Voice of the Martyrs, October 10th, 2024

Hawa is a Christian convert from Islam who maintains a farm in a rural area of Somalia. Though raised as a Muslim, Hawa became a follower of Christ through her son’s witness. Hawa’s Muslim husband divorced her and kicked her out of the house when he learned of her newfound faith.

Through another Christian woman, Hawa came to help work and maintain the farm, which also houses 19 Christian widows whose husbands had been killed by al-Shabab, a terrorist group active in Somalia and Kenya. Hawa disciples the widows and actively shares her faith with other women who work on neighbouring farms.

In March 2024, fighting broke out between al-Shabab and the Somali government, destroying some of the crops, displacing Hawa and the widows, and killing one of the women. VOM helped provide food and shelter for the displaced Christians until they could return to the farm and begin replanting crops.

After years of drought and civil war, more Somalis live outside Somalia than within its borders, and Somalis often take their Islamist cultural norms with them wherever they go. Therefore, those who faithfully serve Christ or convert from Islam in Somali communities throughout the world face severe persecution regardless of national laws.

Even so, the dispersion of Somali people has also created unique opportunities to reach them with the gospel. Somalis are more reachable and open than ever before, and many have chosen to follow Christ, including some who are willing to reach out to other Somalis at any cost.

International Christian Concern, October 11th, 2024

Jacob, a young man from northeastern Syria, was born into a committed Christian family and served his church for years.

After moving to western Syria to study engineering, he commuted weekly to his home city to see his family, meet up with friends, and continue serving in his church.

As he travelled to visit his family in 2014, a group of armed, masked Islamic extremists stopped his bus and kidnapped every Christian on board. Desperate to save his life, Jacob tried to deny his Christian faith, but the cross necklace hanging from his neck gave him away.

The gunmen beat Jacob and the other believers, ordering them to denounce their faith in Christ. Jacob, ashamed for attempting to deny Jesus earlier, chose to remain firm. The gunmen sentenced him and the other believers to hard work till they decided when to execute them.

One day, the gunmen told Jacob to dig his own grave with his hands. They ordered him to kneel at the edge of the grave for hours, saying they would kill him if he didn’t deny Christ.

Jacob considered denying his faith to escape, but something surprising happened: the police arrived. As the kidnappers exchanged gunfire with the officers, Jacob escaped.

Free from captivity, he felt God’s presence and was filled with gratitude toward Jesus. He knew Christ saved him from the Islamic extremists despite his attempts to deny Him.

Jacob felt a new sense of purpose. His relationship with Christ deepened, and he shared his testimony with everyone he could. Although countless martyrs have died during more than 13 years of conflict in Syria, many Syrian Christians have seen their faith renewed, and one of them is Jacob.

barnabasaid, October 8th, 2024

At least ten Christians were killed by Islamists in several attacks at the end of September in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

Eight were killed in two armed assaults on Lubero, in the north-eastern province of North Kivu, on Sunday 22 September.

Both incidents were announced on the social media channels of Islamic State Central Africa Province (ISCAP, also known as the Allied Democratic Forces).

“The soldiers of the Caliphate attacked the Christian village of Bandolo in the Lubero region,” stated one of the social media posts, “and slaughtered five Christians, praise be to God.”

The other described Islamist fighters attacking a position of the DRC military near the village of Medidi, then killing three Christians in the village as well as burning homes and shops.

On the same Sunday another Christian was captured and killed by ISCAP in the neighbouring province of Ituri.

Four days later, also in Ituri, the Islamists announced that they had ambushed “Christians who were riding motorcycles”, killing one and injuring two others.

ISCAP has been responsible for dozens of deaths in just the last two months. It is estimated that they have killed more than 5,500 Christians in north-eastern DRC since 2017.

Christian Daily International, October 9th, 2024

China has subjected hundreds of North Koreans to atrocities since last year by forcibly returning them to a country whose leaders hold that religion, especially Christianity, is the greatest threat to its power.

