AP

BANGLADESH – FOUR CHRISTIANS HARASSED FOR SHARING THE GOSPEL

Barnabas Aid contacts have requested prayer after four Christians were detained by Muslim leaders in northern Bangladesh. The four believers were preaching the Gospel on 27 February when a crowd intervened. Video posted on social media shows one of the Christians being tied up by a group of Muslim men. The four were detained by police but have now been released. Contacts report that police officers at first demanded a bribe in order to release the four men, refusing to do so when they explained that they had no money.
The incident occurred two weeks after Christians in Bangladesh cautiously welcomed the outcome of the first elections since the ousting of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in 2024. Despite initial concerns, Islamist political parties did not gain a majority. Undeterred, extremists within the country’s Muslim majority continue to harass Christians. Christians represent less than 1% of the population of Muslim-majority Bangladesh. Along with Hindus they are vulnerable to harassment and persecution at the hands of Islamist extremists.
Praise the Lord for the willingness of our brothers to share the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ in the face of likely opposition. Pray for their protection, courage and continued faithfulness as they make Him known in a hostile environment. Give thanks that Islamists were not given an electoral mandate to pursue any programme of repression of minorities. Ask God to strengthen all Christians in Bangladesh, especially pastors and church leaders, to exercise courage and discernment in proclaiming the truth (2 Timothy 1:7-8). Pray that national and local authorities will uphold justice, restrain violence and protect all citizens equally. [Source: BarnabasAid]

PHOTOGRAPHER BEATS CITY LAW THAT FORCES THE PROMOTION OF GAY PRIDE EVENTS
A Christian photographer’s seven-year legal battle against a Louisville (USA) Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) ordinance concluded with an $800,000 settlement, affirming that the government cannot compel artistic speech. The story began in 2019, when photographer Chelsey Nelson challenged the city’s anti-discrimination law, which prohibited him from advertising according to her Christian convictions about marriage. Under the law, Nelson would not be allowed to conscientiously object and also keep her business photographing and blogging about weddings between one man and one woman. Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) said at the time that the law “forced her to use her artistic talents to promote same-sex wedding ceremonies”.
The first significant win was in 2022, when a federal district court issued a free speech injunction stopping the city from enforcing the law. ADF explained that this allowed Nelson to “use her creative talents to speak messages that align with her religious beliefs about marriage, and advertise her business as such”. In 2025, a US District Court validated the photographer’s concerns and upheld the 2022 protection order, and awarded her the settlement. This stopped the city from using its DEI law to cancel Nelson’s livelihood. “A God-Given, Constitutionally Guaranteed Right,” comment the ADF on the victory. [Source: The Daily Declaration]

US SUPREME COURT SIDES WITH CHRISTIAN COUNSELLOR AGAINST BAN ON ‘CONVERSION THERAPY’.The US Supreme Court ruled 8-1 that Colorado’s ban on counselling aimed at helping gender-confused children — popularly known as a ban on ‘conversion therapy’ — had violated a Christian counsellor’s First Amendment speech rights. The decision throws into question similar laws across more than 20 US states and puts the spotlight on Australia, where three jurisdictions have enacted broad criminal bans on similar faith-based counselling.
The case centred on Kaley Chiles, a licensed Colorado counsellor who challenged the state’s 2019 Minor Conversion Therapy Law after it prevented her from accepting clients who wanted help aligning their identity with their biological sex. Justice Neil Gorsuch, writing for the majority, found that Colorado’s law did not merely regulate professional conduct — it discriminated on the basis of viewpoint. “Colorado’s law addressing ‘conversion therapy’ does not just ban physical interventions,” Gorsuch wrote. “In cases like this, it censors speech based on viewpoint. As applied to Ms Chiles, Colorado’s law regulates the content of her speech and goes further to prescribe what views she may and may not express,” the majority held.

WHAT THE RULING MEANS TO THE CHURCH IN AUSTRALIA:

Dr Paul Bedwell, Director of Youth For Christ Australia, explained that the ruling establishes a principle that has direct application to Australian law. “What we’re seeing is a shift back toward important principles — governments may regulate conduct, but they don’t get to dictate our conversations or our thoughts.”
The decision arrives as Australia maintains some of the world’s most expansive speech restrictions on faith-based counselling. Three jurisdictions have enacted broad criminal bans that go well beyond clinical settings to affect pastoral care, prayer ministry and biblical teaching. New South Wales’ Conversion Practices Ban Act 2024 imposes criminal and civil penalties for faith-based counselling and prayer. Anti-Discrimination NSW has confirmed that “praying with or over a particular person in an attempt to try to change or suppress that person’s sexuality or gender” is unlawful, and that the prohibition holds even where the person has voluntarily sought help.
Dr Bedwell said the ruling should prompt reflection in Canberra (and in each State -Ed). “This raises serious questions about whether Australian lawmakers have any interest at all in protecting free speech, or whether they will try to enforce one ideology upon Australians and criminalize any other views — and all at the cost of a minority group that has been mistreated and marginalised,” he said. “Those who have left LGBT identification behind do exist and do deserve the basic human rights that everyone else enjoys,” Bedwell added. “I pray we learn the lesson and move away from the criminalization of supportive care we have seen in recent Australian laws.” [Source: the Daily Declaration]

