Indian Pastor brutally beaten up while conducting a prayer meeting

By James Varghese, Special Correspondent in India for ASSIST News Service

KARNATAKA, INDIA (ANS) – An Indian pastor was brutally attacked by a group of Hindu radicals on Monday, March 8, 2010 at Mysore in Karnataka State. Read the rest of this entry »

Iranian Pastor Tortured, Threatened for ‘Converting Muslims’

By Dan Wooding, Founder of ASSIST Ministries

ISFAHAN, IRAN (ANS) – Compass Direct News (CDN) is reporting that an Assyrian pastor the Iranian government had accused of “converting Muslims” is being tortured in prison and threatened with execution, sources close to the case said.

The CDN story said that State Security agents on Feb. 2 arrested the Rev. Wilson Issavi, 65, shortly after he finished a house meeting at a friend’s home in Isfahan, 208 miles (335 kilometers) south of Tehran. Read the rest of this entry »

Islamic Assailants Kill Hundreds of Christians near Jos, Nigeria

SANTA ANA, CA – An uneasy calm prevailed in Plateau state, Nigeria today following the killing of hundreds of Christians early yesterday morning in three farming villages near Jos by ethnic Fulani Muslims, according to Compass Direct News.

The mostly ethnic Berom victims included many women and children killed with machetes by rampaging Fulani herdsmen. About 75 houses were also burned, according to Compass.

State Information Commissioner Gregory Yenlong confirmed that about 500 persons were killed in the attacks, which took place mainly in Dogo Nahawa, Zot and Rastat villages, reported Compass. Read the rest of this entry »

Pakistani Christian couple gets 25 years in jail for ’defiling the Quran’

By Dan Wooding, Founder of ASSIST Ministries

KASUR, PAKISTAN (ANS) – A Pakistani court on Tuesday, March 2, 2010 sentenced a Christian couple to 25 years in prison for defiling the Quran, the Muslim holy book, ANS has learned.

According to the Centre for Legal Aid, Assistance and Settlement (CLAAS) UK Munir Masih and Ruqqiya Bibi were accused of touching Quran with unwashed hands. Read the rest of this entry »

Pakistani Christian Beaten for Refusing to Convert to Islam

By Dan Wooding, ASSIST Ministries

KALLUR KOT, PAKISTAN (ANS) — Compass Direct News (CDN) is reporting that the four older Muslim brothers of a 26-year-old Christian beat him unconscious in Kallur Kot town, Pakistan, earlier this month because he refused their enticements to convert to Islam.

The CDN story says that Riaz Masih, whose Christian parents died when he was a boy, said his continual refusal to convert infuriated his siblings and the Muslim cleric who raised them, Moulvi Peer Akram-Ullah. Read the rest of this entry »