Category: News affecting the Church

The Last Open Church in El-Fasher

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William Desjardins

In the war-torn Sudanese city of El-Fasher, one Christian sanctuary remains open against all odds. The Rev. Daramali Abudigin, an Anglican priest, has refused to abandon his community despite relentless fighting and a city under siege.

St. Mathew of the Anglican Church of Sudan now stands as the last remaining Christian church in El-Fasher. Abudigin has kept its doors open to all Christians, offering a place of prayer and hope while nearly every other pastor and priest has been forced to flee the violence.

The risks of staying are immense. In May, five church members living with Abudigin were killed when armed men sprayed bullets into the church compound at random. Still, he continues his ministry alongside his wife and three sons, determined to serve the dwindling Christian population that has no other refuge.

El-Fasher, the capital of North Darfur, has been encircled by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) since April of last year. Inside the city, the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) continue to fight the RSF in a conflict that has devastated civilian life and displaced countless families.

In the midst of this blockade and violence, Rev. Abudigin and St. Mathew’s Church endure for Christians in a city otherwise darkened by war.

Dr. James Dobson, Influential Christian Leader and Founder of Focus on the Family, Dies at 89

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TEXAS GOSPEL STAFF

Dr. James Dobson, one of the most influential Christian leaders of the past half-century and founder of Focus on the Family, died Thursday morning, August 21, 2025, at the age of 89. His passing was announced by the Dr. James Dobson Family Institute (JDFI).

A psychologist by training, Dobson dedicated his life to strengthening marriages, guiding parents, and defending biblical values, championing the family as the cornerstone of society. Through decades of broadcasting, writing, and public advocacy, he became a towering voice in American evangelicalism and a driving force behind the rise of conservative Christian engagement in politics.

Dobson founded Focus on the Family in Arcadia, California, in 1977, before relocating its headquarters to Colorado Springs, Colorado, in 1991. The move helped establish Colorado Springs as a hub for evangelical ministries and influence. Under his leadership, the organization grew into one of the largest evangelical ministries in the world.

At its height, the Focus on the Family daily radio program aired on more than 4,000 stations across North America and reached audiences in over 160 countries, translated into 27 languages. The show became one of the most widely heard faith-based broadcasts globally.

Dobson’s impact extended beyond the church into the halls of power. A significant figure in the 1980s movement to integrate conservative Christian ideals into American politics, he advised or counseled five U.S. presidents: Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and Donald Trump. In 1985, he interviewed President Reagan in the Oval Office, and during the Trump administration, he served on the Evangelical Executive Advisory Board.

In addition to Focus on the Family, Dobson helped establish the Family Research Council in the early 1980s, a Christian think tank that remains influential in policy debates on faith and family.

Dobson authored more than 70 books, many of which became staples in Christian homes. His bestsellers included The New Dare to Discipline and When God Doesn’t Make Sense. His work earned him recognition as a New York Times best-selling author and induction into the National Radio Hall of Fame.

Even after stepping away from Focus on the Family in 2010, Dobson continued his mission through the Dr. James Dobson Family Institute (JDFI), where he hosted Family Talk. The nationally syndicated program airs on 1,500 stations and reaches more than half a million listeners weekly, ensuring that his voice continued to influence new generations.

Dr. Dobson is survived by his wife of 64 years, Shirley, their children Danae and Ryan, daughter-in-law Laura, and two grandchildren.

Islamist Terrorists Massacre Christians in Congo and Nigeria Amid Growing Wave of Violence

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William Desjardins

On July 27, Islamist terrorists carried out a brutal massacre at a church in the Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), killing at least 49 Christians who had gathered for worship. The attackers, jihadists allied with the Islamic State, struck during a Silver Jubilee celebration where worshipers had come from surrounding villages to pray for security and peace. Instead, the congregation faced unimaginable violence, as attackers stormed the church wielding machetes. Witnesses report that Christians who attempted to flee were hunted down and killed, while others were beheaded inside the sanctuary. Most of the victims were Catholic believers, cut down in the middle of a service meant to reaffirm their hope and faith.

