The Supreme Court has issued several petitions for Rajasthan to justify the anti-conversion law’s constitutionality, which allows state officials to seize property and demolish homes based on allegations of forced conversion.

(Photo courtesy of Bibles For The World via Facebook)

John Pudaite, President and CEO of Bibles For The World (BFTW), says it’s part of a broader legal battle as India’s Supreme Court takes a magnifying glass to anti-conversion laws across multiple states.

“They are questioning how this current government — the BJP government — can continue to steamroll across the country and pass these anti-conversion laws, which are nothing but an attack primarily on Christianity,” he says.

This new scrutiny may also cause those who target Indian Christians using anti-conversion laws to think twice.

“As they felt impunity, they would attack the churches and attack the Christians,” says Pudaite. “People are realizing that the laws they thought covered them may not have as much strength…as they had hoped.”

(Photo courtesy of Bibles For The World via Facebook)

Looking ahead, Pudaite urges the global Church to take this critical case, and others like it, before the Lord.

“We need to continue to pray for the Supreme Court and those justices, that they can be impartial in their evaluation of the evidence and of those laws. We can pray that they will not be politically influenced or otherwise influenced.”

Pudaite also encourages believers to keep the Gospel in sight — with hearts to reach their persecutors with the Gospel.

“Especially as we go into this Christmas season, pray that this may be a special time for the Body of Christ to be able to share the Good News of the birth of Jesus Christ…. Pray that the true spirit of Christ in Christmas may be able to shine.”

Header photo: Architecture in Jaipur, Rajasthan, India. (Photo courtesy of Dexter Fernandes/Unsplash)

Todd Nettleton with The Voice of the Martyrs, USA, says they are monitoring Russia’s crackdown and asking questions.

“What is happening to churches that are not part of the Russian Orthodox Church? Are they being accepted? Are they free to meet? Are they free to meet, not only in their church building, but to meet in people’s homes, to meet in other places?” asks Nettleton.

“I think what we’re seeing now is some of the tightening of that to say they don’t have that freedom, and it’s certainly something we want to pay attention to in the months and years to come.”

Baptist and other evangelical churches can be perceived as disloyal to Russia, unlike the Russian Orthodox Church.

“Evangelicals, including Baptists, are seen as, ‘Well, they’re linked to the West, so they’re not as loyal to our country.’ That obviously, with the war going on in Ukraine, with loyalty to the country being a focus and an emphasis, creates some of these challenging situations for evangelicals in Russia right now,” Nettleton says.

When a church registers with the state, it also registers its location. This can leave churches susceptible to the government shutting down meeting places and tightening the screws.

“We would love to see a government there that respects religious freedom, not only for members of the Russian Orthodox Church, but for all Russians to have that freedom of religion, that freedom of worship, that freedom of gathering together,” says Nettleton. “Let’s just continue to pray that God moves inside Russia.”

Please pray for Christians in Russia that they will be able to meet, encourage one another, and share the Gospel as bold witnesses for Christ.

Header Photo by Jan Reinicke on Unsplash

When Mahsa Amini was killed in 2022 for wearing her hijab incorrectly, removing a hijab became a symbolic protest in Iran.

This September, Iran’s President, Masoud Pezeshkian, criticized Iran’s hijab laws, saying, “Human beings have a right to choose.”

Around the same time that Iranian parliament member Mohammad Reza Bahonar said that hijab laws are not enforceable.

Denise Godwin from International Media Ministries says that people in the West are not aware of the different protests because they are seen as quiet. But after the confrontation with Israel this summer, arrests seemed to rise.

In some areas, businesses are being persecuted for selling to women without hijabs. In a culture like this, families may pressure women to wear them, as it could result in repercussions for neighbors.

“I think there are a lot of cultural norms that they’re up against as well in this situation,” Godwin says. “Bravo, them that are trying to take Iran, Persia, back to what it was.”

Before the last 40 years, Iran was a more secular Islamic State. Where in the 1970s people wore western-style clothing, nowadays, not wearing socks is a violation of nudity and chastity laws.

Godwin says, beyond the freedom to choose whether to wear a hijab or not, people need freedom of religion.

“Freedom to choose whether you’re going to be Islamic, even if you were born into an Islamic family. That’s not an option in Islamic countries,” she says.

