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LISTENER FINDS RENEWED HOPE TO LIVE THROUGH HAITI RADIO PROGRAM

Haiti (MNN) — The team at Radio-TV 4VEH has countless stories of God’s perfect timing. Based in northern Haiti, their station has been broadcasting gospel-centred, culturally relevant content across the island nation for 75 years! Kate Michel with 4VEH, a ministry partner of Trans World Radio, tells the story of a listener named Darbell. “He had got into a situation where the only thing he thought he could do was to kill himself. He had made some plans. He was going to hang himself using the rope from the family goat,” she says. But then Darbell turned on a solar-powered radio the 4VEH team had distributed. A pastor was preaching from a passage where Jesus instructs His disciples to move on if a city refuses to welcome their gospel message. (See Matthew 10 and passages in Mark 6 and Luke 9.)

Then the pastor said point-blank, “Don’t do the thing that you’re planning to do. Don’t kill yourself. If there’s a place you don’t feel at ease, brush off the dust from your sandals and walk away.” Darbell realized he didn’t have to kill himself. He moved to a new place, where he met the woman he later married and together they started a family. “If I’m still alive today, it’s thanks to 4VEH,” Darbell later said. 

US PRESIDENT PARDONS JAILED PRO-LIFE ACTIVISTS

President Donald Trump has granted pardons to approximately two dozen pro-life activists who were prosecuted under the Biden administration for unlawful protests at abortion clinics. The pardons, came just ahead of the 2025 March for Life and benefit those who had been sentenced, including prison time, for violating the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act. “Twenty-three people that were prosecuted. They should not have been prosecuted,” the President stated while signing the pardon. “Many of them are elderly. This is a great honour to sign this.”

Many claim that the former US President, used the FACE Act as a tool for the weaponisation of the law against pro-life activists. Pro-life moms and grandmothers were jailed for peacefully protesting at abortion clinics, and Lauren Handy who was jailed for five years for exposing evidence of late-term abortions.

One day after President Donald Trump signed pardons for the 23 pro-life Americans unjustly persecuted by the Biden Administration, the Trump Department of Justice issued a new memo making it clear it would not prosecute any pro-life Americans for peacefully protesting abortion. Under the new directive, actions under the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act will proceed only under “extraordinary circumstances involving  serious aggravating factors like death, serious bodily harm or serious property damage. Meanwhile US Senators and others, are urging the repeal of the FACE Act. [Source: Premier Christian News & LifeNews.com]

BILL PROTECTING BABIES WHO SURVIVE ABORTIONS PASSED

USA – A Bill that protects the life of a baby that is aborted alive was approved in the Lower House. “Bill HR21 would require any healthcare practitioner who is present at the time that such a child is born to exercise care to preserve the child’s life and health, and to ensure the child is immediately transported and admitted to a hospital. The bill would also require a healthcare practitioner, or hospital employee, to immediately report a violation of these requirements..” The Bill was supported by the US President, who applauded the Lower House for its efforts to protect the most vulnerable and prevent infanticide. The legislation was approved with a vote of 217 to 204. Attempts to legislate a similar Bill here in Australia, have all been defeated.

TRUTH WINS OUT – CHRISTIAN BROTHERS IN PAKISTAN ACQUITTED OF BLASPHEMY

A court in Pakistan on Saturday (Jan. 25)  ordered that 18-year-old twins Sahil Shahid and Raheel Shahid, be released from prison after their defence team proved they had been falsely charged and that police had failed to properly investigate the charges. The brothers are illiterate and belong to a poor family and family members had surrendered them to police after officials took their mother and an uncle into custody. 

