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2021-06-24

• Presidential Election Brings Concerns

  

  The recent election of Ebrahim Raisi as president of Iran has led to concerns for those monitoring religious freedom in the country. The election has been discredited by many since reformers or moderates were banned from running for the position and only half of the country's eligible voters cast a ballot. (There were incidents in which various Iranian citizens tried to cast their votes for this year's June election but, while doing so, encountered attacks.) Experts say that President Raisi has been directly appointed by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Kahmenei, and is viewed as his intended successor.

• Pastor Killed for Reaching Out to Muslims

  

  Security officials have arrested an imam who confessed to killing a pastor on June 11th for sharing the Gospel with Muslims in Uganda. Bishop Francis Obo served as the senior pastor of Mpingire Pentecostal Revival Church Ministries International in the village of Odapako and was also responsible for overseeing the ministry of 17 churches in the area. He was killed after being approached by a group of Islamic militants as he was leaving a market with his wife, Christine.

• Preacher's Family Locked in Their Home

  

  Members of the Early Rain Covenant Church in Sichuan, China, continue to face harassment as authorities attempt to shut down their unregistered church. While the head pastor, Wang Yi, is serving a nine-year prison sentence, other members of the church have also encountered consistent persecution.