us news
Pastor arrested for ‘illegal worship’ advocates for Evangelical churches forcibly closed in Algeria

Algerian Pastor Youssef Ourahmane, arrested and sentenced for leading worship services in his home country, recently shared his experience, highlighting the ongoing repression of religious minorities in Algeria.
At an event hosted by the legal group ADF International, Youssef, a Christian convert and leader in the Protestant Church of Algeria, advocated for religious freedom and the reopening of Evangelical churches forcibly closed by Algerian authorities.
He recounted his arrest and conviction for the so-called crime of “illegal worship.”
“We have had a lot of opposition,” he told the audience. “By 2019, most of the Evangelical churches in our country had been shut down. When the churches were closed, a lot of the Christians felt that something was gone in their Christian faith because the building had been part of their identity.”
Born into a Muslim family, Youssef converted to Christianity as a student and has been leading congregations for over 30 years. Despite legal challenges and personal risk, he remains steadfast in his faith.
When asked why he is willing to face imprisonment, he responded, “God knows the number of my hairs on my head, and none fall without His will. We have to accept God’s will, and God’s sovereignty. I try my best, by His grace, to be a good testimony to others.”
On July 2, 2023, Pastor Youssef was sentenced to two years in prison and fined 100,000 Algerian dinars ($750) for leading the Emmanuel Church in Algeria. Although his prison sentence was reduced to one year in November 2023, the Court of Appeal in Tizi Ouzou upheld his conviction in May and added an additional six months of suspended prison time.
“Despite their small numbers, Algeria has systematically been working to prevent the Evangelical community from being able to simply worship together,” said Kelsey Zorzi, director of advocacy for global religious freedom for ADF International, during the event. “Pastor Youssef’s case is one of roughly 50 spurious cases against Christians in the past few years. His advocacy throughout the years on behalf of the entire Evangelical church in Algeria, even in the face of potential imprisonment, is an inspiration.”
ADF International says it’s collaborating with other non-governmental organizations to support Youssef, aiming to raise his case with government officials from over 40 countries. “The United States and the international community must take a strong stand against the unlawful church closures and unjustified arrests and imprisonments of pastors,” Zorzi said.
Algeria, a nation where 99% of the nearly 43 million population identify as Sunni Muslim, has seen increased restrictions on religious minorities. The government enforces laws that limit religious freedom and expression, including blasphemy and anti-proselytism statutes targeting Christians and other minorities, according to ADF International.
Since 2019, authorities have forcibly closed 43 churches affiliated with the Église Protestante d’Algérie (EPA), leaving only one open, according to ADF International. Security police, acting on orders from the Ministry of Interior, have cited alleged “health and safety” code violations to justify locking church doors and declaring worship inside illegal.
“In one case, they physically beat a pastor in front of his young child because he was peacefully protesting the closure of his church,” ADF International reported.
Youssef has also faced baseless criminal prosecutions since 2008 for his peaceful Christian activities. He is among 50 Christians convicted under vague offenses such as “shaking the faith” of Muslims, illegal worship or embezzling tithing donations.
“In the 1970s, the government gave out licenses to churches which were largely full of expats,” Youssef explained at the event. “Today, the government is concerned that our churches are almost entirely filled with large numbers of Algerian converts.”
The crackdown has also affected small house congregations.
According to 21 Wilberforce, “The government mandates they can only have 10 people per gathering, forcing many house churches to operate underground. Church leaders who continue to hold services in Algeria are threatened, and several have been arrested and prosecuted by the government.”
Open Doors International reported that only four out of 47 churches under the Evangelical Protestant Church of Algeria remained open at the end of 2023.
“Christianity’s long history in Algeria is threatened,” stated 21 Wilberforce. “As the government closes churches and slows down the registration process for religious groups, Algerian Christians are finding life increasingly difficult.”
The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom has recommended that Algeria be included on the U.S. Department of State’s “Special Watch List” for severe violations of religious freedom. In its 2024 Annual Report, USCIRF highlighted the escalating repression of religious minorities in Algeria.
Violations of the rights of religious minorities contravene both international and domestic law, according to ADF International.
Sources:Christian Post
us news
Nearly 2,000 Students Choose Christ in 1 Night at Ohio State: ‘God Is Moving in This Generation’

Thousands of college students gathered at Ohio State University on Tuesday night to seek the hope that’s found in the gospel of Jesus Christ, and nearly 2,000 of them made decisions to give their hearts to God.
It was the second massive revival event of 2025 organized by the Unite US movement, and this time students braved sub-freezing temperatures down in the teens to get baptized in the backs of U-Haul trucks.
“We’ve been in awe of how God has already been moving on this campus over the past year, and He met us here again tonight,” Unite US said in a social media post. “Over 6,500 students gathered in The Schott to lift the name of Jesus and almost 2,000 responded to the altar call – experiencing the freedom only He can bring.”
“God is moving in this generation, and we know that He’s just getting started!” the post exclaimed.
Tonya Prewett, the founder and visionary behind Unite US, also posted to Instagram saying, “What a night at The Ohio State University! …close to 2,000 students made a decision to go all in with Jesus! I am in awe of how God is moving on college campuses!”