During cross-examination of eight witnesses, including the Investigating Officer and the complainant, the Judge asked if any of them could identify which quranic passage or verses had allegedly been desecrated by the brothers. “Neither the Investigative Officer nor any other witness was able to respond to my question, which shows that the evidence that they had submitted against the brothers had been fabricated,” stated the twins’ defence counsel. They have now been released from prison and been reunited with their family. The UN Human Rights Committee have expressed alarm over the ever increasing false blasphemy accusations in Pakistan, and has urged the repeal or amending of the country’s widely condemned blasphemy laws. Pakistan ranked eighth on Open Doors’ 2025 World Watch List of the most difficult places to be a Christian. [Source: BarnabasAid]

VERY LITTLE COMFORT AFTER CHURCH LEADERS MET WITH TRANSITIONAL GOVERNMENT

SYRIA – Concerns for the safety of Syria’s small Christian community remain, even after Syrian church leaders met with Ahmad al-Sharaa, the head of Syria’s transitional government, in early January 2025. The meeting enabled representatives of Syria’s Christian population to raise questions and concerns with the new administration following the fall of President Bashar al-Assad the previous month. As previously reported in World News, many Christians have welcomed the fall of Assad’s brutal government, which was notorious for human rights abuses. Believers are apprehensive, however, about the possibility of an Islamist government under Sharaa that will persecute them and other religious minorities.

One of the concerns is that Sharaa’s group, the HTS –  a coalition of northern Syria-based Sunni Islamist who opposed the regime of  President Bashar al-Assad, remained affiliated to Al Qaeda – the World Islamic Front for Jihad against Jews and Crusaders (Christians). In the days following the fall of Assad, Al Qaeda issued a statement urging the victorious rebels to turn against “Jews and Crusaders”. In recent weeks, various incidents have reflected a growing violence against Christians, heightening security concerns in the region.

However in recent years, the HTS has disaffiliated from Al Qaeda, and Sharaa has spoken of respecting religious diversity and religious freedom. In an interview with the British Broadcasting Committee, Sharaa said HTS should be de-listed as a terrorist organisation. He said that they had never targeted civilians or civilian areas. In fact, they considered themselves to be victim of the crimes of the Assad regime. In the discussions that took place, Sharaa affirmed that Christians are an integral component of Syrian society. But concerns still remain. In a press conference following the meeting when asked about Sharaa, a spokesman stated: “It is ambiguous — we cannot discern his true intentions. There are no guarantees, and we remain in limbo. 

[Sources: BarnabasAid, and various Media outlets,]

THE CHALLENGES IN SIGN LANGUAGE BIBLE TRANSLATION

International (MNN) —  “Reading is a sound-based activity,” Rob Myers of DOOR International says. “We grew up with a language and then learned to read it, but that’s not true for Deaf people. Deaf communities aren’t quite so privileged. While Deaf people may be around written Scripture, many of them have been missing information about that Scripture for many years. There are almost 400 different sign languages. Less than half of them have active translation projects started yet,” Myers says. DOOR initiated the Translation Resources Development (TRD) project in 2021 -2023. This groundbreaking two-year project offered over 30 hours of training material, empowering Deaf ministry with vital resources for sign language translation teams. 

And now there’s a collective effort underway to produce more sign language Bible translations. “We have connections to 70-80 percent of the translation projects that are happening out in the field, and we’re grateful to be able to collaborate with partners and support efforts that are happening,” Myers says. “No matter what, we need to make sure that we keep or increase the quality of translation,” he adds. “It’s critical that it (the translation) be good quality because you’re setting theology for generations.” Translation consultants play a critical role in the process. “Translation consultants will walk alongside teams of native signers, and together, they’ll ensure that the quality and accuracy of that translation is spot on,” Myers explains. In 2025, DOOR wants to streamline its training for Deaf and Hearing translation consultants, bringing it from many years down to three. “We’re also focused on increasing the number of video resources in sign language for translators and translation consultants, resources that … further explain the Scripture, that help those teams translate quickly and grasp the deep meaning.”

OHIO PASTOR CRIMINALLY CHARGED AND JAILED FOR HELPING HOMELESS 

An Ohio pastor was found guilty on a criminal charge for failing to comply with his city’s fire code after facing opposition from officials for housing homeless men and women in his church. Pastor Chris Avell of Dad’s Place Church in Bryan, Ohio was fined $200 and given a 60-day suspended jail sentence for keeping his church open 24/7 for homeless people looking to escape the bitter cold. Avell has been fighting a year-long battle against city officials. Last year, the City of Bryan claimed that since the church didn’t have bedrooms, it could not house the homeless. Avell’s lawyer previously told CBN News that once the pastor refused to close the doors of his church, the city began to engage in ‘unlawful harassment’ by waging ‘lawfare’. On April 24th, the fire chief, the assistant fire chief, and a police officer burst through the church’s doors (at) 5:30 a.m. for a surprise, unannounced fire inspection,” Ryan Gardner, an attorney with First Liberty shared. “And, upon completing that inspection, they immediately cited the church for new violations, which had never been discussed before.”

