AP

IRAN – TWO YEARS JAIL FOR CHRISTIAN ON TRUMPED UP CHARGES
Laleh Saati, 45, an Iranian Christian convert from Islam, was sentenced on 16 March to two years’ imprisonment for “acting against national security by connecting with ‘Zionist’ Christian organisations”. A further two-year ban on leaving Iran is effective upon her release. She lived for some time in Malaysia before returning to Iran in 2017 because of the length of time her asylum process was taking, and to care for elderly parents. After raiding her father’s home in Tehran intelligence agents used photographs and videos of Laleh’s baptism in Malaysia as evidence of her “crime”. Pray that Laleh will experience God’s comfort and strength in her ordeal, for the care of her elderly parents and for the success of any possible appeal.
Meanwhile, Mina Khajavi who is a 60-year-old Iranian Christian convert, is struggling in an Iranian prison with pain and unable to access essential medical care, except occasional painkillers. Mina began a six-year sentence on 3 January 2024 for “acting against national security”, the result of her membership of a “house church”. Sentenced in 2022, she was not required to start her sentence until recovering sufficiently from being run over by a car that summer. Her badly broken ankle was fitted with metal plates following the accident. PRAY that Mina will quickly receive the medical care she needs. Ask that the retrial request she has submitted will be granted, and she will soon be released.
[Source: Barnabas Aid]

FOUR CHRISTIANS ARRESTED IN EASTERN NEPAL FOR ‘FORCING CONVERSIONS’.
Four Christians in Madhesh province, eastern Nepal, face trial, accused of trying to secure forced conversions to Christianity. On 3 April they were required to submit bail of 150,000 Nepali rupees ($1,790) at the district court in Bara. After the 9 Christians visited a house in Kolhabi on Sunday 10 March, several local residents summoned the police, alleging that the Christians were attempting to convert locals by force. Seven Australian Christians in the town were detained and subsequently deported. Meanwhile, the four Nepali Christians spent 24 days in custody before being bailed. PRAY that justice will prevail and that any unfounded accusations of forced conversion will be dismissed. [Source” Barnabas Aid]

SPLIT IN THE NIGERIAN UNITED METHODIST CHURCH OVER GAY CLERGY.
The bishop of the United Methodist Church’s (UMC) Nigerian Episcopal Area – Bishop John Wesley Yohanna – has resigned amid a disagreement over same-sex marriage and the ordination of non-celibate gay clergy. Council of Bishops President Bishop Tracy Smith Malone also sent a letter to her fellow bishops confirming the resignation, the outlet reports, saying it became effective on Monday. She wrote: “We are saddened by his decision to no longer continue ministry with The United Methodist Church. I invite us to pray for our former colleague and the church in Nigeria, especially those who choose to remain in The United Methodist Church. This is a very difficult and confusing time for them.”
At a specially called session of the Nigeria Episcopal Area held last week, the entire regional body reportedly voted to leave the UMC and join the more conservative Global Methodist Church (GMC) as a result of the controversy. The decision to disaffiliate from the UMC, Bishop John said, was in response to the denomination’s decision earlier this year to allow for same-sex marriage and the ordination of non-celibate gay clergy. “We want to make a statement that since the church has derailed from Biblical principle we cannot be in this church where… homosexuality can be celebrated,” Bishop John said in his statement on Monday.
However, a collective of Nigerian UMC church officials released a statement countering Bishop John’s claim that the Episcopal Area had disaffiliated, claiming that only around ten per cent of the regional body opted to leave, along with Bishop John.  [Source: The Premier Christian News]

NEPAL – EARTHQUAKE DESTROYS CHURCH BUILDINGS
At least 20 churches were reduced to rubble by a powerful earthquake in a poor and remote, mountainous region of western Nepal in November 2023. The local authorities and government will not provide for Church reconstruction or repair as Christianity is viewed by many as an “alien faith” that does not belong in Nepal. Pray that, by God’s grace, the churches will be able to reconstruct their buildings. Give thanks for the steadfast faith of the small, but growing Christian community in Nepal, whose hearts are full of love for the Lord (Ephesians 3:17). [Spource: Barnabas Aid]