During Lent 2024, each of these six prisoners pictured will be featured in weekly prayer profiles.
Top Row (left to right): Mehdi Akbari (Iran), Shagufta Kiran (Pakistan), Kim Kuk-gi (North Korea)
Bottom Row (left to right): Futsum Gebrenegus (Eritrea), Zhang Chunlei (China), Ashfaq Masih (Pakistan)
Each profile details arrest and sentence, background, prison conditions and daily prayer points (dated to begin on Sunday 18 February, the first Sunday of Lent).
CHURCH RESOURCE: Set of Powerpoint slides (one slide for each Sunday.
WEEK 1 – Mehdi Akbari (Iran)
Mehdi Akbari is a convert from Islam who was given a ten-year sentence in October 2020 for leading a house church. A single parent to an only child with cerebral palsy, Mehdi was heartbroken when he died aged 18 in 2021.
WEEK 2 – Shagufta Kiran (Pakistan)
Shagufta Kiran is a former nurse who was arrested in July 2021 and accused of forwarding a blasphemous WhatsApp message. She has been denied bail and is still awaiting trial. She and her husband Rafique have four children.
WEEK 3 – Kim Kuk-gi (North Korea)
Kim Kuk-gi is a South Korean missionary serving a life sentence in a labour camp in North Korea. He was helping North Korean defectors in China when he was arrested in 2014 and charged with spying and spreading religious propaganda.
WEEK 4 – Futsum Gebrenegus (Eritrea)
Rev Dr Futsum Gebrenegus is an Eritrean Orthodox priest and psychiatrist who was arrested in 2004 because he led a Bible study renewal movement that attracted thousands of young people. He has been imprisoned without trial ever since.
WEEK 5 – Zhang Chunlei (China)
Elder Zhang Chunlei was detained in March 2021 for leading an unregistered church. He was tried in 2022 for “fraud an inciting subversion of state power”. The court’s verdict was never announced and his sentence is unknown.
WEEK 6 – Ashfaq Masih (Pakistan)
Ashfaq Masih is a Pentecostal bike mechanic from Lahore who was arrested in 2017 on blasphemy charges. He was sentenced to death in July 2022 and is awaiting an appeal hearing. He and his wife Nabeela have a 9-year-old daughter.