Displaying items by tag: Africa

Tanzania has seen an increase in ‘prosperity gospel’ pastors promising to lift people out of poverty and perform what they call miracle cures. A stampede occurred when Boniface Mwamposa, calling himself ‘the Apostle’, poured what he said was holy oil on the ground and the crowd surged forward to touch it, hoping to be cured of sickness. Twenty people died and sixteen were injured. Five of those killed were children. Authorities are assessing the situation, amid fears that the death toll could rise. Peter Kilewo, a witness, described the scene as ‘horrible’. ‘People trampled on mercilessly, jostling each other with elbows. It was as if the preacher had thrown bundles of dollars about, and there were all these deaths!’ Thousands flock to Pentecostal churches, whose main source of income is the tithe that worshippers are asked to give.

On 2 January, Rev Lawan Andimi was abducted by Boko Haram. He pleaded with the government and the leadership of CAN (Christian Association of Nigeria) to come to his rescue, adding that his captors were taking good care of him and ‘hoped he would return home safely if it was the will of God’. The insurgents demanded two million euros for his release, but then went ahead and beheaded him. Bishop Mamza, of CAN, said that another pastor had been abducted and killed almost at the same time. Stating that Boko Haram had not been defeated or suppressed, he urged the government to tell Nigerians the truth. President Buhari expressed sadness and sympathy, but another CAN spokesman described the unabated kidnappings and killings as ‘shameful’ to the government. Pray for God’s comfort to embrace those living in sorrow and fear.

A Muslim-majority country of 41 million, Algeria depends on fossil fuels for its export income. It struggles to provide jobs and homes for its people. Democracy and human rights exist on paper, less so in reality. A movement to Christ is happening in Algeria. Most new believers come from a Kabyle Berber (non-Arab) background, but faith is growing among Arabs and most other people groups as well. New fellowships have begun throughout Algeria, partly because Berbers have moved into Arab areas to share the good news. Persecution is a fact of life. One Christian woman wrote: ‘Women who convert to Jesus Christ face new challenges, which sometimes cost them dearly. They face rejection by their families. Others are repudiated by their husbands because of their faith. They can even be deprived of their children.’ Pray for new hope for Algeria’s youthful urban population and its rural poor.

Outrage trailed the murder of the Chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) in Michika Local Government Area of Adamawa State, Rev. Lawan Andimi after Boko Haram insurgents who kidnapped him rejected a N50 million ransom.

The state CAN chairman, Bishop Dami Mamza, who broke the sad news to some journalists in Yola, said that the insurgents had demanded two million euros (about N50 million) and still went ahead to kill the innocent cleric.

Bishop Mamza, who said that the killing was communicated to them through their contact, added that another pastor was abducted and killed almost at the same time with the kidnapped and murdered cleric from Michika.

Mamza said that Boko Haram had not been defeated or suppressed, asking the government to tell Nigerians the truth.

“Negotiations were still ongoing when they stopped calling. They were offered N50 million but they rejected it. They called his wife last week, informing her that they would be beheading him (Andimi) on Saturday, but somehow, they waited till Monday.”

The state CAN chairman lamented the constant attacks on Christians in the country, citing the killing of Pastor Dennis Bagauri of the Lutheran Church in Mayo-Belwa area by suspected kidnappers on Sunday.

President Muhammadu Buhari condemned the killing of Andimi, describing it as cruel, inhuman and deliberately provocative.  In his reaction to the incident, President Buhari expressed sorrow that the terrorists went on to kill the religious leader while giving signals at the same time of a willingness to set him free by releasing him to third parties.

Buhari consoled with the Christian community all over Nigeria, the government and people of Adamawa State and the bishop’s family over the sad loss of the cleric. He promised that terrorists would continue to pay a heavy price for their actions and would comprehensively be defeated by the armed forces.

The president urged nations of the world to end all support provided to Boko Haram and Islam in West Africa (ISWA) terrorist groups whose only goal is to sow death, violence, and destruction in the sub-region.

Andimi, who was declared missing on January 2, 2020, had in a video published on January 5, confirmed that he was in the custody of Boko Haram. He had pleaded with the Adamawa State Government and the CAN leadership to come to his rescue, adding that his captors did not maltreat him, as they were taking good care of him. The cleric, who spoke in Hausa and English intermittently, urged his family not to be afraid, adding that he would return home safely if it was the will of God.

He said: “I have never been discouraged because everything is in the hands of God. God who made them to take care of me and leave me alive will touch them. So, I am appealing to fellow reverends particularly my President, Rev. Joel Billy, who is a strong man of love that he will do his best to speak with our governor and other necessary agents for my release.

The national CAN expressed sadness over the murder of Andimi.

In a statement, yesterday in Abuja, the Director, Legal and Public Affairs of CAN, Evangelist Kwamkur Samuel Vondip, said the church viewed the unabated kidnappings, extortions and killings of Christians and other innocent Nigerians as shameful to the government that each time boasts that it has conquered insurgency.

He questioned why the Buhari-led government has not overhauled the security architecture with a view to injecting new ideas into the security system since the agencies are not living up to the expectations of the government.

