BREAKING NEWS
News 1: MOSES BLISS NAMED ARTISTE OF THE YEAR AT NIGMA 2026
Nigeria’s gospel music industry has announced the winners of the 2026 Nigeria International Gospel Music Awards (NIGMA) following Sunday’s ceremony at the MUSON Centre in Lagos.
Moses Bliss was named Artiste of the Year, while “No Turning Back II” by Gaise Baba featuring Lawrence Oyor won Song of the Year. The collaboration also took Best Collaboration and Afro-Gospel Song of the Year. Frank Edwards’ Heart of Worship was named Album of the Year, Sunmisola Agbebi received Female Vocalist of the Year, and Tim Godfrey & Fearless Community were named Group/Choir of the Year. (theBladeNG)
International recognition went to Limoblaze, named Diaspora Artiste of the Year – Male, and Enkay, who received the corresponding female honour. Special awards also recognised long-standing contributors including Sinach, Bola Are, Pastor Kunle Ajayi, Buchi, Lara George and the late Sammie Okposo. (theBladeNG)
The fifth NIGMA edition was designed not only to celebrate musical excellence but also to promote conversations around mental wellbeing, hope and healing, particularly among younger Nigerians.
News 2: YORUBA GOSPEL MUSICIAN G.A. IDOWU AWORINDE
Nigeria’s Christian music community is mourning Evangelist G.A. Idowu Aworinde, the respected Yoruba gospel singer and preacher whose death was reported this week.
Aworinde, who was visually impaired, built a ministry combining traditional Yoruba musical language with Christian teaching on prayer, faith, family and devotion. Songs associated with his ministry included “Mo Ki Obi Mi,” “Ta Lo To Be” and “Adura Owuro.” Tributes have described a ministry whose recordings became familiar in many Yoruba-speaking Christian homes.
His passing is another reminder of the important contribution indigenous-language gospel musicians have made to carrying Christian teaching across generations in Africa.
News 3: VILLAGE CHURCHES GROW IN SOUTH SUDAN
A newly published Lausanne Movement mission profile offers an encouraging picture of grassroots discipleship in South Sudan.
Kenyan missionary Tom Obwogo describes working alongside the Episcopal Church of South Sudan, World Concern and local believers to equip 15 evangelists, whose ministry has helped plant and disciple nearly 200 village churches around Wau. The work combines evangelism with local leadership development rather than depending primarily on outside missionaries.
Children have become a major focus. Around 300 teachers have been trained, with more than 2,000 children gathering weekly through Sunday schools and simple community learning programmes. The ministry is also using savings groups, farming initiatives and practical community development alongside Bible teaching. (Lausanne Movement)
The story demonstrates an increasingly important model in global mission: strengthening local believers so that churches become sustainable centres of discipleship and community transformation.
News 4: LIBERIAN CHURCH WELCOMES HISTORIC MILITARY APOLOGY—BUT ASKS FOR JUSTICE
Thirty-six years after soldiers massacred hundreds of civilians who had sought sanctuary inside St. Peter’s Lutheran Church in Liberia, the country’s armed forces have formally apologised for crimes committed during the civil-war era.
Church leaders and survivors welcomed the acknowledgement, which accompanied commemorations and the unveiling of a new memorial. However, they are also pressing for the long-delayed War and Economic Crimes Court to become fully operational.
The Lutheran Church has spent decades preserving the memory of the victims while arguing that Christian reconciliation should include both forgiveness and accountability.
News 5: CHURCHES USE SOLAR ECLIPSE TO OPEN FAITH CONVERSATIONS
Last night’s solar eclipse became an unusual evangelistic opportunity for churches across Britain and Ireland.
The Methodist Church prepared congregations through its Eclipse 2026 Day of Outreach, encouraging local churches to hold safe viewing gatherings, welcome neighbours and use the natural wonder of the eclipse as a starting point for conversations about creation, faith and Christian community.
The Church deliberately framed the initiative around relational evangelism rather than high-pressure preaching. Its guidance encouraged congregations to share the Gospel warmly with people outside normal church life and create clear opportunities for visitors who wanted to explore faith further.
It is a simple but useful missional principle: sometimes evangelism begins by giving people a welcoming reason to gather.
News 6: Christians and Other Minorities Rally for Equal Rights in Pakistan
Christians joined Hindus, Sikhs, Ahmadis and other citizens in Karachi, Faisalabad and Lahore this week as Pakistan marked National Minorities Day.
Participants called for stronger protection against discrimination, forced conversions and marriages, abuse of blasphemy laws, attacks on places of worship and unequal political treatment. Christian leaders also urged minority citizens to participate actively in the democratic process rather than withdraw from public life.
The gatherings invoked Pakistan founder Muhammad Ali Jinnah’s 1947 vision of citizens enjoying equal religious freedom regardless of faith, arguing that the promise remains incompletely realised.
News 7: 42 Christian Families Threatened in Indian Village
In Gopalpur village, Bihar, Christian residents say public announcements were broadcast telling local believers either to return to Hinduism or leave the area.
The village includes 42 Christian families, according to reporting published Wednesday. Christian and human-rights advocates described calls for social isolation of the families as a serious threat to freedom of religion and constitutional protections.
The reports come amid wider concern among Indian Christian organisations about accusations of unlawful conversion being used against pastors, prayer gatherings and church workers.
