Tag: Converts

European migrant deals ‘could put victims of religious persecution at risk’

June 17, 2017 Afghanistan, Converts, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Europe, Migrants, Pakistan, Refugees, Somalia, Sudan

Iranian migrants line up for prayer alongside other members of the congregation at the Dk Live church in Dunkirk

New deals aimed at reducing the number of migrants reaching Europe’s shores could endanger the lives of people fleeing religious persecution, the European Evangelical Alliance (EEA) has warned. The Partnership Framework on Migration was launched last year as the European Commission’s response to member states’ requests for a strategic approach . . . Read More

Iraqi senior cleric shown calling for Christians to ‘convert, pay tax or be killed’

June 14, 2017 Iraq Baghdad, Converts, Iraq, Islamic extremism, Jizya

A video showing a call for jihad from a senior Iraqi Shi’ite cleric has caused anger among Iraqi Christians. The undated footage shows Sheikh Alaa Al-Mousawi, head of the Shia Endowment, a government body that looks after Iraq’s Shia holy sites, describing Christians as “infidels”, saying “either they should convert . . . Read More

Afghan Christian woman stabbed to death in Germany

May 11, 2017 Afghanistan, Asylum seekers, Converts, Germany, Refugees

Police are investigating a possible religious motivation behind the murder of an Afghan Christian woman in the Bavarian town of Prien, southern Germany. The 38 year-old mother, known only as FS, was with two of her children when she was stabbed outside a supermarket on 29 April. She later died of her . . . Read More

Relatives of Coptic ‘martyrs’ join summit on persecuted Christians in US capital

May 11, 2017 Global News -- No Particular Country Afghanistan, Central African Republic, Chad, Converts, Copts, Donald Trump, Egypt, India, Iraq, Islamic extremism, Islamic State, Libya, Mexico, Mike Pence, Pakistan, Refugees, South Sudan, Sri Lanka, Sudan, USA

A “World Summit in Defence of Persecuted Christians” has started in Washington DC, and is expected to be addressed by the US Vice-President Mike Pence today (Thursday, 11 May). It has been organised by American evangelist Franklin Graham and the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. 600 participants have come from 136 countries: including Egypt, . . . Read More

Churches feeding hundreds of Dunkirk camp homeless after fire

April 13, 2017 Calais, Converts, Dunkirk, France, Grande-Synthe, La Linière, Migrants, Refugees

Churches are helping to feed hundreds of migrants displaced by the razing of a migrant camp in northern France on Monday night (10 April). The local mayor’s office asked pastors Robert Desprès and Lydie Granger, leaders of churches in Dunkirk and St-Omer, to fund and distribute emergency meals for around . . . Read More

Churches evacuate and shelter migrants after fire devastates Dunkirk camp

April 11, 2017 Calais, Converts, Dunkirk, France, Grande-Synthe, Iran, La Linière, Migrants, Refugees, Sub-Saharan Africa

Local churches in Dunkirk helped to evacuate terrified migrants late last night (10 April) as a devastating fire spread through their camp in northern France. La Linière camp in Grande-Synthe, just outside Dunkirk, housed an estimated 1,500 migrants, including a handful of Christian converts, but has now been reduced to “a . . . Read More

As a Christian woman in Yemen, life is about survival

April 11, 2017 Yemen Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, Converts, Houthis, Sana'a, Women

Being a woman and Christian in Yemen is not easy. Photo: Open Doors International

Life in Yemen is not easy for a woman. Especially if you are a woman who has decided to become a Christian. Yemen is a tribal country, where leaving Islam is seen as a betrayal of that tribe, punishable by death. Nadeen (*), a born-and-raised Yemeni woman in her late . . . Read More

Majority-Christian Mexico still struggling to ensure religious freedom for rural converts

April 6, 2017 Mexico Catholics, Converts, Jalisco, Latin America, Oaxaca, Tuxpan de Bolaños

Some of the Christians from San Juan Ozolotepec.

As many as 90% of Mexico’s population would identify as Christian, yet not all of them are free to practise their faith. Some come under pressure from drug cartels, either by being members of churches who meet regularly and carry money for giving offerings there and are therefore seen as . . . Read More

In choosing Christianity, Mexican tribals risk alienation, eviction from their communities

April 6, 2017 Mexico Converts, Guadalajara, Jalisco, Trauma, Tuxpan de Bolaños, Wixárikas

A giant statue of a deer stands high above the Mexican town of Bolaños, a symbol of its significance for the locals, who believe a deer-god protects them. The belief dates back to when the Wixárika tribe first arrived in the area, in the western state of Jalisco, and encountered . . . Read More

Croatian government urged not to expel Iranian Christians

April 5, 2017 Asylum seekers, Calais, Converts, Croatia, Europe, Iran, Islamic extremism, Youcef Nadarkhani

Iran is not a safe place for those who have converted to Christianity. Photo: Open Doors Netherlands

Activists and representatives of the Croatian Baptist Church are urging the state not to deport Christian asylum-seekers to Iran, saying they could face serious consequences because of their faith, reports Balkan Insight. Iran is known to be a country where living as a Christian is difficult, especially for those who . . . Read More

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