REACHING DEAF PEOPLE WITH THE GOSPEL
Reaching Deaf people overseas with the Gospel isn’t always easy, but it’s happening.  Many Deaf individuals find it hard to navigate the city, so they often remain in their villages in these remote mountain areas. Deaf leader Allan Orozco oversees DOOR International’s ministry to deaf people. DOOR has as it’s aim to “see Jesus transform every deaf person and community through a relationship with Him.” To achieve this, they seek to “grow and equip Deaf leaders worldwide in evangelism, discipleship, sign language, Bible translation and scripture engagement.” DOOR has established the only programme in the world dedicated to training Deaf Bible translation consultants, and is now ministering to Deaf people in 22 countries, and has planted 79 churches for Deaf people.
Deaf communities in distant regions of places like Nepal often keep to themselves. Allan Orozco says through a program called “2-by-2”, they help pairs of church planters begin work in unreached Deaf communities. The program trains Deaf leaders and pairs one gifted in evangelism with a gifted teacher.
Mr Orozco told Mission Network News 2-by-2 workers in Nepal for example, use motorbikes to navigate up mountains and engage with the Deaf people, sharing the Gospel. DOOR International currently supports 40 “2-by-2” teams serving Deaf communities worldwide. Reaching the Deaf for Christ is a monumental task – fewer than 2% of the world’s 70 million Deaf people know or follow Jesus. Pray for this ministry. [Source: Mission Network News and the DOOR website]

DISPLACED CHRISTIANS IN CAMEROON
Prolonged Boko Haram (militant Muslim terrorists) attacks in Cameroon’s Far North Region continue to displace Christians. Some have fled to safer nearby communities, while others, like the community of Njengui, have created a new settlement far from everything they once knew.
These resilient believers refuse to allow persecution to stop their faithful witness. The church they have established in this barren region receives visits from pastors and teachers from other regions to teach the Word and strengthen their fellowship. Though displaced and without portable water and other necessities, they are not discouraged. “We do not have a church building, but we do service using a shed. When you work for God, you’re obliged to work anywhere.” [Source: Open Doors]

CHRISTIANITY IN MALAYSIA
The three major ethnic groups in Malaysia are Malay, Chinese and Indian (Tamil). The Malays are the dominant group and see their ethnicity is so intertwined with Islam that to be Malay means to be Muslim. The government upholds this view and forbids evangelisation of the Malays. Malaysia’s citizens are free to practise the religion of their choice, provided ethnic Malays do not practise any religion other than Islam. Ethnic Malay Christians can meet only in underground churches and if caught can expect to be sent to camps for re-education. Nevertheless, the church in Malaysia overall is vibrant and outreaching. It is largely Chinese in ethnicity and is strongly mission minded. [Source:  Voice of the Martyrs]

SYDNEY ANGLICANS CONFRONT COVID FAILURES

The Sydney Anglican Diocese has become the first major Australian denomination to formally examine the denomination’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic from January 2020 to September 2022. In what has been described as the most honest church COVID review, the Report has been welcomed with measured appreciation by voices long critical of Australian church leadership during the COVID era.
The 35-pages are structured in two parts: a joint committee report offering balanced reflections and practical recommendations, and a lengthy individual contribution from one committee member, the Rev Zac Veron of Bayside Anglican Church — the section that has drawn most attention. The report’s overall verdict struck a balance between gratitude for the good-faith efforts of leaders and candid acknowledgment of failures in preparation, pastoral care and gospel proclamation. The committee concluded that most COVID decisions fell into the “grey area of ‘may’ rather than ‘must’” and required wisdom and humility rather than categorical resistance. Candid weaknesses were also noted: the Diocese had no risk management framework and no continuity plan, and regional differences in parishioners’ attitudes to restrictions were not fully appreciated. The committee proposed a suite of practical reforms — including an Emergency Action Plan with conscience guidelines, healing gatherings, and a new training module at Moore Theological College on “disagreeing well” in crisis conditions.
The individual reflection by Rev Zac Veron, is the document’s most searching section. Running to ten pages, it takes the joint report’s cautious concerns and follows them to their conclusions. Veron argues the diocesan response was “driven by legal liability, risk minimisation, and a concern not to offend public health authorities.” He contends that the greater risk went largely unacknowledged — “the erosion of trust within our churches, the silencing of differing opinions, and the moral compromise of treating conscience-bound individuals as problems to be managed rather than members of the body of Christ”.
Veron saves his sharpest critique for the treatment of those who objected to COVID-19 injection mandates on the grounds of conscience. Synod data confirmed that at least 22 lay ministers and volunteers were stood down or encouraged to step aside, and 13 employees and church workers were dismissed, stood down, or resigned. Veron noted that whole families left churches because of their conscientious anti-vaccination stance, and some have not returned since. “There was no evidence presented to the Committee that any of these people subsequently received an apology,” he wrote. “Sadly, not a few Anglicans were coerced by their spiritual leaders into taking a vaccine against their conscience. Acting against your conscience is always sinful.” Citing Matthew 5:23–24, Veron recommends that those 22 individuals “should receive sincere apologies from those who stood them down.”
On the relationship between church and state, Veron contends the diocesan leadership failed to apply the theological limits on government authority supplied by the Anglican tradition itself. Drawing on Romans 13, Acts 5:29, and Article 37 of the Thirty-Nine Articles, he argues that the closing of church buildings, the prohibition on congregational singing and the exclusion of unvaccinated believers “were all done with little theological resistance. The Diocese appeared to exceed even the government’s requirements,” he added. Veron contends that the Diocesan senior leadership “chose compliance over principle” and departed from the example of the English reformers.
The report closes with Veron’s call: “Let us not be driven by fear in the future, but by faith. Let us not outsource moral clarity to the government, but recover our prophetic voice.” [Source: The Daily Declaration and the Response Report. The full Report can be reviewed at: https://docs.sydneyanglicans.net/s/ sfsites/c/sfc/servlet.shepherd/document/download/069Ol00000UupWWIAZ]

– compiled by Guido Kettniss