Saudi Arabia Releases House Church Christians

RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA (Worthy News)– Two Indian Christians of a thriving Pentecostal house church in Saudi Arabia were back in their home country Sunday, July 24, after they were unexpectedly released by Saudi officials from an overcrowded prison, a church official confirmed to Worthy News.

Vasantha Sekhar Vara, 28, and Nese Yohan, 31, who are members of the Riyadh-based ‘Rejoice in the Church of the Lord’ congregation, were detained in January while organizing a Bible study group in one of the apartments where their 70-strong church of mainly Indian expat workers gathered, Worthy News reported earlier.

Both devoted believers soon received 45-days of “pre-trial detention” on charges of attempted Christian conversion, also known as “proselytizing”, the church said.

They were later moved from the police station to a notorious central jail in Riyadh, the capital, where they were held for months without trial, Worthy News learned.