PLANO—The future of religious freedom in Eastern Europe depends on Ukraine’s ability to engage the support of “strategic partners” in the West—both in churches and in government, leaders of the Evangelical Baptist Union of Ukraine told a North Texas audience.

President Valery Antonyuk and Vice President Igor Bandura addressed a group Feb. 5 at the Hope Center in Plano—headquarters for multiple Christian nonprofit organizations—to seek support for their nation and its churches.

Speaking through an interpreter, Atonyuk described Russia’s assault on Ukraine as an “evil project” to destroy freedom, including religious liberty.

“We are looking for ideas, projects and partnerships with our fellow Christians in the United States, because together we can stop this evil project,” he said. “Our Lord Jesus Christ will prevail. We are praying for this, and we are looking for partners who will stand with us.”

The faith leaders who addressed the assembly in Plano were part of a larger delegation of Ukrainian public officials and business leaders visiting the United States.

When the group began making plans in September for the trip to the United States, they hoped to look ahead and focus on ways “strategic partners” in the United States could help Ukraine rebuild after the end of armed conflict, including church-to-church partnerships, Bandura said.

“We’re all looking for a better future for Ukraine. … Of course, we dreamed that the war would be coming to an end,” he said. “Unfortunately, that is not the case. The war is still going on. We cannot see how, when and where it will be finished.”

The Ukrainian Baptist leaders spoke in North Texas less than 24 hours after the U.S. Senate announced a bill linking appropriations to Ukraine and Israel with border security, but Speaker Mike Johnson—a Southern Baptist—declared the measure “dead on arrival” in the House of Representatives.

“Honestly, we are confused by the delays in the American Congress in deciding to provide financial support for Ukraine,” Bandura said. “It is very painful, in fact, because it is not just about the money. It causes many deaths.”

‘No religious freedom’ in long-occupied areas

The experience of Christians in areas occupied by Russia—such as the Russian Federation’s invasion and annexation of the Crimean Peninsula in 2014—reveal what could happen in all parts of Ukraine if Russia prevails, he warned.

“There is no religious freedom. Pastors are kidnapped, tortured and interrogated. People are frightened, and they leave as soon as they can,” he said.

If Russia succeeds in taking over Ukraine, it will mean “the end for Baptist churches, the end for evangelical churches” in the country, Bandura said.

In turn, it will have an impact on all of Eastern Europe, because Ukrainian Christians historically have been a missionary-sending people, he added.

“After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Ukrainian churches sent at least 500 missionaries to Russia,” he said. “We wanted to be a blessing to this country. And in turn, Russia comes to destroy us and take away our freedom.”

Bandura appealed for the support of Christians in the United States.

“We need your help. We need your prayers. We need your support,” he said.

Many predicted Ukraine would fall to Russia in two or three days after the invasion began in February 2022, Bandura observed. Instead, two years later, Ukraine continues to resist, he said.

“The God who has brought us this far will not abandon us,” Bandura said. “God has something special in mind for Ukraine.”

Pavlo Unguryan, an evangelical leader and former member of the Ukrainian Parliament, said Christians both in the United States and Ukraine are “living in historic times.”

If Ukraine can prevail against Russian aggression and protect its freedom, Christians will have both the responsibility and opportunity to rebuild the nation and shape its future direction, said Unguryan, the son of a Baptist pastor.

“Right now, we really need help. The Evil One wants to destroy Ukraine,” he said.

WASHINGTON (BP)—Religious freedom impacts economic prosperity and political rights, U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson told the International Religious Freedom Summit in Washington.

“Economic prosperity grows when people are allowed to follow their faith, and freedom flourishes where freedom is allowed,” Johnson said in his Jan. 31 keynote address to the summit. “When religious freedom is taken away from the people, political freedom soon follows.”

Johnson spoke in the final plenary of the two-day summit. The event, in its fourth year, convened a diverse segment of religious freedom advocates and leaders from the United States and abroad.

Through a series of plenaries, panel discussions, breakout sessions and personal testimonies, advocates encouraged and equipped attendees to advocate for a global right to individual religious freedom for all, regardless of religion and gender.

Johnson decried atrocities and violations of religious freedom particularly in North Korea, Myanmar, Nigeria, Nicaragua, Cuba and China, citing the persecution of Uyghur Muslims, Buddhists, Fulan Gong, Catholics, Protestants and others. He advocated for Jewish individuals globally who are suffering spikes in persecution since the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel.

He urged the Biden Administration to fully enforce the letter and spirit of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, which President Biden signed into law in December 2021 after its bipartisan passage.

“We must use all of our resources to prevent American involvement in Uyghur genocide,” Johnson said. “We should all be united on this, that’s who we are as Americans.”

Founded on religious freedom

Johnson said the United States was founded on religious liberty and the recognition of all men as created in God’s image, pointing out the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights.

“While it may not be popular in today’s increasingly secular world, America was founded on the ideal of religious freedom and the belief that every single person has inalienable rights,” Johnson said. “Since our founding, America has been the greatest proponent of religious freedom around the world, because we were founded on that ideal.”