The violence was carried out by members of the Islamist Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), a Uganda-rooted rebel group long recognized as one of the region’s deadliest militias. The ADF, which has pledged allegiance to the Islamic State, has intensified attacks on Christians in the DRC as part of its broader effort to establish a caliphate under strict Islamic law. In this latest massacre, nine children were reportedly decapitated, and several others were abducted, underlining the group’s deliberate targeting of the most vulnerable. Pope Leo XIV issued a strong condemnation of the killings, denouncing the atrocity as a brutal violation of human dignity and a direct assault on the Christian faithful.

The aftermath of the massacre in Komanda village was devastating. The U.N. peacekeeping mission, MONUSCO, was forced to deploy earth-digging machinery to create a mass grave for the victims, as the death toll overwhelmed local resources. Many of those buried had already sought refuge in Komanda after surviving attacks in other regions, only to be slaughtered once again. Henrietta Blyth, CEO of Open Doors UK and Ireland, described the situation as a “crisis of biblical proportions” and a “silent slaughter” where women and children are increasingly targeted. Reports from Open Doors further highlight that more than 80 villagers, mostly Christians, were killed in other attacks across the region in July alone. Despite the scale of violence, local sources revealed that no arrests have been made, leaving survivors fearful of another imminent attack.

The crisis in the DRC mirrors escalating Islamist violence against Christians in Nigeria. On August 4, Muslim Fulani herdsmen killed a Christian woman in Plateau state, part of a broader campaign that has seen entire Christian villages depopulated and repopulated by Fulani militants. Boko Haram, another militant Islamist sect, has long declared its intent to impose strict Muslim law in Nigeria and vowed to “cleanse the north of Christianity.” Despite these threats, the Nigerian government has urged Christians not to be alarmed, assuring them of protection. However, the persistent violence and the absence of adequate security responses have left many believers skeptical and fearful.

Leaders within Nigeria’s Christian community have begun urging believers to take responsibility for their own protection. Ayo Oritsejafor, leader of the Christian Association of Nigeria, called on Christians to take appropriate action in safeguarding themselves from further attacks. This comes against the backdrop of staggering losses: more than 4,000 Christians have been killed in Nigeria in the past year alone. With Islamist groups across central Africa pushing for control of Christian-majority regions, the plight of believers in both the DRC and Nigeria underscores a growing humanitarian and spiritual crisis—one where faith communities are caught in the crosshairs of violent extremism, with limited assurances of safety from the governments meant to protect them.

Francis Hannaway 31 July 1992 St Mary's Catholic Church, Sukkur, Pakistan. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:St_Mary%27s_Catholic_Church,_Sukkur,_Pakistan.jpg

Christians in Pakistan: A Crisis of Persecution and Protection

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(Photo credit: Francis Hannaway/ St. Mary’s Catholic Church, Sukkur, Pakistan, July 31, 1992. Creative Commons.)

WILLIAM DESJARDINS

Pakistan’s 4.5 million Christians and other religious minorities face an unprecedented crisis of persecution, systemic discrimination, and legal vulnerability that has reached alarming new heights in recent years. Ranked eighth on the Open Doors World Watch List, Pakistan represents one of the most dangerous places in the world to be a Christian, with minorities comprising less than 4% of the population yet bearing a disproportionate burden of violence and injustice.
At the heart of the persecution lies Pakistan’s controversial blasphemy laws, which carry the death penalty and have become weaponized tools of exploitation and intimidation. A groundbreaking confidential police report titled “The Blasphemy Business” has exposed the dark reality behind many blasphemy accusations: criminal networks systematically targeting young people for financial gain.

These sophisticated scams involve fake social media accounts that lure young men into conversations containing blasphemous content, creating elaborate traps that have ensnared over 450 victims since 2021, according to Pakistan’s Human Rights Commission. Once trapped, families face devastating choices—pay substantial bribes to police to drop charges or watch their loved ones face potential death sentences. Lawyers representing affected families have documented not only arrests and disappearances but also evidence of torture in police custody.

