1/17/2025 Global (International Christian Concern) — A Bible app is growing in popularity around the world, including in countries where Christians face persecution.
Downloads of the popular YouVersion Bible App hit a record high on Jan. 5, with 798,000 installs in one day. It’s the most single-day downloads the app has experienced since it launched in 2008. This is occurring despite the reality stated in a new report from Open Doors that “more than 380 million Christians suffer high levels of persecution and discrimination for their faith” worldwide.
Bobby Gruenewald, founder of the app, told the Christian Post in an interview that “this year’s increase is even higher than this same time last year, and it’s a trend [they’re] seeing globally.”
The regions with the highest concentration of downloads were in various parts of Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. Installations increased by 94% in Egypt, 48% in Pakistan, and 166% overall in the Middle East.
Earlier this month, International Christian Concern released its annual report, the 2024 Global Persecution Index (GPI), detailing Christian persecution worldwide. Egypt and Pakistan were both listed in the report for egregious acts of persecution. In both nations, radical Islamic extremism and blasphemy laws contribute to the gross mistreatment of Christians.
According to the GPI, “Christians continue to experience persecution from radical Muslims” in Egypt. In Pakistan, Christ followers “are increasingly targeted through the weaponizing of Pakistan’s blasphemy laws, which angry Muslim mobs enforce.”
The European Centre for Law and Justice in 2024 also reported on the abuses Christians face in Egypt. The report explains that Christ followers are routinely harassed and bullied, often with little help or protection from local authorities, and women are “especially targeted.”
“Christian women are especially targeted and harassed,” the report stated. “In rural regions of Egypt, Christian women have been kidnapped, held for ransom, forced to convert, and marry Muslim men.”
In Pakistan, Christians face daily hardships, discrimination, and even imprisonment simply for following Christ and are often recruited for sewer cleaning and street sweeping jobs. Women face particularly grievous mistreatment. According to the GPI, “civil society groups working in the country” report that, like Egypt, “many women and girls are abducted, married off, and forced to convert to Islam.”
Although many new Christians may be exposed to persecution in various regions around the world if they accept Christ as their Lord and Savior, they’re willing to risk it to know him more personally. The surge in Bible installations is a testament to the longing of human hearts for Jesus.
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