As other countries also vie for human rights Godwin says, “I think it’s an incredible time in the world as we know it, to see these things changing almost daily before our eyes, and pray for powers of darkness to be thrown down, that that truth will have an opportunity, that Jesus Christ and the salvation of God can even have a chance to get into a lot of these places in the world.”

The work of IMM is a tool for this and is sending the message of God around the world before missionaries or people can. As they supply people with education and exposure, Godwin says it’s important to get the Christian message out. If believers don’t send messages out, others will.

IMM has finished filming their series Esther: Queen of Hope in Farsi. IMM had received requests for the project before, and they see now that the timing of the message is strategic.

Esther, Queen of the Persians, once represented her nation in need, just as Iran is in need today.

IMM creates a new series about the story of Esther. Photo Provided by IMM.

In Esther’s day, women could take on roles like judges and landowners.

King Cyrus was the first of the Persian Empire to implement religious freedom. He essentially said, “We’re not going to obliterate and relocate everybody. As long as you are an obedient citizen, pay your taxes, and don’t cause trouble, you can continue with your God and your religion,” Godwin says.

“That’s what makes the Esther story so remarkable, because it wasn’t in the DNA of the Persian Empire to obliterate a bunch of people for no particular reason, [when] they were not in an uprising,” Godwin says.

Godwin says that when Haman tried to punish the Jewish people, Esther didn’t just save her own people. She saved all the Persians from this controlling law.

These stories seem to resonate more as history repeats itself.

“I’m meeting people from outside the country who have mostly escaped due to political or religious persecution,” Godwin says. “These people all say that the regime is not Iran, it is not Iranians, it doesn’t represent them, and that they do look forward to a time when there can be friendship and peace between Israel and Iran.”

IMM is also working to make children’s programs, creating opportunities to instill biblical and critical thinking.

When people leave the Islamic faith, they often turn to atheism first, but struggle with giving up on the concept of God. When they meet Jesus, it becomes a huge revelation.

Please pray for the opportunities these people have through the media. Pray for people on the ground who are evangelizing despite the risk of persecution. As tension continues between Israel and Iran, pray for the people in these countries who want peace.

Pray that people in Iran will receive human rights and an end to persecution, and that people will hear about salvation and know the truth of Jesus Christ. Pray for peace in this region and for the Middle East to change in ways that reflect Jesus Christ.

Header Image by mostafa meraji from Pixabay

“We still enjoy good, solid, strong religious freedoms here in South Korea,” he affirms. 

Currently there are four ongoing cases of religious freedom in South Korea, which Foley says are best understood as involving the application of election laws to churches rather than a general crackdown on religious freedom. He points out that anytime there is a change in government, politically vocal pastors or ministry leaders become subjects of investigations. 

“The bottom line is it doesn’t indicate a trend of a South Korean government crackdown on religious liberty,” Foley says. 

Yet imprecise reporting continues to characterize mainstream media coverage of South Korea. 

For example, as South Korea and the United States cease to broadcast radio in North Korea, reports suggest that Christian broadcasts are among those no longer airing. Foley says that simply isn’t true. 

“The broadcasting that was curtailed by the US and South Korean governments was political broadcasting,” he explains. “Now, more than ever, when North Koreans turn their short-wave radio dials, what they’re going to encounter is more and more Christian broadcasts.” 

Beyond mischaracterizing the situation of Christians in South Korea, inaccurate reporting also overshadows actual concerns related to ministry. The current outlook for Christians ministering to their North Korean neighbors is especially dicey and, indeed, impacted by South Korean politics. 

As of September, South Korea has banned balloon launches into North Korea, likely a result of pressure from the North Korean government. The new law carries a jail term and fine.

View of North Korea from Odusan Observatory, South Korea. Courtesy of Tim Winkler via Unsplash.

For ministries who focus heavily on distribution of Gospel leaflets via balloon, this is a significant setback. In fact, when VOM began working in the region twenty-five years ago, North Koreans asked for two things: broadcasting and balloons. Foley views legislation against the latter ministry pillar as a reminder of where concerns around Korea should concentrate:

“Which is not about general news or religious freedom violations in Korea, but about specific decisions being made that do pose a challenge to North Korean ministry,” he says. 

