International News

SANTIAGO DE CUBA, Cuba (BP) – Evangelical Protestant pastor Lorenzo Rosales Fajardo is among hundreds of prisoners, including several religious leaders, Cuba released last week after the U.S. removed the island nation from the list of state sponsors of terrorism.

JERUSALEM (BP) – Crucial humanitarian aid, the phased release of hostages in exchange for prisoners, and an end to Israel’s bombing of Gaza were among the initial terms of a ceasefire agreement announced Jan. 14 between Israel and Hamas.

Baptist conventions, councils and associations representing thousands of churches were among the groups who urged Indian President Draupadi Murmu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi to act decisively to stop violent mobs who have targeted Christians and other religious minorities.

AMARILLO, Texas (BP) – South Sudanese attending All Nations Worship Church, a ministry of Paramount Baptist Church in Amarillo, know the pain of those displaced by the war in Sudan, which has created the greatest humanitarian crisis globally.

Crises abound in our world today. However, few seem to be more troubling and heart-rending than the conflict between Israel and Hamas, especially regarding the hostages that have been killed and those who are still held captive somewhere in the Gaza Strip.

KHARTOUM NORTH, Sudan – An airstrike on a Baptist church in Sudan less than a week before Christmas killed at least 11 people, including eight children, an organization focused on international religious freedom reported.

KYIV, Ukraine (BP) – Evangelical benevolent and Gospel work continues in Ukraine in the regions on the frontlines of the war with Russia, with special outreaches underway this Christmastime, a church leader there told Baptist Press.

PLATEAU, Nigeria (BP) – Christians in Nigeria plan to celebrate Christmas amid fear of a repeat of violence that claimed at least 160 lives in Nigeria’s Middle Belt at Christmastime in 2023 and dozens in northern Nigeria during the holidays in 2022, international religious liberty advocates reported.

KYIV, Ukraine (BP) – Ukrainian Christians are resilient in the lingering war with Russia and yet optimistic of “a just peace,” Southern Baptist leader Dan Darling said on the heels of a weeklong tour of Ukraine and Poland.

For the third consecutive year, volunteers from First Baptist Church in Garland will travel to eastern Europe to bring Christmas joy to Ukrainian refugee children.