The Persecution Times » Entries tagged with "house church"
Iranian House Church Stormed by Security Officers
By Jeremy Reynalds Senior Correspondent for ASSIST News Service IRAN – Iranian security forces have stormed a house church and arrested 10 members. According to the Iranian Christian News Agency Mohabat News, the incident occurred on March 17, when 17 security officers stormed a house in the city of Kermanshah and arrested 10 Christians. Kermanshah is located in the western part of Iran near Iraqi border, 590 KM from Tehran. Mohabat News said while there has been no explanation offered by the Iranian Government’s security sources, it is likely that these 10 house church members were arrested because of their Christian beliefs and participation in church gatherings. That, the news agency commented, is is in line with the recent wave of repressive actions taken by the government against … Read entire article »
Filed under: Assist News Service, Christian, Iran, Persecution
Cyber Attack Takes Down ChinaAid Association Website
By Jeremy Reynalds Senior Correspondent for ASSIST News Service MIDLAND, TEXAS (ANS) — The Chinese-language website of ChinaAid Association, which monitors and reports on religious persecution and other human rights abuses in China, and a bilingual companion website have both collapsed under cyber attacks. The assault began Tuesday evening, the group said in a news release on Wednesday. ChinaAid’s Chinese-language website at www.chinaaid.net and its www.monitorchina.org website, which provide Chinese and English material about religious persecution and the rule of law, were both inaccessible as a result of the attacks. ChinaAid said heavy malicious traffic had repeatedly caused the website’s server, located in the United States, to crash. Its technical staff was still working Wed. evening to restore the websites. ChinaAid’s mirror English-language site at www.chinaaid.org, hosted by a different server, has so far been … Read entire article »
Filed under: Assist News Service, China, Persecution
Vietnamese Authorities Raid House Churches and Threaten Attendees
Compass Direct News reports HANOI – Local authorities in Vietnam have balked at registering house churches, contributing to a recent uptick in sometimes violent harassment of congregations. Four police officers and two government officials broke up the Sunday morning worship service of a house church in Tran Phu Commune in Hanoi on July 26, announcing that it was illegal to worship and teach religion. The police chief of Tran Phu Commune in greater Hanoi, Dang Dinh Toi, had ordered the raid. When Christians under the leadership of Pastor Dang Thi Dinh refused to sign a document admitting they were meeting illegally, an angry police officer shouted, “If I find you meeting here next Sunday, I will kill you all like I’d kill a dog” Read the full report at Compass Direct News. … Read entire article »
Filed under: Christian, Compass Direct, Persecution, Vietnam
Over 60 Chinese House Church Leaders Arrested
By Michael Ireland Chief Correspondent, ASSIST News Service HENAN, CHINA ANS — More than 60 house church leaders, along with two South Korean pastors, were arrested by local police at 5:00 p.m. on February 11, 2009, in Wolong district, Nanyang city in China’s Henan province. The house church leaders came from four provinces to attend a seminar, according to ChinaAid. … Read entire article »
Filed under: Assist News Service, China, Christian, Persecution
Eritrean Authorities Jail 34 Christians in House Church Raid
Compass Direct News reports Eritrean security police cracked down on more Christians again last week, arresting 34 evangelicals gathered for prayer and fellowship in a local home in Keren. The police raid on Wednesday May 28 targeted members of the Berhane Hiwet Light of Life Church in Keren, Eritrea’s third largest city 200 kilometers 124 miles northwest of the capital Asmara. All 24 men and 10 women present were taken to prison, with their children left behind. The next day security officials transferred the 10 women prisoners, all of them married, to the Adi-Abyto Military Confinement facility. The Keren raid was the second round of arrests last week in Eritrea, where the oppressive regime has outlawed all independent Protestant churches since 2002, closing their buildings and banning gatherings in private homes. For the full story … Read entire article »
Filed under: Christian, Compass Direct, Eritrea, Persecution
