While the world has been focused on the shocking terror attacks in Paris that left 17 dead, thousands of Christians have been murdered by Islamic Jihadists in Africa.

Carnage Against Christians
The same week of the Paris attacks on Charlie Hebdo (a weekly magazine known for its irreverent and mocking articles and satirical cartoons against political and religious leaders), Amnesty International reported on a massacre of over 2,000 people in Northern Nigeria. Over Saturday, 3rd and Sunday, 4th January, the town of Baga, on the border of Chad, was attacked by Boko Haram insurgents who fired Rocket Propelled Grenades (RPGs) and assault rifles on church-goers and town residents. Most of the victims were children, women and elderly people who could not run fast enough as they were mowed down by the Muslim terrorists.

A Forgotten War
While the Jihadist terror attack on journalists in France made front page news worldwide, the tens-of-thousands of Christian victims of Islamic Jihad in Africa barely get a mention, even in Christian media. In less than 5 years, over 1,000 churches have been destroyed in Northern Nigeria and over 16,000 Christians murdered by Boko Haram Islamic terrorists.

Destruction and Displacement
Between August and October 2014, 200 Christian churches were destroyed by Boko Haram in the North Eastern states of Borno and Adanawa. Maiduguri Diocese in Borno State reported 185 churches torched and over 190,000 people displaced by the Jihad against the churches in their area, just in those 3 months.

Churches Targeted in Nigeria
In 2011, 430 Christian churches were destroyed, or damaged, in Northern Nigeria by Boko Haram. In 2012, over 900 Christians were murdered and many churches destroyed. In 2013, 612 Christians were murdered and over 300 churches destroyed. Gatestone Institute calculates that at least 1,000 Christian churches have been destroyed by Boko Haram in Northern Nigeria since 2011.

Massacres in Nigeria
Human Rights Watch reports that in 2014, Boko Haram murdered 2,053 people. President Goodluck Jonathan of Nigeria reported last year that the Boko Haram terrorists had murdered over 13,000 Nigerians in the previous five years.

A Flood of Refugees
The United Nations Humanitarian Office (OCHA) reported that approximately 650,000 Nigerians had been forced from their homes and were Internally Displaced Peoples during 2014.

Persecution Worldwide
The Centre for the Studies of Global Christianity reported in October last year that every year approximately 100,000 Christians die for their religious beliefs, including in Nigeria, Cameroon, Sudan, Somalia and Egypt.

Coptic Christians Bombed
Egyptian Coptic Churches are not only being fire-bombed and attacked in Egypt, but even a Coptic Christian Church in Berlin was attacked with a fire bomb last year.

Nuba Church Bombed
In Sudan, Rev. Youhana Jaqoub, of the Episcopal Church of Sudan, reported four bombs being dropped by the Sudan Air Force on their church in the Nuba Mountains, "the bombs have completely destroyed our church compound in Tabolo."

Convert From Islam Attacked in Sudan
Also in Sudan, Ibrahim Ismaeil, a 34 year old convert to Christianity from a Muslim background, survived an attempt upon his life by Muslims who broke into his house at midnight and opened fire. Ibrahim and his family managed to escape and fled the nation. Ibrahim is a writer and Human Rights Defender for the Darfur region.

Churches Demolished in Ethiopia
In Ethiopia, which is meant to be a majority Christian country, churches have been attacked in Muslim areas. Heaven's Light Church, which served some 100 Evangelical Christians in the Muslim majority city of Harar, was demolished 28 November by Muslim municipal officials. Although the church had stood and functioned in Harar for 5 years, the local majority Muslim population determined to eliminate the public presence of churches. This has been part of a pattern of forced closure, destruction and demolition of church buildings in Muslim controlled areas of Ethiopia. Numerous Christians have found notes on their doors, warning them to convert to Islam, leave the city, or face death.

