Are you willing to die for what you believe? This is a question that hundreds of millions of Christians have to ask themselves every single day. The things that you are going to read about in this article are absolutely horrifying, but you won’t hear about them from the corporate media, because the corporate media hates to share stories that put Christians in a sympathetic light. The Christian faith is the most persecuted faith on the entire planet, and every single day Christians are being beaten, tortured, taken to death camps and executed. According to the latest report from Open Doors, a staggering 380 million Christians are currently facing high levels of persecution…
Christian persecution spiked around the globe in 2024, with more than 380 million Christians suffering high levels of persecution and discrimination, according to a report released Wednesday.
The human rights watchdog group Open Doors has published its World Watch List 2025, which ranks the fifty countries where it is most dangerous to be a Christian.
But we aren’t supposed to talk about this, are we?
In fact, this article will probably get a lot less attention than some of my other articles, because we have been trained to ignore the systematic persecution of Christians that is happening on the other side of the globe.
In Africa, one out of every five Christians is facing severe persecution, and in Asia it is two out of every five Christians…
Worldwide, one in seven Christians is persecuted. For Christians in Africa, the number is higher still: a full 20 percent live in persecution. Meanwhile in Asia, two in five Christians are persecuted for their faith, an astonishing 40 percent.
North Korea claimed the number one spot in the report. According to Open Doors, if you are identified as a Christian in North Korea “you could be killed on the spot”…
If your Christian faith is discovered in North Korea, you could be killed on the spot. If you aren’t killed, you will be deported to a labour camp and treated as a political criminal. You will be punished with years of hard labour that few survive. And it’s not only you who will be punished: North Korean authorities are likely to round up your extended family and punish them too, even if your family members aren’t Christians.
The concentration camps in North Korea are some of the most brutal that the world has ever seen.
But we don’t really talk about them anymore, and so most people don’t even know that they exist.
Somalia claimed the number two spot in the report. A radical Islamic terror group that controls much of the country is absolutely obsessed with eradicating the Christian faith…
In Somalia, following Jesus is a matter of life and death. Al-Shabab, a violent Islamist militant group, is at war with the government and controls large swathes of the country. This group enforces a strict form of Sharia (Islamic law) and is committed to eradicating Christianity from Somalia. They have often killed Somali Christians on the spot. The dangers have increased over the years, as the militants have increasingly focused on finding and eliminating Christian leaders.
Yemen claimed the number three spot in the report. Sadly, the Houthis have absolutely no tolerance for Christians…
If someone is reported to be a Christian and or involved in Christian activities, they could face severe monitoring, arbitrary detention, torture, ill-treatment and even murder. In Houthi-controlled areas it’s dangerous to possess a Bible or other Christian books. Leaving Islam to follow Christ is seen as a huge betrayal of the native tribe—punishment by the community can include being disowned, disinherited, divorced and losing custody of their children, being banished or even murdered.
Libya claimed the number four spot in the report. The U.S. went to a great deal of effort to overthrow the government of Libya a number of years ago, but now it has become one of the most anti-Christian nations on the entire planet…
In Libya, following Jesus is a huge risk for anyone. Libyan Christians with a Muslim background face violent pressure from their families and communities to renounce their faith. Foreign Christians, especially those from sub-Saharan Africa, are targeted by Islamist militant and criminal groups. These groups kidnap and sometimes brutally kill Christians. Even if they avoid such a fate, sub-Saharan Christians face harassment and threats from radical Muslims.
Sudan claimed the number five spot in the report. A nightmarish civil war is raging in Sudan, and both sides seriously hate Christians…
After a year and a half of war, Sudan is now home to the world’s largest displacement crisis and the world’s largest hunger crisis, with nearly nine million people having been forced to flee their homes. Neither side is sympathetic to Christians, and the conflict has given Islamist extremists more opportunity to target them. More than 100 churches have been damaged so far, and Christians have been abducted and killed. Sudanese Christians who have come to faith from a Muslim background face severe backlash from their families and communities. These believers tend to keep their faith secret, even from their own children.
There are two countries that didn’t even make the top ten that I think deserve special mention.
More than a billion people live in China, and over the past several years the persecution of Christians in China has greatly intensified…
China, where persecution is also intense, has also moved up the “World Watch List,” ranking 15th on the 2025 ranking as the most difficult nation for believers; it was previously in the 19th spot.
Brown said much of the growth of the Christian church in China has been centered on small house churches — unregistered houses of worship.
“And the Chinese government, over the last couple of years, has had a very intentional and deliberate effort to stamp out many of those unregistered churches,” he said. “For those churches that are registered, there is a lot of ideological control that the state is looking to exert, looking for your pledges to the Communist Party there.”
Unless you attend one of the churches that has agreed to full ideological control by the communist government, it is very difficult to be a Christian in China these days.
More than a billion people also live in India, and more churches are being attacked in India than anywhere else in the world…
Property crimes are a key concern in India, which topped GCR’s list for targeted attacks on Christian property with 4,949 attacks. The ancient Christian community in the region of Kerala believe the Apostle Thomas planted the Christian faith during his apostolic ministry in the first century. But today, the Malankara Orthodox Church and Syro-Malabar Catholic Church face targeted assaults.
“This isn’t just random violence. Persecutors use violence to drive out Christians to take control and capture the culture in some of these countries,” said Six. “This is a decade of systematic, planned, organized occupation of some Christian areas. And it’s now at the point where every single rung of civil society and government is armed against impoverished Christian communities,” which “have no recourse.”
India engages in “mass suppression of the church,” observed Six. Yet Perkins said India is “getting a pass from many in the West, because of its growing economic power.”
What would you do if you lived in one of these countries where the persecution of Christians is rampant?
If you were faced with a life or death choice, would you be willing to die for your faith?
It is so important to know why you believe what you believe, because someday you may be faced with such a choice.
Every day, more Christians are being arrested.
Every day, more Christians are being taken to secret prisons and concentration camps.
Every day, more Christians are being tortured, and every day more Christians are being killed for what they believe.
If we won’t speak up for them, who will?
Michael’s new book entitled “Why” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com, and you can subscribe to his Substack newsletter at michaeltsnyder.substack.com.
About the Author: Michael Snyder’s new book entitled “Why” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com. He has also written eight other books that are available on Amazon.com including “Chaos”, “End Times”, “7 Year Apocalypse”, “Lost Prophecies Of The Future Of America”, “The Beginning Of The End”, and “Living A Life That Really Matters”. When you purchase any of Michael’s books you help to support the work that he is doing. You can also get his articles by email as soon as he publishes them by subscribing to his Substack newsletter. Michael has published thousands of articles on The Economic Collapse Blog, End Of The American Dream and The Most Important News, and he always freely and happily allows others to republish those articles on their own websites. These are such troubled times, and people need hope. John 3:16 tells us about the hope that God has given us through Jesus Christ: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” If you have not already done so, we strongly urge you to invite Jesus Christ to be your Lord and Savior today.