AP

LESS PERSECUTION OF CHRISTIANS THIS EASTER

(Morning Star News) – compared to other years, Christians were able to celebrate Easter with less serious persecution. To date only two serious incidents have been reported – from Nigeria and Nicaragua. Six people were killed and more than 30 were hospitalized when an18-wheel trailer truck full of grain bore down on the Christians from behind at an Easter Monday procession in Billiri Gombe, in northeast Nigeria. “As soon as the Muslim driver saw the crowd of Christians ahead of him, he increased his speed and ran into the group from behind them without ever honking his horn,” an eye-witness reported. Some of these Christians are permanently maimed, and their lives will not be the same.” The injured were rushed to General Hospital Billiri, but there were no emergency items and medications there, it was said. “The hospital pharmacy itself was closed, and there was no one on duty,” they said. “The volunteer medical workers who were there had to get the emergency drugs and items from a nearby pharmacy.” Police initially attempted to attribute the incident to brake failure, but a committee formed by Gombe state officials concluded that the driver deliberately ploughed into the procession.
Police confirmed that the same driver had been involved in another incident that morning.  At about 6:30 a.m, a vehicle ran into a man and his daughter on a motorcycle who were coming from the Easter service. Police said that the young Christian girl sustained some injuries, which required medical attention.
Area resident Nathaniel Chechera said what began as a joyful Easter celebration turned into a tragedy. “Christians who were simply out to express their faith and joy were forced into mourning,” Chechera told Morning Star News, adding that such attacks have become a pastime for terrorists who derive joy in killing Christians because they see these acts as jihad and worship of Allah. “This isn’t the first time. Christian festive seasons in Gombe are increasingly becoming moments of sorrow because of the reckless and heartless actions of some Muslim truck drivers,” Chechera said. “This cycle of bloodshed in Gombe state must end as they are not just ‘accidents. They are avoidable tragedies.” Nigeria ranked seventh on the 2025 World Watch List list of the 50 worst countries for Christians.

EVANGELIST WHO LED MUSLIMS TO CHRIST IS SLAIN AFTER GOSPEL EVENT
Morning Star News – Islamists killed an evangelist after he led several Muslims to faith in Christ at an open-air event in eastern Uganda last month, sources said. David Washume, 38, living in the Mbale District was stabbed to death on April 3 as he made his way back from three days of preaching in several areas. One of those attending the meetings said that with fellow evangelist Wepuhulu, David incorporated quranic verses and biblical references in his preaching, emphasizing the divinity of Christ and the humanity of Muhammad, the prophet of Islam.
“On the third day the attendance increased in number, and he demanded a response of putting sin to death in their lives, to kill sin and identify themselves with Christ and against Satan, and their voices lifted to heaven in song,” said the attendee, whose name is withheld for security reasons. “Many people responded, including several Muslims who accepted Jesus as Lord and Saviour. But some Muslims started shouting in protest, and the two evangelists left and entered a friend’s home.” They left later in the night to return home, when they were attacked. Wepuhulu was able to escape, but David who was held by two men, was not.
The attack was the latest of many instances of persecution of Christians in Uganda. Uganda’s constitution and other laws provide for religious freedom, including the right to propagate one’s faith and convert from one faith to another. Muslims make up no more than 12 percent of Uganda’s population, with high concentrations in eastern areas of the country.

CHIEF MINISTER PROPOSES DEATH PENALTY FOR FORCED CONVERSION
INDIA: On March 8, 2025, the chief minister of Madhya Pradesh, a state in central India, presented plans at a government event to make provisions for capital punishment as the penalty for those who force or lure girls into another religion. An opposing leader requested that the chief minister clarify his definition of forced conversion. Currently, the Madhya Pradesh Freedom of Religion Act, as of 2021, imposes jail time OF up to ten years and fines for the forced conversion of minors, women and other groups. The vague definition of “forced conversion” has been exploited by Hindu nationalists to harass and attack Christian activity.
Pastors and church planters in India are under severe pressure due to these increasingly strict and vague anti-conversion laws. Chhatar Singh, a schoolteacher in India, placed his faith in Christ in 2002 and has planted churches in seven villages. His Hindu father turned against him after Chhatar refused to perform traditional Hindu funeral rites when his mother died in 2010. On Jan. 27, 2021, Singh and three other Christians were arrested on false charges of forced conversion. They spent a month in jail and, consequently, Singh was suspended from his teaching job. In July 2024, after Singh was cut off from his inheritance, his father filed a criminal complaint against him, alleging that Chhatar tried to convert him to Christianity. Chhatar spent another 20 days in jail before bail was granted. Chhatar’s children asked their grandfather to withdraw the case, which he said he would do if they denied Jesus. The children told their grandfather that they were proud of their father for standing up for his faith and that they would never deny Christ.
In practice, anti-conversion laws have been applied by Hindu nationalists against any kind of Christian activity, and  following Christ in India without facing imprisonment or fines is increasingly difficult. However, persecuted Christians in India continue to share the gospel, refusing to deny Christ when pressured by Hindu extremists. [Source: Voice of the Martyrs]

PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH IN AMERICA SEES GROWTH FOR THIRD YEAR RUNNING
The Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) has reported steady growth for the third year running. This comes as many US denominations continue to face numerical decline. In its latest five-year review, nearly 1,000 congregations submitted data showing a 1.84 per cent rise in membership in 2024, bringing the total to over 400,000 members, as reported by The Christian Post. Adult baptisms increased by 16.5 per cent, while adult professions of faith surged by more than 22 per cent compared to 2023. Overall contributions grew nearly 16 per cent, with $US1.29bn given in 2024.
In comparison, the Presbyterian Church (USA) has lost about a million members since 2009, while more than 7,000 congregations have left the United Methodist Church (UMC) due to internal disagreements over sexuality. [Source: Premier Christian News]

THE PLIGHT OF CHRISTIANS IN BURMA
Myanmar (Burma): For decades the Myanmar military (Tatmadaw) has persecuted the country’s small Christian community, estimated at 6.2% of the population.. Attacks against the Christian minorities, including the Kayah (Karenni) people, have increased again since the military overthrew the democratically elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi in a coup in February 2021. The military represents the dominant national identity of ethnic Burman (or Bamar) Buddhists. Many Christians have been killed in land and air assaults on their communities, and tens of thousands of believers have been driven from their homes to seek refuge in the jungle. Some have been forced to flee more than once. Many Christians have crossed into Thailand or India. Even camps for internally displaced people within Myanmar are not safe; a 13-year-old girl and her father were killed by a Tatmadaw shell at a camp in Kayah State in July 2022. In March 2022 the US Commission on International Religious Freedom likened the treatment of Christians by the Tatmadaw to the genocide the military has perpetrated against Myanmar’s Muslim-majority Rohingya since 2017. Amnesty International, in a report dated May 2022, described atrocities against Karen and Karenni civilians in Karen and Kayah states as “likely amounting to crimes against humanity”. Amnesty reported widespread use of arbitrary detention, torture and extrajudicial executions of civilians.
PRAY for an end to the violence carried out by the military against Christians and others in Myanmar. Ask for the Lord’s protection for His people and all who are forced to flee attacks. Pray that aid supplied by Barnabas will continue to get through to displaced Christians.

– compiled by Guido Kettniss