While the United States forcibly enslaved African men, women and children before and after the freedom documents were signed, Johnson said an individual’s “value is not related in any way to the color of your skin, or what country you live in, or how intelligent you are.”

“Your value is inherent,” he said, “because it is given to you by your Creator.”

He noted the Jan. 29 International Holocaust Remembrance Day in decrying anti-Semitism.

“The Anti-Semitism that led to the Holocaust is now being spread through new tools and is once again rearing its ugly head,” Johnson said. “Since Hamas slaughtered … Israeli citizens on Oct. 7, we’ve seen a frightening and seemingly coordinated rise in anti-Semitism, including here on our own shores.”

He urged summit attendees to commit to the long-asserted promise, “Never Again.”

The Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission was among the event’s convening partners.

“As Southern Baptists, we have a rich history of advocating for a government that safeguards the ability for us to live according to our deeply held beliefs found in Scripture,” ERLC Policy Associate Allison Cantrell said.

“By taking part in the fourth annual summit, we also deepen vital partnerships to protect the religious liberty of all people around the world,” Cantrell said, “as we recognize infringements upon religious liberty ultimately inhibit the work of our missionaries and churches in fulfilling the Great Commission.”

The summit was co-chaired by Sam Brownback, former U.S. ambassador at large for international religious freedom; and Katrina Lantos-Swett, president of the Lantos Foundation for Human Rights and Justice. U.S. Sen. James Lankford of Oklahoma and U.S. Rep. Young Kim of California were co-chairs.

The summit included panel discussions spanning persecution globally, defining international religious freedom and exploring its application in the contexts of national law, modern culture and human rights.

Panels focused on the challenges of non-majority faiths in India, presented women leaders in religious freedom abroad, and explored ways to counter anti-Semitism.

Among breakouts were sessions on minorities in the Middle East, rising anti-Semitism, intersectionality and international religious freedom, Chinese Christian prisoners of conscience, blasphemy and violence across Asia, violations against Indigenous and occupied religious communities, legislative action, and persecution in war and conflict zones including Ukraine, Armenia and Nigeria.

An international ministry with Texas Baptist roots is seeking to transform remote villages in Uganda and Tanzania by providing access to education, clean drinking water and the gospel.

Since its founding more than five decades ago, Amigos Internacionales has served vulnerable children and families in more than 20 countries, particularly providing food and emergency aid.

 “About seven years ago, we made the decision to go from being a reactive ministry to being more of a proactive ministry,” Executive Director Michael Ryer said.

The Texas-based nonprofit organization began a child-sponsorship program to allow donors to supply essential needs for children in Uganda.

Through those contacts, God opened up the opportunity for Amigos Internacionales to multiply its impact by purchasing a school building and 10 adjoining acres in Ogul Village in the Gulu District of northern Uganda, Ryer said.

‘Village within a village’

Amigos Internacionales views the Ogul Village Restoration Project campus—a school, church, water well and demonstration farm—as a “village within a village.”

Today, 166 children attend Open Hands Academy in an area once terrorized by Joseph Kony, the militant warlord accused of abducting tens of thousands of children to become sex slaves and child soldiers in his Lord’s Resistance Army. Last year, the academy completed an expansion project to increase its capacity, allowing for a student population of up to 245 pupils.

In that troubled region and among its traumatized people, Amigos Internacionales offers “a sanctuary of peace and tranquility,” Ryer said.

Each Sunday, more than 200 people worship at Agape Baptist Church. In three years, the church has baptized more than 400 new Christians.

The farm is producing rice, beans, cassava and corn, and Amigos Internacionales is establishing breeding programs for goats, rabbits and poultry. Fast-growing eucalyptus trees cover three acres, providing essential building material for the villagers’ grass hut roofs and a potential future source of commercial eucalyptus oil.

Missionpoint strategy expands reach

Based on its success in Ogul Village and in response to needs in the region, Amigos Internacionales launched its Missionpoint strategy to expand into other villages—particularly in areas populated predominantly by Muslim refugees from South Sudan.

Local pastors and village leaders work with Amigos Internacionales personnel to identify needs and resources—particularly land that can be donated to “develop spiritual communities” in remote rural areas, Ryer explained.

After the land is donated, Amigos Internacionales works with local officials to drill a water well and set a hand pump to provide clean water for villagers. At the same time, pastors from Lamwo Baptist Association churches in outlying areas help start Bible studies and hold outdoor worship services.

Once a church is established, Amigos Internacionales helps to build a school and begin life-skill classes for adults to enhance economic development in the village. The final step is to establish a demonstration farm—focusing first on producing food for local families and later to grow cash crops so the communities can become self-sustaining.

The Missionpoint strategy proved so effective in Uganda, Ryer noted, Christians in Tanzania wanted to work with Amigos Internacionales to plant churches and transform remote rural villages in the central part of their country.

“In Tanzania, we can’t keep up,” Ryer said.

Christians in Uganda and Tanzania prompted Amigos Internacionales to set an ambitious “25 by 25” goal—to establish 25 new mission points by the end of 2025.

He noted Jacob Bonney, who became director of operations in Tanzania, and his team continue to identify additional villages that need a gospel witness and access to clean water and educational opportunities.

