53+ min ago (516+ words) MEDAN, INDONESIA (Worthy News) " Christians on Indonesia's Sumatra island have appealed for urgent prayers as relentless monsoon downpours triggered massive flooding and landslides that killed scores of people, displaced thousands, and damaged homes and church properties. The crisis intensified when a powerful earthquake struck nearby Aceh. Indonesia's monsoon season, which brings weeks of heavy, sustained rainfall from roughly October to March, routinely causes rivers to overflow, landslides, and flash floods across Sumatra. Footage exclusively obtained by Worthy News shows floodwaters rushing into the Victory Family Center in Medan, Sumatra's largest city. The evangelical congregation and affiliated school serving impoverished children were submerged, with church members seen lifting a large cross to higher ground as water entered classrooms. "There is flooding now in my kindergarten and the church. So the pastor and his church were put in my home," the Christian…...

5+ day, 15+ hour ago (526+ words) (Worthy News) " In one of the most sweeping crackdowns on underground Christianity in recent years, Chinese authorities have formally arrested 18 leaders of the Beijing Zion Church, according to the Christian rights organization ChinaAid. The arrests finalize detentions that began in early October as part of a multi-province operation targeting unregistered Christian groups. The detainees are being charged with "illegally using information networks," a vague offence that carries a maximum three-year sentence and has increasingly been employed to silence clergy who refuse to place their congregations under Communist Party control, according to ChinaAid and The Epoch Times. Nationwide Raid Beginning October 9 The crackdown began on October 9 in Beihai, Guangxi, where police launched a coordinated action across Shanghai, Zhejiang, Shandong, Guangdong, Guangxi, and Hainan. Within days, nearly 30 pastors, ministers, and congregants were detained, including prominent pastor Mingri "Ezra" Jin, founder of Zion…...

1+ week, 6+ day ago (529+ words) WASHINGTON/DAMASCUS (Worthy News) " The burial of a 19-year-old girl killed in a June bombing at the Mar Elias Church in Syria's capital Damascus has become a stark symbol of the "ethno-religious cleansing" facing Syria's ancient Christian community, a Swedish investigative journalist told U.S. officials. Nuri Kino, founder of the advocacy group A Demand for Action, testified before the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) during a virtual hearing on "Religious Freedom in Syria's Post-Assad Transition." Kino opened by recalling Maryana, a teenage worshipper killed when an assailant stormed the Greek Orthodox church on June 22, opening fire before detonating an explosive vest " the worst attack on Syria's Christians since the 1860 Damascus Massacre. More than two dozen people died. "At her funeral, her mother held her hand through the coffin window as church bells tolled," Kino stressed. "Friends threw sweets on her…...

2+ week, 8+ hour ago (607+ words) ABUJA / WASHINGTON (Worthy News) " A coalition of American Christian leaders gathered on the steps of the U.S. Capitol on Friday to pray and "thank President Donald J. Trump" for reportedly designating Nigeria as a "Country of Particular Concern" (CPC) over the killing of thousands of Christians by Islamic groups. They also urged the U.S. Congress to advance legislation protecting persecuted believers, as abductions and violence continue to rise across Nigeria, considered one of the most dangerous nations in the world for Christians. The prayer vigil began at 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time on the southeastern steps of the U.S. Capitol, on the House of Representatives side, under a banner reading "Protect The Persecuted Church." The gathering followed a letter signed by an influential group of Christian advocates, legal experts, and former members of Congress, calling for sustained U.S. government action to address the worsening crisis. Reverend Patrick Mahoney,…...

2+ week, 2+ day ago (661+ words) ABUJA / WASHINGTON (Worthy News) " A coalition of American Christian leaders gathered on the steps of the U.S. Capitol on Friday to pray and "thank President Donald J. Trump" for reportedly designating Nigeria as a "Country of Particular Concern" (CPC) over the killing of thousands of Christians by Islamic groups. They also urged the U.S. Congress to advance legislation protecting persecuted believers, as abductions and violence continue to rise across Nigeria, considered one of the most dangerous nations in the world for Christians. The prayer vigil began at 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time on the southeastern steps of the U.S. Capitol, on the House of Representatives side, under a banner reading "Protect The Persecuted Church." The gathering followed a letter signed by an influential group of Christian advocates, legal experts, and former members of Congress, calling for sustained U.S. government action to address the worsening crisis. Reverend Patrick Mahoney,…...

