Christian persecution reaches RECORD HIGH as almost 400 MILLION face violence and discrimination

Open Doors was founded in 1955 by Andrew van der Bijl, a Dutch evangelical known for smuggling Bibles into communist states during the Cold War.

Every year, Open Doors publishes its World Watch List — an annual ranking of the 50 nations where followers of Christ face the most systematic mistreatment, oppression and discrimination.

According to this year’s report, 388 million Christians globally are suffering for their faith, which is eight million more than last year.

It also revealed the number of countries with a level of anti-Christian persecution that can be described as “extreme” has risen from 13 to 15.

Killings of Christians have surged over the last 12 months, increasing from 4,476 to 4,849 — an average of 13 a day.

North Korea topped the list of countries with the most incidents of Christian persecution.

But Ryan Brown, the Chief Executive Officer of Open Doors US, noted particular concern for women and children in sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East.

He also said Christian persecution has become more sophisticated by evolving beyond violence, with authoritarian regimes such as China restricting citizens from accessing faith-based content online.

Mr Brown told GB News: “Christians as a whole have a vulnerability in many of these places. Women and children have a double vulnerability.

“This persecution is occurring in places where women are already marginalised in places like Afghanistan, where women are severely restricted, where you have virtually no rights.”

His comments followed reports President Donald Trump will send 200 troops to Nigeria to train the country’s military to fight Islamist militants after the White House railed against terror attacks targeting Christians.

Commenting on the surge of attacks on churches and Catholic schools by armed militias such as Boko Haram, Mr Brown said religious communities previously “coexisted peacefully for years”.

However, Mr Brown warned persecution against Christians is intensifying due to rising Islamic extremism and fragile governance.

Mr Brown told the People’s Channel: “There have been extremists who have stepped into the picture and looked to radicalise Christians.

“Within that, there have been pockets of some of the Fulanis (predominantly Muslim ethnic group) that have been radicalised and have become extremists in their views… and the extremists have utilised that to carry out an agenda.”

He added: “It’s not been the government that has been the perpetrator of these things, but rather it’s been the weak rule of law.

“It's been the inability of the government to fully exert control over all areas of the country and there are many extremists who love these vacuums of power.”

Mr Brown said hostilities against Christians are a reality in Europe, including the UK, where, despite the reported surge in church attendance among Generation Z, street preachers are intimidated and pro-life activists are arrested for silent prayer outside abortion clinics.

“Many Christians in free areas of the world are feeling the broader culture is at odds with their faith,” Mr Brown said. “I know at times it can feel, on any given day, those rights are being diminished.”

In a positive development, Mr Brown said stories of Christians being persecuted around the world are beginning to make more headlines in the mainstream media.

He said: “Heads of state and even celebrities are beginning to raise attention and visibility.

“But as our brothers and sisters on the ground have said, that’s a first step. It’s not enough if we collectively become aware but then do nothing.”

Speaking on some of the stories of hope and resilience he has heard from persecuted Christians, Mr Brown said: “As horrific and as awful as these individual circumstances are, the reason the church is coming under opposition is because the church is growing

“The church is coming under persecution in areas where the church is growing and advancing, refusing to lay down and die.

“A little over a year ago, I had the privilege to meet with a Sudanese believer and he had been of a Muslim background who converted to Christianity.

“He was rejected by his community. His family disowned him. And as he sought to share his faith with his neighbours, he was imprisoned.

“I asked him about that experience because Jesus said on the Sermon on the Mount, ‘Blessed are the persecuted’.

“(The Sudanese believer) said he was thankful for it because he said, ‘I went to prison as a kitten, but I came out as a lion’.

“There are places where people are broken and do walk away from their faith. But there are also those stories and we see so many of these where the back is not breaking.

“In most cases, they're not asking for their persecution to end. What they're asking for is we not leave them alone in their persecution.”

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