InChains brings you the news about the persecuted Church worldwide. It also brings you resources available for prayer, statistics, and more. Part of being the body of Christ is remembering those that are persecuted. “Remember those who are in prison, as though in prison with them, and those who are mistreated, since you also are in the body.” We need to remember and pray for those that are being persecuted, but we also need to pray for those that are doing the persecuting, that they would come to Christ. “But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” InChains prays that you will use this knowledge to strategically and specifically pray.

AZERBAIJAN

It has been reported that the Baptist community has been granted permission for a two hour service each Sunday. This permission came 25 years after the initial request.

CHINA

A Christian man, recently released from prison, is finding it very hard to get work because the government is telling his employers not to hire him due to his cult affiliation.

A parish priest in Fujian has disappeared in police custody. He was arrested for refusing to sign allegiance to the communist catholic church.

Six people, from Early Rain Covenant Church, had their electricity shut off and were arrested while having a Zoom Easter service. China has banned all streaming services for churches unless the church is communist approved.

A church in Shanxi was forced to watch the government tear up its property on Easter Sunday. The government destroyed the exterior staircase and the fireman’s elevator, leaving damage on the hutch building itself.

Pastor of one of the oldest Protestant churches in China has vowed, with her hand on the Bible, to put the communist government before God.

Gao Zhisheng has been awarded the Lin Zhao Freedom Award. Gao is a human rights activist and Christian who has been targeted and tortured by the Chinese government repeatedly. He wrote a book and smuggled it out of China, where China Aid published it in Chinese and English. Gao has since gone missing in China.

A church in Anhui Province had their cross forcibly removed, despite the church being a sanctioned Three-Self Church.

Donghu Church in Qinghai Province was demolished on Easter Sunday. Despite being a state-run church, the government frequently persecuted the church. It has now been demolished by the government.

Bethel Church’s pastor has been arrested for “inciting subversion of state power.” It is believed that this is retaliation for refusing to join the Three-Self state-sanctioned church. The church is asking for prayer.

Despite losing weight in prison, reports of Wang Yi state that he is in good spirits. His family has also been able to visit.

A legal resident of China is being denied a house permit because of his religion. In addition, the authorities are using his application as an excuse to consistently harass him at his current place of residence.

The two Christians who were arrested last year for printing children’s Bibles have now officially been indicted. The judge accused them of violating the country’s regulations and damaging the market’s order with their illegal operation. They should be criminally charged with illegal business operation. The suggested sentence is imprisonment from two years and eight months up to three years two months. A fine of approximately 2,830 USD to 4240 USD was also recommended.

Two house churches in Fujian Province were raided. The government used COVID19 as the reason to execute the raid.

CUBA

A Christian journalist is being harassed and threatened as he continues to cover the human rights issues in the country. Cuba is known to target Christians, especially those not touting the government line, accusing them of working with the CIA in order to arrest them.

DRC

Climate change in the north has forced Muslim farmers into Christian fertile lands. There have been reports by Open Doors that in DRC there been more than 20 attacks, resulting in around 90 deaths. More than 130 people have been kidnapped, and about 12,000 people have been displaced. At least six churches have been burned down and two church-run clinics and health centers have been destroyed. 

EGYPT

Authorities in Egypt have thwarted an attack meant for Easter Sunday.

ETHIOPIA

Christians attacked and a church burned.

GREECE

Anarchists attacked a church on Easter Sunday, despite no congregants being in attendance. An estimated 50 people were involved in the attack.

INDIA

A pastor and his volunteers were arrested when they were handing out aid to the needy. He was falsely accused of forced conversions and was threatened by Hindu extremists.

Details emerge about the attack on a Christian family by animists in Odisha. The wife was able to keep her two children safe but they watched as a mob of people beat the father into a coma. He never relinquished his faith.

Reports are emerging that every month of 2020 has seen an increase in persecution. In March alone, 11 states had reports of Christians being attacked in their place of worship.

Daughter of a slain pastor was shot in the same home her father was killed in. Thankfully, she survived. The men who attacked her were speaking in Hindi and told her that the Christians didn’t learn a lesson when her dad was murdered, so they were there to give them another lesson.

A pastor was targeted by a mob a month after he and his family were assaulted and driven out of their village. The mob came after him, targeting his vocal chords, so that he would not be able to proclaim Jesus any more.

Believers in India were taunted, beaten and forced to pose ‘like Christ on the cross’ in police custody when extremists accused them of ‘forced conversion’. Pastor Indresh Kumar Gautam and four others were arrested after 30 Hindu extremists broke up their Sunday service in Pratapgarh district, Uttar Pradesh.

IRAN

Fatemah Bakhteri has been temporarily released from prison due to COVID19 pandemic.

Iran extends its furlough for the prisoners it temporarily released due to the pandemic. However, most Christian prisoners are still in prison because they did not meet the eligibility requirements to be furloughed. Those that have been released still remain uncertain of their fates once the furlough is lifted.

Mary Fatemah Mohammadi was sentenced on April 21st to 10 lashes and three months suspended prison sentence. Mary is the first to receive lashes in two years. She was convicted despite there being no evidence against her. Her faith and her stance on human rights sent her to prison.

