Displaying items by tag: Africa

It’s so uplifting to see more and more people engaging with the issue of children accused of witchcraft, and resolving to take action. We are not yet a ‘great multitude’. But our experience in the last few months has been that God is gathering people from all over the world, with many different backgrounds and areas of expertise; gathering them to fight for the cause of persecuted children.

It’s a glimpse of heaven and the unity and justice that awaits us there. That glimpse of heaven, illustrated by some of the stories below, inspires us to persevere in this work. We hope it inspires you too.                                                              

Joseph's story

Last year, Joseph took part in a training event in Goma, DRC, using ‘The Heart of the Matter’ to unpack how to respond to accusations of witchcraft against children. Joseph has benefited hugely from this training. For example, he has been able to help one particular family:

‘The head of the family died, and this was followed by four accidents to other members of the family. The death of the head of the family and the accidents led the family to believe that their misfortune was being caused by witchcraft.  The family looked for the source of the witchcraft, and they concluded that one of the children wanted to exterminate the whole family.

‘The whole family was ready to burn the child, because they had taken him to many prayer and deliverance rooms and he had refused to admit that he was a witch.

‘When I heard about this, I spoke to each member of the family in turn and I showed that the child was innocent. Finally, I spoke to the child, who told me after several conversations that all the adults in the family hated him and that he was whipped night and day, and that as a result, he was excluded from the family, and they began to accuse him of being a witch.

‘I involved a few others, who helped me to teach the family of this child until they were able to recognise that what they were doing was wrong.  We were able to create a new harmony with this family, and now peace reigns there. The boy is at school and the adults have changed the way they behave towards all the children in the (extended) family.'

Please pray:

Praise God for the impact ‘The Heart of the Matter’ is already having on how churches address accusations of witchcraft against children in their communities. And let’s pray for an even greater impact as more church leaders and members interact with the resource.

Welcome Ken

We are delighted that Ken Dachi of the Bible Society has joined the SCWA Steering Group. Ken has an extensive network of contacts and, among others, he has connected us with the Bible Society in Nigeria. We are hoping this may prove to be a way in to churches in that nation, which is an epicentre for accusations.

Thanks to Ken’s introduction, Carolyn Gent (of BCT) and Jean-Paul Aruna (of LVLE, BCT’s local partner) have also had a meeting with the Bishop of Goma, which looks set to lead to opportunities to train all 55 of the Anglican church leaders in the city, many of whom have not received extensive training before, in both child protection and ‘The Heart of the Matter’, with the potential for that to go on out to other dioceses.

Please pray:

Give thanks for Ken’s energy and enthusiasm for SCWA’s work, and for the fruit which is already coming from the Bible Society’s membership of the coalition. And let’s continue to pray for our network of influence to grow.

Witchcraft and Human Rights Conference

10-11 January 2019 will see a conference on Witchcraft and Human Rights at Lancaster University, focusing on how witchcraft accusations and beliefs related to them are generated, understood and addressed.

This event furthers the discussions begun at the UN workshop on the same subject, last year in Geneva. It is encouraging to see engagement with the issue progressing.

It is also encouraging that members of the SCWA Steering Group have been invited to address the conference: Carolyn Gent will outline how the Church is a vital part of the solution to accusations of witchcraft against children, illustrating that with reference to ‘The Heart of the Matter’; and Stephanie Mooney will profile the audio resources Feba is producing in Kinshasa, and how these resources will promote engagement with the issue.

Please pray:

Give thanks that child witch accusations are being taken seriously by influential organisations and that discussions are progressing. And please pray that Carolyn and Stephanie’s contributions to the conference will be received well, in an environment which can tend to be wary of faith groups.

More: https://www.stop-cwa.org/

It is the worst Ebola outbreak to have struck the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) - and the most complex one. Since August the authorities, together with a host of partners, have been trying to contain the disease in the eastern North Kivu and Ituri provinces. By 21 November, there were 373 suspected Ebola cases, 347 confirmed cases, and 217+ deaths. There is still no cure, but it is hoped that a vaccination programme will be the next step towards a more effective management of future outbreaks.Controlling Ebola is dangerous and difficult because of violent attacks in the DRC by ADF militia. On 24 November clashes broke out ‘a few metres’ from a local emergency centre and the hotels of several response teams. On the same day WHO said 16 staff members had been temporarily evacuated for psychological care, after a shell hit the building they were staying in. UN peacekeepers repelled the offensive: see

More than forty people were killed in a militia attack on a Christian mission in Alindao, around 180 miles east of CAR’s capital Bangui, on 15 November. The attackers torched a church and forced 20,000 displaced persons who were sheltering in an adjacent compound to flee. A local politician told journalists, 'We have counted 42 bodies so far, and we are still searching for others. The camp has been burned to the ground, and people fled into the bush.' Christian-majority CAR has been wracked by violence since 2012, when Seleka Islamists overthrew the government. The deployment of a UN international peace-keeping force and repeated negotiated ceasefires between the government and armed groups have had little impact on the ground.

