ASSIST News Service

Will Graham: Money cannot change the human heart
Evangelist Will Graham shared the grace and hope of Jesus Christ with 33,100 people in Moratuwa, Sri Lanka, over the weekend.

Kenneth Bae: 'I have not lost hope'
Kenneth Bae, a Korean-American being held in North Korea, says he is worried about his health after authorities moved him back into a labour camp following a stay in a hospital.
Morocco court overturns convert's proselytism conviction
An appeals court judge in Morocco today overturned a conviction against a Christian convert from Islam who had been sentenced to 30 months in prison for alleged proselytising.

Sundance Film Festival award for Son of Hamas documentary
The Green Prince, a feature-length documentary based on the international best seller Son of Hamas, by Mosab Hassan Yousef, with Ron Brackin, received the prestigious Audience Award for World Cinema: Documentary at the Sundance Film Festival in Utah on Sunday.

Saeed Abedini struggling with ill-health behind bars in Iran
The imprisoned pastor's family have said his medical problems are worsening
Cameroonian founds Africa's first 'development university'
Andre Talla now searching for a video studio or church in Southern California where he can record his sermons to be broadcast in his native country

Campaign for more humane treatment of prisoners in Vietnam
Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW), a UK-based human rights group, has welcomed the launch of a report by the Campaign to Abolish Torture in Vietnam.

Fears of death-only punishment for blasphemy in Pakistan
Last month, the Federal Shariat Court (FSC) of Pakistan ordered that the death penalty be the "only punishment for a blasphemer", and that life imprisonment be removed as an option.

Iranian pastor freed from prison
A pastor at the Assemblies of God Church of Ahwaz, imprisoned for his faith in Iran has been released.

Sri Lanka: Churches attacked and vandalised
Violent protests interrupted Sunday morning services on January 12, at two churches in Hikkaduwa, a small coastal town in southern Sri Lanka.
Nigeria attacks: Villagers say soldiers joined in slaughter
Survivors of the January 6 slaughter of 33 Christians in a village in Nigeria's Plateau State said Special Task Force (STF) soldiers stationed to protect them turned their weapons on those fleeing the attack.
Fines for 'extremist' books in Kazakhstan
Two Protestants in Kazakhstan's capital Astana were fined nearly four weeks' average wages in December 2013 for possessing Christian texts which the court found to be "extremist".
Nigeria: Twice widowed to extremists, a mother-of-five puts her faith in God
Morning Star News is reporting that Muslim extremists had once prior widowed Faith Kore Usman, a 29-year-old mother of five children, before Fulani herdsmen killed her second husband on New Year's Eve.

Asia Bibi writes to Pope Francis: 'Only God can liberate me'
The Catholic Pakistani mother sentenced to death for blasphemy, spoke in her letter about the hardship she is experiencing in prison and her hope to one day be freed
Iranian Christian converts arrested as they celebrate Christmas
Iranian security authorities raided a house where a group of Christians had gathered to celebrate Christmas on December 24.
Hundreds of Christians killed in Nigeria in last six months - reports
Reports of Christians attacked in central and northern Nigeria receive more attention, but in more southerly Benue state Islamic extremists killed at least 205 Christians in the last six months alone, sources said.