Iran: Update – Two converts from Rasht released
In an update to the recent prayer prayer request on five Christian converts arrested in Rasht, Behnam Akhlaghi and Babak Hosseinzadeh have been released, but Ahmad (Youhana) Sarparast, Ayoub (Farzin) Pour-Rezazadeh and Morteza Mashhoodkari remain detained. The five...
Iran: Five converts re-arrested in Rasht
Iranian Christians request prayer for five Christian converts arrested in Rasht following raids on their homes. On 8 May at about 10:30 p.m., security agents conducted simultaneous raids in Rasht on the homes of Behnam Akhlaghi, Babak Hosseinzadeh, Ahmad (Youhana)...
Iran: Christian convert arrested and wife interrogated
Iranian Christians request prayer for Rahmat Rostamipour (49) who remains detained after being arrested at his home in Anzali on 18 April. A dozen plain-clothes Iranian intelligence agents raided the house of Christian convert Rahmat early in the morning,...
Sudan: Pastor sentenced for “disturbing the peace”
At a 25 April court hearing, Pastor Estefanos of a church in Hajj Abdallah, Gezira State, was sentenced to one month in prison, effective immediately. He was sentenced under Article 69 of the Public Order Law for "disturbing public peace." The sentence is being...
Sudan: Church attack in Hajj Abdallah
On 10 April, a group of Islamic extremists (Shabab Al Hilla) attacked Christians praying in a church in Hajj Abdallah - Gezira. The group had previously attempted through local authorities to close the church. With the church continuing to meet, the group turned to...
Iran: Christian convert starts two-year prison sentence
Iranian Christians request prayer for Fariba Dalir as she serves a two-year prison sentence for “acting against national security by establishing and leading an Evangelical Christian church.” In July 2021 agents from the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC)...
Iran: Converts given prison sentences and fines
Iranian Christians request prayer for Christian converts Ayoub Poor-Rezazade, Morteza Mashhoodkari and Ahmad Sarparast, who have each been sentenced to five years in prison and fined for “deviant propaganda.” Ayoub, Morteza and Ahmad were arrested by agents of the...
Palestine: Pastor released on bail
Palestinian Christians are grateful that pastor Johnny Shahwan has been released on bail from a Bethlehem prison. Pastor Johnny was arrested and detained on 3 March after unintentionally hosting the Jewish right-wing nationalist activist and former Knesset member...
Algeria. Another church ordered to close
Christians in Algeria request prayer for another church in Bejaia city, as the authorities’ campaign to close churches and prosecute individual Christians appears to be escalating. The church of “Aouchiche” was informed on 6 April of a 21 March administrative closure...
Libya: Court verdict evicts congregation
Christians in Libya request continued prayer for the Union Church in Tripoli. After a 15 February court hearing, the subsequent verdict ordered their eviction from their current premises. The Union Church, established by expatriate Christians in 1962, is one of five...
Kurdistan Region of Iraq: Convert found murdered
Church leaders in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq request prayer after the murder of a convert. On 7 March, a few weeks after she had announced her conversion to Christianity on her social media account, a woman was found dead. She had been preparing to be baptized....
Iran: Nine converts acquitted by Appeal Court
Today (28 February) a verdict was issued by Branch 34 of Tehran's Appeal Court overturning the convictions of nine Christian converts from Rasht. The nine - Abdolreza (Matthias) Haghnejad, Khalil Daeghanpour, Hossein Kadivar, Kamal Naamanian, Mohammad Vafadar,...