“The persecution of Christians is real, it is horrifically violent often, and it is spreading at an unprecedented rate in modern times,” said Open Doors USA President David Curry.

Curry showed the Open Door 2015 Worldwatch list in Washington, D.C.

Each January, OD displays its list of the world's top 50 countries that persecute Christians the most. So, what's different this year compared to the 2014 list?

The 2015 list documents the worst persecution of Christians in the modern era and "perhaps the worst is yet to come," Curry explained.

He said Open Doors can confirm that 4,344 people were executed or murdered for their Christian faith in 2014. That is more than double the number for 2013. The numbers are likely much higher, but OD uses only numbers that can be verified.

Curry said more than half of the global victims this year were killed in Nigeria (2,484) at the hands of the Islamic terrorist group Boko Haram.

Despite the rise of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, North Korea--for the thirteenth year in a row--remains the world's top persecutor of Christians. Iraq is listed as No. 3 on the list of persecuting countries and Syria at             No. 4.

Among differences this year:

Last year only one African country (Somalia) was listed in the top 10. This year there are four: Somalia (2), Sudan (6), Eritrea (9) and Nigeria (10).

Let’s pray for God’s protection of His people who are threatened by persecution and comfort for those who’ve lost loved ones.

Note:  See this information provided by Open Doors USAhere: athttp://blogs.cbn.com/globallane/Default.aspx