Christians in Somalia were confronted with more violence last Sunday when a suspected Islamic militant blew himself up. The African Union peace mission said the suicide bomber injured two AU peacekeepers. Peacekeepers blamed al-Shabab, a group which wants to establish an even more strict Islamic regime and targets what it considers ‘infidels’ or a ‘person without Islamic faith’ including Christians. Sunday's violence was also a reminder for Christians to be on high alert following new revelations that Al-Shabab beheaded a 17-year-old boy last month.

Pray: the Lord will protect and provide for His people wherever they are living. (Ps.20:1-2)

More: http://www.worthynews.com/11033-somalia-christians-face-more-violence-amid-suicide-attack-beheading

Dozens of Somali Christian refugees who took refuge in Kenya are now returning to their home country after a new central government in Mogadishu took over from the Transitional Federal Government in August 2012. On March 23rd Hassan Gulled (25) was taken by rebels who still control parts of central southern Somalia. He had been living in Christian-majority Kenya since 2007 and returned to Somalia in late February to visit his family. His wife is still in Kenya. Hassan became a Christian in 2010 and married in 2011. His Christian activities were noticed by al-Shabaab extremists in Kenya, who contacted their counterparts in Somalia. His movements there were monitored by the group for three weeks before he was jailed.

Pray: for the immediate release of Hassan and others jailed for their beliefs; pray also that al-Shabaab would cease imposing harsh restrictions on areas under its control. (Mt.5:43-44)

More: http://barnabasfund.org/UK/News/News-analysis/Somali-Christian-convert-jailed-and-tortured-by-al-Shabaab-militants.html

On 3rd July 2012 Somalia signed a UN-backed agreement to end recruitment and use of child soldiers. See: http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=42390#.UdP7d20ptr8 This week Win10/40 reported that in a school room in Somalia for 14 and 15 year old boys the stillness was shattered by the heavy, uneven footfall of people running. Then turbaned men wielding machine guns dragged young boys away. Instinctively others got up to run but none escaped the men who herded them into trucks - like cattle to the slaughterhouse. The boys were kidnapped, abducted, trafficked. The terrorist group Al Shabab sexually abused them, used the boys in militant battles as cannon fodder to protect the lives of adult terrorists, and stripped them of their childhood and human dignity. A 15-year-old boy who escaped Al Shabab recounted his horror to Human Rights Watch, ‘Out of all my classmates - out of 100 only two escaped, the rest were killed.’

Pray: that Somalia would honour its agreement with the UN, and for child soldiers to find healing and wholeness in the love of Jesus Christ (Mat.19:14)

More: http://win1040.com/post.php?id=1739&q=Child%20soldiers%20Somalia

The UK Department for International Development revealed on Sunday that members of the Shebab Islamist group have stolen £480,000 worth of British government-funded humanitarian materials and supplies in Somalia between November 2011 and February 2012. The theft that was revealed in the fine print of annual accounts is likely to fuel concerns about how Britain is spending its foreign aid at a time of budget cuts at home. The loss was out of more than £80 million of aid allocated for Somalia in 2012-2013. Britain’s aid budget is protected from the government’s austerity programme and has recently reached the U.N. target of 0.7% of gross national income. A spokesman for DFID said there were always risks working in unstable countries such as Somalia but it was doing everything it could to stop such thefts from occurring.

Pray: for flawless systems of aid distribution to be implemented. Pray for authorities to successfully tackle the root causes of poverty and instability in Somalia. (Ps.140:12)

More: http://www.france24.com/en/20130812-somalia-al-shabaab-islamists-stole-thousands-worth-uk-aid-supplies

Sofia Osman converted to Christianity 4 years ago and joined Somalia’s underground church, was jailed. She was paraded in front of a crowd of hundreds of onlooker and whipped 40 lashes in public for her faith. The Al Shabaab militia arrested Osman in November and released her on December 22nd for her public whipping. ‘Osman didn’t tell what other humiliations she had suffered while in the hands of the militants,’ an eyewitness said, adding that whipping left her bleeding. ‘I saw her faint. I thought she had died, but soon she regained consciousness and her family took her away.’ Nursing her injuries at her family’s home, in the days after the punishment she would not talk to anyone and looked dazed. This is the latest in brutal attacks by Al Shabaab which by their own statements want to eradicate Christianity from the nation.

Pray: for those persecuted and suffering all manner of injustice, torture and death for their belief in Jesus Christ. (Mt.5:10 & Ps.119:161)

More: http://www.compassdirect.org/english/country/somalia/article_1342445.html

The Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia, the highest official of religious law in the Sunni country declared that it is ‘necessary to destroy all the churches’ in the region, implying that no other religion besides Islam will be tolerated on the Arabian Peninsula. He made the statement during a meeting with a delegation from Kuwait-based NGO, ‘Society of the Revival of Islamic Heritage’, in response to a question on what Shariah law says about building churches. The question referred to recent controversial statements by a Kuwaiti Member of Parliament calling for the ‘removal’ of churches, and that no churches should be built in Kuwait. In February, legislation was introduced in the parliament to remove Christian churches from Kuwait and impose Islamic law.Party officials said later the legislation would not remove the churches but prohibit the further construction of Christian churches and non-Muslim places of worship in the country.

Pray: for Saudi Christians and foreign Christian immigrants and workers to know Gods provision to worship and discretely witness to where God has placed them. (Ps.32:7)

 More: http://www.christiantoday.com/article/destroy.all.churches.says.saudi.arabian.islamic.leader/29484.htm

Friends and family of Indian Christians Yohan Nese, 31 and Vasantha Sekhar Vara, have tried in vain to secure their release from prison. They are accused of converting Muslims to Christianity, though the government has not produced formal charges. Sources report, ‘Religious police interrogated, cursed and beat them, tore up and trampled on Bibles and Christian material they had confiscated, asking them how many Christian groups and pastors there are in Saudi Arabia and Riyadh. The religious police also put pressure on the two to convert to Islam. They have been in prison since 21st January with no official charges but know that the charges are religious in nature. Vara’s pastor said that in his sole conversation with him a week after his detention, Vara requested prayers for his release.

Pray: for their immediate release and for Christians to be honourably treated in Muslim countries. (Ps.7:6)

More: http://www.christianpost.com/news/two-indian-christians-languish-in-saudi-prison-49623/