"'If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you, 'A servant is not greater than his master.' If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. If they kept My Word, they will keep yours also.'" John 15:18-20

Egyptian Coptic Woman Denied Justice
In Egypt, Lisa Nosim Basari, a 28-year old Coptic Christian woman has made a video describing the advances of a Muslim man who was intimidating her to convert to Islam and marry him. Wa-il Hassan Abdul Nu-min began stalking her whenever she left home, threatening her to convert to Islam and marry him. When she refused, he attacked and burned the grocery store in which she worked, tore her clothes and sexually assaulted her. When Lisa filed a formal report against him at the local police, the Egyptian police harassed her, imprisoned her and tortured her to force her to abandon her complaint against the Muslim man. In her video Lisa pleads for some authority in Egypt to intervene and protect her.

Abductions in Egypt
Every year hundreds of Christian women in Egypt are abducted and forcibly converted to Islam and forced to marry Muslim men. Families regularly receive phone calls from the abductors telling them that if they ever want to see their daughter alive again, they must ransom her for one quarter of a million Egyptian pounds. There are many reports of police refusing to investigate these kidnappings. As one police captain said: "So what if one Coptic girl is missing? Look at how many millions of Muslims are dying in Palestine and you bothering us about one girl?"

"Remember the prisoners as if chained with them - those who are mistreated - since you yourselves are in the Body also."Hebrews 13:3

Muslim Mayhem in C.A.R.
In the Central African Republic the Muslim Seleka Coalition have gone on a rampage of rape, pillage and mass murder, targeting Christians, attacking and plundering churches.

Bulldozed in Sudan
In Khartoum, Sudan, the Sudan Presbyterian Evangelical Church and the Nile Theological College were bulldozed down in November last year by National Intelligence and Security Services personnel and police. These demolitions were based on a court order demanding that the church leaders surrender their premises to Muslim businessman, Khalid Mustafa.

Threat to Democracy
Nigerians are less than a month away from their presidential elections. As more than 1.5 million Nigerians have been displaced by the Islamic Jihad in the three North Eastern states, it is questionable how many of them will even be able to vote in the polls under Nigeria's current election rules. Meanwhile Boko Haram is attempting to regionalise the conflict by threatening further attacks on neighbouring Cameroon.

Double Standards
It seems disproportionate that 3.7 million people can march in France in protest against the Islamic terror attacks against Charlie Hebdo journalists (who have frequently published blasphemous attacks on Jesus Christ), but most media and government leaders worldwide remain silent about the ongoing genocide being perpetrated against Christians in Muslim lands throughout Africa and Asia.

Selective Outrage
As global leaders join millions of people on the streets of France to march in a show of solidarity with the journalists murdered in Paris, Nigerians commented: "Very moving watching events in Paris - wish the world media felt equally outraged by the massacres in Nigeria." Numerous Nigerians have asked how it is that even their own President, Goodluck Jonathan, expressed his condolences for the victims of terrorism in France, but has remained silent on the Boko Haram attacks on 2,000 Christians in Baga. Others have asked why the American President, Barack Obama, seems more concerned to promote Islam than he is to counter Islamic terrorism.

"Their feet are swift to shed blood; destruction and misery are in their ways; and the way of peace they have not known. There is no fear of God before their eyes." Romans 3:15-18

A Deafening Silence
Another commented: "It is shameful how the 2,000 people killed in Boko Haram's massacre in Nigeria gets almost no media coverage."

"How is this Boko Haram attack on Christians in Nigeria not the lead story in every single news network and every news feed worldwide right now!?"

"There are massacres and there are massacres. It would seem that Christian lives in Africa are not as valuable as those of journalists in France."

Most Persecuted in the World
According to the Pew Research, Christians are the most persecuted religious group in the world. Of the 24 worst persecuting countries in the world, 20 are Islamic.

How can we help our Brethren who are suffering such intense and violent persecution?

This is first and foremost an information war, a battle for hearts and minds. We must be informed. "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge..." Hosea 4:6

Be Informed
Encourage everyone you know who is concerned for the persecuted Church to be on the emailing list of Frontline Fellowship, to regularly visit our www.frontline.org.za and www.idop-africa.org websites. You can also find Frontline Fellowship on Facebook, like, link and share it, as we seek to regularly place information from the Persecuted Church on it.

Publicity Provides Protection for the Persecuted
You will also find many articles under Country Reports on our Frontline Fellowship website, as well as links to audio lectures and sermons on our SermonAudio.com link and presentations concerning the Persecuted Church, Islam and Communism on ourSlideshare link. All of these are accessible through our www.frontline.org website.