“Pastor Jacob already has four mission churches lined up,” Ryer said.

Bonney and his team hope to share the gospel with 3,000 people in Shinyanga Province this year.

Last year, Missionpoint churches in Uganda and Tanzania reported 1,159 professions of faith in Christ, and local leaders have committed to discipling each new believer, Ryer noted.

‘Followed God’s nudging’

John LaNoue, longtime leader in Texas Baptist Men disaster relief ministries and one of the founders of Amigos Internacionales, marvels at how the ministries of Amigos Internacionales have expanded.

 “It all began in 1967, building mobile medical clinics for River Ministry to use along the border,” LaNoue said.

While serving on the TBM staff, LaNoue spent three months in North Korea in 1997 as a representative of Amigos Internacionales. He was part of a five-person team of representatives from nongovernmental organizations in the United States, sent to monitor the distribution of food provided as famine relief by U.S. humanitarian organizations, including 130 tons supplied by Texas Baptists.

He sees the expanding work Amigos Internacionales is doing in Africa today as another example of responding to invitations from God.

“I didn’t plan any of this. We just followed God’s nudging,” said LaNoue, who continues to serve on the Amigos Internacionales board of directors, along with Bill Arnold, retired founding president of the Texas Baptist Missions Foundation. “This is where God is working.”

KARNATAKA, India (BP)—A 300-person mob beat and threatened to kill a Christian couple at a police station in Karnataka State, India, after the wife was falsely accused of forced conversion, Christian Solidarity Worldwide reported Jan. 23.

Uppaladinni village residents Vijayalakshmi Chavhan and her husband Ashok were beaten, while police feigned an inability to stop the attack, sources told CSW.

“This is part of a growing trend of social hostility towards religious minorities across India, which the authorities must address as a matter of utmost urgency,” CSW founding president Mervyn Thomas said.

“CSW is concerned for the Christians in Uppaladinni who have been singled out, harassed and attacked on account of their beliefs.”

Religious conversions are criminalized in Karnataka and 11 other states in the majority Hindu country, punishable by years-long prison sentences and monetary fines.

Dramatic increase in religious persecution

Spiking persecution of Christians in India has led religious liberty advocacy groups to urge the U.S. State Department to designate India a Country of Particular Concern for systematic, ongoing and egregious religious liberty violations.

In Uppaladinni, villagers accused Chavhan of forced conversion because she was a Christian and government health care worker who routinely entered homes to conduct community outreach.

As the accusations spread across the community, the couple was attacked when police brought them and other villagers to the police station to resolve the situation. Villagers tried to get Chavhan fired from her job, which police have assured her is secure.

The couple’s condition after the beating was not reported, but police arrested six men identified as members of the Banjara community, a semi-nomadic Indigenous tribe. Such violence often is attributed to Hindutva radicals, Open Doors US said in its 2024 World Watch List that describes India as the 11th most dangerous place for Christians.

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom and multiple advocacy groups have requested a congressional hearing to advocate for the designation of India—as well as Nigeria—as a CPC. The commission cited anti-conversion laws, mob attacks, sexual violence and harassment of religious minorities, as well as laws employed to disenfranchise religious minorities of their Indian citizenship.

On Jan. 17, nearly 40 religious liberty advocates and groups joined ICC in a letter to Congress decrying the omission of India and Nigeria from the 2024 list of CPCs. The advocates cited India’s anti-conversion laws in their appeal.

Anti-conversion laws widespread

In addition to Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh, anti-conversion laws exist and are variously enforced in the states of Arunachal Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Rajasthan and Uttarakhand, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom said in a March 2023 update.

Other states are considering passing such laws, the commission said, while courts have ordered some states to pause enforcement.

Violence against Christians has also increased in India, Open Doors US reported, with killings rising from 17 in 2022 to 160 in 2023; 2,228 churches attacked or closed in 2023, up from 67 in 2022; the private property of 5,878 Christians damaged or confiscated in 2023, up from 180 in 2022; and 62,119 Christians displaced in 2023, compared to 834 in 2022.

Hindus comprise 71.8 percent of India’s 1.4 billion population, followed by Muslims with 14.9 percent, Christians with 5 percent, and 3.7 percent described as ethno-religious, Open Doors US reported, citing March 2023 figures from the World Christian database.

The police station mob violence was among ongoing harassment of Christians this month in Uppaladinni village, CSW said.

The local utility service cut electrical power and water to the homes of three families who attend church with the Chavhans, leaving them without utilities at least four days and publicly warning them they would be killed if they continued to follow Jesus. Chavhan continues to receive death threats, sources told CSW.

LVIV, Ukraine (BP)—Baptists in the United States and abroad continue to help Ukraine meet mental health needs exacerbated by Russia’s war on the country, a conflict nearing its second anniversary.

Sandy Fields, a licensed professional counselor and mental health services provider in Nashville, Tenn., is among many who have helped Ukrainian Baptist Theological Seminary in Lviv train laypersons to serve as trauma helpers at 17 humanitarian WeCare centers across Ukraine.

