The 50 Countries Where It’s Hardest to Follow Jesus in 2024

Latest report on Christian persecution chronicles the rising danger of Islamic militants and autocratic regimes, from Nigeria to Nicaragua.

Almost 5,000 Christians were killed for their faith last year. Almost 4,000 were abducted.

Nearly 15,000 churches were attacked or closed.

And more than 295,000 Christians were forcibly displaced from their homes because of their faith.

Sub-Saharan Africa—the epicenter of global Christianity—remains the epicenter of violence against followers of Jesus, according to the 2024 World Watch List (WWL). The latest annual accounting from Open Doors ranks the top 50 countries where it is most dangerous and difficult to be a Christian.

The concerning tallies of martyrdoms and abductions are actually lower than in last year’s report. But Open Doors emphasizes they are “absolute minimum” figures. It attributed both declines to a period of calm in advance of Nigeria’s last presidential election. Yet Nigeria joined China, India, Nicaragua, and Ethiopia as the countries driving the significant increase in attacks on churches.

Overall, 365 million Christians live in nations with high levels of persecution or discrimination. That’s 1 in 7 Christians worldwide, including 1 in 5 believers in Africa, 2 in 5 in Asia, and 1 in 16 in Latin America.

And for only the fourth time in three decades of tracking, all 50 nations scored high enough to register “very high” persecution levels on Open Doors’ matrix of more than 80 questions. So did 7 more nations that fell just outside the cutoff. Syria and Saudi Arabia, meanwhile, entered the tier of “extreme” persecution, raising its count to 13 nations.

The purpose of the annual WWL rankings is to guide prayers and to aim for more effective anger while showing persecuted believers that they are not forgotten.

The 2024 version tracks the time …

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Haley and DeSantis Set Their Sights on Surviving

On the heels of a disappointing showing in Iowa, Trump’s rivals are in the make-or-break weeks of their campaigns.

Donald Trump’s blowout win in Iowa left both Nikki Haley and Ron DeSantis, who declared they’d continue their race for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination, to do their best to spin the outcomes in a positive direction.

“We got our ticket punched out of Iowa,” DeSantis told supporters. “I am not going to make any excuses and I guarantee you this: I will not let you down!”

DeSantis, who spent big in the state and traveled to all 99 counties, outperformed his polls, but the Florida governor only bested Haley by a middling two points and fell far shy of Trump at 21 percent of the votes.

“Given where DeSantis started the campaign last spring, and the time and money he spent in Iowa, his performance was devastating,” said Mark Caleb Smith, a Cedarville University political science professor.

DeSantis didn’t perform as well with white evangelicals as he had hoped, with Trump holding on to half of all votes and taking a majority of the evangelical Christian bloc.

“It is fascinating how they’ve come to put such trust and hope into Trump,” said Smith. “They’ve rationalized—justified—that Trump is the one that is kind of this instrument of God. He’s the King Cyrus, right, that’s going to ‘look out for us, even though we don’t necessarily embrace his own personal piety or lack thereof.’”

Trump’s 30-point margin was enough for two candidates to drop out. Entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, who garnered 7.7 percent of the vote, read the political winds and, just a few hours into the night, suspended his campaign and endorsed Trump instead. Former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson also rolled up his campaign after winning …

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The Iowa Evangelical Betting Against Trump

Bob Vander Plaats wants Christian voters to move on from Trump. Are they still listening?

In the lead-up to the first caucus in the presidential race, GOP hopefuls barnstorm Iowa, turning up at town halls, cornfields, schools, the state fair, and Bob Vander Plaats’s house.

He and wife Darla have welcomed Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former United Nations ambassador Nikki Haley, and entrepreneur and political newcomer Vivek Ramaswamy. DeSantis, Ramaswamy, and Sen. Tim Scott (who has since suspended his presidential campaign) also visited his church, Soteria Des Moines, a Baptist congregation in the state’s capital.

