On March 8, Pastor Ravi Chandran was brutally attacked by Hindu extremists in Mysore, Karnataka State, according to The Voice of the Martyrs contacts. Pastor Ravi was attacked by more than 10 extremists, who forcibly entered a believer’s home where the pastor was holding a prayer meeting. “The extremists entered the house and began abusing the pastor and the believers gathered there,” VOM contacts said. “They hit the...

On Feb. 28, Hamid and Reyhaneh, a former-Muslim couple who led a house church, were arrested by secret police in Isfahan, Iran, according to Farsi Christian News Network (FCNN). Twenty secret police officers arrested and assaulted Reyhaneh when she resisted. “Hamid was arrested when he returned home an hour later,” FCNN reported. “Other believers present at the time were threatened but not detained, though one was also...

Uzbekistan’s government continues to fine members of the Baptist Union and harass Protestant Christians, according to Forum 18 News. “Valery Konovalov has been forced to pay a fine, after he was forced to appear as a witness in the trial of three leaders of the Baptist Union,” Forum 18 reported. “The three have themselves been forced to pay what the same court claimed was unpaid taxes and two were removed from their...

On Oct. 19, Neixiang police officials arrested 60 Christians attending a worship service, according to ChinaAid Association. After charging them with “disturbing social orders under the name of religious activities,” police fined five brothers and sentenced them to 10 days administrative detention. On Oct. 30, police decided to increase the sentence of the church’s leader, Guo Quanyou, to one year re-education through labor...

On Feb. 4, Moroccan military authorities raided a Christian meeting and arrested 18 people. The authorities also confiscated Bibles and personal belongings, according to The Voice of the Martyrs contacts. “We were surprised by more than 60 Moroccan Gendarmes attacking the house [where we had just started our Bible study],” a VOM contact said. “Eleven believers (including an American), two non-believers and five...

VOM Partners with OWU for the Persecuted Church In 2003 The Voice of the Martyrs (VOM) announced a partnership with Oklahoma Wesleyan University (OWU) to offer an undergraduate degree and certificate program in Christian Missions and Persecuted Church Ministry. Seven years later, the program continues to produce graduates who are uniquely equipped to minister inside restricted nations. The program, the only of its kind in the world,...

Three Christians have been killed in Mosul recently, and community leaders warn that violence will increase leading to the March 7 parliamentary election, according to Agence France-Presse (AFP). On Feb. 16, unidentified gunmen shot two Christian students with an automatic weapon. Police told AFP that Zia Toma, a 21-year-old engineering student, was killed in the shooting and Ramsin Shmael, a 22-year-old pharmacy student, was wounded. Both...

In January, 48 Christians were forced from their homes by more than 100 officials and villagers in Katin village, Saravan province, Laos, according to Compass Direct News. After gathering for Sunday worship, the believers were expelled from their church at gunpoint and taken to an open field. Officials then confiscated personal belongings from 11 Christians’ homes, and six of the homes were later destroyed. Officials also took a pig,...

Two Hmong believers were arrested on Dec. 3 after a relative told authorities they were sharing the gospel, according to The Voice of the Martyrs contacts. The men, who became Christians a few years ago, have led most of their relatives to Christ, with the exception of a father-in-law. When the men began to face persecution, they moved their families to another village. “On Dec. 3, [they returned] to their old village and very suddenly...

On Dec. 24, 15 Iranian Christians were arrested by security forces in Pakdasht, Iran according to Farsi Christian News Network.  The believers were arrested and detained while gathered at a house church to celebrate Christmas. After a week without information, family members contacted authorities and demanded to know where they were being held. Officials told the families that the Christians would be released the same day, but instead...

More than 100 Christians have been killed in Jos, Nigeria, since Jan. 17, when violent riots broke out between the Christian and Muslim communities, according to VOM contacts. The Voice of the Martyrs contacts reported that the violence was triggered by a Muslim attack on St. Michael’s Catholic Church in Nasarawa Gwong, in the Jos North Local Government Area. “It appears to the Christians here that elements inside the Nigerian...

“The world needs to know about the genocide that is happening today in Burma.” — Patrick Klein, Vision Beyond Borders The Burmese army is carrying out a massive killing campaign against its people, and the world is unaware, Patrick Klein of Vision Beyond Borders told VOM staff. According to Patrick, who recently returned from Burma and Thailand, more than 500,000 people have been killed in Burma (also known as Myanmar) in the last...

On Jan. 10, Muslim extremists set fire to Tafath church in Tizi Ouzou, Algeria, damaging church property, according to The Voice of the Martyrs contacts. The Tafath church has been threatened since December, when extremists disrupted a Christmas celebration. “As Christians continued to come for worship to this church despite the increasing intimidation, the Muslim extremists decided to burn the church,” VOM contacts said....

On Jan. 11, Hikmat Sleiman, a 75-year-old Christian man, was shot to death by unknown assailants in Mosul, Iraq, according to VOM Canada and Asia News. Sleiman had just returned home from closing his grocery shop when a group of assailants opened fire, killing him instantly. Local Christians see his murder and a string of other recent attacks against believers as evidence of  “ethnic cleansing” designed to force Christians...

Eight churches have been attacked in Malaysia following a court decision that allows Christians to use “Allah” in their prayers and publications when referring to God, according to The Associated Press (AP). On Sunday, Jan. 10, three churches were firebombed. “On Sunday, a Molotov cocktail was hurled at the All Saints Church in Taiping town in central Perak state early in the morning before it opened,” state police...

On Dec. 16, several Iranian security officials forcibly entered the home of Hamideh Najafi in the city of Mashhad. They arrested her and seized personal belongings, including CDs and hand-painted portraits of Jesus Christ, according to Farsi Christian News Network. Officials interrogated Hamideh and requested the names of Christian evangelists in Iran. Officials also demanded that she deny her faith and return to Islam. When Hamideh refused,...

On Dec. 26, about 50 Muslim extremists tried to prevent a congregation of Christian converts from holding a Christmas service in the city of Tizi-Ouzou, northern Algeria, according to Compass Direct News. Members of the Tafat Church were gathering for the meeting when they were confronted by protestors who barred the church building’s doors. “This land is the land of Islam! Go pray somewhere else,” some of the protestors...

Many religious communities in Azerbaijan and Tajikistan have not yet re-registered with government authorities as required by laws passed in both countries in 2009, according to Forum 18 News. Religious communities that fail to register by January 1, 2010, will be considered illegal. As of Dec. 16, only about 100 of the 534 religious communities previously registered in Azerbaijan had re-registered. “Amendments to the Religion Law will...

On Dec. 17, security police and undercover officers attacked a Christmas gathering of more than 70 newly converted Christians in the city of Karaj, Iran, according to Farsi Christian News. Officers photographed and videotaped the believers and also confiscated Bibles, Christian books and a computer. Christians were told they must be available during the period leading up to formal and legal interrogations and that they must appear before...

On Dec. 17, a mob of nearly 1,000 Muslims attacked a church building under construction in Bekasi Regency, near Jakarta, the capital city of Indonesia, according to VOM Canada. At midnight, Muslims arrived on bikes and on foot at the Church of Saint Albert. They stormed into the building, carrying banners and tanks of kerosene. One witness reported hearing them shout, “Destroy! Destroy it! Replace the church with mosque!” Muslims...