(Photo courtesy of VOM USA)

Earlier this month, a Mozambican bishop was shot and killed at his home. Bishop Osório Citora Afonso of the Diocese of Quelimane had been growing more vocal about Islamist violence in the region before he was murdered on June 6th. Christian leaders across Africa are calling for a full investigation.

Meanwhile, Orthodox Christians in Ethiopia’s Oromia region are mourning deadly attacks on churches. At least 37 Christians have been killed in the violence, and over 2,500 displaced. One church destroyed was the 101-year-old Telata St. Gabriel Church.

Todd Nettleton with The Voice of the Martyrs USA says the situations are part of a larger pattern of unrest in East Africa.

“I think part of what has happened that has sort of raised the profile of these attacks is you have a number of people being killed in the attacks, but you also have a church being destroyed that was 101 years old. So this is not a church building that somebody put up on their property a year ago or five years ago.”

Believers in the Oromia region, a predominantly Muslim zone, have been the primary victims of these attacks.

(Photo courtesy of VOM USA)

“It does appear that Orthodox Christians are being targeted based on their religious identity,” says Nettleton. “In these attacks, they’re not attacking mosques; they are attacking churches. So it does seem to have a religious element or a religious motivation to the attacks.

“You have different facets of the population fighting against each other, looking for control, looking to gain influence, to gain power, and so this is one part of that sort of broader picture.”

As believers learn about the challenges facing Christians in Ethiopia and Mozambique, Nettleton encourages prayer.

“I would especially pray that there would be revival and that people would come to faith in Christ, even amidst the conflict and amidst the upheaval that’s going on.”

Pray for comfort and protection for affected believers, and ask God to draw many people in East Africa to Himself.

Header photo courtesy of VOM USA.

(Photo courtesy of Ian Kiragu/Unsplash)

Nehemiah with FMI says the statistics paint a grim picture. “According to the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics, cases of violence against women have risen significantly in recent years with 159 reported cases of deaths, with many incidents escalating to femicide.”

Those are just the reported cases. “Activists point out that social attitudes often blame victims, further discouraging women from seeking help,” Nehemiah says. “So we see many unreported cases in society.”

FMI models a biblical approach, elevating and supporting women in Kenya. “Our partners are engaging with our sisters on the ground, and they’re involving them in the ministry.

“We are praying, and we are talking on the different projects where we can engage our sisters to start some small cottage industries where they can grow and they can make a little money.”

Nehemiah adds, “Initially, the Church was unaware or had no idea how to respond to this situation…. But now we can see that the Church is standing and now the Church leaders are raising their voice as well. They have become an echo for the victims.”

Pray for justice and for Kenyan women to know their worth in Christ.

Header photo courtesy of Ethan McArthur/Unsplash.

Extremist groups like Boko Haram and the Fulani herdsmen push for extremist Sharia – a fundamentalist version of Islam characterized by an unwavering demand to follow the Quran – to become the law of Nigeria. That would mean more than 200 million Nigerians would be forced to follow Sharia, even though Christians make up nearly half of the country’s population. 

In an interview with Greg Musselman of Voice of the Martyrs Canada, Mark Lipdo of Stefanos Foundation said “We the Christians have raised our voices against the demand for Sharia, and we have also called the international community to look at that.”

But even if they can’t get Sharia implemented across Nigeria, these militant groups will still leave their mark on Nigeria. According to some victims who have encountered these groups, “They come in successions. Some come in front [and] carry firearms, and they shoot sporadically, scaring people. They are followed by those who carry machetes, whoever they come across, they hunt them down. They make sure that they kill them brutally so that they scare people away from those communities.”

Nigerian believers pray for intervention (Photo courtesy of VOM Canada)

What’s devastating is that Christians who are now being hunted know these extremists. Many Christians have even invited them into their homes. Many of these groups started as wandering nomads who moved from place to place. In some communities, Christians provided these nomads with food or places to stay. “These people have enjoyed the hospitality of the Christians over the years,” Lipdo says. “All of a sudden, these people you have known as good people are supposed to be living with you in your favor, they’re now behaving like your masters, making demands, and attacking and killing you.”

What’s more, officials seem uninterested in intervening. “The government is not treating it as a threat to humanity,” Lipdo says. “We are expected to live with people that arise at any time and do such havoc. This is the plight of the Christians here.”

So what does a Christ-like reaction look like? According to Lipdo, the response needs to be one of love. “We continue to love even to our death, hoping that the government administration we depend on will somehow solve this problem,” Lipdo says. “We don’t have an option, but to love. As Christians, once you stop being a Christian, or stop loving somebody, you’re becoming worse than what you profess.”

Support Voice of the Martyrs Canada here.

Header photo courtesy of Unsplash.

Flowers part of the memorial outside the school. (Photo courtesy of CEF)

The assailant was Panya Kamrab, a 34-year-old ex-policeman who was suspended earlier this year on drug possession charges.

He entered the daycare on Thursday allegedly looking for his two-year-old stepson. When he couldn’t find the child, he used his gun and a knife to murder staff members and at least 24 children.

