The Voice of the Martyrs, June 27, 2024 (excerpts)

A pastor in Gaza and his team are regularly providing hot meals to hundreds of people sheltering and trying to survive the current conflict. “We have been able to distribute meals to the people in Rafah and the middle of the Gaza Strip,” the pastor said. “The situation is very dire, and people are desperate for food.”

The pastor is grateful for support from the global body of Christ that enables his team to provide aid and hope to the suffering. “May God bless you abundantly for your kindness and compassion towards our brothers and sisters in Gaza,” he said.

The decades-long conflict between the Israeli government and Palestinian authorities over the city of Jerusalem, the temple, the land and the status of Palestinian refugees remains among the world’s most volatile issues. During this conflict, both Jews and Muslims have been coming to faith in Christ despite their religions’ instructions to reject Christ as Lord and Saviour.

Christian activity is routinely opposed by Islamists among the Palestinian Arab populations of the West Bank and Gaza, and occasionally opposed by ultra-Orthodox and other anti-missionary Jews in Israel proper. Despite this opposition, some churches include both Jews who have accepted Christ as the Messiah and Arabs who have left Islam and placed their faith in Jesus.

The Palestinian Authority maintains some control over the West Bank under Israeli federal authority, while the militant Muslim group Hamas controls the Gaza Strip. Both groups are adamantly opposed to Christian activity and indoctrinate their populace to hate the West, Jews and Christians.

Morning Star News, June 28, 2024 (excerpts)

An evangelist who had received death threats from Muslim extremists was killed after leading Muslims and others to Christ on June17 in eastern Uganda, sources said.

The body of evangelist Richard Malinga was found in the evening in Butebo District after he had texted his pastor that he was surrounded by Muslims, sources said. He was 36.

A Baptist church in Pallisa District had sent him to visit homes with the gospel, his pastor said. He left his hometown in Pallisa District the morning of June 17 to share about Christ in Butebo District, and several people put their faith in Christ, including some radical Muslims, said his church’s senior pastor.

“The evening of June 17, I received a short message from Malinga of being surrounded by the Muslims,” said the pastor, whose name is withheld for security reasons. “I wrote back to him several times, but there was no response.”

Malinga had been receiving threatening messages from Muslim extremists, the pastor said.

An area resident found Malinga’s body.

“I heard a loud wailing at around 7:30 p.m. on the main road,” said the resident on condition of anonymity. “We found the victim in a pool of blood, dead and tied with ropes.”

Police began a manhunt the next day.  The attack was the latest of many instances of persecution of Christians in Uganda that Morning Star News has documented.

Barnabas Aid, June 27, 2024

Renewed prayers are needed for kidnapped Nigerian pastor Paul Musa after he was shown being held at gunpoint in a new video posted online by his captors, the Islamist terrorist group Boko Haram.

Pastor Paul, 59, and his wife Ruth, 50, were abducted in March 2023 from their home in northern Borno State.

The new 15-second video, believed to have been posted over the weekend of 22/23 June, shows the pastor wearing an orange jumpsuit and kneeling in front of a masked gunman.

The pastor does not refer to his wife by name in the video, but he states that unless Boko Haram’s demands are met by the end of the week then “this will be for our lives”.

In May 2024 the terrorist group posted a video of the couple in which Pastor Paul called on the government and the Christian Association of Nigeria for help in securing their release.

The pastor was shown questioning why he and his wife were still in captivity when Muslims kidnapped at around the same time had been freed.

Many pastors are among the Christians who are often kidnapped by Islamists in northern and Middle Belt Nigeria. Islamist terrorists waging an ongoing campaign of anti-Christian violence are estimated to have killed 45,000 believers since 2009.

Joshua Project, July 1^st, 2024

The Mappila attribute their Islamic conversion to the work of an Arab missionary. These Muslim communities resulted from the unions of Arab sailors and merchants with local women. Mappila people live in both India’s southwestern Kerala state and the Laccadive Islands just to the west of that state. They speak Malayalam, the language of Kerala.

Muslim communities strongly discourage their people from following Jesus Christ unless believers reach their leaders first. There needs to be persons of peace among Mappila leaders.

Kerala is about 20 percent Christian, and they have strong mission agencies like India Gospel Outreach. Believers who already speak Malayalam could be sent to the Mappila.

May this people group praise Him and tell others of His mighty deeds.

Pray that Mappila believers would be sensitive as they share what Jesus can do for a community. Pray for networks of believing families and fellowships that will throw the doors open for others to follow Jesus. Pray for the Lord to bless families among the Mappila people with his presence and mercy. Pray for Bible-believing fellowships and churches among the Mappila people.

The Voice of the Martyrs, June 6, 2024 (excerpts)

Kaew placed her trust in Christ through the prayers of her parents, who became Christians after her marriage. Her husband and his parents, as well as their village, opposed her decision to follow Christ and tried repeatedly to make her recant. On December 30, 2023, Kaew’s husband and other villagers berated and beat her until she passed out. When she regained consciousness, she was given one more chance to recant, but she insisted on following Christ.

In anger, her husband threw her out of the house. Heartbroken, she took their 7-year-old son and returned to her parents’ home with very little besides the clothes they wore. Kaew’s husband has since divorced her. Because her parents are also suffering persecution for their faith, including destruction of crops and damage to their property, they are struggling to support Kaew and her son.

The Communist government, in conjunction with Buddhist monks, persecutes Christians, with the exception of the government-controlled Lao Evangelical Church. Poverty, lack of infrastructure and mountainous terrain make evangelistic outreach challenging. Thanks to bold evangelists, churches continue to grow even as they experience ongoing persecution.