Books on the Persecuted
Resources on the Persecuted Church include: Slavery, Terrorism and Islam - The Historical Roots and Contemporary Threat;Faith Under Fire in Sudan; In the Killing Fields of Mozambique; Holocaust in Rwanda and Going Through.

Films on Persecution
There are also some excellent films you can show to your congregation, school, or cell group, including: Islam Rising; Sudan - The Hidden Holocaust; Terrorism and Persecution - Understanding Islam Jihad. These and other resources are available fromChristian Liberty Books, PO Box 358, Howard Place 7450, Cape Town, South Africa, tel: 021-689-7478, email:This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and website: www.christianlibertybooks.co.za.

Dr. Peter Hammond
Frontline Fellowship
P.O. Box 74 Newlands 7725
Cape Town South Africa
Tel: 021-689-4480
Fax: 021-685-5884
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Website: www.frontline.org.za

Please pray for the world media to cover the atrocities being perpetrated on Christians in Africa by Muslim extremists such as Boko Haram in Nigeria. Pray that these terrorist movements will be dissolved by God's power in answer to united prayer and that governments there and around the world will unite to take action to effectively fight this menace to their people.

Please watch the attached prayer video to understand the torment that Africa's most populous nation is undergoing due to the national battles against widespread corruption and the radical Islamic group, Boko Haram, which has killed or kidnapped thousands of our brothers and sisters in Christ. Pray for the important national election on February 14 that good, strong, honest leadership will be put in place to guide the nation into a better future.

Hundreds of girls abducted. Children used as suicide bombers. Whole villages wiped off the map. Nigeria faces a burgeoning genocide by the Islamic extremist group Boko Haram. This humanitarian crisis has already taken roughly 16,000 lives and affected three million people since 2011. A recent attack may have been the deadliest yet, with some reporting as many as 2,000 casualties. As the February 14 election draws near, the violence has intensified.

Ranked number ten on the World Watch List for persecution, this devastated nation saw the largest number of Christians martyred for their faith in 2014. Though over half of Nigerians claim Christianity, Islamic sharia law has been implemented in one third of the states.

But with persecution has come an increase in unity and prayer in the very large and growing Nigerian church. We join with a Nigerian believer in praying, "May the Holy Spirit embolden us to follow Christ with renewed devotion and dedication, because no force shall destroy the church of God in northern Nigeria."

Together let's watch and pray,
The Prayercast Team
prayercast.com
a ministry of OneWay  

*If the link in the picture does not work:
CLICK HERE:  
http://www.prayercast.com/index.html

Please watch the attached prayer video to understand the torment that Africa's most populous nation is undergoing due to the national battles against widespread corruption and the radical Islamic group, Boko Haram, which has killed or kidnapped thousands of our brothers and sisters in Christ. Pray for the important national election on February 14 that good, strong, honest leadership will be put in place to guide the nation into a better future.

Hundreds of girls abducted. Children used as suicide bombers. Whole villages wiped off the map. Nigeria faces a burgeoning genocide by the Islamic extremist group Boko Haram. This humanitarian crisis has already taken roughly 16,000 lives and affected three million people since 2011. A recent attack may have been the deadliest yet, with some reporting as many as 2,000 casualties. As the February 14 election draws near, the violence has intensified.

Ranked number ten on the World Watch List for persecution, this devastated nation saw the largest number of Christians martyred for their faith in 2014. Though over half of Nigerians claim Christianity, Islamic sharia law has been implemented in one third of the states.

But with persecution has come an increase in unity and prayer in the very large and growing Nigerian church. We join with a Nigerian believer in praying, "May the Holy Spirit embolden us to follow Christ with renewed devotion and dedication, because no force shall destroy the church of God in northern Nigeria."

Together let's watch and pray,
The Prayercast Team
prayercast.com
a ministry of OneWay  

*If the link in the picture does not work:
CLICK HERE:  
http://www.prayercast.com/index.html

While the world has been focused on the shocking terror attacks in Paris that left 17 dead, thousands of Christians have been murdered by Islamic Jihadists in Africa.

