
Christian in Pakistan jailed for 17 months wins bail
An 18-year-old Christian in Pakistan imprisoned for more than 17 months on blasphemy charges was expected to be released on bail next week, his lawyer said.

An 18-year-old Christian in Pakistan imprisoned for more than 17 months on blasphemy charges was expected to be released on bail next week, his lawyer said.
A documentary about indigenous land dispossession and military violence in West Papua has been watched more than 13.6 million times on YouTube within days, after Indonesian authorities failed to suppress organized screenings in cities throughout the country. More than 107,000 people in April 2026 have been displaced and most of them Christian.
Pastors in small churches in India and around the world may lack formal theological education but responsibility shapes them, failure shapes them, suffering shapes them, prayer shapes them. Sometimes persecution shapes them. Character formation while walking faithfully with Jesus, guided by the Bible and trustworthy mentors, cannot be replicated by a program, and does not result in a diploma, but it is highly valuable education nonetheless.
Our understanding of the who, what, and where of missions is shifting as new realities emerge, like the missions movement from China. But undertaking and tracking missions by Western metrics continues to be questioned by many from non-Western backgrounds serving in missions today.
The Hindu nationalist organization, widely regarded as the ideological backbone of India’s ruling party, has launched an international outreach campaign aimed at countering growing criticism over its role in religious persecution and sectarian violence. It can try to dodge, but it cannot hide the robust and verified experience of Indian Christians.

A married, 35-year-old Muslim neighbor of a 12-year-old Christian girl abducted her and took her to another province, where he forcibly converted her to Islam and married her, her father said.

Three Muslims in Pakistan abducted a 12-year-old Christian girl at gunpoint from her home and have threatened to sell her into sexual slavery, her parents said.

Hundreds of Muslims from various Islamic groups last week protested the presence of two evangelists at a major gospel event in Indonesia’s Central Sulewesi Province, according to local reports.

Pakistan’s preferential trade status could be jeopardized if it does not address human rights concerns, including controversial blasphemy laws, forced marriages/conversions of minority girls and freedom of religion, a European Union (EU) delegation said on Friday (Jan. 31).

The president of Pakistan on Wednesday (Jan. 29) signed into law a digital crimes measure that church and rights leaders fear will be misused to persecute people who share persecution news online or criticize the government for its inability to stop such incidents.

Police in Pakistan this week arrested a mentally challenged Christian on blasphemy charges despite being aware of his condition, sources said.