Middle East

By BosNewsLife Middle East Service BAGHDAD, IRAQ (BosNewsLife)-- Hundreds of Iraqi Christian families are fleeing Iraq's capital Baghdad and the town of Mosul as murderers target families in their own homes and workplaces, a well-informed advocacy group said Wednesday, December 8.

By BosNewsLife Middle East Service with reporting by BosNewsLife's Stefan J. Bos TEHRAN, IRAN (BosNewsLife)-- A pastor of a major house church movement in Iran has begun serving a five years prison sentence, for "crimes against the order", while a colleague has been detained amid drug addicts, a well-informed human rights official told BosNewsLife Wednesday, February 1.

By BosNewsLife Middle East Service TEHRAN, IRAN (BosNewsLife)-- Three members of Iran's main evangelical house church movement faced painful whips for drinking wine at the Lord's Supper as early as Saturday, October 19, while two other evangelicals were discovered in a Tehran prison, nearly two months after they disappeared, activists and local Christians told BosNewsLife.

By BosNewsLife Middle East Service with reporting by BosNewsLife's Stefan J. Bos CAIRO, EGYPT (BosNewsLife)-- Churches were anxiously awaiting Friday, July 5, whether Egypt's new president would be able to end massive kidnappings of Christians, many of them Coptic Christian girls, as well as wealthy believers.

By BosNewsLife Middle East Service with reporting by Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent BosNewsLife TEHRAN, IRAN (BosNewsLife)-- There was mounting concern Tuesday, July 17, about the health situation of jailed and mistreated Iranian Pastor Behnam Irani after he became unconscious and was hospitalized, an official assisting him with advocacy said.  

By BosNewsLife Middle East Service with reporting by BosNewsLife's Stefan J. Bos TEHRAN, IRAN (BosNewsLife)— A member of one of Iran’s largest evangelical house church movements has been released from prison, 14 months earlier than expected, but many other believers remain behind bars, Iranian and other activists told BosNewsLife.

By BosNewsLife Middle East Service CAIRO, EGYPT (BosNewsLife)-- Christian women who refuse to embrace Islam are facing abductions and attacks in Egypt, despite the government vowing to boost security and protect the country's Christian minority. More than a month after she went missing, Christians still search for 22-year-old Suzan Ashraf Rawy who disappeared last month while walking to the church where she works in Egypt.

By BosNewsLife Middle East Service with reporting by BosNewsLife's Stefan J. Bos CAIRO, EGYPT (BosNewsLife)-- A Coptic priest was shot dead by Islamic extremists in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula as sectarian clashes spread following the ouster of President Mohammed Morsi, Egyptian security sources said Saturday, July 6.

By BosNewsLife Middle East Service with reporting by BosNewsLife's Stefan J. Bos Three Iranian Christians were due to appear before Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Court Sunday, February 4, to appeal against lengthy prison terms on charges of "conducting evangelism" and carrying out "illegal church activities."

By Linda Bordoni CAIRO/VATICAN CITY (BosNewsLife)-- Pope Francis has expressed his solidarity with Egypt's Coptic Christians following an attack on a bus carrying Coptic pilgrims to a remote desert monastery in Egypt.