Praise God for the rescue of an 18-year-old woman in Ghana who had been enslaved for years on Lake Volta. Forced to work in the fishing industry seven days a week, Elinam (not her real name) had endured physical abuse and was denied food if she did not work. She attempted, unsuccessfully, to escape several times, but last week police and International Justice Mission (IJM) were able to find her and bring her to a safe aftercare home where she can recover and heal from trauma. Pray for her continued healing and wellbeing.

A terrorist attack on three buses carrying Egyptian Christians left at least seven dead and 19 injured on 2 November. The buses were travelling to a well-known Christian historical site near Minya. Six of the seven who died came from the same extended family. A number of news outlets reported that ‘local IS affiliates’ have claimed responsibility for the attack. In a similar attack at the same place by IS in May 2017, 29 Christians were murdered.

Sudanese security agents raided a house in the city of Nyala, and arrested 13 people when they admitted to being Christians. Two believers were released, but ten converts from Islam and their pastor, Tajdeen Yousif, were detained. The pastor refused to deny Christ despite being beaten by the agents, and the ten were later released after reportedly being tortured into recanting their faith. Pastor Tajdeen, also a convert from Islam,was held for several more days before being released. All eleven have now gone into hiding for their safety. Under sharia law, Muslims who abandon their religion face severe punishment. Sudan’s constitution gives judicial discretion to courts in the application of sharia.

Radical Muslims left a 12-year-old Christian boy unconscious recently, after threatening to strangle him unless he converted to Islam. Emmanuel Nyaiti was walking to his grandmother’s house 200 metres from his home in Moru village when four men ambushed him and took him to a plantation less than a mile away. The boy said he was able to identify two of the attackers. ‘Ali Lukuman tried to persuade me to become a Muslim, which I refused, and he slapped me and I started screaming’, Emmanuel said from his bed at Budaka Health Centre, his speech made difficult from strangulation. He was told, ‘If you want to stay with us in our village, then you have to become a Muslim. If not, then you have to leave.’ The assault was the latest of many which have been reported in eastern Uganda in the past six years. The country’s constitution and other laws provide for religious freedom, including the right to propagate one’s faith and convert from one faith to another. Muslims make up no more than 12 percent of the population.

The UN has raised the alarm over fighting in eastern DRC, warning that the violence could hamper next month's elections. Leila Zerrougui, a UN special representative, said that three provinces were most at risk. ‘There is a potential for armed group interference in the elections’, she said at a UN security council meeting. The area has been troubled for decades by inter-ethnic bloodshed and militia violence, a crisis that has escalated this year. DRC is also battling the worst Ebola outbreak in its history. These factors cast a shadow over the country's ability to stage elections on 23 December to succeed President Joseph Kabila.

Students kidnapped from a Christian boarding school in Cameroon's restive North-West region have been reunited with their parents amid joyful scenes. The 78 boys and girls and three others were seized early on 5 November in the region's capital, Bamenda. A driver was also freed, but the principal and a teacher are still being held. After being released, the students were taken in army vehicles back to the school, where their parents were waiting. One of those kidnapped, a 15-year-old girl, said she had been treated well, and that they had all had been given fruit, food and warm water to wash with. A separatist group which is fighting for independence for the two English-speaking regions, in a country where French is the most widely-spoken official language, has denied that it was responsible for the kidnapping.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) recently published evidence suggesting that Egyptian security forces forcibly detained American taxi driver Khaled Hassan, an American-Egyptian dual citizen, and tortured him. Yet instead of supporting their call for the government to investigate, or even expressing concern, the state information service denied any wrongdoing and continues to undermine the work of HRW and similar groups. The National Security Agency seized Hassan in January and presented him to prosecutors in May. In the intervening months he was beaten, subjected to prolonged stress positions, tortured with electric shocks, and raped twice. Forensic experts reviewing photos of his wounds said they were consistent with torture. During his disappearance, Hassan’s family filed many complaints with the authorities but received no information on his whereabouts. Torture and enforced disappearance are crimes under international and Egyptian law.