We pray that God would awaken hunger for truth in the hearts of young people.
May families, churches, and communities be equipped to disciple with wisdom and love.
Let this generation encounter Jesus not as an idea, but as a living Savior who calls them into purpose, holiness, and hope.

We pray for courage, endurance, and supernatural peace for persecuted believers.
May the Holy Spirit strengthen their faith, protect their families, and turn opposition into testimony.
Let us also pray that governments and societies would uphold freedom of conscience and respect the right to worship without fear.

Let us intercede that the Church would rise as a voice of truth and reconciliation, not driven by fear or ideology, but grounded in Christ’s peace.
May God protect the vulnerable, comfort the grieving, and guide nations toward justice that preserves life and dignity.

The woman, which OPEN DOORS USA has named Sameda to protect her real identity, lives in a Central Asia country, which also wasn’t identified for security reasons.

Sameda became a Christian three years ago, leaving behind the Islamic faith, but due to societal pressures and a lack of Christian men in her region of the world, she married a Muslim.

“Initially, we were very happy until he became more interested in my faith. Certainly, I did not hide the fact that I am a Christian and told him that God touched my life one day. After these words, my husband seemed to change,” the woman revealed.

At first, the husband, Rashid, did not seem opposed to her Christian faith. As time went on and he realized how serious she was about following Jesus, however, he began pressuring her to convert back to Islam. He beat her a number of times, even when she was five months pregnant.

“Of course, I told him I would remain faithful to Christ,” the woman said. “I can’t imagine my life without Jesus anymore.”

The devastating ultimatum came after Sameda gave birth to their daughter and Rashid threatened to leave her and take the baby if she refused to convert back to Islam.

When Sameda again refused to deny Christ, she was kicked out of the house, but with her daughter in her arms.

“It was so hugely stressful and such a tragedy for me,” she said.

“My beloved husband, who always seemed so kind and caring; he kicked me out of his house with a month-old baby without any means of subsistence!”

Sameda and her baby now live with her mother in the capital city, but the danger is not over. The Christian mother could still lose her child if a divorce is to be finalized, due to laws in that country that give fathers sole custody of children in such cases.

“I don’t ask God to give me back my husband, to keep my family,” the woman said.

“Most of all, I need to be strong in my faith. I don’t want to lose it, to lose the relationship with Christ, but sometimes it is too hard. I need to have contact with other believers.”

Open Doors revealed that it has been assisting Sameda with basic needs and with care for the baby, which the woman has been very grateful for.

The persecution watchdog group has been reporting on increasing pressure and attacks against Christian mothers and women around the world.

Back in July, the nonprofit shared the story of Noami, a Christian from Mali, who OFFERED FORGIVENESS TO JIHADISTS sent by her own Muslim family to kill her. Noami’s husband was killed by the radicals in a similar attack, while in a separate incident her son was taken from her and beaten.

“I have to show love even to the worst of my enemies. Who knows? I may draw them to Christ despite their attitude toward me. Christians are people who love their enemies – their haters – as brothers,” Noami said.

“That is how we can win them for the Kingdom.”

Source: THE CHRISTIAN POST

Kiran also revealed that doctors shouted at her, hit her with documents and cursed at her. One even asked a nurse to “teach her a lesson” by injecting a dose that caused her pain.

When Saleem asked to be able to see his sister, hospital security guards took him to a different room with some doctors. The apparently proceeded to beat him up, leading Saleem to lose consciousness and incur several fractures. Unfortunately, he was not able to recover from the beating and died at the same hospital.

The family filed a police report that named Dr. Salman Haseeb and four other doctors for killing Saleem. Haseeb, who heads the Young Doctors Association (YDA), however, denied that they had anything to do with the Christian’s death and has not yet been arrested.

“We belong to a noble profession and murder is a dangerous charge. The family is playing religious and ethnic cards to conceal the real facts. They are the real anti-state elements,” the doctor SAID IN A STATEMENT. “Our hospitals do not discriminate on the basis of nationality and faith,” he added and cited that a number of hospital staffers are also Christians.

Haseeb also said that Saleem’s family was the first to attack the guards. He, along with the other doctors, heard the commotion but insisted that no doctors harmed the family.

ACCORDING TO OPEN DOORS, Christians in Pakistan increasingly suffer from discrimination, mistreatment and attacks. Each year, an average of 700 female Christians are abducted in Pakistan and become rape victims or unwilling brides of Muslim men.

These incidents have prevented Christians from openly professing their faith for fear of becoming targets of persecution. Authorities also regularly monitor Christian church activities and services.

As Smith questioned her fellow members at the Parliament about targeted actions to combat this rising trend, Peter Kearney of the Scottish Catholic Media Office ANALYZED THE SITUATION AND CONCLUDED THAT POLITICIANS won’t likely see the issue as anti-Catholicism, thus it won’t receive specific actions.

He stated that while the Scottish government usually establishes laws to affect public behavior, such as banning texting while driving to curb traffic accidents, religious hate crimes wouldn’t receive the same concern. The government still regards these crimes as a sectarian issue.

Besides, churchgoers in Scotland comprise just 7.2 percent of the population and majority is above 65 years of age. The figures suggested to Kearney that non-churchgoers instigate the animosity against Catholics but then their motivations aren’t clear.

Catholics comprise just 15 percent of Scotland’s population. The anti-Catholicism sentiment might have stemmed from centuries of old beliefs and practices since the religious group has been largely marginalized against Protestants in Scotland since the 16th century.

