Iran— Iranian authorities rearrested two Christian men, Nasser Navard Gol-Tapeh in Parand and Joseph Shahbazian in Tehran, at their respective homes on Feb. 6, and transferred them to Evin Prison.

Charges haven’t been formally announced and the reason for the arrests remains unknown.

Both men, who are in their 60s, were previously imprisoned for their involvement in Christian house churches but had been released.

Gol-Tapeh received a 10-year prison sentence in 2017 for “acting against national security through the formation and establishment of illegal house churches,” but received a pardon in 2022. That same year, Shahbazian was sentenced to two years in prison, down from 10, for being involved in a Christian house church, and was pardoned in 2023 after serving a little over a year in jail.

According to the Center for Human Rights in Iran (ICHRI), Christians in the nation aren’t safe from persecution, even inside their homes.

“Christians in Iran are prohibited from building new places of worship and are often forced to gather in their homes, known as ‘house churches,’ the ICHRI stated. “However, even in the privacy of their residences, they remain targeted by authorities.”

Iran is an Islamic Republic where rules and legislation must adhere to Islamic principles. The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) stated in a 2024 report that “in 2023, religious freedom conditions in Iran remained extremely poor.” The report also found that “between June and July [2023], security forces arrested at least 69 Christians across 11 cities.”

Continued, egregious persecution and targeting of Christians for their faith remains ongoing in Iran. Christ followers are harassed and face the fear of imprisonment for following their faith. As of 2023, the nation was listed on the U.S. Department of State’s Countries of Particular Concern list for severe religious freedom violations.
Sources:persecution

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Kenya – In Kenya, hundreds of thousands are crammed into Africa’s largest slum. Known as Kibera, it’s a world where hope is often in short supply. In this darkness, however, a miracle is unfolding as a Texas-based ministry goes door-to-door, bringing God’s love and life-changing water filters.

Infamous for its gritty reputation, where crime and violence lurk at nearly every corner, Kibera faces extreme poverty and gang violence, while lacking basic necessities like clean water and sanitation, earning its reputation as one of the “darkest, filthiest, and most hopeless places in the world.”

Kibera is Africa’s largest slum, and a typical house here measures only eight by eight feet, and it’s built with mud walls, a corrugated tin roof, and either a dirt or concrete floor. There’s not a bathroom in the home. There’s no kitchen area in the home. It’s basically for sitting and sleeping only.

Chris Beth, founder of The Bucket Ministry, first stepped into Kibera in 2017. What he saw shook him to his core.

“There wasn’t one home that had access to clean, safe drinking water,” he told  on a recent trip to Kibera.

Water here isn’t a blessing — it’s a curse.

It’s a common scene here for folks to line up with jerry cans just to get water. The original source of this water is typically clean and safe to drink. But it must then travel through an intricate spiderweb-like system of pipes. The problem is that many of those pipes are broken, and contaminated water ends up getting into those pipes.

The Bucket Ministry has shown through their research that once the water gets to a certain point, the water is still very contaminated.

“So what you see is these snaked water lines all over this place that are on the surface, and most of them are illegally connected, they’re scabbed on to each other, and all of them leak,” Beth described while standing near one of those pipes carrying water. “Those leaks will actually start to suck sewage water into the pipes and contaminate the entire system with E coli, maybe dysentery, typhoid, cholera.”

Endless piles of trash are scattered throughout Kibera. The absence of proper sewage leaves human waste on the streets, which then ends up in the water.

The official statistics say there are 78 latrines in all Kibera serving over 400,000 people.

Beth recognized the urgent need for clean water and sent a team of 60 to canvass the slum.

“And all they did for four months was knock on every single one of the doors in this place and we found out that there were 81,077 homes,” said Beth. “We found out that there’s about 408,000 people created in God’s image that are sequestered to live in this place.”

In 2000, The Bucket Ministry began a groundbreaking effort—distributing life-saving water filters to each home here.

George Owegi, a local elder here, was initially skeptical.

“Many NGOs, many people have come, and they have never made any impact, so when I saw them I thought they are just the same like other people,” Owegi told CBN News.

But this effort changed minds as Beth partnered with the Sawyer filter company to distribute plastic buckets, each equipped with a filtration system that makes contaminated water drinkable.

“There’s these straws, these membranes and the contaminants, the dirty water getting caught on the outside of these membranes,” described Beth. “And then the clean water comes through the inside of the membrane.”

