Asia/Pacific

By BosNewsLife Asia Service NEW DELHI, INDIA (BosNewsLife)-- Evangelical Christians in India, who are reportedly facing persecution in several areas of India, were in mourning this Easter after the recent death of at least 16 Christians in a major traffic accident in Meghalaya state in North East India. Over 50 were also injured when a truck carrying them overturned in the West Khasi Hills district of Meghalaya on February 26.

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent BosNewsLife NEW DELHI, INDIA (BosNewsLife)-- Christian groups in India have urged authorities to increase protection of churches during the Easter season after at least five churches in the country were reportedly targeted on by Hindu extremists and government officials. The Palm Sunday attacks included disrupting worship services and prayer gatherings, the detention of pastors, their wives and other church members, as well as the beating by a mob of a pastor for allegedly violating "anti-conversion laws".

NEW DELHI, INDIA (BosNewsLife)-- A Christian father in eastern India has died after he and his wife were forced by angry villagers to spent the night in frigid water because they refused to deny their faith in Jesus Christ, BosNewsLife learned Sunday March 12.

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".