Vondip observed that the church is almost losing hope in the government’s ability to protect Nigerians, especially Christians who have become endangered species on its watch. He called on the international community, particularly the United States, U.K., Germany, and Israel, to come to the aid of Nigeria, especially, the church so that they might not be eliminated one by one.

More at: https://guardian.ng/news/boko-haram-rejects-n50m-ransom-kills-can-chairman/

Pray for the family of Rev. Lawan Andimi and all those who are sensing the loss of this man of God.

Pray that his martyrdom will not be in vain.

Pray that the perpetrators will be brought to justice.
Pray that the Nigerian Government will redouble its efforts to improve security for the Christian church and to rid the affected Northern regions of the terrorist threat.

With rich countries like the US evacuating their students, Doctor Bakari, a Tanzanian PhD student, has become a leader for hundreds of students from poorer African countries stranded in Wuhan with little chance of escape. Beijing’s expanding influence on the youthful African continent means Africans are the second-largest population of foreign students. Over 4,000 are estimated to be in Wuhan alone. No one knows how long the lockdown will last, or all the ways the virus can spread. Students fear that angering Chinese or their country’s authorities could lead to retribution such as withdrawing scholarships. Kenya’s government had to defend itself against accusations that it was not helping its students. ‘Students don’t have a clue what’s going on’, says Bakari, who is sending updates on social media to 400+ Tanzanian students in Wuhan and hundreds more across China. ‘Together we are one family,’ his association tweeted, encouraging fellow Africans to take precautionary measures.

Insecurity in some parts of the country has led people to form their own vigilante units. A reporter writes, ‘Last week, I helped pay a ransom to free the kidnapped wife and two daughters of a friend; they had been held for eight days after being snatched from their home in the northern city of Kaduna. What I did is no longer unusual, and is one of the many stories resulting from insecurity in this vast country. The government is accused of ineffectiveness, and the governors of six states in the south-west of the country have come up with their own plan to set up a security outfit called amotekun (leopard). It will involve employing new security personnel, with the power to arrest and share intelligence and security infrastructure across the states. The plan has riled the national authorities, and led some to accuse the six states of plotting to secede from Nigeria.

Hanover Park is a violent gangland neighbourhood of unemployed young men where even army deployment failed to stop shootings. Gangsters as young as 12 operate within a contested jigsaw of fiefdoms in the historically ‘coloured’ township - 15-minutes from well-heeled central Cape Town. Mary Bruce points to identical three-storey flats ‘That’s the Ghetto Kids. Over there are the Dollars, and this side are the Americans. They fight everyone.’ A couple of hundred metres towards the taxi rank the ‘turf’ yields the Mongrels and Laughing Boys gangs. Up to 500 youths in Hanover Park could be classed as ‘child soldiers’. Nearly 7,000 people in Hanover Park are active within the myriad street gangs that have their roots in a prison gang culture on the Western Cape that stretches back over 100 years. Pray for ‘Ceasefire’, NGO violence interrupters working to nip trouble in the bud and help gangsters to quit.

Thirteen churches in Algeria have been closed since 2018. Hope Evangelical Church is the latest to be ordered to shut down as the government’s crackdown on houses of worship continues. A 2006 law is being used as a pretext to clamp down on churches, even though the commission it created is yet to meet to consider the requests it has already received. The law requires non-Muslim places of worship be authorised by the National Commission for Non-Muslim Worship. Concern is growing for Algerian Christians, as it is unable or unwilling to fulfil this essential part of its mandate. The government should either reconstitute it entirely, or the law itself should be repealed in order to ensure the right to freedom of religion or belief for religious minorities in the country. Pray for churches to know the Lord's peace, wisdom and guidance in the face of the growing pressure. Pray also that Christians are not discouraged by this fierce campaign against them.

In Sahel and sub-Saharan Africa, the rise of Islamist militancy is a challenge to Christians and also to the existence of states and governments in the region, and thus to the rest of the world. The overthrow of Libya’s President Gaddafi and the power vacuum in Libya brought a wave of Islamist influence backed by money, weapons, drugs and organised crime that is spreading across Sub-Saharan Africa. In weak or ‘fragile’ states, where rule of law and governance are ineffective, Christian populations are left unprotected. The president of Mali said the very existence of Mali is at risk from jihadists. They exploit ethnic, tribal and socio-economic groups, creating conditions that draw recruits and increase their influence, thus widening the risk to global security. Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Chad and Mauritania, backed by France, have a task-force to combat jihadist insurgents. Pray for God to increase their intelligence sources so that they prevent attacks and catch militants. See also Europe article 1.

Could the faith statement of an executed Christian leader encourage Christians facing persecution in Nigeria? Boko Haram beheaded Rev Lawan Andimi, chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN). But could a faith message that militants recorded with him be an own goal for terrorists? CAN has urged Nigeria’s government and the international community to act decisively to help Christians under attack in Nigeria, calling for three days of prayer and fasting for effective action. The Church views the unabated kidnappings and killings as shameful for a government boasting that it has conquered insurgency. ‘Each time the government claims the defeat of the insurgency, more killings of our people are committed. We are almost losing hope in our government’s ability to protect Nigerians – especially Christians, who have become an endangered species under its watch.’