Christians in Pakistan and Nigeria suffered fresh waves of persecution this week, as a Muslim mob burned a Christian family's home and shop in Pakistan while Fulani gunmen kidnapped Christians — including a 6-month-old baby — in Nigeria's Kaduna state.

In Pakistan, police arrested Kamran Masih, a 40-year-old Christian father of three who ran a small pharmacy in Gharial Kalan village, Narang Mandi, in Punjab Province, on Thursday, October 8, after local Muslims accused him of sharing a blasphemous video in WhatsApp groups. The following day, dozens of Muslims gathered outside Masih's shop and adjacent residence and set both buildings on fire. More than 35 Christian families fled the village fearing further violence. Police deployed a large contingent to protect Christian residents, and the British Asian Christian Association is providing the family with protection and legal support while calling for prayers and a fair trial.

In Nigeria, Fulani assailants broke into homes at 3 a.m. on Tuesday, October 6, in the Rahusa Estate area of Millennium City, Chikun County, near Kaduna city, kidnapping five Christians and a 6-month-old baby. Among the victims were a pregnant woman and a woman with her infant. A family of three — a man, his wife, and their daughter — was taken, with kidnappers demanding 350 million naira (about $263,000) in ransom. Resident Linda Paul, who escaped, said the attackers communicated in Fulfulde, the Fulani language. The attack followed an October 1 assault on Ungwan Waziri village in which one Christian was killed and several kidnapped, and an October 7 ambush in which more than 30 Christians were seized from a communal farm in Chikuri.

Daniel Whyte III, President of Gospel Light Society International, is calling on Christians and evangelicals worldwide to pray for the persecuted church: for Kamran Masih and his family, for the kidnapped Christians of Kaduna, and for the persecutors — that they would meet Jesus Christ and be saved.