CHRISTIAN NEWS NETWORK/ Heather Clark-
The annual World Watch List released by the watchdog Open Doors USA shows that the COVID-19 pandemic presented another avenue for those hostile to Christianity in Asia and Africa to persecute believers. It also finds that an estimated one in eight Christians worldwide suffers for their faith.
“The coronavirus pandemic was the event of a generation. And in addition to the pain felt by people all over the world, it also exposed the ugliness of Christian persecution in a new way,” the report reads.
Open Doors USA outlines that it distributed relief aid to more than 100,000 Christians in 2020, of whom “80 percent reported to World Watch List researchers that they were dismissed from food distribution points” run by others and “[s]ome walked miles and hid their Christian identity to get food elsewhere.”
The stories were similar in Nepal, Vietnam, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Yemen, Sudan, and other countries on the Asian and African continents, as Christians there were likewise sent away when they stood in line to obtain rations. Continue reading…