“I felt called by God to do it,” Fields said of her outreach to Ukraine. “I think this is going to be a trauma call for generations. And how we as the world respond to this can help them develop resiliency, or we can make it worse for them.”

More than 10,000 Ukrainian civilians had been killed in the war through November of 2023, the United Nations reported.

While Ukraine has not released a number of military deaths, the country’s former prosecutor general, Yuriy Lutsenko, told ABC News Jan. 9 about 30,000 Ukrainian troops were being killed or badly wounded per month. He estimated the toll to date as 500,000 killed or wounded.

Ukrainians will need continued training in trauma care if they are successful in war, Fields said. Anxiety, depression, fractured and stressed families, spousal abuse and distorted views of the future are among current mental health challenges that will only increase.

Fields found in Ukrainians a resiliency in meeting the war’s challenges.

“It’s hard, as anyone would struggle with their cities being bombed,” she said. “But I think overall they have come together as a people. That was one of the things that struck me is that they were certainly supportive of the war effort and of each other. I mean it struck me, it was so deep in their culture and the way that they spoke.”

Fields, who owns Theratribe online counseling center, participated in an outreach in late 2023 organized by the Ukraine Partnership Foundation and Ukrainian Baptist Theological Seminary. First Baptist Church of Nashville funded her travel.

Training volunteers in trauma response

She trained volunteers in various aspects of trauma, defining the emotional response, how it impacts people and ways volunteers can help.

“Many of the people who come (to WeCare Centers) have lost their home, they’ve lost their job, they’ve lost their community,” Fields said. “Their needs were just overwhelmingly many.

“At the same time, the people are also very brave. They are a more collective culture, and so they (were) looking for ways to help each other that were simply amazing. People there give everything that they can to help each other.”

WeCare Centers were launched out of Ukrainian Baptist Theological Seminary’s humanitarian work in the early months of the war, when the seminary paused classes, housed refuges and served as a distribution hub for supplies. The 334 partners supporting WeCare centers served nearly 140,000 individuals in May to November last year, the Ukraine Partnership Foundation reported.

Ukrainians had been slow to embrace mental health care since its 1991 independence from Russia. Under Soviet rule, psychological assessments were used to persecute and imprison those who disagreed with governmental policies.

Mental health issues predated Russian assault

Even before the war, Psychiatric Times reported in March 2022, mental illness including depression, alcohol abuse and suicide was more prevalent in Ukraine than in other countries.

Mental health disorders were the country’s second leading cause of disability and affected 30 percent of the population, Psychiatric Times said, citing a lack of trust in the psychiatry system, stigma and a lack of awareness and understanding.

The war has only increased mental health care needs, with domestic violence spiking as injured soldiers return home.

“War stress has put a pressure on families, and so domestic violence has increased exponentially there, according to the U.N. and according to Amnesty International,” Fields said. “Ukraine calls it the second front.”

In her training sessions, she addressed domestic violence from a biblical perspective. The war is changing the nation’s perception of care, said Fields, who hopes for another opportunity to help.

“I think people are seeing the need for it now and are moving in that direction,” Fields said.

Bombing in Gaza damaged the Baptist church there, and a church leader reported people in the region face continued food and water shortages.

“The Baptist church in Gaza has suffered damage from the recent bombings and will require resources to repair and rebuild,” the Baptist World Alliance reported in a weekly email prayer update Jan. 22.

BWA noted one of its newest member partners—the Council of Evangelical Churches in the Holy Land, with about 1,000 members in 13 churches—has provided “livelihood support and food for more than 100 families living in the West Bank, as well as food and hygiene items for hundreds of families who had been sheltering in the Baptist church in Gaza.”

In the email newsletter, BWA asked Baptists worldwide to pray for all its member partners in the region, including the Association of Baptist Churches in Israel, with its 17 congregations.

“Join us as we intercede for peace to reign in the entire region. Join us also in prayer for the Lord’s protection and provision,” BWA stated.

Hanna Massad, former pastor of Gaza Baptist Church, reported his nonprofit organization—Christian Mission to Gaza—also is providing winter clothing, food and financial support to people affected by the war in Gaza.

 “Just a few days ago, we prepared and delivered a total of 870 meals to people taking shelter in churches, ensuring that they do not go hungry in these difficult times,” Massad wrote in a Jan. 16 email newsletter to supporters of his ministry.

Christian Mission to Gaza also provided support to 100 Gaza families in the West Bank and offered aid to families from Gaza “who are stuck in hospitals in Jerusalem due to the war,” he noted.

Massad quoted a church leader in Gaza who provided a firsthand description of conditions there.

“To describe the situation in Gaza, the word ‘catastrophe’ falls short, because life here has almost ceased to exist,” he wrote. “There is a severe shortage of food, water and electricity. Fear, worry and anxiety hang heavy in the air.”

Where food is available, prices have “skyrocketed,” making groceries unaffordable, he reported.

“Inside the churches, the situation is equally challenging,” he continued. “Privacy is scarce, and the food supply is limited. … The cold seeps in, and illnesses spread quickly among children, due to the harsh conditions. … Words alone cannot capture the gravity of this situation.”