City officials demanded the church install an expensive fire suppression system, but First Liberty pointed out that the city does not require other apartment complexes, and even a  senior living facility to install one. Bryan Municipal Court Judge Kent North ruled that Avell was guilty of refusing to comply with the city’s fire code, but  issued a stay against the city in their lawsuit which allows Dad’s Place to continue operating as a church, but its residential operations must stop until building and fire code applications are filed and approved. First Liberty said they would appeal the ruling. “No pastor in America, including Pastor Chris Avell, should be pronounced guilty for providing temporary shelter to those in desperate need,” said Ryan Gardner, Counsel for First Liberty. [Source: CBNNews]

A NEW WATCHDOG REPORT EXPOSES GLOBAL TERROR AGAINST BELIEVERS

A new persecution watchdog has released a report that aims to fill a “gap” when it comes to fully reporting on the Christian persecution raging across the globe. “We found was there needed to be a report that was based entirely on well verified, carefully reviewed sources,” Isaac Six, senior director of advocacy for Global Christian Relief (GCR), told CBN News. “We do not rely on interviews and available numbers to essentially ‘make an estimate’. He said GCR’s new ‘Red List’ works a bit differently. Our report numbers can seem a little lower than some of those, but that’s because we’re only using numbers we can absolutely verify are true,” he said, noting the “Red List” provides data over a two-year period that is heavily verified and ‘irrefutable’. The methodology even enabled the researchers to confirm a few hundred of the arrests that have unfolded in North Korea, a reclusive nation known for being the worst persecutor of Christians across the globe — and that’s not all. We were able to confirm that Afghanistan, since the takeover of the Taliban, is almost a closed box,” Six said. “Everything is underground. We do have networks there, but it’s very difficult to get any public verified reporting of persecution.”

Watch Six explain: “And while there are many types of persecution and pressures placed on believers, Six said violence is the ‘primary method through which persecutors are trying to drive out the church. This isn’t just random, sporadic acts of anger or violence towards Christians,” he said. “In a lot of these cases, this is well-organized, systematic, long-term, and the overarching goal here is to crush the church and extinguish it.” One of the unique facets of the “Red List” is that nations are ranked not just by overall persecution metrics but by categories. Killings are just one such category, with Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mozambique, Ethiopia, and Russia serving as the top five on the list.

Nigeria is consistently found by watchdogs to be the most deadly nation for believers. The ‘Red List’ is no exception, with the numbers found in the report quite staggering. “We documented almost 10,000 killings of Christians, mostly in the north and middle part of Nigeria,” Six said. “And, again, that is systematic violence being perpetrated and led by groups like Boko Haram, and Islamic State West Africa Province, and then other armed groups. And, frankly, the church has to wake up to some of this. Only a fraction of believers are even aware of what’s happening. We need a wave of support and prayer coming out of the global church for the areas where the body of Christ is just being attacked in the worst possible ways.”

Six also addressed Russia’s placement in the top five for killings. “Russia … appears twice on a report, both for killings and also for arrests,” Six said. “Now, the killings are primarily happening in the North Caucasus region of Russia. It borders Georgia and Azerbaijan, the Caspian Sea.” He continued, “And, in Dagestan, you have an Islamist militancy that’s …targeting Orthodox Russian Christians; it will target priests and churches. So that’s where most of those killings are happening.” Six said some of the killings are also happening in occupied areas of Eastern Ukraine, as the Russia-Ukraine war continues to rage. “Many parts of the church are going underground in Eastern Ukraine,” he said. Six is hoping the “Red List” is a valuable resource – one that helps people navigate and understand these persistent issues of persecution. [Source: CBN News]

– compiled by Guid Kettniss