Most of us struggle to imagine living in a country where a 77-year-old pastor can be arrested and sent to prison simply for leading a Bible study and preaching the Gospel. Yet that is the reality facing believers in parts of China today.

In one of the largest coordinated prosecutions of Chinese Christians in recent years, 31 members of an unregistered house church in Suizhou in central China’s Hubei province have been given prison sentences ranging from two years and four months up to four years. The longest sentence was imposed on Song Yude (73), a regional church leader from Nanyang in neighbouring Henan province.

Among those sentenced was 77-year-old pastor Yang Zhijin, also from Nanyang, who was convicted by the People’s Court of Zengdu district in Suizhou city of “using a cult organization to undermine the implementation of the law”. On May 21, the court sentenced him to three years and two months in prison and a fine of 8,000 RMB (1,640 CDN).

Authorities alleged Pastor Yang participated in cross-provincial Christian fellowship activities, clergy training and efforts to help detained Christians secure legal representation. The ruling against him stated that he and others managed a network of multiple churches spanning Hubei and Henan provinces.

According to the judgment, he and others travelled to Suizhou in September 2023 with funds to provide legal assistance by hiring defence lawyers for several Christians who had been arrested by public security authorities. Most were reportedly too poor to afford lawyers. The judgment interpreted this legal assistance as “cross-provincial cult activities” and “resisting law enforcement”.

• Pray for those sentenced to prison and the families they will be separated from.

• Pray they will remain strong and encouraged while enduring difficult and testing times while in prison.

• Pray that the Chinese church will find new creative ways of training future leaders and missionaries.

Between twenty-five and thirty Christians were injured, including a pastor and his pregnant wife, when a crowd of extremists attacked a worship gathering in the remote forest village of Sadrapal, in the Tongpal area of Sukma District, Chhattisgarh, India.

According to local Christian sources, believers had gathered for Sunday worship around 11 AM in a small mud house when a group of individuals allegedly stormed the meeting and violently attacked those present.

Reports indicate that several worshippers were beaten, and some are said to be in critical condition. What should have been a peaceful gathering for prayer reportedly turned into a brutal assault. The attack has drawn attention from local Christian communities and advocacy groups, which are calling for awareness, accountability, and protection for vulnerable believers.

The Christians in this village are among the poorest members of society. They were not worshipping in a large church or a well-funded building. They were gathered in a simple mud house. Yet even there, they reportedly were not safe.

Local Christian leaders say incidents like this are often fuelled by hostility toward Christians and allegations of forced conversions.

Whether proven or not, such accusations can create an atmosphere where ordinary believers face suspicion, harassment, social pressure, and, at times, violence.

Some victims from this attack remain in critical condition. Families are dealing with serious injuries, trauma, and the fear that more violence could follow.

Many in the community do not believe authorities will act unless significant public attention is brought to the case.

Chhattisgarh Christians say these families are asking for awareness because they have little confidence that meaningful action will occur without public pressure and widespread attention.

• Pray for those who endured such violence.

• Pray they will heal from both the physical and emotional beating.

• Pray that Indian believers will not give in to the fear and emotional paralysis that often affects those who have been traumatised.

Police in China’s Guizhou province have arrested six Christians on charges including “fraud” and the unprecedented accusation of “organizing minors to engage in activities undermining public order”.

The Christians are leaders in a house church in Guizhou’s Kaili city and include five men – Wei Yongqiang, He Jinbao, Quan Xiaolong, Long Jian and Cheng Yongbing – and a woman named Zhou Guixia.

Fraud charges are increasingly brought against leaders of unregistered churches for receiving voluntary tithes and offerings, which the authorities describe as “illegal income”. Chinese authorities regularly use fraud charges as a way to penalize unregistered churches without bringing specifically religious charges.

The charge of “organizing minors to engage in activities undermining public order”, however, is unprecedented in the context of church ministry and has traditionally been applied only when minors are incited to fight, steal or engage in other acts that threaten public safety.

In China, “minors are prohibited from entering churches… Local sources say the accusation is based entirely on ordinary church activities, such as holding Sunday school classes and families participating in worship together.

• Pray for those arrested and for the many children affected by these arrests.

Two Montagnard Vietnamese Christian men — Pastor Siu Yúi, 68, and church member Siu Dok, 40 — were recently arrested in Vietnam’s Central Highlands region.

Both men were charged with “religious teachings” to mobilize ethnic minority communities in Vietnam’s Central Highlands toward separatism and independence, according to Christianity Solidarity Worldwide.

These arrests of Montagnard Christians are the latest in a long campaign the Communist Vietnamese government has waged against Montagnard Christian ethnic minorities in the Central Highlands who refuse to join state-controlled and sanctioned churches.

But this campaign has extended beyond Vietnamese borders, especially with the controversial extradition of Montagnard Christian leader Y Qinh Bdap from Thailand a few months ago to serve a prison sentence in Vietnam.

• Pray for these brothers, and for the countless other Montagnard Christians inside Vietnam, and also those living as refugees in Thailand, and scattered around the globe facing persecution.

Ghazal Marzban (42), a Christian convert from Islam in Iran, was given a harsh 9-year prison sentence for “propaganda against the state” and “gathering and collusion against national security.”

She was sentenced by Revolutionary Court judge Iman Afshari, who is known for handing down harsh sentences to many Christians and political prisoners.

Ghazal’s husband, also a Christian convert, suffers from Parkinson’s Disease. It is unclear how he will be cared for while Ghazal is in prison.

• Pray for her and her husband that God would make a way for them both.

• Pray for Iran.

• Pray for Pastor Wang Yi and the many others of his house church who have been imprisoned. Pastor Yi was sentenced to 9 years in prison in 2019.

• Pray for his wife Jiang Rong who has been under 24-hour surveillance.

• Pray God would strengthen Pastor Wang, his wife, family and other Christians.