Displaying items by tag: Africa

IJM wants God to bring justice and closure in the case of its staff lawyer Willie Kimani, client Josephat Mwenda, and trusted taxi driver Joseph Muiruri, who were kidnapped and murdered in 2016. Their bodies were dumped in gun bags in a river. Four police officers and one police informant were charged with their murders, and the informant confessed. 38 witnesses have testified over three years, but only eight remain. The court will sit soon, and the judge will decide whether to admit as evidence a video of a crime scene reconstruction involving the informant. This is a critical moment: the trial has been plagued by adjournments each time the confession evidence was due to be heard. Please pray against health problems, legal issues, witness challenges, or anything which could give reason to adjourn the case again.

Criminal charges against eight leaders of the Sudanese Church of Christ (SCOC) were confirmed on 7 October. They are charged with criminal trespass and illegal possession of church properties. The SCOC is a Nuban denomination experiencing religious and ethnic discrimination. However, a new minister of guidance and religious endowments could change the spiritual atmosphere. He stated recently, ‘Sudan is pluralistic in its thought, culture, ideologies, Islamic religious sects, and even religions.’ He also called for the return of Sudan’s Jewish community. He told the UN that ‘all public order laws are suspended and will be repealed’. These were used against women, especially those from marginalised communities. Sadly, reports emerged on 10 October that public-order police were patrolling Khartoum and harassing individuals. Pray for Sudan’s new multi-cultural, multi-ethnic and multi-religious nature to be welcomed by police, and for the new policy changes to be applied by all law courts.

Benin is best known for its peaceful democracy, one of the most stable in Africa. However, corruption remains a significant issue. The country, once hosting main ports crucial in the slave trade, still negotiates shady deals. Poverty increases each year. This year deadly protests broke out after opposition parties were banned from participating in elections. The nation’s annual Voodoo Day brings thousands of participants to the country’s celebration. Voodoo, a religion approved by the government, has more than 60% devotees and contributes to significant spiritual bondages over the nation, its people and the Church. The country allows freedom to practise and propagate any religion. Pray for humility and repentance to grip the government (2 Chronicles 34:27). Because Benin has such strong connections with voodoo, it is difficult for people involved to leave it and follow Jesus. It is also difficult for Christians to grow in their faith without dealing with the spiritual bondages of voodoo. Ask God to minister deliverance and freedom (2 Corinthians 2:11).

Sudan’s dominant religion is Islam, and it ranks 6th in the persecution table. Almost 50% of the population live below the poverty line. President al-Bashir was forced to step down after thirty years in power marked by oppression, genocide, and human rights abuses. The military now rule the country, and sharia law throughout the country allows stoning and amputations as punishments. Bashir’s military was responsible for bombing Christian civilians in the Nuba mountains. Christians are often subject to brutal treatment from the surrounding culture and from authorities; conversion from Islam to Christianity is punishable by death. Church buildings are regularly attacked and burned. The Christian community in Sudan is waiting and watching the uncertain future under military law. Pray for God to work in the hearts of Sudanese leaders, convicting them to seek justice and peace through the power of the Holy Spirit.

Selahattin Demirtas stood against President al-Sisi in the last election before he was arrested on terrorism charges. He is still there along with thousands of other ‘terrorists’. Businessman Mohamed Ali accuses al-Sisi of wasting public funds on vanity projects despite widespread poverty. The former military contractor, living in self-imposed exile in Spain, has called for a ‘million-man march’ to topple al-Sisi in a video that has gone viral. Demonstrators have been responding to Ali’s call that ‘all squares are Tahrir Squares’. On 25 September Egyptian authorities arrested 1,100 people, including several high-profile individuals. Two days later, they arrested a further 2,000 nationwide but acknowledged only 1,000. News and political websites are now blocked, and the internet services that protesters relied on to communicate and document government abuses are interrupted. Security forces have deployed armed masked men and riot police to prevent further challenges to the regime, at least for now. See

Boko Haram terrorists abducted three Christian women from their homes in a night-time raid on a mainly Christian town in the far north of Cameroon. They dragged their victims to the outskirts of the town, where they sliced off one ear from each victim. They then released the women, threatening that they would return in the future. The injured women were taken to a clinic about 160 miles away, where they received medical treatment. Boko Haram, operating in the region surrounding Lake Chad, has stepped up attacks on Christian villages in the north. Some villages have been repeatedly targeted, and Christians taken away into captivity. Pray that the cruel extremists will be brought to justice. May the extremism that is now rife in West Africa diminish. Pray that love will conquer hate, and that peace will reign.