The blasphemy laws serve purposes far beyond their stated religious protection mandate. They have become instruments for land grabs, targeting business rivals, and criminal extortion. Though death sentences are rarely carried out, accusations frequently trigger mob violence and extrajudicial killings that claim lives with disturbing regularity.

A rare glimmer of hope emerged when Justice Ishaq Khan of Islamabad’s High Court ordered the government to investigate the abuse of blasphemy laws, prompted by the revealing police report. However, this hope was swiftly crushed by intense backlash from religious extremist groups. Members of the Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan party publicly attacked the court ruling, while lawyers from the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam party challenged the order in court. By July 24, Justice Khan’s order was suspended amid fears that hostility could turn violent.

This pattern reflects Pakistan’s troubled history with blasphemy law reform. Historically, any attempt to modify or investigate these laws has been quickly shut down by violent protests from radical Islamic groups, creating a climate where even judicial review becomes impossible.
The situation deteriorated dramatically in 2024, with the Centre for Social Justice reporting a record 344 new blasphemy cases—the highest number in Pakistan’s history. At least 10 individuals accused of blasphemy were extrajudicially killed by individuals or violent mobs during the same year, highlighting the deadly consequences of these accusations.

Christians bear a particularly heavy burden under this system. Despite comprising only 1.8% of Pakistan’s population, roughly a quarter of all blasphemy accusations target Christians. This disproportionate targeting reflects deeper systemic discrimination that permeates Pakistani society and institutions.

The human cost of this persecution becomes clear through individual cases. In June 2024, an elderly man was killed by mob violence after being accused of desecrating the Quran, demonstrating how quickly accusations can turn fatal. The case of Anwar Kenneth illustrates the system’s cruel inefficiency: the 72-year-old Christian spent 23 years on death row after being sentenced to death in 2002 for sending allegedly blasphemous letters. Only in June 2025 did Pakistan’s Supreme Court finally acquit him, ruling that “a person of unsound mind could not be held liable for such a crime.”

The Jaranwala incident in August 2023 exemplifies how blasphemy accusations can trigger community-wide violence. When Pervaiz Masih was accused of writing blasphemous content, violent riots erupted that destroyed at least 20 churches and forcibly displaced hundreds of Christians. On April 18, 2025, Masih was sentenced to death, but the damage to the Christian community had already been done.

Perhaps most troubling is the impact on minority children, as documented in a new report by Pakistan’s National Commission on the Rights of the Child (NCRC). The report, titled “Situation Analysis of Children from Minority Religions in Pakistan,” reveals severe challenges including forced conversion, child marriages, and child labor affecting minority children, particularly from Christian and Hindu communities.

Between April 2023 and December 2024, the NCRC received 27 complaints related to the oppression of minority children, including abduction, murder, forced conversion, and underage marriages. Punjab province, Pakistan’s most populous region, reported the highest number of violence cases against minority children (40%) from January 2022 to September 2024, with 547 Christian victims, 32 Hindus, two Ahmadis, two Sikhs, and 99 others.

The discrimination extends into Pakistan’s educational system, where minority children face multiple forms of marginalization. The Single National Curriculum mandates Islamic religious education with no alternatives for minority students to study their own faiths, effectively infringing on religious freedom and hindering academic progress. Minority students report feeling uncomfortable sharing their religious identities, viewing them as inferior markers that lead to mockery from majority-religion classmates and even encouragement to convert.

Economic exploitation compounds these educational challenges. Many minority households remain trapped in cycles of bonded labor, particularly in brick kilns and agriculture, where entire families, including children, work under cruel conditions. This economic vulnerability makes families more susceptible to various forms of exploitation and abuse.

Forced religious conversions and marriages of Christian and Hindu girls to older Muslim men persist as major human rights violations. Despite legal protections on paper, institutional biases, public pressure, and inadequate law enforcement allow these practices to continue unchecked. These forced conversions often serve to legitimize what would otherwise be recognized as kidnapping and sexual assault.

