The Overcomers: Saudi Arabia

Muslim social network users are calling for the arrest and even for the death of a Saudi Arabian Christian convert they say has insulted the Muslim prophet Muhammad via Twitter. Watch this short video to learn more.


For other videos about persecuted Christians, please visit our multimedia site.

Saudi Arabian Christian attacked on social networks

Hamoud Bin Saleh

Muslim social network users are calling for the arrest and even for the death of a Saudi Arabian Christian convert they say has insulted the Muslim prophet Muhammad via Twitter, reports American Thinker.

Hamoud Bin Saleh, who has been imprisoned three times in eight years, was first arrested for "attacks against Islam" in 2004 and spent nine months in jail after blogging about his conversion from Islam to Christianity.

In 2008, he was again arrested after writing about religious matters and his conversion. He was detained for a month and during that time he was tortured with sleep deprivation, solitary confinement and physical and psychological abuse.

His most recent arrest was in 2009. He was released on the condition that he not travel outside the country or appear in the media.

Please pray.

• Please pray that Hamoud's voice for Christ will not be silenced by the authorities or by those who oppose his Christian faith. 
• Please pray that Hamoud will not fear despite his past suffering (1 Peter 3:14).

For more on the persecuted Church in Saudi Arabia, please visit the Saudi Arabia Country Report.

Indian Christians released from prison in Saudi Arabia

Two Indian Christians -- Vasantha Sekhar Vara, 28, and Nese Yohan, 31 -- have been released from prison in Saudi Arabia, reports BosNewsLife.

They were arrested and charged with proselytizing in January 2011 after officials raided their house church of mainly Indian expat workers (for more information, click here).

Vara was pressured to convert to Islam in prison, but he refused. The men were deported to India on July 24.

Saudi Arabia is officially 100 percent Muslim. However, as in other Arabic countries, there have been reports of a growing interest in Christianity and many foreigners in the country are Christian.

Please pray:

• Praise the Lord for the faith of these men! 
• Pray they will continue to serve and worship the Lord boldly. 
• Pray that the Lord will shine through them as they follow Him.

Eritrean Christian could be deported from Saudi Arabia

A Christian man charged with proselytizing
in Saudi Arabia could be deported to Eritrea.

Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) is reporting that an Eritrean Christian man who escaped the death penalty for proselytising in Saudi Arabia could be returned to Eritrea. If deported, Eyob Mussie could face imprisonment, torture and possible death.

Eritrea is a repressive nation which only recognizes four Christian communities. All others are subject to arbitrary imprisonment. The government often imprisons its own citizens who face deplorable conditions as well as torture.

Mussie, 33, was arrested on February 12, on charges of proselytizing, a Saudi capital offense.

You can read the full article here.

Eritrean believer faces possible death sentence

An Eritrean Christian faces a possible death sentence after being accused of preaching to Muslims outside a mosque in Saudi Arabia, reported our sister-mission VOM USA.

Mussie Eyob, who converted to Christianity two years ago, was arrested at a mosque in the Haya Roda area on February 12 and is being held at a high-security prison in Jeddah. Officials initially thought Mussie was mentally ill, but a medical examination found him to be in good mental health.

Mussie's family visited him on March 20 and found that although he had lost weight, he was being treated well and was in good spirits.

Mussie began preaching at the Eritrean Embassy on February 9 before moving on to the local mosque days later.

Pray that God will soften the hearts of Saudi officials toward Mussie and that he will not be sentenced to death. Praise God for Mussie's boldness.