Persecution against Christians never stops, especially during the Christmas season. Sadly, AsiaNews.it is reporting that eight Lao Christians have been arrested and detained for organizing a worship service.

Syria (MNN) ? 111 people died in what's being called the bloodiest day since the Arab Spring took its grip on Syria in March.

In this weeks Persecution Podcast the show starts differently than normal with a reading concerning Hezekiah.

Recently the Reverend Franklin Graham discussed the potential for persecution against Christians as the Muslim Brotherhood increases in the Middle East.

KAGORO, Nigeria, December 20 (CDN) — A Muslim villager in Kaduna state allegedly helped Fulani herdsmen and other Muslims from nearby Kafanchan to ambush a Christian settlement, resulting in the death of one woman and gunshot wounds to two other Christians on Dec. 10, area sources said. Musa Blak, 60, told Compass how gunmen lurking behind trees outside his home killed his wife, Kunam Musa Blak, and wounded him and his cousin, 48-year-old Monday Blai Yayok, after a schoolteacher in Kukum Gida village allegedly helped Muslims survey the site. Kunam Musa Blak was 50. In the Jankassa ward of Kukum Gida village, a Christian settlement of 425 people who all attend the local Evangelical Church Winning All (ECWA), Musa Blak and his family were asleep when they were awakened by the sound of barking dogs at 11:45 p.m., he said.

We shared a little bit about this story a few days ago, but it's important we keep reminding everyone that Pastor Youcef should not be forgotten. Thanks to Mission Network News for covering this story again.

Over the weekend the world was alerted to the reality that Kim Jong Il, North Korea's dictator had died. I have to admit that one of my first thoughts was how is this going to impact Christians in the underground church in North Korea, and how will this impact the Christians in South Korea.

Iraq (MNN) ? U.S. defense secretary Leon Panetta formally declared an end to nine years of a war in Iraq on Thursday at a ceremony in Baghdad.

I would like to personally thank our friends at Mission Network News who helped bring this story to their readers last week and as a result, I'd like to let you know that we started with a need to have 200 letters written to Yang Xuan a few weeks ago, and then last week we only needed 186 and as of today we only need 80 more letters to reach our goal of 200!