Displaying items by tag: Africa

South Africa needs change, and churches there have just completed fifty days of blessing the nation through prayer (16 April to 4 June). Human Rights Watch reports that ‘public confidence in the government’s willingness to tackle human rights violations, corruption, and respect for the rule of law has eroded’, and ‘an estimated half-million children with disabilities have no access to basic education’. The government continues to fail to combat the high rate of violence against women and the continued under-reporting of rape. The national police commissioner is deemed unfit to hold office, and xenophobic attacks on businesses and homes of refugees, asylum-seekers, and migrants increase. We can stand with the South African Church and declare, ‘IT IS TIME FOR CHANGE’. Pray for an end to the spiritual drought over South Africa. Pray for God to rain down His righteousness on His Church and drench His people with power. Pray for the Holy Spirit’s power to flow like a river through the streets, families, police, commerce, industry and government. See also

Just hours before the beginning of Ramadan, masked gunmen riding three SUVs killed 29 and wounded 22 Coptic Christians on pilgrimage to a monastery in Upper Egypt. Most were children. This was the fourth attack on Christians since December. The bus was travelling in the desert towards a remote monastery 140 miles south of Cairo, where Christians account for more than 35% of the population, the highest ratio in any province. Security and medical officials fear the death toll could rise. Following the attack, acknowledging the lapses of security, Major-General Faisal Dewidar was transferred from his post in charge of security, as part of a wider reshuffle that included thirteen other Interior Ministry officials being removed from their posts and appointed elsewhere. Egypt then launched a series of airstrikes that targeted what it said were militant bases in eastern Libya in which the assailants were trained (see the next article).

Egypt’s tourism minister recently met Vatican tourism officials in Rome, to discuss the idea of expanding the country’s religious tourism map by adding the route that Jesus, Mary and Joseph are believed to have used when fleeing Palestine. Egypt aims to boost an industry that has been hit hard since the 2011 revolution, and hopes that highlighting its religious heritage will attract many visitors. In 2005, there was a plan to feature the holy family's connection and journey, but it never got off the ground. A committee was established last year to revive it, but little has been accomplished so far. Tourism has long been a major source of income for the country. Historically Egypt was a sign of hope, refuge and help. When the region suffered famine, Jacob and his sons went to Egypt. When Jesus was persecuted, he was taken there. Pray for Jesus, not tourism, to bring hope to Egypt today.

Praise God for the release of a new advocacy song by a Kenyan artist calling for an end to police abuse of power. The International Justice Mission (IJM) has been working with partners in the human rights community in Kenya to raise awareness of police abuse and create public demand for change. IJM hosted an event for the launch of the song, which was covered widely by local media and highlighted the need for radical transformation in the police service. Please pray that this support will continue to grow, and that we will see a response from Kenya’s leaders to bring this abuse to an end. Last year a television channel broadcast shocking images of police descending on protesters with water cannons, batons and tear gas, beating and bloodying people. Kenya's police chief called for internal investigations, but not much has changed. See

Recently, members of the Sudan Church of Christ gathered for worship in the Khartoum suburb of Soba al Aradi. Before the service began, a bulldozer rumbled toward the church and demolished it, the last church still standing in the area. In 2011, the Sudanese government demolished twelve churches in the same suburb, as part of its announced plan to destroy 27 churches. Sudan’s president, Umar al-Bashir, has been indicted by the International Criminal Court on charges of war crimes. Nevertheless, he continues his campaign to rid Sudan of Christians, demolishing church buildings around Khartoum and routinely bombing Christian villages in the Nuba Mountains to the south. Pray for pastors who are experiencing persecution and have had property confiscated, for Christians in various prisons throughout Sudan, and for Christian communities experiencing bombing campaigns in their schools and hospitals.

Desperate West African migrants, fleeing joblessness and violence and hoping for a better life in Europe, sometimes pay exorbitant fees to smugglers to get to Libya (a launchpad for Italy). Few are aware of Libya’s current lawless condition. Libya could be the end of their journey and their lives. Slavery is openly practised. The UN International Organisation for Migration reported the situation being dire. ‘Betrayed by ruthless smugglers, kidnapped off of the streets, sub-Saharan migrants are ruthlessly exploited by money-hungry Arabs. Some are sold; others are imprisoned. Escapees describe squalid conditions in prison, little food, and always forced labour. Captors regularly call home demanding a ransom. Men whose ransoms are not quickly paid are executed. With meagre food and unsanitary conditions, the death rate is rampant.’ Aid agencies have repatriated 1,500 people so far this year. Aware of this, criminals now pose as fraudulent aid groups.

On Sunday the Bring Back Our Girls Group (BBOG) applauded the federal government and security agencies on the release of 82 more Chibok girls. Their release was negotiated through the combined efforts of security agencies, the military, the Swiss government, the Red Cross, and local and international NGOs. 21 girls had been set free last October, and the government committed to rescuing the 113 girls who are still captive. A spokesperson for the Young Women Political Forum urged the ministry of women’s affairs and the ministry of health to work together to provide the girls and their parents with adequate psychological counselling. Pray that communities will accept these victims of rape, who are now mothers with babies and no husbands. See also the Prayer Alert world article 3.

Yesterday Hassan Abduraheem and Abdulmonem Abdumawla received a presidential pardon and were set free! Along with Kuwa Shamal and Petr Jasek, they were arrested in December 2015 and charged with espionage, inciting strife between communities, and other offences. In January they were each sentenced to ten years' imprisonment for espionage, and one year's imprisonment for inciting strife between communities and spreading rumours undermining the authority of the state. Since then they have been serving their sentences in prison while their lawyers appealed against the verdict. Kuwa was acquitted on 2 January, and Petr was pardoned on 26 February. While rejoicing at their release, pray also that it will signal a change of heart in the government’s attitude towards Christians generally.

The ordeal of being kidnapped by Boko Haram does not end with their release. It is the start of a long struggle back into family and community life. The Chibok ‘children’ who have been freed are now young women. An already fraught transition from adolescence to womanhood has been complicated by their captivity. They will be reunited briefly with families over the coming days. There will be tearful reunions and a mixture of emotions, as both parents and daughters will have changed a great deal over the past three years. Then the young women will go through a process of reintegration or rehabilitation. This is either government care or government custody, depending on the need. Some families support the process;, others are angry that they will not have their daughters back even after they have been released from Boko Haram.

Pastor Paul, director of Bibles for Mideast, writes: ‘My risen Lord Jesus Christ has saved my life once again, and I praise and thank God for His unspeakable grace! Certainly, I am not worthy of it. The Assembly of Loving God Church of Bibles for Mideast started praying and fasting from 13 March to 2 April. As that period ended, over three thousand former Muslims were baptised in our churches in Asia, Africa and the Middle East. The Lord enabled me to baptise many people during this time. Then three weeks later, when I was changing after an early-morning baptism, militants began stoning our group. Although we were injured, God protected us from much worse.’