Despite present and historical challenges, the North Korea Human Rights database shows the percentage of North Koreans who have seen a Bible increasing every year since 2000, with a high estimate of up to 8% of the population. 

“That’s remarkable because when we started it was literally zero percent,” Foley says. “So we know a difference is being made by the broadcasts we do, by the Bibles we get into North Korea through all available methods.” 

Please ask the Lord to guide Korean ministries as they face questions and concerns over how legislation will impact their work. Foley knows the Lord can use even restrictions for His good. 

“Things are always, in God’s plan, greater than we can perceive,” he says. 

In the spirit of Matthew 10:16, please ask the Lord to bless Korean ministry leaders with both wisdom and innocence; and pray they would maintain willingness before the Lord as He closes and opens doors in unexpected places. 

Pray also for North Koreans – for those who have heard the Gospel and those who have yet to hear – that all would receive God’s gift of salvation and grow in His likeness. Come what may, the Word of God will not be bound.

View of North Korea, courtesy of Unsplash. Featured photo: Evangelist in Seoul, courtesy of Theodore Nguyen via Pexels. 

(Photo courtesy of Voice of the Martyrs USA)

President Donald Trump announced the change via social media on Friday. The designation is long overdue. Islamic extremists and Fulani militants have killed thousands of Christians in recent years. Hours after Trump’s announcement, armed militants attacked two communities in central Nigeria, killing least 17 Christians.

Todd Nettleton with The Voice of the Martyrs, USA explains what the CPC designation means. “It gives the [U.S.] administration a pretty big toolbox of possible options that they can bring to bear — both carrots and sticks — to try to move a government towards better protection of religious freedom,” he says. 

Since Friday’s announcement, Trump has also threatened military action if the Nigerian government does not take meaningful steps to protect its citizens.

“It certainly raises a lot of questions about the future,” says Nettleton.  “What are the options and what would the effectiveness be of an attempt by the U.S. military to ensure religious freedom in northern Nigeria?”

Nigerian children. (Photo courtesy of Victor Nnakwe/Unsplash)

Nigeria’s government insists that it guarantees religious freedom. But years of inaction and ongoing attacks on Christians in northern Nigeria tell another story.

“Certainly, there’s an argument to be made that the Nigerian government has not done everything they could. So now designating them as a Country of Particular Concern sort of puts the government on notice as opposed to identifying different terrorist groups that are involved in the persecution of Christians,” Nettleton says. 

Some officials say that Nigeria’s violence comes from conflict over resources and are not religiously motivated. It’s a multilayered situation, but religion does play a part. Data compiled by the Observatory for Religious Freedom in Africa showed that for every Muslim killed in Nigeria’s violence between October 2019 and September 2024, there were 2.4 Christians killed.

Nigeria (Stock photo courtesy fo Gracious Adebayo via Unsplash)

Please pray

“Nigeria is relatively evenly divided between Muslims and Christians. The vast majority of Muslims live in the northern part of the country. That’s where we see Christian persecution most of the time,” says Nettleton. 

“It’s important to understand the nuance of the country and the fact that there is this sort of dividing line, and most of the persecution is happening in the northern part of the country.” 

Let this renewed CPC designation move you to pray for Nigeria. Pray for more Saul-to-Paul conversions of Muslim extremists and Fulani herdsmen. 

“We need to pray for Christians in Nigeria. We need to pray for Christians in other countries around the world where they are persecuted,” says Nettleton. 

Learn more about Nigeria’s long-running crisis here.

Header photo courtesy of The Voice of the Martyrs, USA.

Though India’s constitution guarantees an individual’s right to choose their own religion, “We do see states where the BJP is the strongest starting to enact stronger, more stringent anti-conversion laws: Maharashtra, Uttarakhand, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan,” John Pudaite with Bibles For The World says.

“These are states that have a BJP party in power or a coalition in power.”

Anti-conversion laws make it illegal to change your faith, and they penalize the people who introduce you to a different religion.

“They position these laws often under the title of Freedom of Religion Act, and it’s actually the exact opposite,” Pudaite says.

“It’s meant to restrict people from exercising their ability to practice the religion of their choice.”

These new laws broaden the scope of activities considered “conversion,” putting more believers at risk.

“Anything they do, whether they post something on social media or they meet together in a home and have a time of prayer and worship, these things now can be considered as offenses,” Pudaite says.

