Displaying items by tag: Africa

Indigenous people are being reached in northern Ghana. The Komba people have demonstrated an exceptional openness to the gospel; many villages have openly invited Christian missionaries into their communities. Seventeen 17 national and international ministries are partnering to see Christianity reach this generation of unreached people. With a focus on local leadership training and evangelism, they are seeing a movement to Christ begin: 368 Komba leaders have been trained in disciple-making and church-planting, resulting in 63+ new churches. Missionaries are working side-by-side with local leaders, equipping them to do what God has called them to do. However, nominalism and self-absorption are rampant in this area, and 18 other people groups have not yet even heard of Jesus, while Muslims are launching an aggressive outreach, making significant inroads. There is a spiritual divide.

This year’s G20 launched ‘Africa Partnership’, but charities are wary because it focuses on increasing private investment in the continent. Participating countries were invited to develop their own plans, to reduce the risk for private investors. At the summit, Britain set out proposals to build a partnership with a view to creating ‘more opportunities for London to become the finance hub for Africa’. Christian Aid described the G20 plan as badly flawed as it didn’t mention climate change. Oxfam said that it is important to recognise that growing economies will not automatically provide people with enough food to eat or life-saving medicines - especially as Africa is home to some of the most unequal countries on earth. Global Justice Now described it as ‘more like a partnership to exploit Africa - foisting the demands of international finance onto Africa in return for a bit of aid.’

Africa's Sahara desert is increasingly encroaching upon traditional farmlands. Muslim Fulani herdsmen, the largest nomadic tribe in Africa, are desperate for grazing land and water for their cattle, but farmers can't tolerate their crops being eaten, trampled, and destroyed by those cattle. This conflict for survival gives rise to violence. The mainly Christian Nigerian farmers have no defence against marauding herdsmen wielding guns and machetes. The central Christian area of Nigeria was once the main target, but with increasing desert encroachment, more areas are targeted. The Fulani are now even more of a threat than Boko Haram insurgents. Farmers are being slaughtered, and some are considering abandoning their farms. AK-47 assault rifles from the conflicts in neighbouring Libya and Mali come across porous borders. A recent anti-grazing law has failed to stop the Fulani. President Muhammadu Buhari, a Fulani, has ordered military crackdowns on them. Pray for God to destroy their sources and stockpile of weapons.

On 28 May, the day after a deadly attack on a bus of Christian pilgrims, SAT-7 Arabic radio presented a vital Christian viewpoint on the threats that believers face from extremists. The gunmen had demanded that the believers renounce their Christian faith and shot them when they refused. This was the latest in a series of attacks on Coptic Christians since December 2016, including three suicide bombings of church services that left 75 people dead. Responsibility was claimed by IS. During the funeral of the slain Christians, one believer said, ‘Why are we being killed? We don’t hate anyone. Our religion is one of love.’ Sorial Gabriel, a priest, said: ‘We will never ask for anything but peace. We have nothing but peace. The world is witnessing how the Church is glowing, and the Cross is glowing.’ The Christians remain firm in their faith; one said, ‘If we are weak then God is strong and protects us’. A professor at the Evangelical Theological Seminary in Cairo said: ‘I was on Egyptian national television and an extremist said to me, “In God’s name, I hate you.” I replied, ‘In God’s name, I love you.”’

In April a group of boys in Ghana was rescued from slavery on fishing boats run by traffickers. While this was an occasion for rejoicing, some of these boys have ongoing medical needs. One boy has a serious heart condition that requires surgery, and another has a kidney and bladder condition that requires further testing. Please pray for the physical, emotional and mental healing of all the children, and for wisdom and strength for the aftercare team which is supporting the boys and their families through to restoration.

According to Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW), 122 Eritrean Christians were detained in May 2017, in a series of roundups of members of unregistered denominations in various locations around the country. The detentions mark a new phase in a crackdown that has been ongoing since May 2002, when the Eritrean government effectively outlawed all religious practices except the Catholic, Lutheran or Orthodox Christian denominations or Sunni Islam. Forty-five Christians, including entire families, elderly men and a disabled woman, were taken in Adi Quala and transported to a detention camp, leaving 23 children without their parents. 77 others were taken from other places; 45 of them, mostly women, were at a party celebrating a wedding. Further arrests are anticipated as the local authorities and the Orthodox Church continue their enquiries. Christians have begun a period of prayer and fasting for peace and safety.

Some 126 refugees drowned in the Mediterranean after Libyan people-smugglers stole their outboard motor, leaving them at the mercy of the waves and other attackers. The dinghy, which left from a beach in Libya on 16 June, was heading toward Italy when it was attacked. The waves soon engulfed the dinghy and it sank. It is believed there were 130 on board, of whom four (two Nigerians and two Sudanese) were rescued by passing fishermen. Most of the passengers were from Sudan. A spokesman for the UN migration agency said the incident was ‘tantamount to murder’. He added, ‘We believe the motor may even have been stolen by the smugglers who launched the dinghy in the first place, or a rival group. Many motors have been stolen in recent times as they are valuable to the smugglers.’

The mayor of a town in Central African Republic (CAR) said on 21 June that over a hundred people are dead after heavy fighting broke out, despite a peace agreement signed recently in Rome. Also, several dozen wounded have been brought to the hospital run by aid group Doctors Without Borders. However, the local Catholic mission says the death toll could be higher because it has been too dangerous for Red Cross teams to recover bodies from the streets. CAR is a country teetering on the edge of becoming a failed state. Half a million of the country's people have fled to neighbouring nations; a similar number are huddled in squalid camps inside CAR, dependent on food aid and the protection of UN peacekeepers and 900 French troops. CAR has faced fighting since 2013, when predominantly Muslim Seleka rebels seized power in the capital city, Bangui. Anti-Balaka militias, mostly Christians, fought back, resulting in thousands of people being killed. The peace deal signed on 19 June between nearly all the country's armed groups had called for an immediate cease-fire.

So far, more than 60,000 people worldwide have watched a one-hour Instagram live video that begins daily at midnight for people to praise God, tagged as the #HallelujahChallenge. Nigerian gospel artist Nathaniel Bassey began hosting the session on 1 June to just over a thousand people, urging Christians to join him in worship for a month. Helped by the promotion of numerous popular Nigerian artists, Bassey (who describes himself on his Twitter page as an ‘authentic Jesus lover’) tweeted, ‘It is a revival and a revolution. JESUS is in charge!’ It is thought to be the most widely-circulated praise and worship movement on social media. Bassey said, ‘The Challenge is a mandate from God, and I am just a vessel. Beyond all the miracles and testimonies, God is doing something eternal - something that will outlive generations.’

Between 9 and 16 June, as part of a Ramadan prayer focus, approximately one million people prayed for the Domari people. There is great expectation that God will do amazing things in this season! In recent years workers have seen some breakthrough, with individuals coming to faith. But whole tribes need to be transformed to worship Jesus Christ. They are originally from Northern India, as are the Roma in Eastern Europe. Domari moved to Asia between 700 and 1000 years ago; but wherever in the world they settle, they are known for the same type of things. The enemy has corrupted all that God has created them to be, but we know that they can be so much more. Instead of sorcery, may they be called to prophecy and receiving revelation from God: instead of immorality and prostitution, may they experience deep intimacy with God. See also