letter from America
The US and UK: Transatlantic lessons
Josh Moody
Date posted: 27 Apr 2025
I recently returned to the UK for a preaching tour. I preached 13 times in about as many days. Godcenteredlife.org had a conference in London. We did a missions conference with Crosslinks in Belfast. And more.
It’s made me reflect, with renewed up close and personal experience, on the differences, strengths and weaknesses of the different church scenes. Obviously, there are many more, and much bigger, churches in the USA. Right before I came to the UK, I heard of another church in the USA of about 15,000 people in attendance – a church that previous to that brief awareness moment I had never heard of. If there was a church in the UK with 15,000 people in attendance I would have heard of it and been quite familiar with it. But the size difference is not the most notable, nor in some ways, the most important distinction.
Escalating discrimination in India
Luke Randall
Date posted: 26 Apr 2025
Discrimination against Christians in India increased last year, with the number of incidents recorded almost four times higher than a decade ago, according to a study of discrimination against Christians in the nation.
The Evangelical Fellowship of India’s Religious Liberty Commission’s (EFIRLC) latest annual report recorded 640 verified incidents of persecution against believers in 2024 (with another 200 reported cases unverified), up from 601 the previous year. Perhaps more shockingly, it also revealed that the number of incidents has increased fourfold from just 147 cases recorded in 2014.
Myanmar: ‘Your prayer is our hope...’
Luke Randall
Date posted: 24 Apr 2025
Following the devastating earthquake in Myanmar, which has killed thousands and destroyed many buildings, evangelicals are reporting a desperate need for aid – and glimmers of gospel opportunity.
The 7.7 magnitude quake has prompted an immediate humanitarian crisis in a country which has been gripped by civil conflict for four years, with missionaries in the nation already experiencing a “tenfold increase” in requests for missionary aid even before the earthquake.
Ukraine: Drone strike kills father and daughter
Luke Randall
Date posted: 24 Apr 2025
A father and daughter have been killed in Kyiv following a Russian drone strike on an evangelical church.
The mother survived despite being thrown 50 metres away from the scene by the force of the blast. She was subsequently treated in hospital.
Gaza conflict: ‘We must endure the cross and carry it’
Luke Randall
Date posted: 23 Apr 2025
As conflict between Israel and Hamas continues in Gaza, there are an estimated 600 Christians remaining in the territory attempting to salvage what is left of their homes and to encourage one another.
In a recent interview with Open Doors, a Christian man, who preferred to remain anonymous, described what daily life is like for believers who remain in the region, with most living in tents under the shelter of church buildings and struggling to acquire basic necessities.
Papua New Guinea officially declared a Christian country
Emily Pollok
Date posted: 22 Apr 2025
Papua New Guinea is officially a Christian country after its Constitution was modified last month.
Prompted by Prime Minister James Marape, the Constitution has been amended to state that: “(We, the people of Papua New Guinea) acknowledge and declare God the Father, Jesus Christ the Son, and the Holy Spirit as our Creator and Sustainer of the entire universe and the source of our powers and authorities, delegated to the people and all persons under the geographical jurisdiction of Papua New Guinea.”
Canada: Christians urged to engage
Luke Randall
Date posted: 19 Apr 2025
The Evangelical Fellowship of Canada (EFC) has called on Canadian Christians to fully engage with the political process ahead of the national federal election, describing voting as a “privilege and responsibility”.
The upcoming election, called by newly elected Liberal Party leader and prime minister Mark Carney and due to be held on 28 April, will be the first contest the liberals have faced without former prime minister Justin Trudeau at the helm in ten years, and Carney’s party is neck and neck with the Conservatives in the polls.
USA: New task force to remove ‘anti-Christian’ bias
Emily Pollok
Date posted: 18 Apr 2025
President Trump is on a mission to get rid of “anti-Christian bias” in the US, creating a task force especially for the purpose.
Headed up by Attorney General Pam Bondi, the task force is to “immediately halt all forms of anti-Christian targeting and discrimination within the federal government”, Trump announced in Washington recently during National Prayer Breakfast events.
Christianity loses out to ‘religious switching’
Luke Randall
Date posted: 16 Apr 2025
People around the world are increasingly abandoning the religious identity they were raised with – and Christianity and Buddhism are enduring the biggest losses, according to new research.
A pattern dubbed religious switching has seen people leave their Christian roots behind, particularly across many Western countries. The new study by Pew Research, which questioned almost 80,000 people across 36 countries from six continents, found that the majority of people who switched moved from the religious upbringing of their childhood to an unreligious position, with Christians suffering the greatest losses in most countries.
