Tag: House churches

North Korea sentences American to 15 years’ labour

March 16, 2016 North Korea House churches, Hyeon Soo Lim, Kim Jong Wook, North Korea, Otto Warmbier, Pyongyang

North Korea has sentenced a 21-year-old US student to 15 years’ hard labour following his “confession” to stealing a piece of political propaganda during his trip at the request of his church in Wyoming, Ohio. Otto Warmbier, a third-year economics student at the University of Virginia, was arrested on 2 . . . Read More

Saeed Abedini completes third year in prison

September 29, 2015 Iran House churches, Iran, Karaj, Saeed Abedini

Saeed Abedini has served three years of an eight-year jail sentence for alleged anti-state activities. The American-Iranian pastor, who lived in the US with his wife, Naghmeh, and their two children, was detained in October 2012 during a visit to see his family. After a recent visit to see him . . . Read More

8 Iranian Christians arrested

August 17, 2015 Iran House churches, Iran, Karaj

Armed plain-clothed security officers raided a house church in Iran and arrested eight people, according to Mohabat News. The report says the 7 August arrests and search of the premises in Karaj, 50km west of Tehran, were made without the production of a court order. A personal computer, Bibles and . . . Read More

Iran releases Christian prisoner

July 4, 2015 Iran House churches, Iran, Proselytism, Shiraz

A Christian imprisoned in Iran for 40 months has been released, according to MEC Homayoun Shekohi was arrested on 8 February 2012 in Shiraz as part of a raid on a house church. He and three others were sentenced to three years, eight months in prison for participating in house-church . . . Read More

Iran jails another 18 converts

May 22, 2015 Iran Ahmed Shaheed, Converts, Hassan Rouhani, House churches, Human rights, Iran

Another 18 Iranian converts to Christianity have been jailed during the past two months for “evangelism and establishing house churches”, reports Mohabat News. Between them, their sentences amount to 23 years and nine months in jail. Mansour Borji, spokesman for rights group Article 18, told Mohabat News that, although the . . . Read More

‘Secret church’ served with coffee & cakes in Central Asian cafes

December 5, 2014 Azerbaijan, Central Asia, House churches, Islamic extremism, Kyrgyzstan, Russian Orthodox Church, Uzbekistan

In a country where Christians often must meet secretly to avoid arrest, a group of women have taken the opposite approach: hiding in plain sight. They meet to pray and encourage each other in a coffee shop, in one of the largest cities in Central Asia. “It is better for . . . Read More

Amnesty tells North Korea to end Christian persecution

June 9, 2014 North Korea Bibles, House churches, Missionaries, North Korea, South Korea

Amnesty International has said North Korean authorities must release all those detained solely for their religious beliefs, following reports that an American tourist has been arrested after he left a Bible at a hotel. According to the state-run Korean Central News Agency, the man arrived April 29 and was detained . . . Read More

S. Korean missionary gets life sentence

June 2, 2014 North Korea House churches, Kim Jong Wook, Missionaries, North Korea, South Korea

North Korea on Friday sentenced South Korean missionary Kim Jong-Wook to life in a labor camp. Kim was arrested in October, charged with establishing underground churches, though other sources had said North Korean secret agents had brought him into the country from the Chinese border city Dandong. Kim “admitted” during . . . Read More

China’s Christians still ‘persecuted’

February 20, 2014 China China, House churches

The “persecution” of Chinese Christians continued to increase last year, according to an annual report from China Aid. Churches were outlawed, house churches raided and Christians detained for practising their faith, according to the report, which documented 134 cases of “persecution” involving 7,424 Christians in 2013.

Beaten Chinese pastor suspects regime

August 20, 2013 China China, House churches

A Chinese house church leader who was abducted and beaten while driving home last week said he suspects local government agents, China Aid reports. Li Shuangping, leader of Linfen house church, was dragged from his car on Aug. 13 and assaulted by four men, who threatened to kill Li and . . . Read More

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