Vander Plaats is head of The Family Leader, an Iowa-based conservative Christian nonprofit with ties to Focus on the Family. He has built up a winning streak picking out the past three GOP caucus winners in his state—Mike Huckabee in 2008, Rick Santorum in 2012, and Ted Cruz in 2016—and holds one of the most-coveted Republican endorsements.

“Bob Vander Plaats is a kingmaker,” said Jim Tillotson, president of Faith Baptist Bible College in nearby Ankeny. “I would think his endorsement carries a lot of weight.”

Vander Plaats, though, tends to downplay his influence. “It’s not my endorsement,” the 60-year-old told Christianity Today. “It’s more that I’ve had a front-row seat to this entire process.”

In the lead-up to the caucuses, when he wasn’t brushing shoulders with candidates or hosting them during The Family Leader events, Vander Plaats was working from a nondescript office park in Urbandale, Iowa, where the ministry is headquartered.

His office is crowded with traces of his Iowa roots: a card with “I heart basketball” recalls his days on Northwestern College’s Red Raiders team, and a flip calendar …

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The Middle East’s Favorite Christmas Carol Is About War and Hate

Traditional melody suggests it is only when Christians realize the holiday comes with “hard realities” that the spirit of Nativity dwells in their hearts.

This past holiday season—like many before it—the Arab world’s favorite Christmas carol spoke directly to war and suffering.

With Orthodox Christians observing their 12 days of Christmastide from January 7–19, their churches in the Middle East were the latest to sing “Laylat al-Milad” (On Christmas Night). Written in the 1980s during Lebanon’s civil war, the song has been performed by classical divas, worship leaders, and children’s choirs alike. It has offered comfort during the regional conflicts since, from the Syrian civil war to ISIS’s reign of terror to the current war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.

Its haunting melody and lyrics speak less about a baby in a manger than the life that baby demands that we live. And also of the life that baby makes possible:

Chorus:
On Christmas night, hatred vanishes
On Christmas night, the earth blooms
On Christmas night, war is buried
On Christmas night, love is born

Verse 1:
When we offer a glass of water to a thirsty person, we are in Christmas
When we clothe a naked person with a gown of love, we are in Christmas
When we wipe the tears from weeping eyes, we are in Christmas
When we cushion a hopeless heart with love, we are in Christmas

Verse 2:
When I kiss a friend without hypocrisy, I am in Christmas
When the spirit of revenge dies in me, I am in Christmas
When hardness is gone from my heart, I am in Christmas
When my soul melts in the being of God, I am in Christmas

The Christmas season in the Middle East can be a double blessing. Advent begins one month before the Catholic and Protestant holiday on December 25, while festivities continue weeks further until the Orthodox celebration on January 7 and its Epiphany …

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The Half-Truths We’ve Told About MLK

In the ’60s, white evangelicals condemned Martin Luther King Jr. In the ’80s, we lauded a convenient, hagiographic version of his life. How should we remember him now?

As the white editors of Christianity Today surveyed Martin Luther King Jr.’s nonviolent civil disobedience on behalf of civil rights in the summer of 1964, they were not impressed. “For preachers to argue that ‘civil disobedience’ is justified helps to encourage those who would resort to violence,” CT declared that August.

A half century later, CT formally apologized for its opposition to King and the civil rights movement. By then, the magazine had published numerous pieces lauding King as an example of Christian love whose words and actions offered a needed call to repentance for white evangelicals.

But King remains an awkward figure for those of us who are both white and evangelical—two things that King was not. Many of us would like to herald him as a prophet, but when we do, we risk co-opting King for our own purposes rather than understanding him on his own terms.

White American evangelicals have typically reacted to King in one of three ways: (1) criticizing his Christian practice as heretical or hypocritical; (2) heralding him as a prophet of love whose teachings can heal our racial divisions and cleanse us of the sin of racism; or (3) highlighting his commitment to nonviolence and an alleged colorblind American ideal as an alternative to more militant forms of Black nationalism.

