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The tiny, shaken Christian community in Gedo Region reports that a Muslim family shackles their 17 year old daughter to a tree by day and puts her in a small dark room at night because she converted to Christianity. Anonymous source said, ‘When the woman’s family found out that she converted to Christianity she was beaten badly but insisted on her new-found religion.’ Her parents took her to a doctor who prescribed medication for a ‘mental illness'. Traditionally Somalis believe the Quran cures the sick especially the mentally ill so Islamic scripture is continually recited to her twice a week. ‘The girl is very sick and undergoing intense suffering. There is little the community can do about her condition but I have advised our community leader to keep monitoring her condition, but not to meddle for their own safety.’ Pray: that the faith of this young lady would continue to uphold her and that God would release her from this oppression. (Heb.13:13)
As the process for ending Somalia's political transition gathers momentum, some presidential candidates have been accused of interfering with the process of electing new parliamentarians and vote-buying ahead of the presidential election, which is due to take place on August 20. It is common to hear one of the dozens of presidential candidates say ‘I want to run for president.’ In response many Somali politicians and the public ask, ‘Does he have money to buy votes?’ Dr Abdirahman Mohamed, a presidential candidate, says questioning how deep is the pocket of a candidate is like saying only corrupt leaders who have stolen from state coffers are eligible to run. The transition process calls for clan elders to choose members of a new parliament. Those new lawmakers will then elect the new president.
Pray: that vote-buying and corruption will not influence the future for Somalia’s government. (Ps.45:3-5)
A kidnapped Christian convert from Islam was found decapitated on Sept. 2 on the outskirts of Hudur City in Bakool region, in south-western Somalia. Juma Nuradin Kamil was forced into a car by three suspected Islamic extremists from the al Shabaab terrorist group on Aug. 21, area sources said. After members of his community thoroughly combed the area looking for him, at 2 p.m. on Sept. 2 one of them found Kamil’s body dumped on a street. The kidnapping and subsequent manner of murder suggests that al Shabaab militants had been monitoring him, Christian leaders said. Muslim extremists from al Shabaab, a militant group with ties to al Qaeda, have vowed to rid Somalia of Christianity, and they control the area some 400 kilometres from Mogadishu. A Christian who saw Kamil’s body said it bore the marks of an al Shabaab killing.
Pray: for God'sprotection over all believers andt that the influence of al Shabaab will be broken. (Ps.5:11)
More: http://www.compassdirect.org/english/country/somalia/article_120184.html/
Christians in Somalia were confronted with more violence last Sunday when a suspected Islamic militant blew himself up. The African Union peace mission said the suicide bomber injured two AU peacekeepers. Peacekeepers blamed al-Shabab, a group which wants to establish an even more strict Islamic regime and targets what it considers ‘infidels’ or a ‘person without Islamic faith’ including Christians. Sunday's violence was also a reminder for Christians to be on high alert following new revelations that Al-Shabab beheaded a 17-year-old boy last month.
Pray: the Lord will protect and provide for His people wherever they are living. (Ps.20:1-2)
More: http://www.worthynews.com/11033-somalia-christians-face-more-violence-amid-suicide-attack-beheading
Dozens of Somali Christian refugees who took refuge in Kenya are now returning to their home country after a new central government in Mogadishu took over from the Transitional Federal Government in August 2012. On March 23rd Hassan Gulled (25) was taken by rebels who still control parts of central southern Somalia. He had been living in Christian-majority Kenya since 2007 and returned to Somalia in late February to visit his family. His wife is still in Kenya. Hassan became a Christian in 2010 and married in 2011. His Christian activities were noticed by al-Shabaab extremists in Kenya, who contacted their counterparts in Somalia. His movements there were monitored by the group for three weeks before he was jailed.
