Persecuted for their Christian Faith

Mozambique

Since 2017, Cabo Delgado in northern Mozambique has been a place of unimaginable violence. The region has been repeatedly attacked by militants from al-Shabab, also known as the Islamic State Mozambique (ISM). The brutality has been intense, with beheadings, forced conversions, and entire villages burned to the ground. Thousands have fled their homes, seeking refuge in neighboring Tanzania and other parts of Mozambique. As the violence spread across northern Mozambique, nearly 93,000 people were displaced, forced to abandon their homes and seek refuge in makeshift camps. These camps, thrown together with little more than scraps of fabric and wood, quickly became overcrowded and desperate. Basic needs, such as food, water, and medical care, were in short supply. As the militants continued their attacks, the trauma extended far beyond the burning of homes. Children became specific targets. More than 120 children have been abducted, torn from their families, and forced to carry looted goods, to work as laborers, or to fight in the conflict. The abduction of these children left parents consumed by the uncertainty of their children’s fate. Those who returned were often scarred, bearing invisible wounds that no one knew how to heal. The waiting, the not knowing, remains a constant pain that feels endless. The strength of the people of Cabo Delgado was evident in every corner of their struggle. And though their homes were destroyed, their lives torn apart, one thing remained untouched: their spirit, their faith. 
Source: https://persecution.org/2025/10/22/the-enduring-faith-of-cabo-delgado-amid-mozambiques-crisis/
Edited and submitted by Al McNair

Sudan

On Oct. 26, El Fasher, North Darfur’s largest city, was shattered under the brutal assault of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a militia known for its cruelty and merciless tactics. Their objective was clear: to wipe out the Christian civilian population. Churches were set on fire and razed to the ground. Homes were looted and burned, and whole families were slaughtered without mercy. In one day, more than 2,000 people were killed in El Fasher alone, including women and children. The violence was brutal; no one was spared, not even the elderly or the very young. Christian neighbourhoods were set ablaze, leaving nothing but ruins and charred memories. Churches that once rang with hymns were reduced to smoldering debris. The violence continued. As survivors fled to the nearby town of Tawila, hoping for refuge, the RSF followed. Christian refugees were hunted down and executed. Men, women, and children were slaughtered as they tried to escape. Those who were not killed were forced into hiding, their lives now reduced to survival, to waiting for the next wave of violence. “The hospitals are no longer functioning,” said a doctor trying to treat the wounded. “The walls of the clinic are stained with the blood of the innocent. Other clinics were set ablaze. People are dying in the streets, and there is nothing we can do.” As the death toll climbed, hospitals across El Fasher were reduced to ruins. Doctors and nurses who had once saved lives now found themselves scrambling to tend to the wounded in the midst of a battlefield. Medical facilities that had been sanctuaries of care were targeted and destroyed. The RSF bombed the maternity ward at the main hospital, and 460 lives were lost in that attack alone. What followed in the coming days was a nightmare of genocide. The targeting of Christian communities in Darfur became an explicit campaign to erase their existence from the region. It wasn’t just physical death they sought; it was the destruction of everything they had. The survivors need help. They need protection. They need justice. 
Please Pray for the whole situation in Sudan, but especially our Christian bros and sisters there.
Source:https://persecution.org/2025/11/04/listen-to-the-cries-from-darfur/
Edited and submitted by Al McNair

MALAYSIA: Judge Rules in Favor of Pastor Raymond Koh’s Family

On Feb. 13, 2017, Pastor Raymond Koh was abducted off the streets of Malaysia and hasn’t been seen or heard from since. In 2020, his wife, Susanna, and their family filed a civil case against the Malaysian government and the police. After nearly nine years of uncertainty, the Malaysian High Court ruled on Nov. 5, 2025, that one or more police officials were involved in his abduction, acting “oppressively and arbitrarily” under orders and misusing their power. The court ordered the Malaysian government to pay the Koh family RM10,000 ($2,350 USD) per day from the date of Raymond’s disappearance until he is found. The judge also ordered the police to reopen the investigation and report progress to the Attorney General every two months. “We are overjoyed and thankful to God that we have an honest and fair judgment,” said Susanna. However, the Attorney General’s office in Malaysia has already announced that they will appeal the court’s decision.
Hear Susanna share her story on this episode of VOM Radio.

ERITREA: Arrests of Christians Increasing

VOM’s front-line workers report that arrests of Christians in Eritrea have increased in 2025 with very few releases of current prisoners. Since Jan. 1, 2025, there have been over 200 new arrests, placing the total number of Christian prisoners in the country at around 550. Christian prisoners are provided meager rations and held in shipping containers in extreme desert conditions, often for years. VOM Radio host Todd Nettleton recently spoke with the daughter of imprisoned Eritrean pastor Dr. Tecleab Menghisteab on this episode of VOM Radio. VOM supports Christian prisoners in Eritrea as well as their families.

INDIA: New Law Approves Life Imprisonment for “Forced Conversion”

Uttarakhand state, India, increased the scope and penalties of its anti-conversion law with a new amendment passed in August 2025. The bill criminalizes “acts like promoting or inciting conversion through social media, messaging app or any online medium.” Under the amendment, the maximum penalty for “forced conversion” increases from 10 years in prison to life imprisonment, making it one of India’s harshest anti-conversion laws. Anti-conversion laws have long been used to imprison and punish pastors, church planters and evangelists. VOM supports pastors, front-line workers and their families who are facing persecution in India.

NIGERIA: Militant Fulani Herdsmen Kill Christians, Including Children

On Aug. 24, 2025, Fulani herdsmen killed seven Christians, including five children, in Kaduna state, Nigeria. One of the children was only one year old. Eight others were injured by bullets and machetes. Just days later, on Sept. 7, more Fulani herdsmen killed eight Christians and wounded nine others, also in Kaduna state. VOM supports Nigerian Christian widows who have lost their husbands in attacks like these.

TAJIKISTAN: Christian Afghan Refugees Forced to Return, Face Death Sentence

On July 9, 2025, the Tajik government ordered all Afghan refugees to leave the country within 15 days. Tajikistan hosts around 13,000 Afghan refugees, most of whom fled when the Taliban took over Afghanistan in 2021. Afghan Christians who are forced to return can be charged with apostasy, which carries a death sentence, or could be killed immediately for their faith. Male members of some Christian families have already been deported back to Afghanistan. As their current status is unknown, their wives and children would have no means of survival if sent back to Afghanistan. Front-line workers reported an increase in Taliban efforts to find and arrest Christian leaders and converts in June.

DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO: ADF Militants Kill At Least 43 in Church

Militants from the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), an Islamic extremist group, killed at least 43 people, including nine children, at a church in Komanda during the night of July 26, 2025. The militants also kidnapped several others and set homes and shops on fire. VOM supports nearly 4,000 internally displaced Christians in DRC who have fled widespread Islamist attacks.