The Ohio State revival follows a Unite US outreach held last week at the University of Kentucky where more than 2,000 students gave their lives to Jesus Christ and many were baptized as well.
The next Unite US outreach will be held at Purdue University in Indiana on March 5. Since September of 2023, the ministry’s events have reached more than 70,000 college students across multiple campuses.
Sources:CBN News
us news
‘Amazing Salvation Numbers’: Seismic Spiritual Shift in World’s Largest Catholic Country

RIO DE JANEIRO – Brazil is witnessing a seismic shift in its religious landscape that’s rapidly reshaping the country’s spiritual and social fabric. As News discovered, evangelicals are poised to outnumber Catholics as the largest faith group there.
In the heart of Brazil, amidst the rhythmic beats of samba and the vibrant colors of carnival, something spiritually profound is unfolding. “We are on the verge of a religious change in Brazil’, said Brazilian sociologist Dr. José Alves.
If there’s one image that symbolizes Catholicism’s influence here, it’s Rio de Janeiro’s 98-foot-tall Christ the Redeemer. Inaugurated in 1931, the iconic statute celebrated the country’s rich Catholic heritage. There’s also the beautiful blue Cathedral of Brasilia – one of the largest Catholic churches in Brazil’s capital city. But despite these historical landmarks, Alves says the faith’s dominance is rapidly declining.
“In 1950, 93 percent of Brazilians identified as Catholics. The Church was losing about 1 percent of followers every decade,” said Alves. “However, from 1991 onwards, the Catholic Church started to lose 1 percent of followers every year, resulting in a dramatic drop.”
Evangelical Christianity, once a minority faith here, is now growing at unprecedented levels. The surveys show that what was once the world’s largest Catholic nation, will be overwhelming evangelical by 2030.
Signs of this growth are everywhere—mega-churches dotting the landscape, filled with thousands of worshippers each week. That includes Andre Fernandes’ church in São Paulo.
“We are living in the fulfillment of a promise,” said Fernandes, who pastors Lagoinha Church. “For many decades, we have heard that Brazil would experience a wave of revival that would be exported around the world, and I believe that this is what we are experiencing at this moment.”
It also includes Lourival Pereira’s congregation in the Amazon region—boasting more than 10,000 members across roughly 600 cell groups.
“The foundation of our growth is these cells,” said Pereira, pastor of a Foursquare Church in Belem. “The real revival is taking place outside the church walls. Every day, people are meeting in small groups in homes; it’s the biblical model.”
Then there’s J.B. Carvalho’s church in the capital city of Brasília.
“We started the church in 2003 with only 25 people. Today, we have about 12,000 people in Brasília alone,” said Carvalho of Community of the Nations Church. “We also have another 15,000 people in Fortaleza. Our churches are spread throughout Brazil.”
And Silas Malafaia’s church in Rio de Janeiro is one of the largest and most influential Pentecostal churches in Brazil with more than 100,000 members.
“In the next seven years or so, we will be the majority in the country,” declared Malafaia of the Assembly of God Victory in Christ church. “Today, we make up about 35% of the population, and God’s Kingdom has influence in every corner of Brazilian society.”
Marcelo Crivella, a well-known evangelical pastor turned politician, once served as mayor of Rio de Janeiro. He says that, years ago, evangelical Christians hesitated to get involved in politics—but that’s no longer the case.
More than 30% of the country’s legislators are now evangelical. “We are more than 140 deputies and more than 20 senators,” said Crivella, a Brazilian Congressman.
Many of them gather each Wednesday in the halls of Brazil’s Congress for worship and prayer.
Celina Leão, the vice governor of Brasília, tells CBN News that God is also at work in other branches of the government.
“I used to participate in those prayer meetings when I was in Congress,” Leão told CBN News. “Now, every month in the governor’s office, we meet for prayer, and people come to my office. It’s a wonderful time to see friends and be in communion.”
The country’s first evangelical church opened in 1922. By 1990, the number had grown to more than 7,000 congregations. Nearly 30 years later, it grew to almost 110,000.
The growth is so staggering that one study found 17 new evangelical churches opening every day across Brazil.
“Now in Brazil we have 550,000 – 550,000 churches,” declared Crivella.
Ezenete Rodrigues says this dramatic transformation began, as in many great movements, with the most profound of practices: prayer.
“I’ve always believed that prayer is like planting: You plant, plant, plant, and at some point, it will sprout, and then the explosion will come,” Rodrigues told CBN News.
Rodrigues is one of the country’s most well-known intercessors. She has organized countless prayer rallies nationwide, urging her fellow countrymen to turn to God.
“Brazil has been hungry and thirsty for God, and the key has been intercession—bending our knees, seeking God, and letting the Spirit of the Lord guide us in everything we do,” said Rodrigues. “Today, we can look back and see so many beautiful fruits of this commitment.”
Those who have been tracking the explosive growth of the evangelical movement here in Brazil say worship has also played a monumental role in the church’s growth. And one Christian artist, above all, has been at the center of it all.
