Aid to the Church in Need, November 22, 2022 (excerpts)

Fears are growing that a priest who disappeared in Mali has been abducted by Islamist militants.  German missionary priest Father Hans-Joachim Lohre went missing on Sunday (20th November) after celebrating Mass at a convent in Bamako, the country’s capital.

Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) was told by the Missionaries of Africa – known as the White Fathers – that everything points to him having been kidnapped.

Father Lohre’s car was found abandoned and a cross which he always carried with him was lying on the ground.

The priest, who worked in Mali for more than 30 years, before his disappearance, told ACN that missionaries faced potential danger from Mali’s growing Islamist militant groups.  He said: “We are an easy target, but we have a mission”, adding “we have been told that the jihadists are watching us.  The jihadists come in groups, on motorcycles, and the local communities have to make deals with them. They are forbidden from ringing church bells and drinking alcohol, and women are forced to wear the veil.”

But he stressed that concerns about his personal safety did not keep him from continuing his ministry in Mali.

Extremist groups have overrun swathes of central Mali, imposing Shari‘a in the areas under their control.

“Therefore, it is crucial that we foster good relations with the Muslims around us.  We provide Christians with deep knowledge about Islam, so that when they return to their communities, they can help to build bridges and make contact with the surrounding mosques.”

Voice of the Martyrs, 10 November 2022 (excerpts)

Sita is a 65-year-old woman and the only believer in her family.  She was an active member of the church, but three years ago, her son married a woman who is aggressively opposed to Christianity.  The daughter-in-law turned the family against Sita. 

Since that time, the family has barred her from attending church.  Sometimes she is able to slip out to a women’s fellowship group.  Front-line workers have given her an audio Bible so that she can listen to God’s Word when she is alone at home.

84 percent of Nepalis are Hindus.  Hinduism is more prominent in the south, along the Indian border, and Buddhism is more prominent in the north.  There are small Muslim and Christian minorities as well as a growing Marxist (atheistic communist) movement.

The government of Nepal is taking an increasingly strong stand against religious conversion.  Despite the 2015 constitution that guaranteed religious freedom, Parliament passed a bill in 2017 criminalizing conversion to Christianity.  Christian communities are small, but they boldly witness for Christ despite harassment and risk.

84 percent of Nepalis are Hindus.  There is a small, visible Christian community in Nepal, but believers experience opposition from extremists among the Hindu, Muslim, Buddhist and Marxist groups.  Christians face harassment and beatings from local Hindu nationalists who envision Nepal becoming a “pure” Hindu nation.

International Christian Concern, 31 October 2022 (excerpts)

Al-Shabaab, a terrorist group affiliated with Al-Qaeda, launched a deadly attack in Somalia’s capital city, Mogadishu, on Saturday, October 29.   

Two cars packed with explosives blew up within minutes of each other near the city’s busy Zobe intersection.  Following the explosion, militants opened gunfire on passers-by.   

According to a statement released by Somalia’s president Hassan Sheikh Muhamud, “So far, the number of people who died has reached 100 and 300 are wounded, and the number for both the death and wounded continues to increase.”

The attack took place at the same intersection where a truck laden with explosives blew up on October 14, 2017, killing 512 people and injuring over 200 more.  That attack was the deadliest in Somalia’s history and has also been attributed to Al-Shabaab.   

Police spokesperson Sadik Dudishe released a statement following the October 29 attack describing some of the victims of the attack, which included women, children, and the elderly.   

He said, “the ruthless terrorists killed mothers.  Some of them died with their children trapped on their backs.”

Please pray for the victims of this recent terrorist attack in Somalia.

The Voice of the Martyrs, October 27, 2022 (excerpts)

More than one million refugees have flooded into Lebanon because of the civil war raging in neighbouring Syria.  Pastor Bassam recently opened a new church near the Syrian border to minister to refugees and others in that region.  After the church’s initial service, Pastor Bassam was summoned to appear before local officials who questioned him about his evangelistic activities.  He tried to answer their questions, stating that he does not force anyone to come to the services or change their beliefs.  Pastor Bassam requests prayers that the church will be allowed to operate without interference and also for his wife, who has been suffering from an illness.

Many Muslims in Lebanon have suffered greatly at the hands of other Muslims during Syria’s civil war, resulting in a new openness to Christ.  Because Lebanon has a significant Christian population and its government protects the freedom of worship, it has become a safe haven for displaced Christians throughout the region.  Despite the hardships, many evangelical churches in Lebanon have not only welcomed but also cared for Christian and Muslim Syrian refugees, who have limited resources and few rights in the country.

Many Muslim refugees have bravely attended home Bible studies and church services to learn about Christ.  Significant numbers have placed their faith in Christ, been baptized and become active in local churches.  Some Christian converts from Islam are already actively witnessing to Muslims.

Morning Star News, October 27, 2022 (excerpts)

Suspected Fulani herdsmen and other terrorists killed two Christians in north-central Nigeria on Friday (Oct. 21) after slaughtering 13 others in two prior attacks.

The assailants attacked a village in Obi County late at night, killing Moses Saaku and Aondofa Saaku and wounding a Christian woman, all members of the Universal Reformed Christian Church.

A Christian woman by the name of Kwaghdoo Saaku was injured when the herdsmen cut off one of her breasts.  

In Keana County on the night of Oct. 8, the terrorists killed 10 Christians, displacing hundreds of others.  Most of the slain Christians were women, children and the elderly who were unable to escape the onslaught.

The attackers, strongly believed to be herdsmen and terrorists, shot sporadically on Christians who were sleeping in their houses.

Nigeria led the world in Christians killed for their faith last year (Oct. 1, 2020, to Sept. 30, 2021) at 4,650, up from 3,530 the previous year.  The number of kidnapped Christians was also highest in Nigeria, at more than 2,500, up from 990 the previous year.

Nigeria trailed only China in the number of churches attacked, with 470 cases.

Forum 18, 3 October 2022 (excerpts)

On 25 September, Police banned Minsk’s New Life Church in Belarus from meeting for Sunday worship in the car park of the building from which officials forcibly evicted it in February 2021.  Police detained the pastor Goncharenko and another pastor Bokun.  A judge fined each 2 months’ average wage for leading the 18 September service.

Officials have forced Minsk’s New Life Pentecostal Church to halt the worship meetings it has held in the church car park every Sunday, whatever the weather, since evicted from its church building.   Police banned the 25 September service, threatening to detain anyone who did not leave.

Police held Pastor Bokun overnight after detaining him on 22 September.  Police seized the mobile phones from both pastors, telling them they would get them back only when the fines have been paid.

Asked what was wrong in holding an hour-long worship meeting outside the building, and about the fines she had imposed on the two pastors, Judge Yuliya Bliznyuk absolutely refused to respond.  “I do not give comments on the phone,” she told Forum 18 before hanging up.

Artyom Tsuran, a Deputy Chair of Minsk City Executive Committee, has rejected all New Life Church’s attempts to seek permission to hold meetings either in the car park or to have their church building returned to them.

Pastor Goncharenko insists that the Church needs and ought to be able to hold face to face worship meetings. “As the Bible says: ‘For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them'”.