On May 4, members of the Islamic extremist group al-Shabaab killed an underground church leader in Xarardheere, Mudug region, Somalia, according to Compass Direct News.

We have covered numerous times on this blog about controversies over prayer. It's happening more and more, in city council meetings, and even in schools for graduation prayer. Here's another story from CBS News. Click here to view the video.

The Moroccan government has deported twenty-eight Christian workers so far in May, according to The Voice of the Martyrs contacts. “The Moroccan government continues political pressures against us Moroccan believers and against the foreign workers, and if it stopped for a while before, it was only to restart again and strongly,” VOM contacts said. “Please continue to pray and also to act, because if this … continues, soon we’ll not be deported but [we will be] arrested or even killed.” In recent months, the government has increased its crackdown on Christians, expelling as many as 60 Christian aid workers from the country. Moroccan police have accused Christian aid workers from the United States, Korea, Netherlands and England of violating Morocco’s anti-proselytism laws. “On March 8, police visited the orphanage Village of Hope, which has been operating with the government’s approval for the past ten years,” Smyrna Ministries International reported. “They scoured the grounds looking for Bibles, interrogated children and staff members and announced that the [foster] parents had seven hours to pack and say goodbye to [the children]. All fifteen of the foster parents, the only parents these children have ever known, were deported before nightfall, leaving the 33 children with the police.”

Is preaching what the bible says about homosexuality a crime? If you answered no, then you may be surprised by this story that is making the rounds all over the web. According to the Telegraph, a UK based website, "Dale McAlpine was charged with causing “harassment, alarm or distress” after a homosexual police community support officer (PCSO) overheard him reciting a number of “sins” referred to in the Bible, including blasphemy, drunkenness and same sex relationships."

Breaking news in from the New York Times, Gao is missing again, please keep him and his family in your prayers. Click here for the full story.

In recent days we have referred to many cases, here in America, that involve prayer and specifically praying in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Today, I am thrilled to let you know that a ban on praying in the name of Jesus has been reversed by Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell, that was enacted in 2008, by state police Col. W. Stephen Flaherty. Click here to read the full story.