In Uganda, the Youth Running Club is about getting physically fit. But it’s so much more than that.

The Texas Baptist Men initiative is an outreach to youth in rural Ugandan villages that helps them grow stronger both physically and spiritually.

Students learn how to stretch, take care of themselves physically and participate in exercises that help them grow strong—calisthenics, running and a variety of games.

Nancy was hesitant to join the running club because she’d never done something like it. After a little encouragement, she showed up and had fun. Soon, she and the group realized she was extremely talented.

“The coaches were really encouraging her family that this program is good,” said Sam Ojok, who leads TBM’s efforts in Uganda. “They encouraged her to continue with it, learn, do the exercises. So, she kept going every Saturday, participating in the program, and the time came for athletics.

“Now, because she’s so used to athletics, she was participating at the school athletics, as well. When she started that, she was selected to go and represent the subcounty school at the subcounty level. And then later on, she did very well, and she was selected to go and represent now at the district level. And also, she performed very well, and then she was now taken in a national level up to that side of Kampala.”

Her family and village are happy for her and cheer her on as she competes. She’s a source of local pride.

The experience—partnered with the biblical lessons she learns each week—have transformed her life. Her parents said she used to be shy and a bit stubborn at home, but her success and growth through the running club helped her grow confident and believe she can accomplish anything.

“One of the best things I saw that happened to her is to excel in athletics and secondly, they are also teaching them the word of God,” Nancy’s mom said. “Now, whenever they are taught the word of God from their place of practice, they come and they share it with us, encouraging us to really love God and go to church.”

The Youth Running Club serves about 70 children in North Uganda. It’s one aspect of TBM’s Water Impact ministry, which includes community Bible studies, hygiene training, drilling water wells and the development of microfinance efforts.

The ministry is designed to change lives now, for generations to come and into eternity—lives like Nancy’s.

“Working with Ugandans, we’re helping people grow spiritually and physically strong,” said Mitch Chapman, TBM Water Impact director. “The gospel is transforming people’s lives and creating leaders in villages today. It’s also creating leaders like Nancy, who will take the gospel to the next generation.”

More than 40 international religious freedom advocates sent a letter to key members of Congress calling for hearings to examine why the U.S. Department of State failed to designate Nigeria and India as Countries of Particular Concern.

“Nigeria and India have been rocked by alarming instances of religious violence and persecution,” the Jan. 17 letter to the chairs and ranking members of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and the Senate Foreign Relations Committee states.

The letter—on International Christian Concern letterhead—asserts Nigeria and India both meet the statutory definition for a CPC under the International Religious Freedom Act and “should be designated as such.”

“We are disappointed to see the State Department overlook the violence against Christians in Nigeria and India. The U.S. has an opportunity to help end the mass genocide of Christians in Nigeria and pressure India to eradicate its blasphemy laws—and that starts with holding countries accountable for their poor religious freedom conditions,” said McKenna Wendt, advocacy manager for International Christian Concern.

“The U.S. still has a chance to be a global leader in advancing religious freedom in Nigeria and India, and we hope that a congressional hearing would send a message that we are serious about doing so.”

Individuals and organizations signing the letter joined the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom in urging Congress to schedule hearings after U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s Jan. 4 announcement of nations designated by the State Department as CPCs or placed on its Special Watch List.

In spite of the Christmas Eve slaughter of Nigerians in predominantly Christian areas and evidence of India’s growing transnational repression of religious minorities, neither country was designated as a CPC or placed on the Special Watch List.

“There is no justification as to why the State Department did not designate Nigeria or India as a Country of Particular Concern, despite its own reporting and statements. USCIRF calls on Congress to convene a public hearing on the failure of the State Department to follow our recommendations,” U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom Chair Abraham Cooper and Vice Chair Frederick A. Davie said in a joint statement.

The Nigeria-based International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law estimates more than 50,000 Christians have been killed by 2009, and about 18,000 churches and 2,500 Christian schools have been attacked, the Jan. 17 letter notes.

“In India, state-level anti-conversion laws criminalize the expression of minority religious groups,” the letter states. “Mob violence often goes unchecked.”

In Manipur, between 200 and 400 churches and 3,500 Christian homes have been attacked, and in Uttar Pradesh, more than 400 Christians have been arrested for sharing their faith, the letter notes.

“It is imperative for the United States to actively address these issues and ensure that the principles of religious freedom are upheld globally,” the letter states.

“Accountability and transparency are essential to understanding the State Department’s rationale for declining to designate Nigeria and India and CPCs. … Secretary of State Blinken must answer to Congress and the American people.”

In addition to Wendt, individuals who signed the letter include former members of Congress Fred Wolf of Virginia and Dan Burton of Indiana, along with Nina Shea from the Hudson Institute and Nadine Maenza, president of the International Religious Freedom Secretariat.

Organizations endorsing the letter include 21Wilberforce, the Federation of Indian American Christians, Genocide Watch, the Jubilee Campaign and the Observatory for Religious Freedom in Africa.

