Josh Sullivan, a U.S. missionary and pastor, was reportedly kidnapped at gunpoint Thursday evening (April 10) while delivering a sermon at Fellowship Baptist Church in Motherwell, South Africa.
The results of this study come amid escalating regional tensions, including the Israel-Hamas war and U.S.-Iran nuclear negotiations.
The U.S. Senate confirmed former Arkansas governor and Baptist pastor Mike Huckabee as the Trump administration’s ambassador to Israel on Wednesday (April 10), in a 53–46 vote largely along party lines.
The enduring conflict in Eastern Congo, which has devastated the region for decades, is rooted in the aftermath of Rwanda’s 1994 genocide and the fierce competition for control over the nation’s mineral resources.
Christian Solidarity Worldwide and other sources reported the military has increased airstrikes in civilian areas, including Kachin and Karen communities near the epicenter of the earthquake.
Rescue workers continue to search through the rubble in Myanmar following a 7.7 magnitude earthquake that struck on Friday (March 28). More than 1,700 people are believed to be dead.
The commission’s 2025 report, released on Tuesday (March 25), included a list of countries nearly identical to its 2024 list — a reflection, according to the report, that in most of those countries, things have not improved.
BWA has heard from Baptists in refugee camps along the Myanmar/Thailand border, in the Democratic Republic of Congo and in other places where political unrest and violence are creating a humanitarian crisis, he said.
Human rights and religious freedom in Afghanistan have deteriorated since the Taliban regained control in 2021, and expert panelists testified during a March 19 hearing that the situation could get worse.
The Christian nonprofit Open Doors recently reported about 3,100 Christians in 2024 were killed and more than 2,000 kidnapped in Nigeria.
