World in Brief

The headteacher of a private Islamic school in Uganda suffered third-degree burns and was fired after staff members heard him praying as a Christian.

Yusufu Mwanje led Ibunbaz Primary School in Bugiri until he lost his job after the attack in early April. He had come to faith through a Christian businessman. ‘As I finished… prayers at 4:45am…there were people outside my door. They began shouting, “Allah akbar.”’ He was then set on fire but taken to hospital after an elderly Islamic teacher intervened.

Christians in the Sahel part of Africa, including Niger, Mali and Chad, are now being executed by armed jihadi gangs who target their villages and stop cars and buses on the road. When the jihadists attack villages, they know where the Christians live and seek them out.

‘Mamouna’, her husband and two small children, aged four and seven, were singled out because of their faith. Mamouna’s husband was killed. In Burkina Faso, the groups destroy shops, schools and official buildings, but the main focus of their destruction is often the church. And the violence is spreading across the region.

A radical group in Bandung, Indonesia has refused to allow the Huria Kristen Batak Protestant (HKBP) Church to worship at its shophouse.

In a video that has gone viral on social media, a group of hardline Muslims surrounded the church and erected a banner reading: ‘Stop the illegal HKBP worship plan at the Maris Square shophouse!!! Or we will act.’ HKBP was established in 1999. The church has struggled to obtain a building permit (IMB) from the government, a situation many churches in Indonesia are familiar with. Without proper permits, churches cannot gather legally. Often, IMBs are denied without good reason to prevent Christians from worshipping.

Former US ambassador for international religious freedom, Sam Brownback, has called on China to tear down its internet firewall.

Speaking at a conference on Digital Persecution, Brownback cast a spotlight on how digital surveillance, imposed by the Chinese Communist Party, is curtailing religious freedoms. He said: ‘We want this firewall torn down and we don’t want other authoritarian countries to put up similar systems.’ China has also outlawed the ‘creation or sharing of religious content online’, so Christians cannot meet over the internet. A ban on the online sale of Bibles was already in place.

Upset over its conversion to Christianity, hardline Muslims in eastern Uganda have sprayed a family with acid.

In Intonko village, Muslim relatives sprayed acid on Juma Waiswa, his wife Nasimu Naigaga and their 13-year-old daughter, Amina Nagudi, after they put their faith in Christ. They converted when a pastor visited and explained the gospel. When their relatives found out, they called them to a meeting. Waiswa said: ‘There we told them we now believe in Jesus and have converted to Christianity. They told us to renounce Jesus, but we stood by our newly-found faith in Him.’

The Belgian Parliamentary Commission of Justice has approved the overhaul of legislation on prostitution, so those involved receive a legally recognised ‘job status’. Under the proposed new law, prostitution would be removed from the penal code, although pimping would remain illegal.

Sex workers will also be able to hire accountants, get bank loans based on their earnings, claim state pensions and other benefits, and rent a brothel. Furthermore, brothel owners and others will be able to enter into legal agreements with prostitutes, no longer risking prosecution ‘if the latter acts freely and willingly’.

Charismatic megachurch Hillsong is now deeper in crisis after the resignation of its main leader, Brian Houston (see photo).

Formed in Sydney in 1983. Hillsong operated in over 30 countries with weekly attendances of some 150,000 people. The church is known for its musical productions (many of its worship songs are sung in churches around the world). In Europe, it is present in 15 countries, including the UK, Germany, France, Spain and Italy. Houston’s resignation followed news that Hillsong was investigating two ‘breaches of conduct’ by the pastor.

An overwhelming majority of American parents are concerned about their children’s spiritual well-being, with concerns highest among practicing Christians, according to a recent poll.

73% of respondents indicated that they were either ‘somewhat’ or ‘very’ concerned with their children’s spiritual development, with only 27% of parents said they were ‘not very’ or ‘not at all’ concerned. The survey put respondents into three categories: practicing Christian parents, Christian parents, and non-Christian parents. It classified ‘Christians who have attended a worship service within the past month and strongly agree their faith is important to their life’ as practicing Christians.

Christians are praying to keep access to their Union Church in Tripoli, Libya. It is one of five denominations recognised by the government.

After its original premises were taken by the Gaddafi regime in the 1970s, the church rented a building from the government on expropriated land. Since 2011 the government has been returning many such properties to their original owners. In 2020 they applied to evict the church, a move that was upheld by the court. Union Church has tried to buy the building and has raised a deposit, but faces difficulties in transferring the funds to the owners’ bank.

A radical Hindu mob threatened a congregation of around 100 evangelical Christians who were celebrating Maundy Thursday service in Northern India Uttar Pradesh’s Fathepur district, surrounding the building and locking the doors.

Right afterwards, the police arrived at the church and freed most of the congregation, but they arrested 36 Christians over allegedly ‘illegal religious conversions of 90 people in the last 40 days in the district’, police said.

A new report by the Ferrer i Guàrdia Foundation, called ‘Feminism, religions and freedom of conscience’, says the Covid-19 pandemic has accelerated loss of faith in Spain.

One fact highlighted is that, for the first time, among young adults under the age of 34, the number of people who consider themselves non-religious is now a majority. Among the group aged between 25 and 34, more than 56% identify as non-religious, and among those between 18 and 24 the percentage reaches 63.5%, while among the older population (over 65), 76.5% say they are religious.

Christian pastor Yallam Shankar has been murdered by a group of around 50 masked men while eating dinner at home in Chhattisgarh, India.

The mob forced entry, dragged him out and stabbed him with a sharp weapon. The attack took place while the Hindu festival of Holika Dahan (a celebration of good over evil) was being celebrated in the village where Pastor Shankar lived. In the past Shankar had received several threats to his life, and demands that he abandon Christianity for Hinduism.

Around 10,000 people have taken to the streets of Lima, Peru, for the ‘March for Life’ to the Congress of the Republic.

This year marks the 20th anniversary of the approval and publication of Law 27654, whereby Peru celebrates the Day of the Unborn Child every 25 March. That is why the march received a massive response from the Peruvian pro-life community. The march was organised by over 30 civil organisations. Several members of Congress (especially from the Renovación Popular party), civil groups and many evangelicals attended the march.