February 2016
Please pray for our brothers and sisters in a coastal area of Kenya where
extremists killed at least four Christians on Sunday.
For four hours before dawn, gunmen assaulted Christian areas of
Maporomoko village in Lamu County, killing at least one Christian with knives,
shooting others and setting homes alight. Several people were wounded; according
to some reports, others were kidnapped.
Al-Shabaab, an Islamist militant group from
neighbouring Somalia, said it carried out the attack. It regards the northern
coastal area of Kenya as Islamic territory; Maporomoko is in a predominantly
Muslim area. Eyewitnesses said it was clear the attackers on Sunday were hunting
down Christians.
The area is no stranger to violence: in June 2014,al-Shabaab killed more than 57 people in Mpeketoni in
Lamu County (Prayer Alert, June 19 2014).
Local Christians are fearful and hundreds are reported to be fleeing their
homes. Yet, one area church leader said Christians should not be cowed: ‘God has
called us to be the salt and the light and to lead many to the marvellous light
of Christ,’ he said.
- Please pray that God will comfort the families of those killed in Maporomoko and heal the wounded.
- Pray that Christians in Lamu County will stand firm in their faith in the face of persecution (Matthew 24:12).
- Pray that the Kenyan Government and security forces will take firm action now to tackle extremist groups.
(Source: Morning Star News)
UPDATE
Thank God that a court in Turkey has awarded substantial damages to the
families of three Christians murdered in Malatya in 2007 – ruling that the
Government was negligent in its duty to protect the men. Ugur Yüksel, Necati
Aydin and Tilmann Geske were brutally killed at the publishing business where
they worked. A court in Malatya ruled last week that officials ignored
intelligence that Turkish nationalists were targeting the three Christians
before they were killed. The trial of the five suspects continues, with the next
hearing scheduled for March 1 (Prayer Alert, January 12). Pray
for justice for the victims’ families. (Source: Morning Star News) Release Int.