Pray: for the immediate release of Hassan and others jailed for their beliefs; pray also that al-Shabaab would cease imposing harsh restrictions on areas under its control. (Mt.5:43-44)
On 3rd July 2012 Somalia signed a UN-backed agreement to end recruitment and use of child soldiers. See: http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=42390#.UdP7d20ptr8 This week Win10/40 reported that in a school room in Somalia for 14 and 15 year old boys the stillness was shattered by the heavy, uneven footfall of people running. Then turbaned men wielding machine guns dragged young boys away. Instinctively others got up to run but none escaped the men who herded them into trucks - like cattle to the slaughterhouse. The boys were kidnapped, abducted, trafficked. The terrorist group Al Shabab sexually abused them, used the boys in militant battles as cannon fodder to protect the lives of adult terrorists, and stripped them of their childhood and human dignity. A 15-year-old boy who escaped Al Shabab recounted his horror to Human Rights Watch, ‘Out of all my classmates - out of 100 only two escaped, the rest were killed.’
Pray: that Somalia would honour its agreement with the UN, and for child soldiers to find healing and wholeness in the love of Jesus Christ (Mat.19:14)
More: http://win1040.com/post.php?id=1739&q=Child%20soldiers%20Somalia
The UK Department for International Development revealed on Sunday that members of the Shebab Islamist group have stolen £480,000 worth of British government-funded humanitarian materials and supplies in Somalia between November 2011 and February 2012. The theft that was revealed in the fine print of annual accounts is likely to fuel concerns about how Britain is spending its foreign aid at a time of budget cuts at home. The loss was out of more than £80 million of aid allocated for Somalia in 2012-2013. Britain’s aid budget is protected from the government’s austerity programme and has recently reached the U.N. target of 0.7% of gross national income. A spokesman for DFID said there were always risks working in unstable countries such as Somalia but it was doing everything it could to stop such thefts from occurring.
Pray: for flawless systems of aid distribution to be implemented. Pray for authorities to successfully tackle the root causes of poverty and instability in Somalia. (Ps.140:12)
Fighters of Somalia's feared Islamic militant group al-Shabab are killing Somali Christians as part of a crackdown on ‘non-Islamic culture.’ US based advocacy group International Christian Concern said three al-Shabab gunmen executed Mu’awiye Hilowle Ali at close range on Monday and he died on the spot in front of his house west of Mogadishu. See On Tuesday they killed Yusuf Ali Nur a leader of the underground church movement in Somalia who was on a list of people the Islamic extremists suspected of being Christian. Al Shabaab has links with al-Qaeda and has vowed to rid Somalia of Christianity. The latest deaths come after several executions of Somalis suspected of membership of a suppressed yet resilient underground faith movement in Somalia. A number of Christians have been beheaded by the radical Islamists out to topple the fledgling Transitional Federal Government and introduce a strict version of sharia law.
Pray: that the Christian Somali faith would be strengthened and grow, as the persecution and fear of death diminishes. (Ps.41:12)
More: http://www.compassdirect.org/english/country/somalia/18721/
Somalia's minority Christians bravely observed Pentecost amid gunfire on Sunday May 23. Witnesses reported at least 14 people died in clashes between pro-government troops and Muslim militants who have killed Christians and pledged to turn Somalia into a strict Islamic state. Residents said fighters from the insurgent group al-Shabab tried to advance on the presidential palace overnight but were stopped by government troops and African Union peace keepers.
Pray: God will strengthen and protect the body of Christ in Somalia and intervene in every national conflict for His purposes. (Ps.5:8)
More: http://www.worthynews.com/8144-news-alert-somalia-christians-observe-pentecost-amid-gunfire-14-killed
Sofia Osman converted to Christianity 4 years ago and joined Somalia’s underground church, was jailed. She was paraded in front of a crowd of hundreds of onlooker and whipped 40 lashes in public for her faith. The Al Shabaab militia arrested Osman in November and released her on December 22nd for her public whipping. ‘Osman didn’t tell what other humiliations she had suffered while in the hands of the militants,’ an eyewitness said, adding that whipping left her bleeding. ‘I saw her faint. I thought she had died, but soon she regained consciousness and her family took her away.’ Nursing her injuries at her family’s home, in the days after the punishment she would not talk to anyone and looked dazed. This is the latest in brutal attacks by Al Shabaab which by their own statements want to eradicate Christianity from the nation.
Pray: for those persecuted and suffering all manner of injustice, torture and death for their belief in Jesus Christ. (Mt.5:10 & Ps.119:161)
More: http://www.compassdirect.org/english/country/somalia/article_1342445.html