The cost of suffering for Christ

A seven-year-old boy, Anugrag Gemethi, went to Sunday school one day in Rajasthan, India, and didn't come home. His body was later found floating in a pond. He was gagged, his neck was cut, he had burns to various parts of his body and his toes were broken. A post mortem showed he had finally died of drowning.

His father Harish said he and his family had been threatened countless times by Hindu extremists since he became a Christian 10 years ago. He had given the names of those who had threatened his family to police, but they did not appear to take any notice.

●  Eliya Meshack, a youth worker and a father of two, was killed by machete while leading an overnight prayer meeting in Mwanza province, Tanzania. He died on the spot. Two other Christians were seriously injured. Eliya's wife said they had been receiving threats for six months. They had reported them to the police, but no action was taken
 
●  Teenager Shaloom Naeem, who lost his entire family in the Peshawar bombing in Pakistan, is encouraging fellow Christians to continue to attend church. He went to church with his father, mother and sister on the morning of the bombing and returned with no one. "Although my entire family is dead," he said, "I am not afraid to go to the church. We should thank God for His great love."

Shaloom's father wanted him to become a university professor. He hopes to fulfil his father's dream.

●  Six Christian girls were reportedly raped by Islamic extremists in Zanzibar. Dozens of pregnant Christian women are reported to have been refused medical care by Muslim healthcare professionals in Zanzibar. One baby died.

●  North Korea forces women to undergo abortions and young mothers to drown their newborn babies, according to a recent United Nations report. 

People found in possession of a Bible were tied to stakes and machine gunned. Thousands of adults and children were forced to watch. Relatives of those executed were sent to prison camps. Around 70,000 Christians are estimated to be in prison camps, where they are brutally treated, tortured and worked to death.

In an unprecedented move, United Nations commission chairman Michael Kirby wrote to North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un warning that he could be tried for crimes against humanity at the International Criminal Court in The Hague.

 Are you being persecuted for Christ?