Middle East

By BosNewsLife Middle East Service with reporting by BosNewsLife's Stefan J. Bos TEHRAN, IRAN (BosNewsLife)-- Iranian security forces have detained a pastor and Gospel artist after raiding a house church in the capital Tehran, despite warnings he will die within days without adequate medical help, Iranian Christians said Sunday, December 30.

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent BosNewsLife TEHRAN, IRAN (BosNewsLife)-- An Iranian pastor, who is jailed in Tehran on charges linked to his Christian activities, says he is praying for the parents who lost their children in a recent school shooting in the U.S. State of Connecticut.

By BosNewsLife Middle East Service TEHRAN, IRAN (BosNewsLife)-- Iranian Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani, who was recently acquitted of apostasy, has been returned to prison on an earlier charge, rights activists told BosNewsLife late Tuesday, December 25.

By BosNewsLife News Center in Budapest BUDAPEST, HUNGARY (BosNewsLife)-- BosNewsLife's Dec 9-Dec 23 news coverage was dominated by reports on Christians and Jewish people clinging to their faith amid shootings, a changing political environment, and at least some justice for victims of what was Europe's worst atrocity since World War Two.

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent BosNewsLife TEHRAN, IRAN (BosNewsLife)-- Iranian Church leaders have urged prayers for Christians in Iran amid concerns authorities will raid more house churches and detain believers over the Christmas and Western New Year period.

By BosNewsLife Middle East Service with reporting by BosNewsLife's Stefan J. Bos TEHRAN, IRAN (BosNewsLife)-- The U.S. State Department says it is in contact with the family of an Iranian-American pastor who activists say is jailed and mistreated for his Christian faith in Tehran.

By BosNewsLife News Center with reporting from the United States and Israel NEWTOWN/JERUSALEM (BosNewsLife)-- Christian mourners in Newtown, Connecticut, saw their prayers interrupted when they were evacuated at a Roman Catholic church as a bomb threat was reported by officials during services at the church, about a mile (1.6 kilometers) from the site of Friday's school shooting where 20 children were killed.

By BosNewsLife News Center in Budapest BUDAPEST, HUNGARY (BosNewsLife)-- Devoted Christians in Hungary and the Middle East stood up against Nazism or Islamic extremism this week, while others worshiped Christ behind bars, between bomb explosions and in bitter cold conditions.

By BosNewsLife Middle East Service CAIRO, EGYPT (BosNewsLife)-- Egypt's minority Christians faced new tensions Sunday, December 9, after the president annulled degrees giving him sweeping powers following deadly protests, but refused to cancel a referendum on a new constitution.

By BosNewsLife Middle East Service with reporting by BosNewsLife's Senior Mission Correspondent Dr. John M. Lindner and Stefan J. Bos ALEPPO/DAMASCUS (BosNewsLife)-- Minority Christians in Syria's largest city Aleppo said Friday, December 7, they face starvation after dozens of believers already died in targeted attacks rocking Christian areas of the war-torn country.