Tag: Converts

Pakistani prosecutor to Christians: ‘I’ll acquit you if you convert to Islam’

April 4, 2017 Pakistan Converts, Lahore, Youhanabad

The father of one of 42 Pakistanis – who are on trial for lynching two men they suspected of the double bombing of neighbouring churches in March 2015 – has confirmed that the public prosecutor offered to acquit all the suspects if they were to convert to Islam. Two churches . . . Read More

Chief Minister of India’s most populous state bans ‘illegal’ abattoirs

March 30, 2017 India Beef, BJP, Converts, Ghar Wapsi, Hindu nationalism, India, Maharashtra, Minorities, Narendra Modi, Uttar Pradesh

Butchers in Uttar Pradesh face difficult times as state government bans 'illegal' slaughter houses.

India’s governing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) party on 19 March appointed a highly controversial Hindu cleric to lead the country’s most populous state, Uttar Pradesh. The choice for Yogi Adityanath – a controversial Hindu monk who has been repeatedly accused of stirring anti-Muslim sentiments – is a shocking rebuke to . . . Read More

Iranian converts: one needs urgent care, another denied chance to see mum with cancer

March 27, 2017 Iran Converts, Ebrahim Firouzi, Evin Prison, Iran, Maryam Naghash Zargaran, Prisons

The health of Iranian Christian convert, Maryam Naghash Zargaran, continues to decline, sources told Mohabat News. It was reported that over the past week her condition worsened and she is again in need of urgent medical care. According to a prison mate, Zargaran is also suffering from severe weight loss. The stressful . . . Read More

Accounts surface of persecution of Christians in Dunkirk migrants’ camp

March 15, 2017 Afghanistan, Calais, Converts, Dunkirk, France, Grande-Synthe, Iran, Iraq, La Linière, Migrants, Refugees, Shiraz, Syria, Vietnam

Outside the windswept port of Dunkirk, in northern France, sits a migrants’ camp called La Linière. Home to around 1,400 people, it lies 25 miles from Calais and the now-demolished camp that became known as the “Jungle”. La Linière opened a year ago, with the collaboration of Médicins sans Frontières . . . Read More

Iran’s hidden Christians are becoming visible in the migrant camps of Europe

March 15, 2017 Calais, Converts, Dunkirk, Grande-Synthe, Iran, La Linière, Migrants, Refugees, Shiraz, Zoroastrians

A pastor in northern France has described her church’s ministry to Middle Eastern migrants in a nearby camp as “the mission field coming to you”. The church’s leader, Pastor Lydie Granger, said that among the estimated 1,400 migrants living in the camp outside Dunkirk were around 40 Iranians who had . . . Read More

Helping Dunkirk’s migrants – God’s will or collusion in illegal entry?

March 15, 2017 Calais, Converts, Dunkirk, Egypt, Eritrea, France, Iran, La Linière, Migrants, Refugees

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

Reaching out to the migrants who arrive in the north of France presents the Church with a weighty dilemma. The migrants have generally paid smugglers several thousand pounds to help them to cross Europe, and have their eyes – and their hearts – set on reaching England, which will mean . . . Read More

Iranian mother and son Christian converts arrested

March 9, 2017 Iran Converts, Iran

An Iranian mother and son who converted to Christianity have been arrested in the north-western province of West Azerbaijan. Anousheh Reza-Bakhsh (known as Veronika) and her son Soheil (known as Augustine) were arrested on 20 February at their home in Urmia, the provincial capital. Mohabat News reports that it is . . . Read More

‘Secret’ church leader about witnessing his faith to people who might kill him

March 6, 2017 Converts, Islamic extremism, Refugees, Religious freedom

Hameedullah* works as a church leader in a country known for intense persecution of Christians. When he was young, he lived illegally as a refugee in a Muslim country that didn’t want him or his religion, whose people are always looking out for non-Islamic activity. He even faced scrutiny from . . . Read More

UPDATE: Son of abducted Malaysian pastor suspects he may have been murdered

March 2, 2017 Malaysia Converts, Hudud, Kuala Lumpur, PAS, Petaling Jaya, Raymond Koh, Selangor

Pastor Koh, still missing after being abducted on 13 February, is now feared dead.Change.org More than two weeks since the abduction of Malaysian Christian pastor, Raymond Koh, his son has filed a second police report on suspicion that his father has been murdered, reports Free Malaysia Today. Jonathan Koh . . . Read More

‘Hindus never convert people’, says Indian MP

February 16, 2017 India Converts, Ghar Wapsi, Hindu nationalism, India, Minorities, Vishva Hindu Parishad

The Indian Minister of State for Home Affairs has claimed the Hindu population in India is decreasing because “Hindus never convert people”. Kiren Rijiju, tweeting on 13 February, also wrote that “minorities are flourishing”. Hindu population is reducing in India because Hindus never convert people. Minorities in India are flourishing . . . Read More

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