Carnage Against Christians
The same week of the Paris attacks on Charlie Hebdo (a weekly magazine known for its irreverent and mocking articles and satirical cartoons against political and religious leaders), Amnesty International reported on a massacre of over 2,000 people in Northern Nigeria. Over Saturday, 3rd and Sunday, 4th January, the town of Baga, on the border of Chad, was attacked by Boko Haram insurgents who fired Rocket Propelled Grenades (RPGs) and assault rifles on church-goers and town residents. Most of the victims were children, women and elderly people who could not run fast enough as they were mowed down by the Muslim terrorists.

A Forgotten War
While the Jihadist terror attack on journalists in France made front page news worldwide, the tens-of-thousands of Christian victims of Islamic Jihad in Africa barely get a mention, even in Christian media. In less than 5 years, over 1,000 churches have been destroyed in Northern Nigeria and over 16,000 Christians murdered by Boko Haram Islamic terrorists.

Destruction and Displacement
Between August and October 2014, 200 Christian churches were destroyed by Boko Haram in the North Eastern states of Borno and Adanawa. Maiduguri Diocese in Borno State reported 185 churches torched and over 190,000 people displaced by the Jihad against the churches in their area, just in those 3 months.

Churches Targeted in Nigeria
In 2011, 430 Christian churches were destroyed, or damaged, in Northern Nigeria by Boko Haram. In 2012, over 900 Christians were murdered and many churches destroyed. In 2013, 612 Christians were murdered and over 300 churches destroyed. Gatestone Institute calculates that at least 1,000 Christian churches have been destroyed by Boko Haram in Northern Nigeria since 2011.

Massacres in Nigeria
Human Rights Watch reports that in 2014, Boko Haram murdered 2,053 people. President Goodluck Jonathan of Nigeria reported last year that the Boko Haram terrorists had murdered over 13,000 Nigerians in the previous five years.

A Flood of Refugees
The United Nations Humanitarian Office (OCHA) reported that approximately 650,000 Nigerians had been forced from their homes and were Internally Displaced Peoples during 2014.

Persecution Worldwide
The Centre for the Studies of Global Christianity reported in October last year that every year approximately 100,000 Christians die for their religious beliefs, including in Nigeria, Cameroon, Sudan, Somalia and Egypt.

Coptic Christians Bombed
Egyptian Coptic Churches are not only being fire-bombed and attacked in Egypt, but even a Coptic Christian Church in Berlin was attacked with a fire bomb last year.

Nuba Church Bombed
In Sudan, Rev. Youhana Jaqoub, of the Episcopal Church of Sudan, reported four bombs being dropped by the Sudan Air Force on their church in the Nuba Mountains, "the bombs have completely destroyed our church compound in Tabolo."

Convert From Islam Attacked in Sudan
Also in Sudan, Ibrahim Ismaeil, a 34 year old convert to Christianity from a Muslim background, survived an attempt upon his life by Muslims who broke into his house at midnight and opened fire. Ibrahim and his family managed to escape and fled the nation. Ibrahim is a writer and Human Rights Defender for the Darfur region.

Churches Demolished in Ethiopia
In Ethiopia, which is meant to be a majority Christian country, churches have been attacked in Muslim areas. Heaven's Light Church, which served some 100 Evangelical Christians in the Muslim majority city of Harar, was demolished 28 November by Muslim municipal officials. Although the church had stood and functioned in Harar for 5 years, the local majority Muslim population determined to eliminate the public presence of churches. This has been part of a pattern of forced closure, destruction and demolition of church buildings in Muslim controlled areas of Ethiopia. Numerous Christians have found notes on their doors, warning them to convert to Islam, leave the city, or face death.

"'If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you, 'A servant is not greater than his master.' If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. If they kept My Word, they will keep yours also.'" John 15:18-20

Egyptian Coptic Woman Denied Justice
In Egypt, Lisa Nosim Basari, a 28-year old Coptic Christian woman has made a video describing the advances of a Muslim man who was intimidating her to convert to Islam and marry him. Wa-il Hassan Abdul Nu-min began stalking her whenever she left home, threatening her to convert to Islam and marry him. When she refused, he attacked and burned the grocery store in which she worked, tore her clothes and sexually assaulted her. When Lisa filed a formal report against him at the local police, the Egyptian police harassed her, imprisoned her and tortured her to force her to abandon her complaint against the Muslim man. In her video Lisa pleads for some authority in Egypt to intervene and protect her.