Keep India’s Christians in your prayers. Ask the Lord to strengthen and encourage them. Request a free prayer guide from Bibles For The World to further inform your intercession.

“The immediate threat is how it emboldens the pro-Hindu, anti-Christian activists. With the government behind them, they can do things against Christians and know that there’ll be no prosecution,” Pudaite says.

“Pray for the leadership, for wisdom and strength in their faith, as well as the congregations, and that they may continue to share the good news of Jesus Christ.”

Header image courtesy of Bibles For The World. 

Even though the Supreme Court has now decided that the laws are unconstitutional, there’s been a strong push in recent years to pass anti-conversion legislation at the state level. Read more about that here.

The laws were “passed because of the strong support and the rise in power of the BJP government, which is a strong pro-Hindu, anti-Christian political party,” explains John Pudaite with Bibles For The World.

(Photo courtesy of Voice of the Martyrs Canada)

Still, this moment calls for gratitude. “It’s taken quite a bit of effort behind the scenes for the Supreme Court to take notice and to take this action, so I do see that as a small win and just an answer to prayer that so many of our listeners have been joining with us on,” Pudaite says.

Prayer remains essential. The leaders of the nine states in question – Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand, and Uttar Pradesh – have four weeks to respond to the Supreme Court’s request.

After that, “we are going to have a hearing in six weeks, [which] is a tight timeframe in India in their judicial system,” Pudaite says.

“Pray that the Supreme Court may continue to treat the issue and the responses that come in from the states truly objectively and according to the Constitution of India, with all of its intents to protect religious freedom.”

For now, enforcement continues. Authorities and Hindu radicals often use anti-conversion laws to target Christians and other religious minorities, leaving these communities vulnerable.

“The context in India is so difficult for us to share the Gospel. If we’re out evangelizing in the streets or sharing Christian literature, they’ll just come and attack us,” Pudaite says.

“You can’t even have a Christian family get-together because if you pray before your meal or you sing a song together, you might get attacked for that.”

Despite the challenges, hope remains. You can stand with believers in India: consider partnering with Bibles For The World to help distribute God’s Word, sponsor Christian students, or provide healthcare in Jesus’ name.

Header image depicts buildings that house India’s Supreme Court. Photo courtesy of the Supreme Court of India. 

In March, USCIRF released its 2025 recommendations of which countries the U.S. should watch regarding the freedom of religious belief. Their list of recommended countries correlates strongly with another list: The Early Warning Project’s ranking of nations where mass killings are most likely to occur.

Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo (Stock photo courtesy of Johnnathan Tshibangu via Unsplash)

“More than half of the top 30 countries most at risk of mass killings are identified in USCIRF’s Annual Report for poor religious freedom conditions,” the release said. They suggest that promoting religious freedom is “a vital atrocity prevention tool.”

When Todd Nettleton with The Voice of the Martyrs, USA saw USCIRF’s report, he thought of a July attack in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Dozens of Christians were killed by ISIS allies while at a prayer vigil. Another attack on September 8 left more than 70 Christians dead.

“Then to see a report that, ‘Wait a minute, genocide and mass killing seems to be more likely in places where religious freedom is not respected, where religious freedom is not protected…’ When you think about it, it makes a lot of sense,” Nettleton says. 

The Early Warning Project ranks Chad as the number one country most likely to have a mass killing outbreak. Boko Haram and ISIS-West Africa are active there. This highlights another dynamic in USCIRF’s and The Early Warning Project’s lists. 

Nettleton explains, “It’s not necessarily a government action that is putting the risk of mass killing, the risk of genocide, in place. It is actually terrorist activity.” 

All this underscores the gravity of the U.S. State Department’s future 2025 International Religious Freedom report. The upcoming report will show how this new U.S. administration will apply its influence through international policies about other nations and entities. 

Find your place in the story

Religious freedom is not a given. Jesus said to His disciples, “If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you” (John 15:20). But that doesn’t mean Christians should do nothing about religious freedom issues.

Nettleton says the first response to these matters should be prayer for the persecuted Church. Use the list from USCIRF or even The Early Warning Project to launch your prayer for Christians.