WASHINGTON (RNS)—After Norway deregistered the Jehovah’s Witnesses last year, some human rights experts say the nation’s reputation as a bastion of religious freedom could be in question.

Now, the Jehovah’s Witnesses of Norway are suing the state for revoking their national registration and withholding state funds. According to Jehovah’s Witnesses, they are the first religious group to lose their national registration in Norway, which recognizes more than 700 faith communities.

The trial, which began Jan. 8, will determine whether some practices of the Jehovah’s Witnesses violate Norway’s Religious Communities Act or whether withdrawing the Jehovah’s Witnesses’ registration violates their right to freedom of religion and freedom of association, as guaranteed in the European Convention on Human Rights.

“It’s certainly the most important trial about a religious freedom issue in Norway in decades,” Willy Fautré, director of the Brussels-based organization Human Rights Without Frontiers, told Religion News Service.

Accused of defying Norway’s Religious Communities Act

In January 2022, Valgerd Svarstad Haugland, the county governor of Oslo and Viken, in Norway, denied Jehovah’s Witnesses state grants for the year 2021 in response to concerns about what she perceived as exclusionary practices. The Jehovah’s Witnesses had received the grants, which currently amount to around $1.5 million annually, for three decades.

These funds typically are used for international disaster relief work and supporting religious activity in Norway, including translating literature and building kingdom halls, said Jørgen Pedersen, spokesperson for Jehovah’s Witnesses in Norway.

The county governor of Oslo and Viken claimed Jehovah’s Witnesses are forbidden to contact disfellowshipped members, as well as people who voluntarily dissociate, which can hinder a person’s ability to freely withdraw from the group.

She also argued Jehovah’s Witnesses may disfellowship children who have chosen to be baptized if they break the religious community’s rules, a practice she said constituted “negative social control” and violated children’s rights.

These practices, the county governor argued, defy Norway’s Religious Communities Act.

“We have assessed the offenses as systematic and intentional, and have therefore chosen to refuse grants,” a statement from the county governor said.

Clarifying stance on disfellowship

In an email to RNS, Jehovah’s Witnesses spokesperson Jarrod Lopes said Witnesses only disfellowship an unrepentant member who “makes a practice” of serious violations of “the Bible’s moral code.”

Even then, Lopes added, Jehovah’s Witnesses don’t force members to limit or cease association with former congregants, whether they’ve been disfellowshipped or withdrawn voluntarily—that’s up to individuals.

“Congregation elders do not police the personal lives of congregants, nor do they exercise control over the faith of individual Jehovah’s Witnesses,” Lopes wrote.

Serious sins that might lead to disfellowship include manslaughter, adultery and drug use, Pedersen explained. A congregation always will try to help an individual restore his or her relationship with God. But if the problem persists, Jehovah’s Witnesses feel compelled to respect the entire Bible, including instructions not to associate with unrepentant sinners, such as 1 Corinthians 5:11.

Though the Witnesses appealed the county governor’s decision, in September 2022 the Ministry for Children and Families upheld the ruling.

In October that same year, the county governor said in a press release that unless Jehovah’s Witnesses would “rectify the conditions that led to the refusal of state subsidies,” they would lose registration, which they did a few months later, in December.

Without its national registration, Jehovah’s Witnesses cannot perform marriages, and they lose entitlement to government grants.

Should the state interpret religious texts?

The Jehovah’s Witnesses of Norway filed two lawsuits against the state in December 2022—one challenging the denial of state grants and another challenging their loss of registration. Those lawsuits have since been combined.

Though the Oslo District Court initially granted the Jehovah’s Witnesses an injunction that suspended their deregistration until that case was argued, the Ministry challenged the injunction, and in April 2023, the court removed it.

As the trial plays out at the District Court of Oslo, Jason Wise, an attorney acting as a consultant on the case for the legal team representing the Jehovah’s Witnesses in Norway, said part of the Witnesses’ argument is that there is no evidence of harm and it’s not the place of the state to interpret religious texts.

The state continues to contend that the Jehovah’s Witnesses’ practices are in conflict with the Religious Communities Act, particularly, they claim, by exposing children to psychological violence.

Since 2022, Jehovah’s Witnesses have reported an increase in vandalism, harassment and physical assaults in Norway. In September 2022, two Jehovah’s Witnesses in Harstad, Norway, reported that a man screamed at them and repeatedly attempted to hit one of them. That same month, a man in Kristiansand, Norway, reportedly set a Jehovah’s Witnesses mobile display car on fire, and a month later, someone attempted to set fire to a Jehovah’s Witnesses meeting place in Fauske, Norway.

“What we see now is that the state of Norway is taking a look at my beliefs, saying, we don’t like that, we don’t like that,” said Pedersen. Asking Jehovah’s Witnesses to change their beliefs, he said, is a “violation of my integrity as a person, as a religious person, as a person with a conscience. That’s the core issue of this case.”

Norway isn’t the only place where Jehovah’s Witnesses’ practices have been under scrutiny. In December, the Belgian Court of Cassation—the highest court in the Belgian judiciary—rejected an appeal of a lower court’s decision, ruling in favor of Jehovah’s Witnesses’ right to avoid contact with former members.

