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In 2025, a 22-year-old woman was arrested in Kano State, Nigeria. "Sarah" (whose name has been changed for security reasons) fled from home after her siblings attempted to force her into an arranged marriage. She eventually found refuge with a Christian family who shared the Gospel message with her. Through the witness and support of the Abaras family, Sarah made a decision to follow Christ.

Pastor David Tang is the leader of the Purpose Driven Church (also known as Biaogan Church) in the city of Wenzhou. This vibrant church, which has been known to interest local young professionals and intellectuals, was forced to officially close down after refusing to join the state-sanctioned Three-Self Patriotic Movement. Since then, its congregants have continued to meet in a semi-underground manner.

On August 5th, a court in Vietnam's Dak Lak province sentenced Pastor Y Nuen Ayun to seven years and six months in prison for "undermining the policy of national unity." Communist officials claim that he has been organizing and leading unregistered religious activities since 2003. Pastor Ayun, whose ethnicity originates with the Montagnards, ministered to others belonging to this indigenous group through his pastoral leadership at the Central Highlands Evangelical Church of Christ.

Nihad Hassan is a Kurdish pastor living in Beirut, Lebanon. On various occasions, he has expressed concerns over the difficulties encountered by the Kurdish people in Syria, particularly those who have converted from Islam. Syrian authorities claim that the Lebanese pastor's social media comments were offensive. Consequently, he was arrested on July 20th while visiting family in Afrin, a city located in northern Syria that primarily consists of Kurdish people.

Earlier this year, Dedi Saputra allegedly posted a video on TikTok that criticized the prophet Muhammad. Before the video was removed from the social media platform, it had been viewed almost two million times – sparking a backlash that culminated in his arrest on February 18th. For more information regarding this case, see VOMC's previously posted Persecution & Prayer Alert report.

Arun Pannalal is a 75-year-old church leader who serves as president of the Chhattisgarh Christian Forum. On August 7th, he was arrested after being accused of posting a comment on social media that allegedly offended the religious sentiments of Hindus. The comment was reportedly made in response to an existing Facebook post.

On July 11th, police in the city of Yueyang, Hunan Province, conducted a series of coordinated raids on various house churches. (For more details regarding these incidents, see this previously posted report.)Among the targeted congregations was the Panshi Bible Church. Although most of the arrested church members were released shortly afterwards, Pastor Huang Shi Tou, along with two other believers, remained in custody.

Recently, seven Christians – six of whom are pastors – were convicted under the anti-conversion laws of Madhya Pradesh and sentenced to five years in prison. Each believer also received a fine of 100,000 rupees (approximately $1,500 CAD).

Police carried out coordinated raids on multiple house churches in the city of Yueyang, Hunan Province, on July 11th. Numerous church members were taken into custody for interrogation. During the detainment, the authorities collected fingerprints, DNA samples, voice recordings and written statements.

The American-based ministry, Child Evangelism Fellowship (CEF), was recently added to Russia's list of "undesirable organizations." This decision creates serious risks for CEF workers in the country, as well as for the churches and organizations currently using the ministry's materials.