Along with North Korea, Pakistan, China, and India are expected to be among the worst countries for Christians in 2019. Pakistan and China both have Orthodox Christian communities that live under constant threat, as do all the Christians in those countries. India is the home of an ancient Christian community founded by St. Thomas the Apostle in the first century. We pray that the Christians in these countries and others would all be safe and protected, and that by the mercy of Almighty God, 2019 would not be a year of escalating persecution, but of peace and renewal for Christian communities all over the world.
“Persecution of Christians likely to rise in 2019, report warns,” by Zack Evans, Jerusalem Post, March 8, 2019:
Christians are facing an alarming rise in persecution this year, according to a report from the Open Doors organization.
Open Doors provides support for Christians persecuted for their faith in various countries around the globe.
The report predicted a 14% increase in the number of persecuted Christians worldwide in 2019. Currently, the report states, ” 1 in 9 Christians experience high levels of persecution worldwide.”
Eleven Christians are killed each day for faith-related reasons, and 4,136 were killed in total in 2018.
The most dangerous country to be a Christian is North Korea, where members of the faith are targeted because they are seen as dangerous to the Communist regime.
All but two of the top 15 most dangerous countries for Christians are majority-Muslim. Pakistan, which ranks as the fifth-most dangerous, was in the spotlight last October when its Supreme Court overturned the death sentence of Asia Bibi, a Christian mother of four originally found guilty of blasphemy in 2010 and who sat on death row for eight years.
Both China and India also ranked as dangerous countries to be a practicing Christian, but for the first time India entered the top ten – making it to the tenth spot on the list of countries in which it is dangerous to practice Christianity.
This means that the nation is more hostile to Christians than Syria, which came in at number 11),or Iraq at 13….