“Norway is just the tip of another phenomenon,” Fautré said. “That is a source of concern, because we see that there are more and more attempts in Europe by state institutions to interfere and intrude into the teachings and practices of religious groups, which is forbidden by the European Convention. The risk is they would open the door to more court cases against other religious groups.”

WASHINGTON (RNS)—In its annual list detailing countries of concern when it comes to persecution against Christians, the watchdog organization Open Doors International highlighted outbreaks of violence against sub-Saharan African Christians, where 16.2 million were forced out of their homes at the end of 2022.

The report, published at the beginning of every year, tracks discrimination and violence against Christians and ranks countries based on the severity of the threats faced by Christian communities there.

The 2024 list looks at attacks against Christians from October 2022 to September 2023 and is based on data collected by field workers, experts and persecution analysts.

This year’s report notes violence against sub-Saharan African Christians, a long-term problem according to the organization, is the consequence of actions by autocratic regimes and jihadist groups.

“Christians are purposefully targeted or extra vulnerable in a continent that is beset by the twin problems of radical Islamic elements and increasingly autocratic regimes. This is the ever-growing threat for Christians south of the Sahara Desert and, if left unchecked, these twin pressures are expected to overwhelm them and force them out of their homes and villages,” wrote Frans Veerman, Open Doors World Watch Research’s managing director.

More than 82 percent of Christians killed for their faith globally this year were in Nigeria, according to the organization, which has the country ranked as No. 6 on the 2024 list.

Boko Haram, the jihadist group responsible for the abduction of 276 Christian schoolgirls in 2014, though still active, has ceded power to the Sunni Islamic extremist group ISWAP, which has extended its influence into majority Christian southern Nigeria.

Violence against Christian communities particularly is concerning in the Plateau state of Nigeria, which has seen a rise in attacks against rural communities by armed gangs.

Voids in governance and security plague countries of the region and have given jihadist groups occasions to take control over certain areas, the report explained.

Wagner group involved in abuse

In Mali, the Russian paramilitary group Wagner, which is there as an ally of the current military junta in power, has expanded its presence and made it harder for local Christian communities, per the list.

“Their influence has significantly stifled the civic space for Christians,” according to the organization.

The Wagner group, formerly run by President Vladimir Putin’s ally Yevgeny Prigozhin, until he died in 2023, was involved in several abuse cases conducted with the Malian army, according to Human Rights Watch. It also is present in other African countries—including Libya, Central African Republic, Sudan Faso—and has replaced other Western powers in the region.

Christians fear being associated with voices who criticized the presence of Wagner on the continent, Open Doors noted.

The new Malian Constitution, which includes a recognition of Christians as a minority, should improve Christians’ living conditions in the country, Open Doors reported. The text, which intends to prepare a return to civilian rule, was approved in June in a referendum with 97 percent of the vote.

The report also noted the growing influence of the Islamic Allied Democratic forces in war-torn Congo.

North Korea still tops Watch List

This year’s World Watch List included actions taken against Christians by their governments. North Korea, at the top of the list for many years, continues to track illegal house churches and condemn Christians to “hard labor,” according to the organization.

China increased its crackdown on house churches through a set of “old and new authoritarian measures,” explained the watchdog group. Thousands of churches closed in the past year, and 83 percent of closures documented in the report happened in China and India.

The report also describes a degrading climate for Christians in Nicaragua due to President Daniel Ortega’s anti-clergy policies. Last August, the government confiscated the University of Central America, a Jesuit-run institution, accusing it of being a “center for terrorism.”

In February 2023, Bishop Rolando Álvarez was sentenced to 26 years in prison for “criticizing religious freedom conditions.” The bishop of Matagalpa was released Jan. 16 with 18 other priests after negotiations with the Vatican.

Open Doors also raised the alarm on the situation for Indian Christians and reports a rise in Christian killings and attacks on Christian schools and hospitals in that country.

Last May’s ethnic violence in northeastern India, between the Kuki Christian minority and the Meitei, Manipur’s biggest and largely Hindu ethnic group, led to the death of 160 Christians and forced thousands more out of their homes.

The organization said the ouster of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist party from India’s southern Karnataka state might improve the situation for Christians there, as long-standing anti-conversion laws are repealed.

The 2024 top 10 list is: North Korea, Somalia, Libya, Eritrea, Yemen, Nigeria, Pakistan, Sudan, Iran and Afghanistan.

Both registered and unregistered Baptists in Belarus voiced concern about a bill recently signed into law requiring all registered religious communities to reregister or face punishment for illegal religious activity.

On Dec. 30, President Aleksandr Lukashenko authorized a law that—among other things—requires registered religious groups in Belarus to register again between July 5, 2024, and July 5, 2025.

The law solidifies the government’s power to inspect and monitor religious communities. It also grants the state sweeping authority to shut down religious communities and arrest religious practitioners deemed guilty of “extremism” or who are critical of the regime in power.

Forum 18 news service quoted an individual associated with the Council of Churches Baptist—whose member congregations choose not to seek government permission to exercise freedom of religion—as saying compulsory registration “began in the Soviet Union, and nothing has changed.”

