The holiday isn’t quite finished, and unfortunately neither is related persecution. 

Even as Christians in free countries gathered together for worship or family celebrations this Christmas, fellow believers in India, China, and Iran faced arrest and detention. In Egypt, the government is stepping up security to protect Coptic Christians who will celebrate Christmas on Jan. 7, in keeping with the Orthodox Church’s liturgical calendar.

Asia News reported that Indian Christians in both Orissa and Madhya Pradesh spent Christmas in jail, after Hindu fundamentalists disrupted separate Protestant and pentecostal gatherings and accused Christians of forced conversions. Police arrested three pastors and six others after interrupting a prayer service in the village of Balisuda. Officials also arrested Christians after a Hindu extremist mob stormed the Friends Missionary Prayer Band building in Deogarh on Christmas Day, Asia News reported.

Continue reading at worldmag.com