Abductions in Egypt
Every year hundreds of Christian women in Egypt are abducted and forcibly converted to Islam and forced to marry Muslim men. Families regularly receive phone calls from the abductors telling them that if they ever want to see their daughter alive again, they must ransom her for one quarter of a million Egyptian pounds. There are many reports of police refusing to investigate these kidnappings. As one police captain said: "So what if one Coptic girl is missing? Look at how many millions of Muslims are dying in Palestine and you bothering us about one girl?"

"Remember the prisoners as if chained with them - those who are mistreated - since you yourselves are in the Body also."Hebrews 13:3

Muslim Mayhem in C.A.R.
In the Central African Republic the Muslim Seleka Coalition have gone on a rampage of rape, pillage and mass murder, targeting Christians, attacking and plundering churches.

Bulldozed in Sudan
In Khartoum, Sudan, the Sudan Presbyterian Evangelical Church and the Nile Theological College were bulldozed down in November last year by National Intelligence and Security Services personnel and police. These demolitions were based on a court order demanding that the church leaders surrender their premises to Muslim businessman, Khalid Mustafa.

Threat to Democracy
Nigerians are less than a month away from their presidential elections. As more than 1.5 million Nigerians have been displaced by the Islamic Jihad in the three North Eastern states, it is questionable how many of them will even be able to vote in the polls under Nigeria's current election rules. Meanwhile Boko Haram is attempting to regionalise the conflict by threatening further attacks on neighbouring Cameroon.

Double Standards
It seems disproportionate that 3.7 million people can march in France in protest against the Islamic terror attacks against Charlie Hebdo journalists (who have frequently published blasphemous attacks on Jesus Christ), but most media and government leaders worldwide remain silent about the ongoing genocide being perpetrated against Christians in Muslim lands throughout Africa and Asia.

Selective Outrage
As global leaders join millions of people on the streets of France to march in a show of solidarity with the journalists murdered in Paris, Nigerians commented: "Very moving watching events in Paris - wish the world media felt equally outraged by the massacres in Nigeria." Numerous Nigerians have asked how it is that even their own President, Goodluck Jonathan, expressed his condolences for the victims of terrorism in France, but has remained silent on the Boko Haram attacks on 2,000 Christians in Baga. Others have asked why the American President, Barack Obama, seems more concerned to promote Islam than he is to counter Islamic terrorism.

"Their feet are swift to shed blood; destruction and misery are in their ways; and the way of peace they have not known. There is no fear of God before their eyes." Romans 3:15-18

A Deafening Silence
Another commented: "It is shameful how the 2,000 people killed in Boko Haram's massacre in Nigeria gets almost no media coverage."

"How is this Boko Haram attack on Christians in Nigeria not the lead story in every single news network and every news feed worldwide right now!?"

"There are massacres and there are massacres. It would seem that Christian lives in Africa are not as valuable as those of journalists in France."

Most Persecuted in the World
According to the Pew Research, Christians are the most persecuted religious group in the world. Of the 24 worst persecuting countries in the world, 20 are Islamic.

How can we help our Brethren who are suffering such intense and violent persecution?

This is first and foremost an information war, a battle for hearts and minds. We must be informed. "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge..." Hosea 4:6

Be Informed
Encourage everyone you know who is concerned for the persecuted Church to be on the emailing list of Frontline Fellowship, to regularly visit our www.frontline.org.za and www.idop-africa.org websites. You can also find Frontline Fellowship on Facebook, like, link and share it, as we seek to regularly place information from the Persecuted Church on it.

Publicity Provides Protection for the Persecuted
You will also find many articles under Country Reports on our Frontline Fellowship website, as well as links to audio lectures and sermons on our SermonAudio.com link and presentations concerning the Persecuted Church, Islam and Communism on ourSlideshare link. All of these are accessible through our www.frontline.org website.

Books on the Persecuted
Resources on the Persecuted Church include: Slavery, Terrorism and Islam - The Historical Roots and Contemporary Threat;Faith Under Fire in Sudan; In the Killing Fields of Mozambique; Holocaust in Rwanda and Going Through.

