EZRA – RELEASED!
Thank you for praying for Middle Eastern prisoner of faith Ezra – featured in our magazine in October 2019 – who was released from jail in April. Our partner tells his amazing story… Middle Eastern believer Ezra, a former soldier, was first…
Sharing the gospel behind bars
Waseem, a Release partner in Pakistan, describes what happened when fellow worker Pastor Akbar was recently detained for six days by police for standing up for persecuted Christians. Pastor Akbar is an evangelical pastor who has worked with me since 2004 as…
Looking to the future
Tsedal, whose name means ‘halo’, is a young widow, just 32 years old, and mother of four from Eritrea. She and her husband Ftsum married in Eritrea in 2005. As Christians, persecution came initially from her own Orthodox parents. For several years…
‘We are filled with hope and faith’
…says courageous believer Pastor Tesfahans – despite being imprisoned five times in Eritrea because of his Christian faith. Release’s Marian reports on a visit to northern Ethiopia. Early this year, in a small town in northern Ethiopia, 37 Eritrean Christians gathered for…
Imprisoned With ISIS
It was supposed to be a four-day visit to Sudan. It turned into a 445-day imprisonment, sometimes alongside hardened ISIS fighters. Release’s Jack Norman reviews Petr Jasek’s inspiring new book. How do you prepare to be imprisoned with a group of ISIS…
Indian Christians Face New Legal Challenges
Hindu extremists are increasingly using the law to attack Christian pastors, reports Release’s Kenneth Harrod. Over the past two decades a growing nationalist movement in India has been behind attacks on Christians, on pastors in particular, and on church buildings. Release staffha…
Is it OK for me to cry?
Release’s Jack Norman heard on a recent visit to Egypt how Christians continue to suffer in a culture of oppression. Life for Christians in Egypt has been marked for 2,000 years by persecution. Most recently, for example, suicide bombers attacked St Peter…
Free Raymond!
Please sign our petition calling on the Malaysian government to freePastor Raymond Koh abducted three years ago. Release is pressing Malaysia to set free a Christian pastor who was abducted in a military-style operation in February 2017– and who hasn’t been seen…
STANDING STRONG
Attacks by terrorists in north east Nigeria have forced thousands of Christians to flee for their lives. Release’s Kenneth Harrod recently spoke to some of those displaced – and saw first-hand how your support is helping believers stay strong in their faith….
CRACKDOWN IN IRAN
Increasing persecution by the Iranian authorities is forcing hundreds of believers to escape to neighbouring Turkey, reports Release’s Tom Hardie. Morteza, who came to faith in Christ in 2005, had a small but successful office equipment business in the ancient Iranian port…
IRAQI CHRISTIANS SET TO FLEE
Renewed conflict in Syria and insecurity in Iraq may force another exodus of Iraqi Christians, warns partner Jamal. By Release’s Andrew Boyd. Only around 300,000 Christians remain in Iraq from a peak of 1.8 million in the year 2000. They’ve been driven…
PERSECUTION TRENDS 2020
Key partners report on the pressures they are likely to face in 2020… AFRICA NIGERIA ‘In 2020 Christians are likely to suffer continuing attacks by Fulani herdsmen militia in the Middle Belt region and Boko Haram Islamic terrorist group attacks in the…
God is our refuge
Development Manager Imtiaz shares how persecuted Christians – and us – can find comfort in the truths of Psalm 46. Many generations of Christians have found that reading and meditating on the Psalms has helped them find peace and comfort. The Psalms…
Abducted pastor missing for two years
Please pray for pastor Raymond Koh (pictured) who was abducted in February 2017 – and has not been seen since. ‘We were due to meet with pastor Raymond in 2017 around the time he was taken,’ recalls our Development Manager for Ireland,…
Sold to Traffickers
‘Esther’ (pictured) was so desperate to escape from brutal North Korea that she agreed to be sex-trafficked into neighbouring China. Then she tricked ten of her friends into being sold to traffickers too. Yet today all these lives have been remarkably transformed…
Threatened and Beaten by Extremists
Threats of violence are forcing a growing number of Pakistani Christians to seek refuge in Thailand. Your support provides pastoral care and practical help to those who have lost everything. Ron owned and directed a successful Christian TV channel in Pakistan. Then…
Visions of Jesus
‘God is revealing himself to refugees in amazing ways,’ says Release partner in Lebanon Pastor ‘Timothy’. ‘Many hundreds say Christ is revealing himself in dreams – even on the road from Syria. One woman who was desperately escaping with her children said,…
‘I LOST A MILLION DOLLARS – BUT I GAINED JESUS CHRIST’
says Syrian refugee John, now living in Lebanon. John was a nominal Christian, a wealthy agriculturalist who lost everything in the civil war. And when IS moved in they made him pay jizya tax – a fine in gold for being a…
On The Run
The rapidly dwindling Christian population in the Middle East has prompted the Archbishop of Canterbury to warn of ‘Christian extinction’ in the birthplace of the faith. Release’s Andrew Boyd travelled to Iraq and Lebanon to meet persecuted Christians being helped by your…
Will You Join Hands With Persecuted Believers Today?
PLEA 5 ‘We must join hands with members of the underground church and give them the financial means to travel about with the Gospel,’ wrote Richard Wurmbrand in Tortured for Christ. Today we continue to fund pastors to strengthen their communities, enabling…