2+ week, 2+ day ago (397+ words) Tonya Prewett, founder of UniteUS, celebrated the night as yet another powerful demonstration of God moving among Gen Z. "What a night at NC State!! We continue to see new miraculous moves of God on each college campus. Last night, thousands of students gave their lives to Jesus!! All glory to God," Prewett wrote on Instagram. UniteUS describes itself as "a movement of college students united to lift the name of Jesus." The ministry has become known for its stadium-sized gatherings where students worship, repent, encounter the Holy Spirit, and receive water baptism. A Growing National Movement CBN News has chronicled UniteUS from its early days more than two years ago. Since then, Prewett " along with pastor Jonathan Pokluda and IF: Gathering founder Jennie Allen " have traveled campus to campus meeting students desperate for spiritual renewal. Allen praised the NC State…...

2+ week, 3+ day ago (565+ words) by Emmitt Barry, Worthy News Washington D.C. Bureau Chief JERUSALEM (Worthy News) " The Temple Institute in Jerusalem issued an extensive clarification on Monday following widespread misinformation concerning recent reports about a red heifer and the production of ritual ashes'an act central to biblical purity laws and, for many religious observers, deeply symbolic in the context of prophetic events. In a formal press statement, the Institute stressed that a recent activity conducted in the Samarian mountains was only a simulation, part of a decade-long series of educational and practical preparations'not an actual, halachically valid production of red heifer ashes. Temple Institute: The Exercise Was Not Kosher and Not Intended to Be According to the statement, the institution has spent roughly ten years preparing for the complex requirements of the biblical commandment, which mandates that the red heifer be sacrificed and burned on…...

2+ week, 3+ day ago (831+ words) FORT LAUDERDALE/GEORGE TOWN (Worthy News) " A Christian mission group has confirmed that its CEO and his daughter were killed when their small plane carrying humanitarian aid for hurricane-hit Jamaica crashed in a South Florida neighborhood, Worthy News established on Wednesday. Alexander Wurm, a 53-year-old evangelist who founded Ignite the Fire Ministry Cayman, and his daughter Serena, 22, both died as their turboprop aircraft came down Monday shortly after taking off from Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport in the United States at 10:14 a.m. local time, authorities said. The Beechcraft King Air B100 plane they were flying crashed into a pond in a residential area of the Fort Lauderdale suburb of Coral Springs, narrowly missing homes and killing the two missionaries, investigators added. Police and fire rescue teams arrived at the site of the November 10 crash within five minutes, and no more victims were reported…...

3+ week, 5+ hour ago (896+ words) SEOUL (Worthy News) " South Korea, long seen as the democratic opposite of its authoritarian-ruled northern neighbor, faces growing scrutiny for what critics call a widening crackdown on Christian leaders and churches. While believers remain largely free to worship, the latest detention of pastors viewed as critical of the government increasingly mirrors practices seen in China or North Korea, according to church observers. For more than a month, 82-year-old Hak Ja Han Moon, co-founder and spiritual head of the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification (formerly the Unification Church), has been confined in a 70-square-foot cell at the Seoul Detention Center in Uiwang, Gyeonggi Province. Her attorneys say she has endured interrogations lasting up to 12 hours despite severe eyesight and heart problems. She is permitted only five visitors for a total of 10 minutes per day, according to sources familiar with…...

3+ week, 3+ day ago (534+ words) WARSAW/BUDAPEST (Worthy News) " Poland will mark the 17th annual Day of Solidarity with the Persecuted Church on Sunday, November 9, dedicating this year's observance to Nigeria, where being a Christian often means risking one's life. Organized by the Polish branch of the Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) " known locally as Pomoc Ko'cio'owi w Potrzebie (PKWP) " the nationwide initiative carries the theme "Let us be the voice of the persecuted in Nigeria." It calls on Polish believers to pray, speak out, and provide material support for victims of anti-Christian violence. With a population exceeding 220 million, Nigeria remains one of the world's most dangerous countries for Christians, according to ACN and advocacy group Open Doors. Between January 2023 and July 2025, at least 7,000 Christians were killed and 7,800 abducted, according to PKWP data based on local Church reports. Thousands of churches, schools,…...