Fifteen Indian students at Timothy Theological College in Bellary, Karnataka state were beaten by Hindu militants on May 24, according to a May 26 report from the Global Council of Indian Christians. Two lecturers at the Bible college, Dr. Isaac Namadevu and Rev. Jayaprakash, were also beaten in the attack. The report indicated that the attack took place at approximately 12:30 p.m. when 20 members of a Hindu militant group barged into the college accusing Rev. Jayaprakash of "forced conversions." The students and lecturers sustained various injuries in the attack. The militants also tore up Bibles, smashed windows, and destroyed the furniture in the facility. After the college filed a complaint, 11 militants were arrested and remain detained in a police station.

Pray for the healing of the students and the lecturers of the Bible college. Ask God to strengthen believers in India to continue to spread the Gospel despite opposition from Hindu militant groups.

For more information on the persecution facing Christians in India, click here.

Police in the Iranian city of Shiraz cracked down against known Christian converts from Islam, arresting members of three Christian families and confiscating their books and computers, according to a May 21 report from Compass Direct. The arrests reportedly began at approximately 5:00 a.m. on May 11, when two couples were taken into custody before boarding their flights at the Shiraz International Airport and sent directly to jail. All four were subjected to hours of interrogation. The detained Christians were identified as Homayon Shokohie Gholamzadeh (48) and his wife Fariba Nazemiyan Pur (40), and Amir Hussein Bab Anari (25) and his wife Fatemeh Shenasa (25). The report also indicated that although the two wives were released on the same day of their arrest, Anari was detained until May 14, and Gholamzadeh remains jailed.

About two hours after the early morning arrests of May 11, police authorities invaded the home of Hamid Allaedin Hussein (58) arresting him and his three adult children, Fatemah (28), Muhammed Ali (27), and Mojtaba (21). The family's books, CDs, computers and printers were taken as well. Hussein, his daughter and one son were released later the same day, but Mojtaba remains in prison. On May 13, local police picked up two more former Muslims involved in a separate house church in Shiraz as the Christian converts were talking together in a city park. Both men, Mahmood Matin and a second man identified only as Arash, are still jailed. The Compass report also stated that there were other arrests last month in the northern city of Amol, in Mazandaran province near the Caspian Sea. Two of the arrested converts to Christianity, one a pregnant woman, are still imprisoned with no news of their whereabouts.

Ask God for the release of those who are still in prison for their faith in the Lord (Acts 12:5). Pray that the Islamic government in Iran will allow full rights and protection for Christians in the nation.

For more information on the persecution facing Christians in Iran, click here.

Two separate groups of Christian prisoners held in detention for the past three months have been reportedly released recently. Ten members of the Church of the Living God, a breakaway group from the Eritrean Orthodox Church, were set free after three months' detention in the Mendefera police station. Another 15 members of the Kale-Hiwot Church who had been held in the Keren police station were also released. All the discharged prisoners were forced to pay 80,000 nakfa ($5,330) per person as bail. When they were set free, authorities strictly warned them against involvement in any Christian activities in the future. Some were forced to surrender property deeds as bond, in order to secure the steep bail demands.

Haile Naizghi, Dr. Kiflu Gebremeskel and Tesfatsion Hagos

Pray for the release of those in prison for the sake of Christ. Ask God to sustain by His grace the pastors and their loved ones as they face continued suffering (1 Peter 5:12).

For more information on the persecution facing Eritrean Christians, click here.

Habiba Kouider, an Algerian Christian, could soon be sentenced to three years in prison for carrying Bibles and other Christian books while traveling on a public bus from Tiaret to Oran, Algeria, according to a May 23 report from Compass Direct. Habiba was first detained by police on March 29. The police freed her after detaining her for 24 hours, but ordered her to appear in court in the city of Tiaret on May 7. The court, however, delayed her case until May 20. During the initial hearing, the public prosecutor accused her of practicing "non-Muslim worship without authorization" and demanded that the court sentence her to three years in prison. In the same hearing, the prosecutor also pressured Habiba to renounce Christ, promising "to drop the case if she reinstated Islam."

Pray for Habiba to remain strong in her faith in Christ regardless of the cost. Ask God to embolden Algerian Christians to continue sharing Christ's love and grace despite opposition from the authorities.

For more information on the persecution facing Algeria's Christians, click here.

Orthodox Jews set fire to hundreds of copies of the New Testament about two weeks ago in the town of Or Yehuda, Israel. The books were given to the town's Ethiopian Jews by a Messianic Jewish group -- Jews who believe that Jesus is the Messiah. The deputy mayor of Or Yehuda said that he received complaints about the books, and arranged for them to be burnt. He has now apologized after his actions have been compared to those of Nazis and others who burnt Jewish holy scriptures. The Israeli government and Jewish groups have also condemned as "despicable" the burning of the New Testaments by Jewish yeshiva or seminary students in the town.

After this incident, CBN News spoke with Victor Kalisher, director of the Bible Society in Jerusalem. As the son of Holocaust survivors and a Messianic Jew himself, Kalisher expressed shock at the incident. Click here to view that interview.

Pray for the continued witness of the followers of Jesus in Israel in an environment of opposition (Ephesians 6:19).

For more information on the persecution facing Christians in Israel,
click here.

Be sure to check out the June edition of VOMC's monthly webcast, The Persecution Report. This month's report features up-to-date news, interviews and testimonies from around the world including India, Bangladesh, Somalia, Philippines, Jordan and Vietnam. Watch the Persecution Report now! If you have a website, consider adding The Persecution Report as a way of raising a voice for the persecuted. For more information, click here or contact our webmaster.

Take time to read the most recent weblog commentary by VOMC CEO, Glenn Penner:
In "Some Thoughts on Proverbs 29," Glenn reminds us that regarding the "problem" of the persecuted, it is from the Lord that justice will ultimately come.

To make comments on these and previous VOMC weblogs, go to persecutedchurch.blogspot.com.