Kamrab then went home and killed his wife and stepson before committing suicide.

It’s the deadliest massacre Thailand has seen of this kind.

Child Evangelism Fellowship (CEF) serves Gospel hope to kids around the world, including Thailand. Tony Villanueva, CEF’s Senior Associate Director of International Ministries, says they are grieving with the nation.

CEF Thailand leaders and church leaders standing outside together, they have partnered to bring the Gospel tracts to this community. (Caption, photo courtesy of CEF)

“Our sympathy and prayers go out to the community of Uthaisawan Na Klang, Thailand, following the horrific mass shooting tragedy that occurred at the Child Development Centre earlier today,” Villanueva says. “Our hearts break over the loss of these precious children and childcare workers.”

CEF of Thailand reports that the tragedy took place in a remote village with no church. CEF has reached out to the nearest church to offer help in distributing a Gospel trauma healing booklet to the community and make plans for more outreach.

“Do You Wonder Why?” is a booklet that CEF keeps printed in 54 languages and is already in stock in Thailand.

In the wake of unspeakable devastation, Villanueva calls on believers around the world to pray for mourning Thai communities.

“We continue to pray for their families, and especially, the children affected. CEF Thailand will mobilize to respond in the coming days, sharing the hope of salvation through Jesus Christ with the children in this community.

“Pray with us on behalf of the children, that every child in Thailand would hear the Good News and find comfort in the Savior.”

Header photo depicting juice boxes and snacks set up as a memorial for the children outside the school. Photo courtesy of CEF.

Bruce Allen with FMI says, “How did we find out about these attacks? And why has it taken so long? Who spilled the beans? Well, it was none other than the would-be perpetrator, a young man named Tolgahan.”

The plot

Intelligence agents and members of Turkey’s military approached Tolgahan. They asked him to name his price for killing three Protestant church leaders in Malatya Province.

At the time, Tolgahan led the Grey Wolves, an ultra-nationalist youth organization. The Grey Wolves have a connection to the current President of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

But things didn’t go according to plan. Allen says, “Who was the person to whom Tolgahan confessed? It was one of the three targets, a church leader named Vedat Serin. Tolgahan just recently explained to Serin that even though he was at the right place at the right time to pull the trigger against his first target, he stopped abruptly because he spotted a young boy, the pastor’s son, playing piano in the church.”

“And Tolgahan did not want to kill the father in front of his son.” 

Praise God for the healing in Tolgahan’s life.

And ask God to strengthen Turkish Christians. It is unsettling to learn about the government actors involved in the plot. Allen says, “Christians across Turkey are asking national authorities to investigate the situation. The would-be perpetrator has given a lot of credible evidence to the local authorities.”

In 2007, five Christians from Malatya Province were killed during a Bible study. Allen says, “The perpetrators who carried out the murders had positioned themselves as if they were seekers or new followers of Jesus Christ. They infiltrated this Bible study and killed the others who were involved.”

The header photo shows a map of Turkey, highlighting Malatya Province. (Photo courtesy of TUBS, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons)

Pierre Houssney with Horizons International points to the severe economic problems facing the country. “It just feels like the Lebanese people are trapped. Some people have called it the largest open-air prison in the world currently. Because the Lebanese government has even stopped issuing passports for the people that have the resources to emigrate out of the country.”

“They have no opportunity or income. They’re relying on people that they might know outside of the country to support them.”

Many kids can’t afford school, so they simply stay home.

Anger

US company Gallup recently named Lebanon the world’s angriest country. Houssney says, “It’s like we’re going back into a previous century. And if you look at Lebanon 100 years ago, it was actually more developed in many ways than it is now.”

Houssney says Lebanon’s powerful elite have run the country into the ground with no hope in sight. “The same warlords fighting, killing people, dealing drugs, and dealing arms in the 70s and 80s are still in power today. Every election cycle, people seem to have some kind of hope. But then nothing ever happens.”

Horizons International works to provide food, medicine, and biblical counseling for people in Lebanon. They want to manifest God’s love in every part of Lebanese life. Houssney says, “Jesus came for us to have life and life to the fullest. So he cared for people and all their needs. He cared for their spiritual needs, healed them, and fed them.”

You can be a part of this work.

Header photo courtesy of Horizons International on Facebook. 

The junta has promised to hold free elections in the future, but they say they now need more time to stabilize the country. The military seized power from the elected government in a February 2021 coup.

Atrocities

Meanwhile, numerous soldiers are having changes of heart. Brian Dennett with AMG International says, “AMG staff work in several refugee camps along the Myanmar border. They were able to confirm the stories that we’ve all been reading that soldiers are admitting, even with tremendous guilt, to killing, torturing, and raping innocent citizens as they carried out orders from the military leaders.”

“Even the elderly and children have been targets.”

It’s not a small number either, Dennett says. “We’re hearing that a significant number of soldiers, after learning that they were not just going to be serving as guards, are indeed defecting.”

