(solemn vocal music)

- [Various Voiceovers] Ididn't know this was happening.

- We are hearing terriblestories everyday.

- They broke my ribs and theykicked us out of their house.

- The execution of 11 Christians.

- This is a genocide.

- We need protection from the world.

- Allahu Akbar.

(solemn vocal music)

- Around the world each day,

260 million Christianssuffer for their faith.

And the persecution issteadily getting worse.

2,983 Christians died forfaith-related reasons last year.

Nearly 9,500 churches were attacked.

North Korea tops the Open Doors Watch List

of worst offending countries.

- There are 60,000Christians in labor camps

for owning a Bible, andmany of them die there.

- The North Korean governmentdoesn't just arrest you,

if you're found to be a Christian,

they arrest your parents,they arrest your children.

They want to completelywipe out even the idea

of a different God than the Kim family.

- [Gary Voiceover] In neighboring China,

Christians say they facethe worst persecution

since Chairman Mao's cultural revolution.

And high-tech surveillance,

including facial recognition software

is part of the communistgovernment's effort

to limit Christian activities.

"Voice of the Martyrs" radiohost Todd Nettleton says,

"Beijing's goal is to place 600 million

"active surveillancecameras around the country

"by the end of this year."

- If you think abouttrying to deliver Bibles,

or you think abouttrying to meet secretly,

how are you going to do that,

when the government is literally watching

everything you do?

- [Gary Voiceover] Open DoorsPresident David Curry agrees.

- China is building, whatI think, is a blueprint,

a roadmap of persecution forother regimes around the world.

And they're doing it with surveillance,

with the social score thatmeasures Christian behavior,

attending church, takingyour kids to Sunday School,

as a negative thing.

- [Gary Voiceover]Elsewhere, Islamic extremism

is a major driver behindpersecution of Christians.

And it's not slowing down.

In fact, Curry says it's intensifying,

particularly in a region ofAfrica known as the Sahel.

It's a Sub-Saharan collection of countries

from the west coast of Africa all the way

to Eritrea on the east coast.

Nigeria is the focal point,

where the governor of Bornosays Islamic terrorism

has created nearly 60,000 widows

and 60,000 orphans in that state alone.

Many of them Christians.

Terrorists have abductedChristian schoolgirls,

like Leah Sharibu.

Kidnapped two yearsago, she's now believed

to have given birth toher Muslim capture's baby.

Boko Haram and Isis-affiliated groups

are the main kidnappers andkillers of Nigerian Christians.

- They don't recognize borders.

They want to set up a caliphate

in Cameroon, Chad, Nigerand now in Burkina Faso.

So, they're looking to spreadout from northern Nigeria.

- [Gary Voiceover] Andbecause of Isis, Al-Quaeda

and other Islamic extremists,Christianity in Iraq and Syria

is on the verge of disappearing.

Prior to the fall of Saddam Hussein,

nearly 1.5 millionChristians called Iraq home.

And more than a million livedin Syria prior to war there.

Today, no more than 250,000Christians live in each country.

But as those numbersdwindle in Syria and Iraq,

Christianity is expanding in Iran.

Maybe faster than anywhere in the world.

Perhaps a million Muslimsor more have come to Christ

in the Islamic republic.

Many former Muslims have startedunderground house churches

like the one seen here.

Although their conversioncomes at a high price.

Heart4Iran Director, Mike Ansari.

- They are arresting them,

they are marginalizing them

they are taking their stuff,confiscating their items

and they give the thechance to either go to jail

or leave the country of Iran.

- [Gary Voiceover] Ansari says he expects

this persecution to intensify.

- [Ansari] They havedecided to follow Jesus

and they're saying that,

"We have a story that needs to be told."

And that is the story oftransformation and hope.

- Hopefully we understand,

these are our family members.

These are our brothers and sisters.

So if they're suffering,

if there's something I can do to help,

I want to do that.

- [Gary Voiceover] At theurging of the United States,

27 nations have formed a newreligious freedom alliance

to combat worldwide persecution.

But will it be enough?

Nettleton, Curry and others say it's time

for the American church to wake up

and make the suffering of globalChristians a top priority.

Gary Lane, CBN News.