Persecution News: India, USA, South Sudan, Eritrea, China

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INDIA: A mob of 150 Hindu nationalists dragged Pastor Bipin Bihari Naik, 35, from a worship service in a house church Sunday, January 4, and beat him with rods, damaging his hearing. Two Christians tried to help, but were also assaulted. They paraded Pastor Bipin through the streets of Parjang village in Odisha state, and tied him to a Hindu temple, forcing him to bow before a half-monkey deity. His wife and children were harboring in the police station, but police waited nearly three hours before they rescued him. (MSN, January 29)

USA: Early Sunday morning, a man walked up to Eddie Nitschke in a parking lot in Parkland, Washington, and asked him his religion. He replied that he’s not religious, but the man pressed, so he answered, “Christian.” The man then stabbed him in the lung with his knife. Eddie called out to his girlfriend to release his dog, which was stabbed, as well. Both Eddie and his dog are in critical condition. Police later apprehended the suspect, who resisted and was fatally shot.

SOUTH SUDAN: Amona Ibrahim Kaki, 18, a Muslim refugee from SUDAN‘s Nuba Mountains living in Ajoung Thok camp, found a Bible in her older brother’s room while he was away traveling. She secretly read it daily for two years, and when she prayed to God, He answered her. She chose to follow Christ on Christmas Day last month. But her family expelled her from their home, and she eventually sought refuge with the pastor’s family. On January 20, her brother, Hassan Ibrahim Kaki, dragged Pastor Joseph Shawish of Glory Baptist Church to the refugee camp police station, accusing him of kidnapping her. He is still in custody, and Amona won’t return home because she fears for her life. (Morning Star News, January 30)

ERITREA: The government released 177 Christian prisoners on conditional bail during November and December. Those released are from evangelical and Pentecostal churches, and among them are some of the young people from the Mahalians praise group. To be released, they had to sign a confession that they had committed a crime by following a religion banned by the government, and that they would not do so again. Since 2002, when all churches in Eritrea were declared illegal except the Eritrean Orthodox, Roman Catholic and Lutheran churches, thousands of Christians have been imprisoned without trial. (Church in Chains, January 22)

CHINA: Early Rain Church leader Li Yingqiang and Brother Lin, two of eight who were arrested in 2024, have now been officially charged with “inciting subversion of state power.” Most of the prisoners are being held in Deyang or Zhongjiang Detention Centers. But the whereabouts of Elder Li’s wife, Zhang Xinyue, is unknown. Only one detainee, seminary student Song Hailing, has been released (January 19). But his computer, phone and books that were confiscated still have not been returned. Several more members of Early Rain small groups have been detained and interrogated since January 5. (CIC, January 30)

Lord, we ask You for complete healing for Pastor Bipin, the two men who tried to help him, Eddie and his dog. Please be a Shield around them, as well as Amona, Pastor Joseph, the Eritrean Christians who were released, Brother Lin, Elder Li, and his wife, Zhang. Protect them and their families from any harm. Comfort them with Your love. Strengthen their faith and use them to reach out to the lost around them and love them into Jesus’ arms. Watch over Christians who are in prison or in danger. Make the way for their quick release or escape, and give them a safe place to live. Get up in the face of every persecutor and show them Your glory. Bring them to their knees in fear of the Lord. When they go to harm a Christian, place visible angels in-between, guarding Your loved ones with flaming swords. Meet those bent on evil in such powerful ways they drop their weapons of violence and surrender their lives to the God of Love. Rise up and fight for Your children all around the world, and show the lost You are the One who saves. May all glory and honor be given to the One True God, as every idol topples before You. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

More Prayers for These Nations:

• Pray God will place a deep hunger for Him in the hearts of every person in India, South Sudan, Eritrea, China and the USA, awakening them to His love.
• Pray He will break the chains that bind Hindus, Muslims and other terrorists and extremists to false gods. Pray He will set them free to worship Him alone.
• Pray for legislation to be overturned and reversed in countries that restrict conversions, missionaries or the sharing of the Gospel, and for Christians to be protected by law from brutal attacks. 
• Pray for God to surround every Christian with armies of angels shielding them from persecution and harm.
• Pray persecutors will visibly see those angel armies, tremble in fear of the Lord, repent and be saved.
• Pray God will miraculously rescue Christians who are in danger.
• Pray imprisoned Christians will feel God’s presence near, and He will embolden and anoint them to spread the Good News with the lost who are also in jail.
• Pray for a special anointing on every believer to share the Good News, and that God will bring to them those who are hungry to hear. Pray for boldness to share, even in the face of opposition, and all will see their faith and God’s love demonstrated through them and be drawn to Christ. 
• Pray for the Gospel to reach every unreached people group in these nations in a way they can easily understand, and their hearts will be moved by Truth that sets them free.
• Pray the Bible will be translated into every language and made available to every person in and from these countries..
• Pray God will raise up all the more prayer warriors to fight for the unreached, the persecuted, and their persecutors.
• Pray for pastors, evangelists, churches, Christian orphanages, leadership trainings and other ministries in these countries, that God will bless them abundantly and give them favor with authorities and everyone around them; that He will provide all their needs so abundantly they will also abundantly bless their communities; that He will shine His light in the darkness through them bringing millions to faith; that churches will multiply again and again until every person in all of India has had the opportunity to choose Christ.

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