Asia/Pacific

By BosNewsLife Asia Service HANOI, VIETNAM (BosNewsLife)-- Rights activists say Christians in Vietnam face increased persecution after a foreign missionary was expelled and Bible students were detained by security forces

By BosNewsLife Asia Service ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN (BosNewsLife)-- A 17-year-old Christian girl remained in hiding Thursday, January 25, after she escaped kidnappers who raped her, according to Christian aid workers familiar with the case.

By BosNewsLife Asia Service COLOMBO, SRI LANKA (BosNewsLife)-- The leader of a church in northwestern Sri Lanka which was destroyed by suspected Buddhist militants says his congregation will continue worship services. "No attack can stop us. We shall continue to meet and pray under a tree," said Kamal Wasantha, who leads the Kithu Sevana Prayer Centre in Paharaiya. "We shall continue to meet and pray under a tree."

By BosNewsLife Asia Service BEIJING, CHINA (BosNewsLife)-- A Christian aid and advocacy group is raising funds for a Christian human rights defender who is in need of urgent cancer treatment that she cannot afford after a Chinese medical team allegedly canceled a crucial operation because of her work with prominent Christians and activists.

By BosNewsLife Asia Service with reporting by BosNewsLife's Stefan J. Bos BEIJING, CHINA (BosNewsLife)-- A Chinese house church pastor who has been detained since December 9, 2015, was sentenced to two years and six months in prison by a court in China’s central Guizhou province on controversial charges of “divulging state secrets,”, trial observers said.

BosNewsLife Asia Service with BosNewsLife's Stefan J. Bos NEW DELHI, INDIA (BosNewsLife)-- Christians in central India have begun the New Year in mourning and with concerns about their future after a grandmother was apparently stripped naked, beaten to death and her body burned because her Christian faith was "disturbing the peace" in her village. The incident in the remote village of Dokawaya was the latest in a series of recent incidents in India's Chhattisgarh state, which included the rape and murder of a 14-year-old girl.

By BosNewsLife Asia Service with reporting by BosNewsLife's Stefan J. Bos BEIJING, CHINA (BosNewsLife)-- A local court in China’s western Xinjiang province has reportedly sentenced a Christian woman to three years in prison for holding a Bible study meeting "without government approval" and "gathering a crowd to disturb public order".

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent BosNewsLife NEW DELHI/SANAA (BosNewsLife)-- Christians in the Arabic Peninsula have urged prayers for an Indian priest abducted in Yemen by Islamic militants on March 4, 2016, as New Year's Day was overshadowed by uncertainty over his condition and whereabouts. The appeal came after priest Tom Uzhunnalil was seen begging for his life in video footage published by social media, a day after Christmas.

By BosNewsLife Asia Service with reporting by BosNewsLife's Stefan J. Bos BEIJING, CHINA (BosNewsLife)-- Family members are demanding an independently-conducted autopsy following the mysterious death of a long-term jailed Christian and outspoken human rights activist.