There is at least some truth in every one of these three reactions to King—but in each case, white evangelicals have frequently gone too far. In each case, we have too often tried to fit King into our own evangelical categories instead of understanding him on his own terms.

King’s non-evangelical Christian theology

King was not an evangelical. Evangelicals have traditionally seen the answer to the …

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The Trump Debate Is Dead

Evangelical elites of all political stripes still dispute Trump, but the question is largely settled at the grassroots.

Next week’s Iowa Republican caucuses formally launch the 2024 primary race that will almost certainly end with a third GOP nomination for former president Donald Trump. When Iowans caucus on Monday, recent polling suggests Trump will easily claim the state’s 40 delegates, with rivals Nikki Haley and Ron DeSantis jostling for second place.

Whatever the exact results, the decisions of Iowa’s white evangelical caucus-goers will be much scrutinized in the days to come. But for most of them, I suspect, those decisions have been long since made. American evangelicals’ conversation around Trump has changed dramatically since 2020, splitting along a kind of class line and all but disappearing as an active consideration for the average voter.

In most evangelical circles, the Trump debate is dead.

Let’s start with the exception: Among what some call the “evangelical elite,” this is still a live question. Whether it’s permissible (or required) to support (or oppose) Trump for president is still actively discussed among evangelicals who write books and articles like this one, who attract followings online, who know what “Big Eva” means and how they feel about it, who attend seminary (but probably not for pastoral ministry), and who otherwise participate in The Discourse—wherever they land politically or theologically.

Trump support is a live question for self-proclaimed Christian nationalists on X (formerly Twitter). And it’s a live question for “never Trump” evangelicals at The Atlantic or The New York Times. In Iowa, it’s a live question for Republican kingmaker Bob Vander Plaats, who told CT he’s holding out hope for a DeSantis win.

But for …

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Singapore’s Top 10 Bible Verses

Leaders reflect on what YouVersion’s list of the most-shared Scriptures in their nation includes—and misses.

Below are Singapore’s top verses of 2023 as determined by YouVersion. With the help of Langham Partnership, Christianity Today asked three local Bible scholars for their analyses on what the list conveys about Christianity in the Southeast Asian city-state.

Samuel Law, dean of advanced studies and associate professor of intercultural studies, Singapore Bible College:

What is your overall reaction to this list?

No surprises. In general, the verses are reflective responses to the worldview and issues of our context and subscribe to the theological frameworks of the megachurches/denominations representative of Singapore.

What might the verses more unique to the list convey about Singapore’s spiritual needs?

I’m actually more surprised that Proverbs 3:5–6 is unique to Singapore and would have thought that it would be mentioned in the other countries. I remember a Sunday School song based on those verses that we used to sing as I was growing up in the US. Perhaps the verses are a favorite in Singapore as they parallel the Asian/Confucian attitude in life’s journey and align with a Daoist worldview.

Given the events of this past year, is there a verse you wish were on this list instead?

Isaiah 55. The chapter reminds us that God’s ways are not our ways and, despite circumstances, he is still at work. Despite our VUCA (volatile, uncertain, complex, ambiguous) 21st-century context, nothing impedes his power to transform situations in accordance to his mission of redeeming all creation.

Peter C. W. Ho, academic dean, School of Theology (English), Singapore Bible College:

What is your overall reaction to this list?

We are unsurprised but concerned! For instance, …

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How Churches Can Build Trust Among Gen Z Filipinos In An Age of Scandal

As police arrest a pastor for an alleged murder in a lurid crime of passion, young people question how they can trust the church.

When 19-year-old Giona Melo heard that police had arrested the pastor of the largest Baptist church in the Philippine island of Mindanao for allegedly murdering his romantic rival, a male beauty pageant contestant, all she could do was laugh.

“I used to get really angry, but now I laugh because it’s just absurd,” said Melo, who grew up in Cagayan de Oro, a city in northern Mindanao, and is now a student at North Park University in Chicago. “I have peace because I trust in God more than the church.”