One hundred local missionaries, mostly Kibera residents, joined in by installing filters and teaching residents how to maintain them.

Missionary leader Phoebe Wafula says the impact was clear after only about 70 days of using the filters.

“As we are speaking today, there is a lot of changes, especially through clean, safe drinking water. A lot of diseases have been eradicated,” said Wafula.

The Bucket Ministry used mapping software to track every filter.

“At the point of distribution, we scan the barcode and deliver the filter to the recipient family,” The Bucket Ministry’s Mission Mapping software describes in a video. “We then collect baseline data on the family’s physical health and spiritual orientation to chart their progress.”

“And then every follow-up visitation, we scan the barcode again and we collect new data,” added Beth.

The result is visualized in the Mission Mapping software.

“What you are seeing right now is a time progression map with the blue dots being actual locations of filters distributed in the Kibera by the Bucket Ministry teams,” he showed us.

Beth’s team distributed 81,777 filters, providing clean water to all 408,478 residents of the slum.

The project reached completion in December as Michael Wanjohi became the last filter recipient. “It’s a miracle to me. For me it’s a 100 percent miracle,” exclaimed an excited Wanjohi.

And the transformation doesn’t stop there.

“Water is the secondary reason why we are there,” declared Beth. “The gospel is the sole reason.”

Missionaries visited every single home here, sharing the gospel.

“Next: you will see white dots populating,” the narrator in the Mission Mapping software describes. “These white dots represent where our local missionary teams have witnessed professions of faith by the families that have received the life-saving water filters and heard the gospel of Jesus Christ. Again, these are precise GPS positions and dates of the interaction.”

Local pastor and 44-year resident Raphael Dihanda tells CBN News no NGO has ever shared the gospel so widely in Kibera.

“When The Bucket Ministry came in, and they recruited the missionaries, going and supplying the filters and the buckets, people started accepting the gospel,” said Dihanda, who pastors Grace Revival Church in Kibera. “And we can see now the great harvest is coming in the Kingdom of God.”

More than 22,000 people gave their lives to Christ and the miracles keep going.

“Lastly, you will see yellow dots populating on the top of the blue and white dots,” he says, describing the mapping software. “These represent the actual locations and dates of when our teams have taught ongoing discipleship lessons in the homes of filter recipients.”

The team shared over half a million discipleship lessons.

“Nobody has ever done this. Nobody has ever done this,” Dihanda told. “Thinking of visiting someone’s house once, twice, thrice. It has never been done.”

Owegi says the spiritual effects rippled across the slum, transforming lives in ways no one expected.

“People are testifying, people are leaving crime, they are changing their ways and they have reformed,” said Owegi.

Prostitution, which had been a survival mechanism for so many women in Kibera, also began to fade.

“People didn’t know Christ but what we have done and the work that has been done in Kibera, through God, is really tremendous,” declared Wafula.

More than 1,500 people were baptized, including Samuel Mwang.

“I was a very bad person before today, I was untrustworthy, I was a thief, a drug addict, but God healed me,” Mwang told after emerging from the baptismal pool. “Missionaries visited my home and told me about Jesus Christ, and I accepted Him into my life.

With work in Kibera complete, Beth’s team is now taking the mission to another nearby slum. The Bucket Ministry is now targeting the community on the outskirts of Nairobi known as Kawangware as their next project.

According to their initial assessment, there are about 153,000 homes.

Work began January 1st with 3,429 water filters already distributed and 1,075 people giving their lives to Jesus Christ, so far.

Beth aims to reach all 710,000 residents here with the gospel’s living water within the next four years.
Sources:CBN News

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നൈജീരിയയിൽ ഒരു വൈദികൻ കൂടി കൊല്ലപ്പെട്ടു. വിഭൂതി തിരുനാൾ ദിനമായ മാർച്ച് അഞ്ചിന് കഫഞ്ചൻ രൂപതാ വൈദികനായ ഫാ. സിൽവസ്റ്റർ ഒകെച്ചുക്വുവാണ് കൊല്ലപ്പെട്ടത്. കഫഞ്ചൻ രൂപത നൽകിയ വിവരമനുസരിച്ച്, മാർച്ച് നാലിന് രാത്രി 9:15 ഓടെ ഫാ. സിൽവസ്റ്ററിനെ അദ്ദേഹത്തിന്റെ വസതിയിൽ നിന്ന് തട്ടിക്കൊണ്ടുപോകുകയും പിന്നീട് കൊലപ്പെടുത്തുകയുമായിരുന്നു.

