Middle East

By BosNewsLife Middle East Service with reporting by BosNewsLife's Stefan J. Bos TEHRAN, IRAN (BosNewsLife)-- Iran has reportedly detained a prominent Christian rights activist who...

By BosNewsLife Middle East Service with reporting by BosNewsLife's Stefan J. Bos TEHRAN, IRAN (BosNewsLife)-- Iranian Christians want prayers for a former Muslim who has...

By BosNewsLife Middle East Service with Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent BosNewsLife JERUSALEM/ASMARA (BosNewsLife)-- International aid workers say nearly 30,000 Eritrean Christian refugees are struggling to survive in Israel and many may soon be moved to jail due to new government policies. "Next year the limited periods in the Holot detention center may, if the Israeli government is successful in its current negotiations, be replaced with indefinite periods in a real prison," warned Barnabas Fund, a Christian relief, and advocacy group.

By BosNewsLife Middle East Service with reporting by BosNewsLife's Stefan J. Bos TEHRAN, IRAN (BosNewsLife)-- Iranian Christians are concerned about the plight of eight prominent church workers who they say face lengthy prison terms and torture following an appeal hearing and further detentions this week.

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent BosNewsLife RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA (BosNewsLife)-- Two Indian Christians of a thriving Pentecostal house church in Saudi Arabia were back in their home country Sunday, July 24, after they were unexpectedly released by Saudi officials from an overcrowded prison, a church official confirmed to BosNewsLife.  

By BosNewsLife News Center VATICAN CITY/BUDAPEST (BosNewsLife)-- Pope Francis has called a Christian Syrian woman "a martyr" after hearing she was killed by Islamic militants for refusing to deny her faith in Jesus Christ. The leader of the world's one billion Catholics told the faithful in St. Peter's Square that he spoke with the young woman's widow during his visit Saturday, April 16, to the Greek island of Lesbos where he also visited refugees held in an overcrowded detention center.

By BosNewsLife Middle East Service with reporting by BosNewsLife's Stefan J. Bos TRIPOLI/CAIRO (BosNewsLife)-- All 21 Egyptian Christians beheaded by Islamic State militants in Libya were killed after they refused to abandon their faith in Jesus Christ, BosNewsLife established Tuesday, February 17. Some were making their last prayers.

Listen to this report via Vatican Radio:  By BosNewsLife Middle East Service with additional reporting by Vatican Radio's Lydia O'Kane DAMASCUS, SYRIA (BosNewsLife)-- Syrian Christians were rejoicing Monday, March 10, after rebels freed more than a dozen Greek Orthodox nuns ending their near four-month captivity in exchange for Syrian authorities releasing dozens of female prisoners.

By BosNewsLife Middle East Service with reporting by BosNewsLife's Stefan J. Bos TEHRAN, IRAN (BosNewsLife)-- An Iranian court has sentenced two Christian men of Iran's main evangelical denomination and house church movement to eight years imprisonment while a Christian woman received a one-year jail term for undermining the Islamic state's security and system, activist confirmed Thursday, January 11.

By BosNewsLife Middle East Service TEHRAN, IRAN (BosNewsLife)-- Iranian Christians urged prayers for Pastor Victor Bet Tamraz and fellow believer Amin Nader Afshar who were said to have been summoned to a court hearing on Sunday, May 21, more than two years after they were detained during a Christian celebration at the pastor's home.