The persecution occurs within a constitutional framework that explicitly limits religious freedom. Pakistan’s constitution restricts the right to free speech to maintain “the glory of Islam,” creating a legal environment where minority rights are subordinated to religious considerations from the outset.

NCRC Chairperson Ayesha Raza Farooq, working in collaboration with UNICEF, emphasizes that millions of children continue to fall through protection gaps due to fragmented efforts, lack of coordination, and limited political will. The NCRC has urged the government to strengthen legal protections, expand social safety nets, create inclusive education policies, and adopt specific measures to counter child and bonded labor, as well as forced religious conversions.

NCRC Minorities Member Pirbhu Lal Satyani states bluntly that children from religious minorities are among the most marginalized in Pakistani society, facing stigma, stereotyping, and structural exclusion that begins in childhood and continues throughout their lives.

The police report exposing “The Blasphemy Business” has opened new territory in Pakistan’s debate over blasphemy laws, revealing uncomfortable truths for the political establishment about the country’s human rights crisis and the extreme vulnerability of its minorities. However, the swift suspension of judicial review attempts demonstrates the powerful forces aligned against reform.

For Pakistan’s minorities, particularly its 4.5 million Christians, each day brings fresh uncertainty. The combination of weaponized blasphemy laws, systematic discrimination, economic exploitation, and social marginalization creates an environment where basic human dignity remains elusive. Without significant political will to confront extremist groups and implement meaningful reforms, Pakistan’s minorities will continue to live under the shadow of persecution, their children growing up in a society that treats their very existence as somehow lesser and their faith as inherently suspect.
The international community watches as Pakistan struggles with this fundamental test of its commitment to human rights and religious freedom. The outcome will determine not only the fate of millions of vulnerable citizens but also Pakistan’s standing as a nation capable of protecting all its people, regardless of their faith.

Genocide Against Christians Escalates Across Africa

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WILLIAM DESJARDINS

In the shadows of international headlines, an escalating campaign of violence is unfolding across several African nations, where radical Islamic groups are targeting Christian communities. In Mozambique’s northern Cabo Delgado province, the Islamic State Mozambique Province (ISMP), an ISIS affiliate, has taken responsibility for a series of attacks, including beheadings, village raids, and the burning of churches and homes. Between July 20 and 28, ISMP militants reportedly killed at least nine Christians, beheaded others, and displaced over 46,000 people. Nearly 60% of the victims were children according to the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

On July 24, ISMP fighters attacked a Christian village in Chiure district, killing one and setting multiple homes ablaze. Four days later, they claimed responsibility for the capture and beheading of two Christians, releasing 20 propaganda photos through jihadist channels boasting of their attacks. The images, verified by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), reveal scenes of mutilated victims, torched churches, and militants standing triumphantly over the corpses of what they call “infidel militias.” MEMRI Vice President Alberto Miguel Fernandez described the unfolding crisis as a “silent genocide” driven by deep anti-Christian hatred, lamenting the lack of attention from the international community.

Mozambique isn’t alone. The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has seen similarly heinous violence at the hands of the ISIS-aligned Allied Democratic Forces (ADF). On July 27, ADF operatives opened fire at a Catholic church in the Christian village of Komanda, killing 45 people, including nine children, and setting fire to homes and businesses. Earlier in the month, the same group slaughtered 43 worshipers during a church service. These acts of terror are part of a broader ISIS strategy to establish a caliphate across Africa through decentralized, cell-based warfare—a shift from the group’s earlier land-occupying tactics in Iraq and Syria.

Despite mounting death tolls and mass displacements, global leaders have remained largely silent. Fernandez warns that ISIS-aligned groups are now in a position to destabilize multiple African nations simultaneously, posing a long-term threat not only to regional security but to global interests. While countries like Rwanda have deployed forces to assist Mozambique, the international response remains fragmented and insufficient. As ISIS continues to expand its ideological and operational reach, Christian communities across Mozambique, the DRC, and Nigeria live under the constant threat of slaughter, their suffering too often overlooked in a world consumed by other headlines.