Dimver Andales, the 51-year-old head pastor of Lapasan Baptist Church in Cagayan de Oro, was accused of masterminding the murder of 24-year-old Adriane Rovic Fornillos, a candidate for Mister Cagayan de Oro. The police have called the case a crime of passion because Andales, a married man, was allegedly in a romantic relationship with Fornillos’s girlfriend. He was arrested along with his associate pastor, who is said to be an accomplice of the crime.

Around the time the news broke, another pastor, Jennifer Cobarrubias of Dream Life Church in Quezon City, went viral for a TikTok video in which she and her church members mocked former congregants who had left her church. She quickly faced backlash on social media: “This is why I stopped going [to church],” read one tweet. “Religious people are the most judgmental ones.” Another read: “These types of people are using religion to control people’s lives. … Shouldn’t you be praying for them instead of mocking them [on] TikTok?”

“It is sad to see Christian leaders fail to be good representatives of Christ,” said Micah Bacani, a recent graduate of the University of the Philippines in Diliman, …

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Christian Colleges Try Eliminating Tuition to Draw Students

A number of schools are trying various methods of not charging tuition, born out of their convictions about debt and hopes for students to choose a Christian education.

As Christian schools adapt their education models to an unfriendly market, several are experimenting with offering free tuition to some or all of their students.

Starting this semester, Sattler College, a small Anabaptist college in Boston, announced that it will not be charging any of its students tuition. The president, Zack Johnson, said some students came to his office in tears of happiness after the announcement.

Uriah O’Terry is a sophomore at Sattler, and the first in his family to go to college. He said in past semesters finding the money for tuition was “a point of stress,” and he had to take out a loan. He’s happy for the change.

“I am being prepared for a life of effective Christian living without the burden of debt,” he said in an email. “So the way I pay for my ‘free’ college education is by serving Jesus and the people around me with the skills and knowledge that I have gained at Sattler.”

Geneva College in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania, also announced that in fall 2024 it would not charge tuition for Pennsylvania students whose families make under $70,000 a year. In fall 2023, Grace College in Winona Lake, Indiana, began offering free tuition to Indiana students whose families make less than $65,000. That program will continue next school year, now for families making less than $60,000.

Hope College in Holland, Michigan, is in its third year of a pilot program to offer free tuition. It is currently covering tuition for a small group of students who go through a character-based application as it tries to raise funds to cover more and more of its students.

“The reception has been a wide range of things from people who are inspired by it to people who think …

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Azerbaijan Added to US List of Religious Freedom Offenders

Is the Islamic nation’s inclusion—the State Department’s only change this year—driven by its treatment of Christians, Muslims, or ethnic Armenians displaced from the Artsakh enclave?

For the first time, the United States has recognized Azerbaijan as a violator of religious freedom.

Inclusion on the State Department’s second-tier Special Watch List (SWL) subjects the oil-rich Shiite Muslim–majority nation to the possibility of economic sanctions.

The US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has called for the Caucasus nation’s censure each year since 2013. Created by the 1998 International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA), USCIRF’s bipartisan yearly report evaluates “systematic, ongoing, and egregious” violations independent of US foreign policy concerns and tracks government implementation of its recommendations.

Complicating any consequences, Azerbaijan aligns with US foreign policy in certain areas: It cooperates closely with Israel, is aligned against Iran, and agreed to increase oil exports to Europe in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

In a brief statement, US secretary of state Antony Blinken kept unchanged all other 2022 designations mandated by the IRFA. Azerbaijan joins Algeria, the Central African Republic, Comoros, and Vietnam on the SWL, cited for “engaging in or tolerating severe violations of religious freedom.”

Twelve nations—China, Cuba, Eritrea, Iran, Myanmar, Nicaragua, North Korea, Pakistan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan—again received designations as first-tier Countries of Particular Concern (CPC).

USCIRF “welcomed” the designation of Azerbaijan. But it stated there was “no justification” for failing to follow its advice to also label India and Nigeria as CPCs.

India was first recommended from 2002–2004 as a CPC, from 2010–2019 for the SWL, and …

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