It is being reported that Amin Khaki is being released from prison.

Ibrahim Farouzi, exiled within Iran, says that God has blessed him with a community of people who treat him well. Despite the judge assuring him that the muslims in the area would be inhospitable toward him, Ibrahim has found otherwise. This is indeed a blessing as his exile has been increased by 11 months.

Rokhsareh Ghanbari has been released from prison.

IRAQ

Christians that have been internally displaced by ISIS are not receiving aid for COVID19.

KAZAKHSTAN

Several people were charged one month’s wages and their 196 Christian publications were destroyed.

KENYA

Al-Shabbab is targeting Christians, teachers specifically, in Kenya. Because of this, teachers are demanding they be transferred out of country or protected. Organizations are sounding the alarm that if something isn’t done, Christianity will leave the country with the teachers. Without Christian teachers, children will likely be taught extremist Islamic views.

MEXICO

Protestant families in Mexico are being denied basic necessities because of their faith.

MOZAMBIQUE

Militant extremists are killing Christians, taking over government buildings, and attempting to put into place sharia law.

NEPAL

Government authorities are using COVID19 as an excuse to falsely arrest pastors. They are accusing them of violating lock down order.

A woman in Nepal was arrested for praying for her neighbors. She was falsely accused of saying that if they converted they would not get COVID19. Government officials are using the pandemic to falsely accuse and then arrest Christians.

NIGERIA

At least 60 Christians were killed in Kaduna State during the month of March as Fulani attacked unabated.

The Fulani, taking advantage of lockdowns, killed 19 people, burning seven of them alive in their homes.

Six children and a pregnant woman are among the dead in Nigeria. The Fulani attacked at night, knowing everyone was in their beds. They razed the houses and shot those who fled.

A student, who had returned to his village because of his school’s shutdown for COVID19, was shot by the Fulani as he raised the alarm about the invasion. After shooting the student, the Fulani went into a house and kidnapped two people.

Kano’s governor has been caught on video leading a conversion of an underage Christian girl to Islam. The whistleblower claims that he has been doing this for a long time.

Hurra Village, in Plateau State, endured a horrific day on April 14th as children as young as 3 and 5 years old were murdered. A total of nine people were killed and dozens of structures burned to the ground.

More Christians killed in Nigeria, two of them having been beheaded.

A pastor and three members of the church, including a 10 year old boy, were killed by Fulani herdsmen. The pastor leaves behind kids and a pregnant wife.

For the 8th time in 3 years, Ancha village has been attacked by the Fulani. After killing 3 people and burning much, the militants went onward to Hukke village and killed 30 people there.

NORTH KOREA

A woman who was arrested for leading a Bible study has been released!!

PAKISTAN

Despite owning his home, Sohotra had an armed man enter his house and demolish it. He was threatened by the man to keep his mouth shut.

An NGO in Karachi is denying aid to the Christian and Hindu minority populations. International Christian Concern has documented three incidents. The latest incident involved 100 Christian families.

A young Christian girl was assaulted in a botched attempt to kidnap her. She had refused to convert to Islam and marry a Muslim man. Thankfully, the kidnapping attempt was unsuccessful.

A 7-year-old girl was abducted and then sexually assaulted in the Punjab Province. Locals did find her and were able to capture the assailant who is in police custody.

Police are investigating the suicide of a Christian woman. Locals are saying she committed suicide after being denied humanitarian aid because she was not muslim.

A Christian couple on death row for false allegations of blasphemy, have had their appeal delayed due to the COVID19 pandemic.

SYRIA

April 22nd marks the 7 year anniversary of the kidnapping of two bishops in Syria as they were headed to the border with Turkey.

Jihadists in Idlib are confiscating Christian properties and/or raising their rents arbitrarily as they instill sharia law in the area.

TURKEY

A Christian journalist living in Istanbul reported that there was gunfire at his house. Thankfully he was not there at the time.

April 24th marked the anniversary of the 1915 Armenian genocide. ICC calls for prayer for Turkey during this time of remembrance.

UGANDA

A Christian woman was assaulted for sharing her faith with a Muslim friend. In the same area, another woman, pregnant, was assaulted for converting from Islam to Christianity.

RESOURCES

COVID19 RESOURCES

Release International has set up a LockDown Website

PRAYER SHEETS

Barnabas Aid April Prayer Sheet

CSW Weekly Prayer Sheet

Open Doors May Prayer Sheet

REPORTS, BOOKS & MOVIES

CSW has released a new report on the religious discrimination in Mexico. “A Culture of Impunity: Religious Discrimination in Mexico”

A new documentary, “Lethal Nationalism,” is being released. It details Turkey’s genocide of Greek Christians.

An Ohio pastor translated the New Testament into Burmese and wrote a book about the testimonies of Christians in Burma, “Myanmar Gold.”

CSW released a report on China.

OpenDoors released its 2020 World Watchlist Report.

Release International “Voice” magazine for April-June.

Voice of the Martyrs has a Global Prayer Guide available for free.

For a list of names of those martyred, please see the Martyr Page. Although this list is not everyone, I created it to honor those that have been martyred. If I have been able to find their name, I have recorded it here with a link to what happened.

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