At the camps, AMG cares for people fleeing the violence by crossing into Thailand. Many children are unaccompanied, either losing their parents or being separated from them. Dennett says, “Some of the children we are serving were found scavenging to survive. Now they depend on the support that we’re offering.”

Get involved

All this work is being done in the name of Jesus. You can support these refugees at amghelps.org. Dennett says, “We have just been so blessed to be able to serve them, and also share the hope of Christ with them and many families there.”

Please pray for the AMG team on the field as well. Ask God to give them strength and endless love.

The header photo shows the border between Thailand and Myanmar. Myanmar can be seen on the opposite bank. (Photo courtesy of Manop, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons) 

Mary Joseph, a SAT-7 Communications Officer based in Cairo says, “It was a good thing to see all the leaders gather together in Egypt and discuss things. Maybe they have not reached the solution for every problem ecumenically. But it’s good to see them gathered here after a long time of not gathering. The MEC has not been gathering every year.”

The Egyptian president even addressed the assembly, saying he wanted to spread a culture of diversity and religious freedom in the country.

Violence against Christians

The statement comes after the stabbing of an Egyptian priest in Alexandria, Egypt. Joseph says, “Because it happened during Lent, it had a very special closeness. Lent is a very spiritual time here for Christians in Egypt. And it was very heartbreaking, of course, and there was a lot of indignation on social media.”

This isn’t the first incident of violence against Egyptian Christians, of course. Joseph says, “In 2016, there was a blast at a church in downtown Cairo that killed 29 people and left many disabled and injured. Two of the people killed were my aunt and her daughter.”

Joseph’s surviving cousin was recently invited onto the SAT-7 program Needle and New Thread, where she talked about her journey and her faith. “It was very encouraging for the viewers. Even the crew themselves were telling me (because I’m her cousin) how they were supported by her testimony.”

How to pray

Joseph says the Egyptian Church is facing a lot of division, often fueled by social media. Pray for unity among the believers.

And ask God to unify churches across the Middle East and North Africa.

Header photo courtesy of SAT-7. 

Joe Willey with SAT-7 USA talks about a case from Northern Iraq. “Now these so-called honor killings can be defined as the killing of a relative, especially a girl or a woman, who is perceived to have brought dishonor to the family. One of these two women was killed after she posted a video of herself on TikTok singing Christian songs.”

“It’s suspected that her murder was in retaliation for her apparent Christian beliefs.”

This woman was the daughter of a Muslim cleric and had been married off at age 12. She had separated from her husband and had become an activist for women’s rights. Her brother and uncle killed her.

In Iran, a husband beheaded his 17-year-old wife after she returned from fleeing to Turkey. People took pictures of him parading her remains through the streets. She had also been married at 12 years old, younger than Iran’s legal limit of 13 for girls (15 for boys).

Sadly, the Iranian government’s response was to shut down the news agency that first broke the story.

Value of women

It’s an illustration of how little these societies value women. Willey says, “Iran’s civil law says that if a woman withholds her duties toward her husband, she does not receive financial support. Women face tension and challenges if they leave their home without the right kind of clothing. And I found this to be startling from my American perspective, but even riding a bicycle may subject a woman to criminal proceedings.”

SAT-7 programs work to change this culture through programs like Insiders, which airs on the Farsi language channel SAT-7 PARS. Willey says, “Viewers in Iran are presented with the biblical truth that women are made in the image of God and have intrinsic value. That’s the same value as a man. SAT-7 programming is also breaking a cultural taboo by even discussing these topics.”

 Ask God to change the cultural view of women in Iraq and Iran.

Header photo courtesy of SAT-7 USA. 

Both Sri Lankan and Pakistani leaders condemned the violence, and Pakistan’s prime minister says over 100 people have been arrested. Nehemiah with FMI says “Videos we have received show hundreds of men and young boys gathered at the site chanting slogans. And I’m very sad to say that in these videos, we can see rescue workers and police were there. But they were helpless because they know very well about the mobs’ aggression.”

The mob wasn’t led by terrorist leaders, but young boys. Nehemiah says, “These are teenagers who are killing people. This is what we are reporting and requesting people to pray for. These guys are very young. They don’t know anything about their religion, about Islam. They are just brainwashed. And they’re charged by TLP slogans.”

TLP

TLP refers to an extremist political and religious organization in Pakistan. The government banned them for a time and even held their leader in prison. But on the streets, their popularity has grown, along with their extreme ideology. Nehemiah says the Pakistani government recently struck a secretive deal with the TLP and released their leader.

Since violent ideology runs so deep in Pakistani society, Nehemiah says it will happen again. “Yet Pakistan’s leaders continue to support politics that stokes this violence. It’s very sad to say that Pakistani society is nurturing Frankenstein’s monsters in the name of Islam.”

FMI partners work in Sialkot, the city where the attack took place. Ask God to protect and strengthen them. Pray the love of Jesus would challenge fear and violence.

The header image shows a man riding to his home in Sialkot, Pakistan, where the violence took place. (Esa Mehdi, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons)