One of the earliest urban house churches in Sichuan was harassed and raided by police during a weekly Bible study, declaring the church illegal and detaining the leader. Read more: International Christian Concern

Two attacks on the Christian community of eastern Uganda have left local Christians in a state of fear. In October 2018, a church led by a Christian convert from Islam was torn down. Late last month, a Christian woman was beaten and hospitalized for holding Christian prayers in her home. Read more: International Christian Concern

In its 2019 World Watch List, Open Doors International reports that 11 countries score highly enough to fit into the ‘extreme’ category for the level of persecution of Christians. It was the same last year, but five years ago, only North Korea was in that category. Several trends also have emerged in the survey including an increase in state authoritarianism, ultra-nationalistic

Within the international arena, Iran continues to publically make efforts to show that they are working in support of Christians. The reality, however, could not be further from the truth. Read more: International Christian Concern

Six Christians in India’s Tamil Nadu state were assaulted by three individuals who falsely accused the Christians of engaging in forced conversions. The assailants forcefully applied the Pattai, a Hindu religious symbol, to the foreheads of the Christians as they threatened them with physical harm. Read more: International Christian Concern

Four churches in different Upper Egypt villages have been attacked by hardline Islamist. In each of these villages, the churches were seeking official recognition and in all incidents, the police denied the rights of Christians to publicly worship and closed the churches, according to the demands of the mob. Read more: International Christian Concern

In its latest annual survey of 150 countries monitoring how difficult it is to live as a Christian, out today, the overall trend in the 2019 World Watch List is that almost half (73) showed extreme, very high or high levels of persecution. A year earlier, it was 58 countries. Read more: World Watch Monitor

According to recent documents issued in China’s northern Shanxi province and central Henan province, China is now establishing ‘church-free zones’ near schools while asking local churches to share lists of youth members. Read more: International Christian Concern

Muslims in eastern Uganda sent a Christian mother to the hospital with injuries from a beating in one village and tore down a church building in another, sources said. Read more: Morning Star News