Breaking Christian News on The Gospel Herald

September 7, 2017: China has placed new restrictions on religious gatherings, online discussion of religious matters, and the financing of religious groups in an effort to "fight extremism and restrict faith practiced outside organizations approved by the state."

September 6, 2017: A house church pastor ordered by officers in China's central Hubei province to cease her "illegal" ministry work has vowed to defy government orders, telling authorities, "I believe in Jesus Christ. I don't believe in you."

September 4, 2017: A band of Hindu extremists who had snuck into a house-church service beat a pastor with steel rods and sticks, one of them yelling that they would stop if he shouted, "Hail, Lord Ram [Jai Sri Ram]!"

September 1, 2017: Dozens of Chinese Christians were injured trying to protect their church from being destroyed by bulldozers authorized by authorities in Wangcun village in China's northern Shanxi province.

August 28, 2017: A Christian woman in Central Asia has shared how she refused to deny Jesus Christ even after her Muslim husband threatened to take away her child unless she converted to Islam.

August 25, 2017: A Chinese pro-democracy activist has shared how he will never be able to fulfill his dream of becoming a pastor because he refuses to "Jesus subservient to Xi Jinping" and urged Christians worldwide to pray for believers in his country as they " seek to find light amid the sea of darkness descending upon us."

August 25, 2017: The Islamic State terrorist group has released a disturbing propaganda video in which its fighters are shown stomping on a bust of Jesus, desecrating religious statues, and ripping photos of Pope Francis.

August 24, 2017: A North Korean woman who suffered unspeakable horrors while imprisoned for her faith has shared how God's faithfulness - and one desperate prayer - sustained her through the darkest of days.

August 22, 2017: The wife of a Christian Chinese human rights attorney who admitted to trying to overthrow the Communist Party has slammed his confession as nothing more than a "show" orchestrated by the government.

August 18, 2017: After Christian pro-democracy activist Joshua Wong was sentenced to six months in prison for his role in the 2014 street demonstrations for freer elections of Hong Kong's leader, his mother reminded him to be courageous like his namesake, Joshua of the Old Testament.

August 17, 2017: A Chinese church accountant who was imprisoned after being falsely accused of conducting "illegal business operations" has shared how her time in prison strengthened her faith.

August 17, 2017: As two Hindu extremists gripped his hands while others beat him last week in northern India, Pastor Amar Stephen was asking God to forgive them.

August 14, 2017: Rev. Hyeon Soo Lim, the Canadian pastor recently freed from imprisonment in North Korea, has shared how he "prayed without ceasing" and memorized over 700 Bible verses during his two-and-a-half years in a labor camp.

After 19 long months of investigative detention following his Dec. 16, 2015 arrest, renowned human rights attorney Nguyen Van Dai was finally charged with a crime on July 30.

August 9, 2017: Rev. Hyeon Soo Lim, a Canadian pastor who was serving a life sentence of hard labor in North Korea was released today, the country's official KCNA news agency has claimed.

August 4, 2017: Pope Francis has said he "loves China" and hopes the Vatican and the Communist country can heal their strained relationship, Chinese media has quoted a Vatican official as saying.

August 4, 2017: After two Chinese missionaries were abducted and killed by Islamic State militants in Pakistan, the Middle Eastern country ordered the cancellation of visas for all people related to ARK Infotech Company, the two preachers' employer.

August 1, 2017: A pastor in Myanmar has shared how, after calling on the name of Jesus, he cast the demons out of a Buddhist chief's son, bringing the entire village to Christ.

July 24, 2017: In an effort to curb the growth of Christianity, officials in China's eastern Zhejiang province have issued orders aimed at closing Sunday schools and keeping children from Christian events over the summer months.

July 21, 2017: A Christian woman who fled North Korea has shared how, as a child, she was too scared to even touch a Bible - but revealed Christianity is growing in the country despite the government's brutal efforts to suppress it.

July 20, 2017: China has launched a new crackdown on religion, warning the estimated 85 million Communist Party members they must "be firm Marxist atheists" or face punishment.

July 17, 2017: A pastor in northern India's Punjab state was shot dead in front of his church premises two months after Hindu extremists took offense at a gospel event celebrating his church's 25th anniversary, sources said.

July 17, 2017: A teenage girl from Bangladesh has recounted the horrors she endured as a victim of sex trafficking, including being "beaten, abused and locked in a room" and forced to have sex with countless men.

July 14, 2017: A Christian who was shot for his faith while returning home from an Easter service has said that while he's still traumatized from the horrific event, he believes God will eventually "free" him of ongoing "psychological fear."

July 13, 2017: World leaders have criticized the Chinese government after Liu Xiaobo, renowned democracy activist and Nobel laureate, died a "premature death" at age 61 under guard in a hospital on Thursday.