Most believers are persecuted by family members or village authorities concerned that Christians offend the spirits, and the central government restricts Christian activity.

Morning Star News, June 7, 2024 (excerpts)

Pastor Josemon Pathrose spent nearly all of February in jail and finally got his confiscated vehicle back after four months. The harassment and criminal charges he’s endured at the hands of Hindu extremists are not uncommon in India.

Pastor Pathrose and another Christian were driving back to their base in Madhya Pradesh state from Uttar Pradesh state on Feb. 3 when they stopped in Jalaun District, to visit a family who had attended his online meeting.

As they were having tea, members of two Hindu extremist groups barged in, alleging the 55-year-old pastor was visiting to fraudulently convert people. Police soon arrived and arrested Pastor Pathrose and his companion.  They seized his vehicle, Bibles and literature and took them and three other Christians to the police station, he said.

“They slapped us as they questioned us,” Pastor Pathrose told Morning Star News. “They called me the leader of the ‘conversion racket’ and beat me more than my friend.”

Officers asked them how much money they offered for each conversion to Christianity, how many people had they converted, where they got foreign funds for conversions, how many places had they evangelized, and “Who else is in your gang,” among other questions, the pastor said.

Also arrested was the adult son of the host family and his friend, the pastor said.

Release International, June 27, 2024 (excerpts)

53 Algerian Christians, almost all pastors, have been arrested and prosecuted in the past five years simply for living out their faith. 5 have already spent months behind bars, but the majority have prison sentences hanging over them pending appeal at the Supreme Court.

A veneer of due legal process through interminable waits for Supreme Court appeal hearings thinly disguises the fact that Christians are being arrested, tried, convicted and then sentenced to imprisonment and fined in contravention of the freedom of worship and other civil liberties enshrined in their constitution.

Their places of worship are being shut down, with 43 out of the 44 member churches of the Protestant Association of Algeria (EPA) having been closed since 2018, for holding ‘unauthorised worship’ despite the EPA having registered as an official denomination in 1994.

As a result, Christians are constitutionally free to practise their faith, but outlawed from sharing it; are members of a legally registered church, whose places of worship are all closed.

This is a direct response to the phenomenal church growth seen in Algeria in one generation: Christians numbered from the tens in the mid-1980s to the tens of thousands by 2016.

Barnabas Aid, May 30, 2024

Please pray for the families of Christian missionaries Davy and Natalie Lloyd and Jude Montis, who were killed in a gang ambush in Haiti’s capital Port-au-Prince on 23 May.

Davy Lloyd, 23, and his wife Natalie, 21, a missionary couple from the US, worked for the Christian organisation Missions in Haiti, which was founded by Davy’s parents in 2000.

The couple were shot dead alongside Jude Montis, a Haitian national who had worked for the missionary organisation for 20 years.

The missionaries were attacked when they were leaving church with a group of children.

Three trucks full of gang members ambushed them and robbed them, leaving them tied up.

The missionaries escaped to a house connected to their mission to take cover, as more gang members arrived. The gang members shot at the house, killing all three Christians.

Haiti is currently in the midst of surging violence and insecurity, as rival armed gangs control more than 80% of Port-au-Prince.

Approximately 362,000 Haitians have been displaced by the violence and insecurity, and in the first three months of 2024 alone, more than 1,500 people have been killed by gang violence.

Joshua Project, June 10^th, 2024

The Kuranko are a branch of the Malinke tribe that immigrated into Sierra Leone from Guinea. They occupy a large area in both northern Sierra Leone and southern Guinea. Different groupings within the Kuranko people each have their own chiefs, traditions and heritage. Some are hunters, some are warriors, and some are traders. Some are pagan, while others follow Islamic belief. The region where they live lacks adequate road systems and is not easily accessible, leaving the Kuranko socially isolated.

Some Kuranko believe that in the forests, rivers and mountains live quasi-human beings known as Nyenne. It is believed that the Nyenne can make women barren, cause insanity, and cause farming accidents. However, Nyenne can sometimes be friendly, bringing good fortune.

The Kuranko people live in remote parts of Sierra Leone and Guinea, and access to them is somewhat difficult.

The full Bible is now available in the Kuranko language, and there are a number of good resources such as the JESUS Film. However, workers are needed to carry these to the Kuranko people, answer their questions, and assist in the planting of additional churches.

There are a number of individuals in this people group who identify themselves as Christians, but they almost certainly need mature Christians to disciple them. Pray for the Kuranko to be completely set free from belief systems that deny them new life in Christ.

The Voice of the Martyrs, May 23, 2024

Javier and Katherine lead a church in Buenaventura, considered to be the most dangerous city in Colombia. The couple ministers by caring for the needs of the community, which has drawn negative attention from the guerrillas who control the area. Through Javier and Katherine’s ministry, many have placed their faith in Christ and lives have been transformed, which has brought further opposition.

Their lives have been threatened, and they have been forced to move several times, but they remain committed to sharing the hope of Christ. Earlier this year, Katherine was held at gunpoint by her brother-in-law, a guerrilla commander, while Javier was trapped, unable to help her.

Though her brother-in-law was initially arrested, officials released him. He has threatened Katherine again, and she and her children have not been able to leave their house since his release. She and the children have also suffered significant chronic health issues.

Many Christians in Colombia are taking great risks to share the gospel in some of the most dangerous places for Christians on earth. Working in these hostile areas often results in persecution from armed guerrillas and paramilitary forces.

Guerrillas continue to oppress Christians and remain involved in the drug trade. Christians are targeted because their obedience to God’s Word prevents them from supporting or joining the violent factions funded through narcotics trafficking and other criminal activities.