Her name is Ana Paula Valadao.
“Even growing up, I had glimpses of crowds, of multitudes worshipping the Lord,” Valadao told us.
From the late 1990s to the early 2000s, her group’s music became synonymous with a powerful worship movement that emphasized intimacy with God, passionate worship, and personal revival.
“As I was songwriting, the Lord always made me very intentional,” Valadao said. “The whole idea was about transformation, was about changing the nation.”
Paula’s songs played across Brazil, helping many experience a deeper connection to their faith. “It was about healing the land, and we started seeing amazing salvation numbers,” said Valadao.
She held concerts in strategic locations, drawing millions of people, many of whom were Catholics.
“Like the carnival sight in Rio de Janeiro and in the soccer stadiums, Jesus broke every record, gathering more people than any soccer tournament,” Valadao recalled.
Because of her songs, many Catholic services in Brazil today—like one CBN News attended in São Paulo—have embraced a more evangelistic style of worship, shifting away from traditional liturgies to incorporate contemporary music.
Father Antonio Luiz Catelan Ferreira, who leads the Cathedral of São Sebastião in Rio de Janeiro, says the change is part of an effort to encourage former Catholics to ‘come home.’
“People are attracted to environments where worship celebrations and moments of prayer are done in a more charismatic way,” Ferreira told CBN News. “Today, a growing number of Catholics are returning precisely because prayer meetings are conducted in a more Pentecostal style.”
Still, for Brazil’s Catholic majority, the question is no longer whether they will lose their dominance, but how quickly.
The answer? Probably, faster than anyone ever expected.
Sources:faithwire
us news
‘Only God’: Massive ‘Miracle’ as Thousands of Students Choose Jesus, Confess Sin, Get Baptized

Author and speaker Jennie Allen is witnessing what she calls a real-life “miracle.”
Allen told CBN News she was absolutely astounded last Wednesday night, when UniteUs, a ministry serving young people, arrived at the Rupp Arena at the University of Kentucky and saw thousands of students show up to praise the Lord.
“This is this is just all a miracle,” Allen said. “We are on our 12th University. Next week, we will go to 13th at Ohio State, and, in every single case, it has been miraculous.”
Images and photos show hordes of young people engaging in praise and worship, with many coming forward to accept the faith and get baptized.
“So many kids come forward, confess sin, follow Jesus, and we’re baptizing usually into the morning,” she said. “And it’s unlike anything I’ve ever seen. It’s unlike anything I’ve even been bold enough to pray for … until recently.”
Allen continued, “You can just see all over the stadium, huddles of kids, wiping tears, nodding, praying, holding each other. I mean, it’s so precious and brave.”
After the event, four people baptized droves of young people for around an hour and a half, showcasing the full impact of these events. Allen mentioned one young man who was lost and not living right whose friend had been praying for him.
“He said, ‘I’m tired of living the way I was living and I want something to change,’” she said. “And he goes, ‘I’ve been going this way and now I need to go this way.’”
It was incredible for the man’s friend, who had been praying for him, to see him change right before his eyes.
“It can only be God,” Allen reiterated.
Despite never dreaming such events could be possible, Allen has been blown away by all God has done. It’s especially remarkable because these campus events are organized by local student teams who do all the fundraising and work to make it unfold.
The young team responsible for the University of Kentucky event had prayed fervently beforehand, doing a massive, 42-mile prayer walk around their campus.
Allen, who is gearing up for her own event, Gather25 — a “25-hour global broadcast event telling the inspiring stories of the global Church, by the global Church” — said it’s remarkable to see these revival-like moments unfolding on campuses across the globe.
Ultimately, she believes these simultaneous spiritual revivals are all God-ordained.
Sources:CBN News
-
Travel9 months ago
യാക്കൂസ കരിഷ്മ:ഓല സ്കൂട്ടറിനേക്കാൾ വിലക്കുറവിൽ കുഞ്ഞൻ കാർ; സിറ്റി യാത്രകൾക്ക് ഇനി ഇവൻ മതിയാവും
-
Movie3 months ago
For KING + COUNTRY Stars’ Big Plan to Bring Message of Jesus, ‘Redemption of Humanity’ to People Across America
-
National12 months ago
300,000-Member Indian Church to Plant 40 More Megachurches
-
National12 months ago
നെയ്തേലിപ്പടി ക്രൂസേഡിന് അനുഗ്രഹീത സമാപ്തി
-
Tech8 months ago
ചിത്രങ്ങൾ എഡിറ്റ് ചെയ്യാം; വാട്സ്ആപ്പിലെ ‘നീല വളയം’ സ്മാർട്ടാകുന്നു, കാര്യമായ മാറ്റങ്ങൾ
-
Movie3 months ago
For KING + COUNTRY Stars’ Big Plan to Bring Message of Jesus, ‘Redemption of Humanity’ to People Across America
-
Movie11 months ago
Actor Ryan Phillippe ‘Craving’ Relationship With God After Movie About Christian Missionary
-
Articles9 months ago
8 ways the Kingdom connects us back to the Garden of Eden