According to a Human Rights Watch report, survivors of human trafficking are being locked up in shelters by the Nigerian government. 76 of them are women suffering from depression, anxiety, insomnia, flashbacks, aches and pains. Despite attempts to combat human trafficking and provide support for survivors, care for victims is still severely lacking. Nigerian authorities are illegally detaining traumatised survivors, and inhibiting their recovery from the experiences they went through. They are not allowing survivors to leave at will, in violation of the country’s international legal obligations. The detentions overwhelmingly affect women and girls between the ages of 8 and 17, putting their recovery and well-being at risk. Some were promised well-paid jobs as domestic workers, hairdressers, or hotel staff but were then tricked and trapped in exploitation, and forced to pay back huge ‘debts’ for their travel.

UPRising South Africa - ‘PRAYER By Youth For Youth’ - 4-6 Oct 2019

The young people of UPRising (United Prayer Rising) are saying that as young people in the church, we are Uniting in Prayer, Rising as a body of young people, forming a revival wave, taking a stand, marching to the gates of Hell to give the devil back his surname and take our Identity back.

And Uniting in prayer together, black or white, every tribe, putting our differences aside and praying non-stop with every young person across South Africa, Africa and around the world. Because where there is United Prayer, (Psalm133:1-3) God is present and where God is, there is hope, love, transformation and honour.

UPRising South Africa aims to mobilise young people in every street, every township, every city, every province to Pray, BELIEVING.... and to see great and wonderful things happen as a result!

We will gather. We will pray. We will see change across our country.

4th - 6th October, Orange Farm, Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa.

Bishop Peter Sekhonyane - IPC Leadership Team

More at: www.uprising-south-africa.or

ABUJA, NIGERIA –  Chuck Holton of CBN visited a refugee camp for people who have been internally displaced from their villages in the north and to the west. 'There are about 2.5 million internally displaced people within Nigeria, and that makes this one of the largest humanitarian crises in the world right now. And the thing that all of these people have in common is that they are Christians,' said Chuck.

Much of Boko Haram's terror is directed at Christians. Enoch Yeohanna was in a village invaded by them. "They started with burning churches, killing the pastors, and killing the members. Shutting them down," he said.

“On 29 September 2014 was the day that they attacked my village.  Around ten I had a call that they have killed my dad. They asked him to deny Christ and when he refused they cut off his right hand. Then he refused [again], they cut to the elbow. In which he refused, before they shot him in the forehead, the neck, and chest," Yeohanna went on.

Many of the 1,500 Christians living in this camp have similar stories.

The Nigerian military has mounted large offensives against Boko Haram in recent months, and even with heavy losses on both sides, there seems to be no end in sight. Despite the hardships, these displaced Christians are firm believers in the power of prayer.

"If there is peace, there is nothing that will stop us from going there," Enoch Yeohanna said.

"My faith has helped my prayer life and I believe the prayers of the saints around the world have helped us make it through these tough times,"

Enoch's neighbour, Aisha Walla said -"My hope is that God will bring all those displaced back to their homes so we can worship God together and live in peace."

Full story at:https://www1.cbn.com/cbnnews/world/2019/august/when-he-refused-to-deny-christ-they-cut-off-his-right-hand-nigerian-christians-describe-horrific-attacks-by-boko-haram

Pray: for the thousands of families displaced in this disaster, largely Christian – that they will find strength to endure these times of hardship and that they will soon be able to return to their homes safely.

Pray: for those living with the traumas and shocking memories, for healing of their minds and peace.

Pray: that those aligned with Boko Haram will find Jesus, repent and turn from their wicked ways.

Christians in Algeria have requested prayer as a campaign to close churches intensifies. Representatives of l’Église Protestante d’Algérie (EPA), the umbrella group of Protestant churches in Algeria, said most EPA-affiliated churches have been challenged to prove they have licences according to a 2006 ordinance regulating non-Muslim worship. However, the government, ignoring applications from churches, is not issuing licences to them under this ordinance, and several churches have received written orders to cease all activities. By the beginning of September at least seven church buildings had been sealed and services are no longer held there. Recently, after gendarmes attempted to close a church in Ighzer, the congregation occupied it, refusing to leave. However, it has now been sealed. Pray for churches and EPA leaders to know the Lord’s peace, wisdom, and guidance; and for God to turn circumstances around so that closed churches are soon allowed to re-open.