Mission Network News is reporting today about recent events where Gospel of Asia is ministering that have led to thousands of homes being burnt down and the lives of Christians being disrupted.

SRI LANKA -- Pastors Attacked in Sri Lanka -- VOM CanadaTwo pastors were attacked recently in the Southern Province of Sri Lanka. In early January, a pastor and his family discovered an intruder in their home in Galle district. The man shouted threats at the pastor and began to assault him. After hearing the screaming, the pastor’s elderly landlord arrived to help. The intruder then attacked the landlord before running away. Later, the pastor and his landlord lodged a complaint against the attacker with local police. The attacker was arrested, but he was later released with a severe warning after apologizing to the pastor and his landlord. On Jan. 23 in the city of Middeniya, Hambantota district, assailants broke the windows of an Assemblies of God church while the pastor and his family were inside. The pastor and his family were previously targeted in July 2008, when assailants set their house ablaze after threatening the pastor and his church. Pray that the witness of pastors and their families in Sri Lanka will draw unbelievers to Christ. Pray that these pastors will look forward to their crown of life in heaven as they persevere in these trials.James 1:12LAOS -- Christian Widow Evicted by Son -- VOM SourcesA 50-year-old Christian widow was evicted from her son’s house recently because she refused to renounce her faith in Christ. The woman and her teenage daughter had lived with her son and his family in a mountain village for many years. The woman’s son is not a Christian, and he told his mother to renounce her faith in Jesus or he would kick her out of the house. When the woman refused, her son forced her and her daughter to leave. They had no possessions and nowhere to go, so they took cover from the chilly weather in the jungle at the edge of their village. Local Christians who learned of the women’s predicament came together to build them a small bamboo hut, but they still lack basic necessities. Thank the Lord for this woman’s faith. Pray that her faith will remain strong while she and her daughter endure this trial. Ask God to provide for her needs and to soften her son’s heart toward the Lord.James 1:27CUBA -- Persecution Increases on Church Leaders -- Christian Solidarity Worldwide Pastors and Christian leaders in Cuba are reporting a shift in how the government treats Christians. The government appears to have moved away from higher profile forms of oppression, such as threatening to shut down or destroy churches, and is now focusing pressure on church leaders. Church leaders both within and outside of the Cuban Council of Churches (CCC) report receiving frequent visits from state security agents and Cuban Communist Party (CCP) officials. The CCC is an umbrella organization representing Protestant churches. These visits and meetings seem to have the intent of intimidating church leaders and making them aware that they are under close surveillance. Pray that church members will not be intimidated by government informants in their meetings. Pray that those under pressure will not yield to fear and that they will trust the Lord.James 1:18

Eritrean authorities released two pregnant Christian women from jail days before their expected delivery dates. The women had been incarcerated for three months, along with about 100 other Christians who were arrested in a year-end crackdown on evangelicals by Eritrea’s communist government. All Christian groups except the Orthodox, Catholic and Lutheran churches are banned in Eritrea.

Flyers posted recently in villages around Laos described Christians as dishonest and immoral traitors. The flyer’s writer accused Christians of being political tools who convert others for financial gain. He wrote, “Christianity … has the purpose to brainwash society. It has the purpose to get rid of other religions and other cultures opposing Christianity. Every teaching of Jesus Christ is related to what the Americans teach one another to follow.”

One of the most common things Christians in other nations have to contend with are the blasphemy laws that say that if they blaspheme Allah they are going to die. We've been following a few cases in recent days, first - Asia Bibi, and then Said Musa and now comes another story from Pakistan concerning a woman named Agnes Nuggo.

Lack of support from the US church hurts underground believers in ChinaWashington, D.C. (February 11, 2010)–International Christian Concern (ICC) recently met with three leading Chinese Christian Human Rights activists and learned that the persecuted Church is facing increased persecution. The church there is desperate for vocal support from US-based churches and denominations.

In the U.S., someone who converts to Christianity might be seen as extremely religious or weak for needing religion. In Laos, people have many misconceptions about Christianity and what it means to be a Christian. Here is a sample of what some Laotians think about Christianity, taken from a flyer posted in several villages recently.

NAIROBI, Kenya, February 22 (CDN) — A Christian widow in north Sudan is agonizing over the kidnapping of her daughter eight months ago by suspected Islamic extremists in Khartoum. “Since my daughter was kidnapped, I have been living in a state of fear and terror,” said Ikhlas Anglo, 35, a mother of two daughters. She said her 15-year-old daughter, Hiba Abdelfadil Anglo, went missing while returning from the Ministry of Education in Khartoum on June 27, 2010. Hiba, a member of Sudan Presbyterian Evangelical Church in Khartoum, had gone to the education ministry office to obtain her transcripts for entry to secondary school. Two days later, the family received threatening telephone calls and SMS messages from the kidnappers telling them to pay 1,500 Sudanese pounds (US$560) in order to secure her return. “Don’t you want to have this slave back?” one of the kidnappers told Anglo from an unknown location by cell phone, she said. Anglo and others said they believe the kidnappers are Muslim extremists who have targeted them because they are Christians, and that police are aiding the criminals. She said that when she went to a police station to open a case, police bluntly told her she must first leave Christianity for Islam. “You must convert to Islam if you want your daughter back,” officer Fakhr El-Dean Mustafa of the Family and Child Protection Unit told Anglo, she said. Recently transferred to another station, Mustafa was not immediately available for comment. More at Compass Direct.