Every year during the six weeks of Lent Christians in Ireland join together in prayer for six Christian prisoners. In Lent 2026, we’ll be praying for the prisoners pictured beginning on Sunday 22 February (the first Sunday of Lent).
Top Row (left to right): Mehran Shamloui (Iran), Yang Rongli (China), Kidane Weldou (Eritrea)
Bottom Row (left to right): Y Pum Bya (Vietnam), Ashfaq Masih (Pakistan), Kim Jong Uk (North Korea)
For each prisoner we publish a Prayer Profile which includes details of their arrest and sentence, their family and church, latest news and prayer points. The Prayer Profiles will be available on this website, via our weekly email and on Social Media.
Prayer Profiles are also featured in the Spring issue of Church in Chains magazine which you can order by completing this form. The details of the six prisoners will also be contained in a PowerPoint presentation to be used during the prayer slot in church.
Download PowerPoint Presentation (3.1 MB)
WEEK 1 – MEHRAN SHAMLOUI (Iran)
Mehran Shamloui (44) is an Iranian Christian convert who was sentenced to ten years and eight months in prison in March 2025 for his house-church activities. After sentencing he fled to Turkey but he was detained and deported back to Iran, where he was arrested in July and imprisoned.
WEEK 2 – YANG RONGLI (China)
Pastor Yang Rongli (69) is co-founder of Linfen Golden Lampstand Church in China’s Shanxi province with her husband Wang Xiaoguang and is pastor of the 50,000-member Linfen House Church Network. She is serving a 15-year prison sentence for “fraud” for collecting church offerings (a common charge against pastors of unregistered churches) and is not due for release until 2036.
WEEK 3 – KIDANE WELDOU (Eritrea)
Pastor Kidane Weldou, who is in his early 70s, has been in prison in Eritrea for 21 years, with no release date set. He was senior pastor of the Full Gospel Church in the capital, Asmara (a church that is not permitted by the government) and was a member of the executive committee of Gideons International in Eritrea.
WEEK 4 – Y PUM BYA (Vietnam)
Y Pum Bya (61) is a leader of the Montagnard Evangelical Church of Christ in Dak Lak province in Vietnam’s Central Highlands. He was arrested in 2018 and is serving a 14-year prison sentence for promoting religious freedom and human rights for his fellow Montagnard people. Y Pum Bya ministers in an unregistered house church and its members have suffered police raids and pressure to renounce their faith.
WEEK 5 – ASHFAQ MASIH (Pakistan)
Ashfaq Masih (39) has been in prison in Pakistan since 2017, when he was accused of blasphemy. He was sentenced to death in July 2022 and his appeal is pending in the Lahore High Court. Ashfaq is a Pentecostal Christian from Green Town in Lahore and worked as a bike mechanic before his arrest.
WEEK 6 – KIM JONG UK (North Korea)
Kim Jong Uk (61) is a South Korean Baptist missionary who was arrested in October 2013 after he entered North Korea with Bibles and other religious materials. In May 2014 North Korea’s Supreme Court found him guilty of spying for South Korea and attempting to start a church. He was sentenced to life imprisonment in labour camp.