Christian Persecution Worsening Around the World
The persecution and oppression of our brothers and sisters in Christ around the world is getting worse, according to a report from Aid to the Church in Need UK. This report on the persecuted church found the “oppression of Christians has worsened in 55% of countries . . . without any country showing an improvement.”
According to the report, which looked at persecution between August 2024 and June 2026, Christians “are being forced from their homes through conflict, extremism, and religiously motivated violence in 18 countries across Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America.” This means 220 million Christians are “directly exposed to persecution worldwide.”
The report listed a few examples of what this persecution looks like:
Chinese authorities have intensified their oppression of Christians, as they aim to align religious doctrine more closely with communist principles. This has led to mass detentions, clergy being jailed on legal technicalities, churches closing, and online religious content being controlled.
The report tells of the persecution in Nicaragua, where the regime increased its crackdown on Christians, arresting and exiling clergy, preventing ordinations, seizing Church institutions, and preventing people entering the country with Bibles.
[In Iran] the arrests of Christians doubled within 12 months . . . as crackdowns have intensified.
This month, November, is designated by Voice of the Martyrs as a month of international prayer for the persecuted church. So many of our brothers and sisters are suffering at the hands of extremist groups, hostile governments, or even angry family members. (And as I wrote about a few weeks ago, many can’t even get a copy of the Scriptures!)
The Bible commands us to remember our fellow Christians, as if we were in prison with them:
Remember the prisoners, as though in prison with them, and those who are mistreated, since you yourselves also are in the body. (Hebrews 13:3)
As Christians, we aren’t surprised by persecution—Jesus told us it would come, and we’ve seen waves of persecution all throughout church history—but reports like this are a sobering reminder to those of us who experience relative freedom to practice our beliefs that we need to remember those who are suffering for Christ and lift them up in prayer. And remember, America is not exempt from persecution happening here as well.
Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. (Romans 15:13)
Between Nov. 3 and Nov. 8, 2026, attacks on Christian communities in Nigeria’s Plateau and Benue states killed at least 11 people, according to field reporting from Nigeria. The field report attributes the attacks to Fulani herdsmen.
A pastor was among four people killed when gunmen attacked a market in Benue’s Logo Local Government Area (LGA). In Plateau, attacks in Mangu, Riyom and Barkin Ladi LGAs killed at least seven people, among them a soldier and the nephew of a Christian leader.
On Nov. 3, at about 5 p.m., gunmen attacked Abeda Shitile in the Gaambe-Tiev area of Logo LGA. It was the community’s weekly market day, and traders were getting ready to go home. The gunmen opened fire near a POS shop in the Ikyô Tor Dukur area and then moved toward the motor park on Afia Road. The attack lasted more than two hours, according to Vanguard. The dead were Pastor Terungwa Tyonungo, Msoo Chan, Suurshater Iornumbe and Dodo Shingir.
Reported casualty figures differed. New Telegraph named eight wounded: Kumater Awua, Miracle Gangera, Tsetim Terungwa, Iortyom Helen, Seember Aondongu, Kofi Aondosoo, Chuku Okoro and Orker Iortyom. Logo LGA chairman Clement Kav put the toll at four killed and five injured. Benue police spokesman DSP Peter Aondongu said three people died, TruthNigeria reported. TruthNigeria also reported that the attackers were Fulani militiamen who arrived on motorcycles.
According to the field report, Christian farming communities in Logo have resisted a siege imposed by Fulani herdsmen, who are also attacking the weekly markets where Christian farmers gather to sell their produce. Government sources told TruthNigeria the aim was to disrupt farm production during the harvest.
In Plateau, Fulani herdsmen killed two people and wounded a third on Nov. 6 in Larkas, a community in the Panyam district of Mangu LGA. Larkas lies at the edge of villages whose residents have been displaced. In a phone interview with field reporters, Mathias Sokdet, a community leader in charge of internally displaced persons (IDPs), said the siege had devastated the economy of the area’s Christian communities
On the evening of Nov. 7, Fulani herdsmen killed the nephew of Barrister Dalyop Solomon Mwantiri, an outspoken Christian leader in Plateau, in Riyom LGA, according to local reporters on Facebook. The field report states that the attackers targeted Mwantiri’s nephew in an attempt to silence Christian voices. His name has not been reported.
On Sunday, Nov. 8, gunmen killed three civilians and a soldier in Bel village, Sho District, Barkin Ladi LGA. The field report identifies the three civilians as Christian youths and attributes the attack to Fulani herdsmen. Rwang Tengwong, publicity secretary of the Berom Youth Moulders Association, named the dead as Emmanuel Pam Dachung, 15, Joseph Gyang, 28, and Emmanuel Yohanna, 32. He said a soldier was also among those killed, Daily Trust reported.
Resident Bulus Bot said the gunmen “opened fire on innocent citizens, leaving some people dead and others injured.” Tengwong said the killing of a minor and a soldier “highlights the gravity of the security situation.” He also questioned whether the curfew in Barkin Ladi was working. Capt. Chinonso Polycarp Oteh, spokesman for Operation Enduring Peace, and state police spokesman Alfred Alabo had not commented by the time the reports were published.
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