PRISON
Update: Missionary Park was taken away from her home by masked law enforcement agents at 11 a.m. February 4. They refused to say where she was going. Fortunately, a local pastor was able to work with local attorneys to find her. She has been taken to a detention center for foreigners because her visa expired ...
RUSSIA: FOUR CHURCHES SHUT IN MAY BY OFFICIALS FOR REFUSING GOVERNMENT REGISTRATION
UPDATE: At the time of publication, an additional church, in Krasnodon, in the self-proclaimed Luhansk People's Republic, reported that authorities approached them after their worship service on June 8, demanding to see the church's registration. However, the church indicated that it is, and intends to remain, unregistered. Four Protestant churches experienced harassment in May by ...
NIGERIA: WIDOWS OF MARTYRED CHRISTIANS RECEIVE SEWING MACHINES, TRAINING
30 Nigerian Christian widows whose husbands were killed in anti-Christian violence in Adamawa State are receiving sewing machines, grinding machines, and the training to use them through a project funded by Voice of the Martyrs Korea, in cooperation with SDOK, its sister Voice of the Martyrs mission in the Netherlands. According to Voice of the ...