By Derek Vanbuskirk
Millions of Christians around the world are celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ in silence, secrecy or fear of death.
The persecution takes many forms. In some countries, communist regimes suppress Christmas celebrations to protect state-sponsored ideology. In other nations, believers risk starvation, imprisonment or violence at the hands of Islamic militants. These are the realities of Christmas in some of the most dangerous places to be Christian, according to Open Doors’ 2025 World Watch List.
In place of Christmas Eve — the day celebrating Mary and Joseph’s preparation to bring the King of Kings into the world — North Korean Christians are obligated to celebrate the birthday of Kim Il-sung’s wife.
Kim Il-sung, North Korea’s founder, was married to Kim Jong-suk. (RELATED: ‘Murder Masquerading As Medicine’: Senate Ignores Bill On CCP’s Christian Organ Harvesting)
One escapee, Timothy Cho, told Open Doors that Christmas Eve consists of singing carols about Kim Jong-suk, placing flowers on her grave and staying home to binge state-issued propaganda.
If Christians are caught celebrating the birth of Christ, penalties can extend past the individual. The government may arrest, imprison, torture and kill entire families, the escapee alleged to Open Doors.
Brave Christians might whisper hymns, read the Bible or pray in hidden places, but “they must keep most of their celebrations in their hearts,” the escapee warned.
Congregations are often comprised of small families, but sometimes worship is shared with others, according to the Hudson Institute.
“A Christian goes and sits on a bench in the park,” an Open Doors staffer said while describing the risks of worshipping to the Hudson Institute. “Another Christian comes and sits next to him. Sometimes it is dangerous even to speak to one another, but they know they are both Christians, and at such a time, this is enough.”
“It leaves me in tears,” another escapee, who now resides in Seoul, said in 2020. “My New Year’s wish is that there is continuing evangelism by secret believers in North Korea. Underground churches and secret believers are the salt and light in the darkness.”
The government’s crackdown escalated with a new law in 2020, affecting the estimated 400,000 secret North Korean Christians.
North Korea instituted a law in December 2020 that targeted anti-state “superstitions” and criminalized the production, distribution and possession of religious books and other media, according to Open Doors. Those who violate the law could be imprisoned in work camps or sentenced to death.
In one example, Persecution.org reported in June that 70 North Korean Christians disappeared from prison with “little or no trace.”
Yanji, CHINA: Ethnic Korean christians sing hymns in their half-finished church in the town of Yanji in Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture on the China/North Korea border, 13 October 2006. For North Korean refugees, Yanbian’s Christian groups are crucial in providing shelter and aid, both from state-approved and unsanctioned “underground” churches with up to 300,000 North Korean refugees believed to live illegally in the Yanbian region of Jilin province, many of whom risked torture, jailings or execution to escape starvation and oppression in their homeland. (Photo credit PETER PARKS/AFP via Getty Images)
In other countries, Christians face persecution from Islamic extremists.
Open Doors estimates the number of Christians in Somalia to be only in the hundreds. The number of reported Christians is low partly due to the forced imposition of Sharia law by the terror group al-Shabab, as well as pressure from family members and communities to be Muslim, Open Doors reports. (RELATED: Some Somali Migrants Fear Worshiping Christ Publicly, Pastor Says)
Despite the small number of Christians, Christmas and New Year celebrations are forbidden in Somalia.
Mohamed Kheyrow, director general of Somalia’s Ministry of Religious Affairs, announced in 2015 that these celebrations “could damage the faith of the Muslim community,” according to reports.
“We all understand that the believers don’t have the freedom to celebrate Christmas in Somalia, but to officially ban Christmas adds to the pains the believers are already going through,” one local Christian leader told Morning Star News in 2016. “If one of our members were to somehow betray such a gathering, then many of us would face the full demands of the law. It would land us in jail, and we would possibly be executed.”
Somali officials reiterated the ban on Christmas in 2024 and issued a warning through state radio, according to Africa News.
Somali children stand near makeshift shelters set up in the remains of a Roman Catholic Cathedral in Modadishu, Somalia on August 18, 2011. (Photo credit ROBERTO SCHMIDT/AFP via Getty Images)
Libya cracked down on Christmas and New Years celebrations in 2021, according to Middle East Concern. The Libyan government allegedly confiscated Christmas decorations nationwide, and local police shut down stores selling seasonal decorations as state-run media spread announcements of the cancellation, according to the report.
A group of expatriate Arab Christians and a separate group of Libyans were arrested for celebrating New Year’s in 2022, Middle East Concern reported.
In Sudan, religious minorities were gaining hope until a coup and devastating war put Christians back in danger.
The war resulted in the world’s largest displacement and hunger crisis, forcing millions from their homes — making them easier targets for radical Islamist terrorists, according to Open Doors.
Christians displaced by the war were allegedly barred from holding Christmas celebrations in 2024, even after obtaining verbal permission to host activities, according to The Alabama Baptist.
People line up to register for a potential food aid delivery at a camp for internally displaced persons (IDP) in Agari, South Kordofan, on June 17, 2024. (Photo by GUY PETERSON/AFP via Getty Images)
Sudanese Christians also experience severe hunger, as nearby communities allegedly discriminate against them and refuse to offer support, Open Doors reported.
Churches have been uniquely targeted in the war.
The Sudanese Air Force struck a Baptist church days before Christmas in 2024, and Islamic militants have burned down churches amid armed conflicts, The Alabama Baptist reported.
Days after Christmas in 2024, a church was allegedly attacked by the Sudanese Rapid Support Forces during a Christmas prayer service, leading to the injury of 14 people and the fleeing of 177 Christians from the building, according to Premier Christian News.
President of the Persecution Project, Brad Phillips, estimates that 300 children die each day from the effects of a famine resulting from the war.
Phillips, who heads donations of food and medical care in the region, said the success they have seen is a miracle, despite the natural and man-made disasters of war and weather. (RELATED: Islamic Extremists Prepare To Slaughter Hundreds On Christmas, Local Intel Warns)
“This is a cause of great thanksgiving for us. As we gather to celebrate the greatest gift of all — the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ — remember that there are unseen members of your family still present with you in spirit. I pray your Christmas holiday is full of grace and peace,” Phillips concluded.