(Photo courtesy of Aaron Burden/Unsplash)

“Religious freedom really underlies so many other freedoms,” Nettleton says. “From a spiritual perspective, as a Christian, my brothers and sisters are impacted by these situations. So I want my brothers and sisters to be able to worship in safety. I want them to be able to evangelize and have other people come to know Christ without the threat of violence, without government interference.”

Nettleton also calls for civic advocacy on behalf of the persecuted.

“We want to understand this information so that we can pray with more knowledge, with more specificity. We want to let our government authorities know that this is something we pay attention to. This is something we care about,” says Nettleton.

Header photo: Monument in Lippepark, located in Hamm, Germany (Photo courtesy of Sven Piper via Unsplash)

The Countries of Particular Concern (CPC) is a list for which the U.S. president is required to annually review the status of religious freedom in every country in the world and designate each country where the government has engaged in or tolerated “particularly severe violations of religious freedom.”

The State Department’s Religious Freedom Report was not updated last year and has yet to be updated in 2025. The latest CPC list from 2023 excludes India; however, the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) includes India on its recommended Countries of Particular Concern (CPC) and Special Watch List (SWL).

With the rise of anti-conversion laws in several Indian states, attacks against Christians have climbed to an average of twice a day. 

Bibles For The World (BFTW) had hoped that the new U.S. administration would revive work on religious freedom issues. It remains their prayer that the U.S. government will bring these human rights issues into focus and deal with this religious persecution and loss of religious freedom.

John Pudaite with BFTW says, “We’re seeing that from some of our partners, where before they were very willing to take large amounts of scripture from us, whether the gospel of John, (or) New Testaments for New Believers, (we’re) starting to see them lowering their orders or requests. Some of them are just saying, ‘We can’t do this right now.’ And that’s that’s pretty shocking, because most of these were pretty bold in their faith and their outreach and evangelism.”

Pudaite said these Christians are on the front lines.

There is an openness to the gospel in India. (Photo courtesy of Bibles for the World)

“We’re just hoping and praying that under the Trump administration this will shift back toward bringing (India) into focus as a country that really needs to live by its constitution, which guarantees religious freedom for all of its citizens,” says Pudaite.

While Christians face religious persecution in the country, there is also new openness to the Gospel. Pudaite says that people see the regime in power is not reaching down to them and considering them.

Instead, “They’re responding to what they see: The love of Christ coming through the Christians there in India,” says Pudaite.

Please pray for the protection of Christians in India. Pray that they will continue to be strong in their faith, outreach, and in their ministries. Pray that as God opens the hearts of Indians to the Gospel, He will guide world leaders to advocate for minorities in India.

(Photo by Naveed Ahmed on Unsplash)

John Pudaite of Bibles For The World (BFTW) says the trend is troubling. “Quite a number of people are being arrested under these laws. Churches are being attacked in the middle of worship, with police in tow. They’ll file false charges or charges of conversion against pastors and some of the worshipers there.”

A Catholic Church in Calangute, Goa. (Photo, caption courtesy of Adriana Rodricks/Unsplash)

The thing is, those charges rarely hold up in court. “They can never prove that the people were gathered…with an intent to convert,” Pudaite explains.

So why push for a tougher law? Pudaite says Maharashtra is looking to change the framing. “They are now trying to position Christian activities not so much in anti-conversion terms but as anti-national. That will be easier, they feel, to prove in court — that this is upsetting the fragile balance…of the Hindu majority in the country.”

Meanwhile, violence against Christians continues to rise. In just the first seven months of 2025, the Religious Liberty Commission of the Evangelical Fellowship of India documented 334 incidents — almost two per day.

“They know they can go in and attack churches,” Pudaite says. “Even recently, they arrested two Catholic nuns from a public train station and charged them with trafficking and anti-conversion laws.

“We are seeing the government of India just using the letter of the law down to the ‘nth’ degree against Christian organizations, just trying to find any little slip up and turning it into a major issue. In the process, the work of some wonderful organizations is being terribly restricted or completely eliminated from India.”

If Maharashtra’s law passes, India’s already tight space for religious minorities could shrink even further. For churches on the ground, the fear is that Sunday mornings will bring not just worship, but a knock on the door.

Pray for believers in India to stand firm under pressure. Ask God to protect church leaders from false accusations and give them wisdom.

You can also support BFTW here as they serve the Church in India and strengthen believers in the face of persecution.

Header photo courtesy of BFTW.