Torture, sexual violence, enslavement and murder await those repatriated from China to detention centres in the North Korea of Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un.

“Any religious belief, and Christianity in particular, constitutes a major challenge to the Kim regime’s absolute monopoly on power,” the executive director of the Committee for Human Rights in North Korea, told the U.S. Commission on Religious Freedom on Sept. 26. “Christianity offers an alternative way of life that delegitimizes tyranny and transcends oppression.”

“Upon returning into North Korea, one of the first questions they will be asked is whether they have met with a missionary during their time in China.  The answer determines the severity of punishment they will endure. If an individual admits to or is found to have had contact with a missionary, particularly one affiliated with Christianity, they’re often subject to the harshest forms of torture and imprisonment.”

When North Koreans are forcibly returned, encounters they had with religious figures in China can mark them for life.

The deputy director general of the Citizens’ Alliance for North Korean Human Rights told the hearing that detainees suspected of religious affiliations while in China are separated from other returnees.

Joshua Project, October 14^th, 2024

The Kumyk are historically a proud people, respected in Dagestan for their literary, artistic and economic accomplishments. This pride, however, is tempered by disillusionment stemming from the destabilizing elements of violence in their region.

Islam spread among the Kumyk people of Caucasian Dagestan in the eighth to twelfth centuries. Prior to that time, both Christianity and traditional religion were widespread. They worshiped Tengri and various spirits and demons. Islam is an overlay to these beliefs which remain today.

The people of Russia’s Caucasus region are hostile to Evangelical missionaries.

Workers can reach out to the Kumyk people living outside of their homeland. They can also provide online biblical resources.  

Pray that the believers in today’s people group become God’s light to their own group and to the nations of the world.

Pray for the Lord to give Kumyk believers understanding about how they are to walk in trusting obedience to Jesus Christ. Pray they would be lights in a spiritually dark environment. Pray for a movement to Christ among the Kumyk people that will spread to other Muslim peoples in the Caucasus region. Pray for an eagerness for spiritual nourishment that only comes from submission to Jesus Christ.

Morning Star News, August 23^rd, 2024 (excerpts)

Muslim extremists with swords in eastern Uganda on Monday (Aug. 19) killed a Christian for leading Muslims to Christ.

The assailants attacked Yowabu Sebakaki as he was returning home by bicycle to his native Nyanza village.

In June and July, Muslims had sent threatening messages to Sebakaki, including one that read, “We are aware of some secret meeting you are undertaking. You have to stop preaching as well as converting our faithful Muslims to Christianity, and if not, then soon we are coming for your life,” according to his wife, Nambaluka Sebakaki, who had copied the messages to her phone.

After leading a discipleship class at 5:45 p.m. for new converts at a Christian’s house, Sebakaki was being transported home by David Nkomba on Nkomba’s bicycle.

“Just when we were five kilometres from reaching the homestead, at around 6:20 p.m. a motorcycle came up just behind us.  Sebakaki was struck with a ‘panga’ [long Somali sword] on the back near the neck,” Nkomba said. “He fell and then was cut by another panga at the head.  Sebakaki became unconscious due to too much bleeding.”

“I managed to recognize one of the attackers as Rashid Siriman, a well-known radical Muslim youth from Mbale.”

Neighbours arrived at the site and rushed Sebakaki to a hospital in Mbale, but he died on the way, his wife said.

Police in Budaka were searching for the assailants.

Church in Chains, August 22^nd, 2024 (excerpts)

One year after the Jaranwala riots, Christians are calling for justice as most of those arrested in connection with the attack have been discharged or released on bail.  

Around ninety Christian homes were destroyed and more than four hundred homes and 25 church buildings were damaged and looted on 16 August 2023 when a mob of thousands of Muslims attacked the Christian community in Jaranwala, 40 km from Faisalabad in Punjab province.