“As the Bible says, there’s nothing new under the sun,” he told Forum 18, a religious freedom-focused news service affiliated with the Norwegian Helsinki Committee. Council of Churches Baptist congregations “will stick to our firm position” not to seek state registration, he insisted.

Leonid Mikhovich, president of the Baptist Union in Belarus, welcomed some changes to the final text of the law as published Jan. 5, compared to an earlier draft. The final version removed a requirement for religious organizations to report to local executive committees about the religious education of children.

However, Mikhovich voiced concern about a requirement for a religious community to have a minimum of 20 adult founders.

“In some villages, we do not have the required number of people, while the law provides no other option other than to have 20 people to be allowed to hold regular worship meetings,” he told Forum 18.

Mikhovich also noted the law requires the founders of religious communities to provide the state with extensive personal information.

“It is still necessary during registration to submit information about their place of work,” he said.

The office of the president in Belarus reported 3,590 registered religious institutions as of Jan. 1 last year, representing 25 religious denominations and 173 religious organizations, such as monasteries, convents and religious educational institutions, and 3,417 religious communities.

Of those religious communities, 1,733 are part of the Belarusian Orthodox Church, and 500 are Roman Catholic. Evangelical Baptists have 281 registered communities.

The East Texas Baptist University baseball team showed God’s love by serving communities in the Dominican Republic last month.

The seven-day mission trip, which included competing with local baseball teams, painting homes and leading sports clinics for children, was part of the Tiger Athletic Mission Experience. ETBU created TAME to allow student-athletes opportunities to use their talents and abilities as avenues to share their faith with people globally.

“For us to have the opportunity to go and serve the people of the Dominican Republic was a huge honor for our club,” ETBU Head Baseball Coach Jared Hood said. “Our guys got to experience a culture much different than our own and an unbelievably loving people. We were shown that God is present in the Dominican Republic, and his blessings are abundant.

“To experience a culture much different than ours and to see the presence of God was truly humbling. To have the chance to leave our mark and be embraced by the people of the Dominican Republic was an experience like no other.”

The team competed in five games during the trip, playing against local teams made up of mostly MLB minor league players. They also competed with teams from the Dominican Air Force Academy and the Dominican Republic Army.

“During the games, we had the opportunity to witness the love and passion all Dominicans show toward the game of baseball,” Ben Burroughs said. “Whether they are in the stands or on the field, the love of the game is all the same, and it makes the atmosphere amazing.”

After each game, players were able to share their testimonies with the team and pray over their opponents.

Following the final game of the week, the ETBU baseball team donated their uniforms and backpacks to youth in local neighborhoods.

“Through this journey, we’ve witnessed God’s hand at work within our team. We’ve learned not to take things for granted, understanding that material wealth doesn’t guarantee happiness,” Charles Gordon said. “This trip has been instrumental in providing both me and my teammates with a life-changing experience, bringing us closer to Christ and fostering a deep sense of gratitude.”

The team began their mission trip by spending a day painting the exterior of homes in Boca Chica.

“Our first day in the Dominican Republic was eye-opening,” Carson Wilson said. “We visited a once-thriving sugar cane village now extremely run down, with houses made from scrap metal, and stray dogs and goats roaming freely.

“Despite the challenging conditions, the residents greeted us with smiles. We painted three homes and connected with grateful locals. Remarkably, a group of 12- to 14-year-old boys, unrelated to the homes we painted, eagerly joined us, some with torn-up shoes and some with no shoes at all, to contribute to their community. Their selfless act is something I will never forget.”

Throughout the week, the Tiger baseball team had the opportunity to engage with children through baseball camps and clinics. The team performed baseball drills, played catch and interacted with the kids. At the end of the camps, team members led devotional times with the children.

“The camp was buzzing with the pure joy of kids, excited to be out there playing their favorite game,” Ethan Brister said. “One special highlight was during our devotional time, witnessing some kids proudly reciting John 3:16 from memory. … We didn’t just share the love of baseball. We connected with over 100 kids, bringing them both the joy of the game and the love of God.”

During a visit to an orphanage, the team’s head coach had an unexpected and welcome encounter. A child whom he met during a TAME trip six years ago remembered him and excitedly ran to greet him.

“I met Victoria on our trip to the Dominican Republic in 2017,” Hood said. “At that time, my daughters were 5 and 2, and Victoria’s personality reminded me a lot of them. We played the entire time that day at the orphanage, and she was so happy and full of life that it was hard not to have an impact on me.

“Seeing her again meant the absolute world to me. She was just as I had remembered her. I am so grateful to have had a chance to reconnect with Victoria and see that she is well.

“Just like seeing one of the houses that we had painted previously in 2017, it is a reminder that not only does our impact on lives last longer than the service that we do, but those impacts have a lasting effect on our lives as well.”

Since 2016, ETBU sthletics has sponsored TAME trips to Costa Rica, Nicaragua, the Dominican Republic, Brazil, Serbia, Israel, Jamaica, Slovakia, France, Japan, Greece, Scotland, Australia, Spain, Portugal, Northern Ireland and New Zealand.