Persecution of Christians Accelerates Dramatically in 2010

Every year our friends at Open Doors release their list of top nations that persecute Christians.  This year is no exception with, once again, North Korea topping the list as the world's worst country to live in as a Christian.

Here's a portion of the Mission Network News story:

President and CEO of Open Doors USA Dr. Carl Moeller says, "The worst country on earth to be a Christian is North Korea. North Korea remains unstable, and out of that instability comes incredible, ferocious persecution."

Today's release of the listing shows North Korea at No. 1 for the ninth year in a row. Moeller notes there were no surprises on this year's list. However, "The biggest thing that we learned from putting the list together this year is that the entire level of persecution globally is accelerating at a really dramatic rate."

Last year, Iran was No. 2 followed by Saudi Arabia at No. 3. Several countries might climb up on the list, including Pakistan (No. 14 in 2010) and Iraq (No. 17 last year) due to increased persecution over the past 12 months.

Moeller says, "Eight out of the top ten countries on our World Watch List this year are Islamic countries where Islamic extremism has gained the upper hand."

CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL STORY AT MISSION NETWORK NEWS