The violence followed false allegations of blasphemy against Christian brothers Raja Amir Saleem Masih and Rocky Saleem Masih, who were charged under Pakistan’s blasphemy laws but were acquitted earlier this year after an anti-terrorism court found that they had been framed by another Christian following a personal dispute.

Amnesty International found that only 380 of 5,213 suspects were arrested, and stated: “Of the arrested suspects, 228 were released on bail and 77 others had the charges against them dropped,” adding that trials of suspects have not started and that about forty percent of victims who lost property are still awaiting government compensation.

Salman Farooq of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan said that among those bailed in recent months was Younis Machhi, who had made the announcement on the mosque loudspeaker calling people to gather.

The Voice of the Martyrs, August 22^nd, 2024 (excerpts)

The Fulani are a nomadic Muslim tribe in a vast region where the Sahara Desert meets the African savanna, called the Sahel.  The total number of Fulani is unknown but believed to be between 20 and 40 million people.  Militant Fulani Muslims have been involved in vicious attacks on Christians in many nations, including Nigeria and Burkina Faso.

But some Fulani are turning to Christ, like Sadou in Burkina Faso.  Sadou was raised from childhood to make and sell Islamic charms.  One day he read a Christian brochure in his native Fulani language and asked a Christian for a Bible.

“I was so curious as a Muslim,” he said. “What is this faith? And as I read it, I realized that Jesus is pure.” He eventually came to faith in Christ.  A Muslim offered him $6,000 to return to Islam, but Sadou refused. He now attends a school designed to help Fulani Christians grow in their faith.

Burkina Faso has seen a sharp rise in Islamist activity since 2016. Militants linked to the self-proclaimed Islamic State (ISIS) and al-Qaida, who had been largely contained in neighbouring Mali and Niger, have crossed porous borders in the north to broaden their influence in the Sahel region.  

Christians have been a primary target of the Islamists’ campaign since April 2019, when approximately 70 Christians were killed, and five churches were attacked. More than 200 churches have reportedly closed in northern and eastern Burkina Faso because of security issues and threat of attack.

International Christian Concern, August 23^rd, 2024 (excerpts)

Anwar Ibrahim’s Madani government is steadily working to centralize Islam in Malaysia.  Efforts to impose a “Vatican-style” authority could have far-reaching implications for religious freedom, especially for Christians and followers of other minority religions.

The government, which already severely punishes Muslims who convert to Christianity, recently introduced bills that restrict the practice of Islam in Malaysia to specific Islamic schools of thought. By excluding other Islamic sects, the government could potentially punish anyone who deviates from these forms of Islam.

Nearly 60% of Malaysians are Sunni Muslims, and only 9% are Christians. While churches exist for people who speak a variety of languages, no Malay churches meet openly, as it is illegal for Malays to convert to Christianity. When discovered, authorities send Malay Christians to “re-education camps” where they are forced, through torture and propaganda, to return to Islam.

The Malaysian Islamic Development Department is gaining significant influence in national policymaking. It has also obtained censorship powers over social media, allowing it to declare Islamic teachings or discussions as deviant.

Joshua Project, August 26^th, 2024

Because of the uniqueness of their history and culture, all Jews have a strong sense of identity. Persecution of and discrimination against the Jews have been the historical reasons for their migrations and settlements around the world. Anti-Semitism was prevalent and frequently led to either persecution or expulsion. Some of them live in Malta, an island nation in the Mediterranean Sea.

The Jews have a wonderful understanding of their connection with the Abrahamic Covenant. However, they also have a history of rejecting Jesus Christ as Messiah, the one who has fulfilled that covenant. They often feel threatened by those who call their attention to Jesus.

Maltese believers can potentially lead Jews to see Jesus in a different light. It is important that these ideas not be presented in a way that Jews interpret as anti-Semitic.

Pray that this people group become faithful to God and not trust in themselves.  

Pray that God would grant Jewish believers favour as they share their faith in Christ with their own families and communities. Pray that strong local churches would be raised up in each Jewish community.