Could Sudanese conflict move south?
Luke Randall
Date posted: 14 Apr 2025
Tensions in Sudan are threatening to impact other surrounding nations, and neighbouring South Sudan is reportedly on the brink of its own civil war - potentially leaving Christians facing further persecution.
Following the Sudan Armed Forces’ (SAF) recapture of the nation’s presidential palace in Khartoum, after two years under Rapid Support Forces (RSF) control, Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) partners revealed to en that Christians could face further strain should civil war break out in South Sudan.
India: Christian couple granted bail
Luke Randall
Date posted: 5 Apr 2025
A Christian couple sentenced to five years behind bars for an attempted conversion have been granted bail and will be released once all required paperwork is completed.
According to Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW), they were sentenced earlier this year under legislation which prohibits religious conversion achieved through force, misrepresentation, coercion or other fraudulent means. CSW said that the charges should never have been brought against Sheeja and Jose Pappachan and they are urging the authorities to repeal anti-conversion laws immediately.
The lifesaving flights battling sorcery and snakebites
Gary Clayton
Date posted: 5 Apr 2025
Whether it’s snakebite or sorcery, Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF) flights are making all the difference to the people of Papua New Guinea (PNG).
Growing up in Dodomona, in the Middle Fly District of Western Province, PNG, Titus Yabua witnessed many members of his community dying from treatable illnesses, accidents, snakebites and pig bites.
There’s snow discouragement… ski church growing
Luke Randall
Date posted: 5 Apr 2025
A skiing ministry in a village in the Swiss Alps is continuing to grow after almost 40 years, having developed from a small chaplaincy programme into a thriving church.
Verbier, a small village 1,500 metres above sea-level with a population of about 3,000 permanent residents, is a top ski and summer resort which hosts many English-speaking residents and holidaymakers, in which a small-scale winter chaplaincy programme was formed in 1986.
Evangelicals ‘one third of Costa Rica’
Luke Randall
Date posted: 2 Apr 2025
One third of the Costa Rican population identifies as evangelical and the highest percentage of evangelicals is aged between 18 and 24 years old, according to a new survey.
The Perception of the Costa Rican Population on Religious Values and Practices 2024, carried out by the Ecumenical School of Religious Sciences and the Institute of Social Studies in Population of the National University (UNA), revealed that 1.65 million of Costa Rica’s 5.18 million population identify as evangelicals, amounting to 33%, with the highest percentage found in the 18 to 24 age bracket, report Evangelical Focus.
South Korea: Church damaged by bomb
Luke Randall
Date posted: 30 Mar 2025
A church has been damaged after fighter jets accidentally dropped eight bombs over a South Korean village during military training exercises. The incident also left 15 people injured and houses damaged, Premier Christian News reveals.
The incident is believed to have occurred because a pilot entered incorrect coordinates which caused the jets to drop four bombs each, all of which detonated. The South Korean Air Force has wished those impacted a “speedy recovery”.
Evangelicals and Neo-Calvinists talk
Luke Randall
Date posted: 29 Mar 2025
The first in a series of three conferences exploring the approaches of Evangelicalism and Neo-Calvinism will take place in Sao Paulo this May, at which the historical development and future of both theological approaches will be considered by a panel of experts.
The event, organised by a collaboration of scholars from the University of Edinburgh, Fuller Theological Seminary and the Theological University of Utrecht, takes place at Mackenzie University, Sao Paulo following an invitation from the Mackenzie Chancellery. It will focus on the different approaches of both positions, and the growing influence of Neo-Calvinism around the world, before follow-up events are hosted in Asia and Africa.
Nigeria: Christians killed and kidnapped
Luke Randall
Date posted: 28 Mar 2025
More than ten Christians have been murdered and four others kidnapped by Fulani Herdsmen in Plateau State, Nigeria.
Witnesses revealed that a recent attack in Shendai village in Namu District saw four victims abducted at gunpoint, following five days of attacks in three different villages, Morning Star News reports.
Russia: Preacher charged for opposing the war
Luke Randall
Date posted: 27 Mar 2025
A preacher in Russia has been banned from leaving his home district and using a phone or the internet, and is being charged with “discrediting” the Russian Armed Forces and state.
Forum 18 says that Eduard Charov, 53, expects to be imprisoned for speaking out against the state and its invasion of Ukraine.