Media practitioners in Scotland concur that the animosity between Protestants and Catholics still exist today, despite reformative laws created in the late 1700s. They continue to report various problems on Catholic discrimination. Annabelle Ewing of the Ministry of Safety and Community Affairs, however, digressed and stated that her agency looks into these religious hate crimes seriously and has been working with different churches to deal with the problems.

The latest attack in Cairo also left five people injured. Two of the victims, who were women, were admitted to the hospital in serious condition.

A video posted on social media showed the gunman clad in an ammunition vest while being restrained and handcuffed by people. However, there were conflicting reports on whether he was killed or merely wounded. Police cordoned the crime scene as a forensics team later investigated the area.

State news agency MENA reported that security troops had apprehended the attacker outside the Coptic church. The arrested assailant has been identified as an active terrorist who had launched several attacks targeting police and civilians, AHRAM relayed.

Health ministry spokesperson Khaled Megahed said the victims who were shot dead included one Muslim and eight Christians.

Meanwhile, Western and Arab nations including the U.S., France, Germany, the UAE, Jordan, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia condemned the latest attack on the Egyptian church. The U.S. embassy in Cairo posted a statement on its official Twitter account that expressed its solidarity with the people of Egypt amid “such cowardly attacks.”

The Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the shooting rampage on Friday via its Amaq news agency. The attack was carried out days ahead of the Coptic Christmas celebrations on Jan. 7. Ahead of the occasion, authorities have beefed up security measures around churches, installing metal detectors at some places and stationing police officers to guard the places of worship.

In the past, Basra had been a remarkable example of cultural and religious coexistence, but the Iraqi city is reportedly in danger of losing its diversity because of the existing threats to non-Muslim minorities. The situation has forced Christians to distance themselves in an effort to maintain their religion and culture.

Upon the request of the Chaldean Catholic Patriarch of Basra, Habib Hermes, a Virgin Mary statue was taken from the Abbasiya district on Sept. 19 because of fears that the sculpture may be harmed by malicious entities to stir conflict. He pointed out that 90 percent of the Christians have left the city since 2003, and “undesirable consequences” could lead to destabilization of the community.

Patriarch Hermes thinks that it would be good if the Virgin Mary statue were to be placed inside a church, monastery, or a cemetery. That way, it would be protected from people seeking to stir sectarian conflict among the people of Basra.

Meanwhile, ASIA NEWS reported that a Christian educational institute is set to be opened in Basra for the first time since 1970. The Ministry of Education has reportedly allowed the local church to open a Christian primary school in September 2018 as part of its efforts to foster hope, generate jobs, and strengthen ties with Muslims.

The new school in Basra will employ Christian, Muslim, and Mandaean teachers. It will be constructed in the parish of Our Lady of the Annunciation in Tuwaisah.

Using rifles capable of hitting a target from up to 1,800 meters, the snipers instantly killed the two executioners with head shots from a range of around 1,000 meters. They later took out two more ISIS gunmen.

“It was a chance encounter. The SAS patrol just happened to be in the right place at the right time. The killers were moving around the area executing villagers. Muslim families were accused of being spies and Christians who refused to convert to Islam were beheaded,” a defense source told the Daily Star. “When the snipers opened fire everyone just froze. But after four terrorists were dropped the rest of the gunmen tried to run and began firing in all directions. Only the family stood still.”

In addition, the source said the ISIS gunmen attempted to flee, but the snipers also shot dead their driver and those in the execution squad who had boarded the vehicle. The Peshmerga fighters later rescued the family and transported them safely away from the area.

Meanwhile, it has been three months since Mosul was liberated from ISIS, and the city is now trying to recover its former vibrant environment. Local photographer and university professor Ali al-Baroodi told AL JAZEERA that the residents were keen on getting rid of the “ideology of oppression” that the militant group had previously imposed.

Northeastern University professor Shakir Mustafa, who grew up in Mosul but is now based in the United States, described ISIS’ burning of its cultural centers and objects as a deliberate act of destruction. He noted that all cultural activities were banned during the time that the extremist group ruled in the Iraqi city.

Although Fahim had deleted his comments the following day, Muslim villagers in Minya were offended when they saw on Sept. 6 the post Samuel had shared. Coptic villager Adel Girgis told WWM how the post went viral among Muslims and caused Christians to be the target of insults and threats in the village.

On Sept. 7, Fahim and his father met with Islamic leaders to apologize, but Muslims showed up outside their home on Sept. 10 for a protest, causing them to flee and seek sanctuary in Cairo. Villagers thought the controversy had already calmed down, but the mob resurfaced on Sept. 14 and attacked several Coptic-owned homes and a church at night.

The day after the mob attack, Minya Governor Essam el-Bedawi visited the village and attempted to broker a peace deal between local Christian and Muslim leaders. He said people who attempt to divide the country using sectarian issues would never succeed. Fahim also posted a new Facebook message explaining his side and apologizing for what happened.

In a separate situation in Minya on Aug. 20, local police kicked out Coptic Christians from their church in the village of Ezbat Al-Forn. Authorities said they did not have the license to meet at the private home for their worship gathering, MISSION NETWORK NEWS reported.

Commenting on the incident, Miles Windsor of Middle East Concern pointed out a few loopholes in the police’s reason for kicking the Christians out of their church. Windsor explained that there was no law in Egypt which requires official permit for religious gatherings, as the Constitution guarantees citizens’ freedom to practice their faith.