“എന്തുകൊണ്ടാണ് അദ്ദേഹം കൊല്ലപ്പെട്ടതെന്ന് ഇതുവരെ കണ്ടെത്തിയിട്ടില്ല. അദ്ദേഹം എപ്പോഴും ഇടവകക്കാർക്ക് സംലഭ്യനും സമീപസ്ഥനുമായിരുന്നു. അദ്ദേഹത്തിന്റെ അകാലമരണം ഞങ്ങളുടെ ഹൃദയങ്ങളെ തകർക്കുന്നു. ഈ വേദനയുടെ നിമിഷത്തിൽ നമുക്ക് പരസ്‌പരം പ്രാർഥനയിലും ഐക്യത്തിലും ഒന്നിക്കാം, ” കഫഞ്ചൻ രൂപതയുടെ ചാൻസലർ ഫാദർ ജേക്കബ് ഷാനറ്റ് പറഞ്ഞു.

നൈജീരിയയുടെ പല ഭാഗങ്ങളിലും, പ്രത്യേകിച്ച് വടക്കൻ പ്രദേശങ്ങളിൽ, ക്രിസ്ത്യാനികൾക്കെതിരായ തട്ടിക്കൊണ്ടുപോകലുകൾ, കൊലപാതകം, മറ്റ് തരത്തിലുള്ള പീഡനങ്ങൾ എന്നിവ വ്യാപകമാണ്. കഴിഞ്ഞ ദിവസം, നൈജീരിയയിലെ ഔച്ചി രൂപതയിലെ ഒരു പാരിഷ് റെക്ടറിയിൽ നിന്ന് തട്ടിക്കൊണ്ടുപോയ ഒരു പുരോഹിതനെയും സെമിനാരി വിദ്യാർഥിയെയും ഇതുവരെയും കണ്ടെത്തിയിട്ടില്ല.
Sources:azchavattomonline.com

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The Diocese of Kafanchan in Nigeria is paying tribute to Father Sylvester Okechukwu, a diocesan priest who was murdered on Ash Wednesday, March 5.

According to the information provided by the Diocese of Kafanchan, Okechukwu was kidnapped from his residence at about 9:15 p.m. on March 4.

After being taken by his abductors, the 45-year-old priest was killed in the early hours of Ash Wednesday.

“It is yet to be determined why he was killed,” said Father Jacob Shanet, chancellor of the Kafanchan Diocese.

In a statement shared with ACI Africa, CNA’s news partner in Africa, Shanet said: “Father Sylvester was a dedicated servant of God who worked selflessly in the vineyard of the Lord, spreading the message of peace, love, and hope.”

Okechukwu was always available and accessible to his parishioners, Shanet added.

“This untimely and brutal loss has left us heartbroken and devastated,” Shanet said in the statement.

“His untimely death has left an indelible void within our diocesan family, and we share in the pain of his passing with his family, friends, and all those who knew and loved him,” Shanet said, also calling for prayer for the repose of Okechukwu’s soul and inviting priests, religious, and all faithful to offer Masses and rosary prayers for the beloved priest.

Shanet also called for the youth and community members to remain calm and steadfast in prayer. “No one should take the law into their hands,” he stated.

Details of Okechukwu’s funeral arrangements will be announced when they are made available, Shanet said. “May we continue to hold one another in prayer and unity during this dark moment,” he added.

Insecurity is rife in Nigeria, where kidnappings, murder, and other forms of persecution against Christians remain rampant in many parts of the West African country, especially in the north.

On the day Okechukwu was kidnapped, the Diocese of Auchi in Nigeria also sent out a prayer appeal for the release of a priest and a seminarian who had been abducted from a parish rectory the previous day. The two are still missing.

Okechukwu’s murder follows a series of other incidents that have targeted Catholic priests in the country, the most populous on the continent.

On Feb. 6, Father Cornelius Manzak Damulak, a priest of the Diocese of Shendam, and a student at Veritas University Abuja in Nigeria were abducted and later escaped from captivity.

Later, on Feb. 19, Father Moses Gyang Jah of St. Mary Maijuju Parish in the Shendam Diocese was abducted alongside his niece and the parish council chairman, Nyam Ajiji. Ajiji was reportedly killed. Jah and his niece are yet to be freed.

Most recently, on Feb. 22, Father Matthew David Dutsemi and Father Abraham Saummam were abducted from the Diocese of Yola. They have not yet been released.
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