Films on Persecution
There are also some excellent films you can show to your congregation, school, or cell group, including: Islam Rising; Sudan - The Hidden Holocaust; Terrorism and Persecution - Understanding Islam Jihad. These and other resources are available fromChristian Liberty Books, PO Box 358, Howard Place 7450, Cape Town, South Africa, tel: 021-689-7478, email:This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and website: www.christianlibertybooks.co.za.

Dr. Peter Hammond
Frontline Fellowship
P.O. Box 74 Newlands 7725
Cape Town South Africa
Tel: 021-689-4480
Fax: 021-685-5884
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Website: www.frontline.org.za

Please pray for the world media to cover the atrocities being perpetrated on Christians in Africa by Muslim extremists such as Boko Haram in Nigeria. Pray that these terrorist movements will be dissolved by God's power in answer to united prayer and that governments there and around the world will unite to take action to effectively fight this menace to their people.

"The establishment of the Khorasan chapter of the Islamic State in the Afghanistan-Pakistan region strengthens the Islamic State's image as a phenomenon with global reach. But the new chapter's links to the Islamic State are fragile, and it owes its existence more to the fragmentation of the cross-border Taliban movement than to anything the Islamic State has done. The Khorasan chapter, like other Islamic State affiliates beyond the Syrian-Iraqi battlespace, will be met with local resistance from jihadist forces and al Qaeda who see groups friendly toward the Islamic State as a challenge to their authority.

According to The News International, the largest English-language daily in Pakistan, the Islamic State announced the creation of a Khorasan chapter in a video released Jan. 13. (Khorasan theoretically includes Iran and Central Asia, in addition to Afghanistan and Pakistan, but so far the chapter is only functioning in the latter two countries.) In the video, former Pakistani Taliban spokesman Shahidullah Shahid announced the names of the Islamic State commanders responsible for various parts of Afghanistan and revealed the chapter's new leader, a former Pakistani Taliban figure named Saeed Khan. Lending credibility to the announcement of the group's establishment, Afghan government officials have in recent days told Afghan media of the Islamic State's growing presence in several eastern and southern provinces, saying the group is fighting both Afghan security forces and Taliban militiamen.

In response to those reports, Taliban spokesman Qari Yousef Ahmadi sent an email to the Afghan Islamic Press agency, denouncing the reports as propaganda put forth by Kabul and Western governments. He denied that the Islamic State's black flags were flying in several areas where the Taliban are usually active and said all the "mujahideen" were fighting under the white flag of the Taliban movement, insisting that there was no infighting within the movement.

Despite Ahmadi's claims to the contrary, there is growing evidence that elements from the Pakistani and, to a lesser extent, the Afghan Taliban, have defected. It is understandable that the Pakistani Taliban would fracture; the group has tended toward transnationalism since its inception, and more recently it has suffered significant losses and struggled with internal dissension. As groups aligned with the Islamic State grow in Afghanistan and Pakistan, in large part recruiting from the Taliban movement, we can expect jihadists in the region to fight back to retain their own influence. Eventually an intra-jihadist struggle could emerge far more intense than the one underway in Iraq and Syria, but the Islamic State will not dominate the area as it has dominated the Levant and Mesopotamia.

Stratfor.com
January 23, 2015

Let's pray for the continuing fracturing of the Taliban movement in Central Asia and also the cutting off of the influence of the Islamic State there

"The Christian community in Niger says it is in shock in the wake of weekend violence that has claimed the lives of ten people and led to the destruction of dozens of places of worship and Christian homes.

The protest, which started in the country's second city, Zinder, on Friday January 16, quickly spread to surrounding areas before reaching the capital Niamey on Saturday.

Ten people have died, and 45 churches burned down in the two days of violence, the police say. But information gathered by World Watch Monitor revealed that more than 70 churches have been destroyed, along with numerous Christian schools and organisations, including an orphanage "The Good Samaritan'' run by the Assembly of God Church.  The 40 children of the orphanage are currently in ''disarray'' under the care of police.

Over 30 Christian homes were believed to be looted and burnt down. Those affected say the violence has left them with "only the clothes on our backs".

Pastor Zakaria Jadi, whose church was among the destroyed buildings, told the BBC he was meeting with the elders when he heard about the attacks.

"I just rushed and told my colleagues in the church to take their families away from the place. I took my family out from the place...When I came back, I just discovered that everything has gone. There's nothing in my house and also nothing in the church."

All started on January 16 in the southeast city of Zinder, where latest figure show that eight churches and twelve Christian homes were set on fire. Two Christian schools were also attacked and ransacked.

The violence sent some 300 Christians (out of 700 in the city) out taking refuge in army barracks. Some of them have started to get back into their homes, local sources told World Watch Monitor.

"This is the greatest loss the Church in Niger has suffered in recent history. These attacks will have long-term effects on the small community of believers. A large number of local Christian families have lost everything they have laboured for their entire lives. The attacks have also caused considerable fear among the believers. Our brothers and sisters in Niger are in dire need of our prayer as they respond to this challenge," commented a worker for Open Doors International, a charity which partners with churches under pressure.

Spreading

The tension quickly spread to other towns in the Zinder region...

By Sunday the violence spread to the capital Niamey, as a large crowd of about 1,000 Muslims convened outside the main mosque, before marching across the streets of the city. The angry crowd, reported to be guided by youths in cars and motorbikes, then set several public buildings and properties on fire: among them, the headquarters of the ruling party, several bars, a brothel and a beer factory.

Security forces fired tear gas in an attempt to restore order, but the rioters were out of control. In small groups the protesters then attacked Christians across the capital.

"In two hours most of the 'work' was done," reported an Open Doors' worker. "The guides knew exactly where to find the target of the attacks, and after the attacks they checked if it was indeed destroyed.''

On Sunday, the situation had calmed somewhat in Niamey, but the bells remained silent at the Catholic Cathedral, though it had been spared in the Saturday violence as troops guarded it. Most Christians did not feel safe to return home, WWM heard, while others were trying to assess the scale of damage sustained by their communities.

On the day of attacks, there is no protection

Various sources, contacted by World Watch Monitor, have pointed out the lack of reaction from the security forces. This, they said, has turned Christians and their properties, including Niamey's biggest Protestant church, into easy targets for the protesters and looters.

In a television address, on Saturday evening, President Mahamadou Issoufou condemned the anti-Christian violence and expressed surprise at the attack. "What have the Christians of Niger done to deserve this? Where have they wronged you?"

''Those who plunder those places of worship, those who desecrate them, those who persecute and kill their Christian compatriots, or foreigners living on the soil of our country, did not understand anything about Islam''.

The week-end violence was also widely condemned by several Muslim clerics. The government has declared three days of mourning for those who died. A local church leader has called on Christians in Niger to respond with the love of Christ in an interview on the BBC Hausa Service.

"I call on every single believer in Niger to forgive and forget, to love Muslims with all their heart, to keep up the faith, to love Christ like never before, said Pastor Sani Nomao.

''Although it is painful, and what we are experiencing is really difficult, we are God's children. We must love our persecutors...Let no one seek revenge."

Associating local Christians with the Charlie Hebdo publication is incorrect, but convenient. The same way a Danish cartoonist mocking of the Prophet Mohammed created opportunity for Muslims to unleash terror on Christians in Northern Nigeria in February 2006, the Charlie Hebdo saga has become an opportunity for attacking Christians in Niger - an Islam-dominated country that has been praised for its secular government and relative tolerance towards Christians despite the fact that more than 98% of the population follow Islam. Over the past few years the country has seen growing radicalisation..."

World Watch Monitor reports the story of Christians worldwide under pressure for their faith. Articles may be reprinted, with attribution.

World Watch Monitor, P.O. Box 27001, Santa Ana, CA 92799, USA

Pray with the brothers and sisters in Christ who live in Niger that they will be able to forgive their Muslim compatriots and that through their loving response many Muslims will realize that Jesus Christ is Lord.

Thank you for visiting this page to find out more about how you can pray for our brothers and sisters who live in nations where there is persecution every day.

Click on the links below to visit the websites shown to give you more information to pray for the Persecuted Church on a regular basis.

Visit Open Doors UK website

Visit Christian Solidarity Worldwide website

Visit Release International website