Please pray as a matter of urgency for our brothers and sisters in Nigeria where the killing of Christians shows no sign of abating.
Ten believers lost their lives on Sunday, September 10, when militant Fulani herdsmen and other terrorists carried out a raid on a village in Mangu County in Plateau state.
Last Friday Fulani herdsmen were reported to have killed 15 Christians in Kaduna state. The attack on Dogon Noma village, Kajuru County, came amid disclosure that such attacks have led to the death of 23 pastors and the closure of 200 worship buildings in Kaduna in the past four years, Morning Star News (MSN) reported. Besides killing 15, the attackers kidnapped 32 Christians from Dogon Noma village, local residents said.
The attack in Plateau, on Kulben village, came just weeks after a total of 27 believers were killed in the state. On August 14 in Riyom County, herdsmen and others attacked a community high school in Kwi village, killing two Christian teachers, Rwang Danladi and his wife, Sandra Danladi, of BECO Comprehensive School, and injuring two other Christian staff members, said Jeremiah Nyam, a local resident.
‘They were in the school teaching their students when armed Fulani herdsmen shot and killed them,’ Nyam said in a text message to MSN. ‘The vice-principal of the school was also shot at and injured by the herdsmen.’
In Barkin Ladi County, armed herdsmen and terrorists on August 10 invaded two predominantly Christian communities, Banyit and Rahogot, suburbs of Heipang near Jos airport, on August 10, killing 21 Christians and wounding seven others, local residents said.
In Mangu County’s Nchiya village, another predominantly Christian community, herdsmen and other terrorists reportedly killed four believers as they slept on August 7.
The Mwaghavul Development Association (MDA) confirmed the killing of the four villagers ‘by suspected Fulani invaders’.
Residents made distress calls to the security agencies, but they arrived after the attackers had left, the MDA said in a press statement.
‘The military failed to take urgent steps to repel the killer herdsmen until they succeeded in their dastardly act, which has left us to believe that they are not there to protect our unarmed people,’ the officials stated.
UPDATE Local officials in China’s Guangdong province have officially banned Guangzhou Bible Reformed Church, which has been harshly persecuted for years because of its refusal to join the state-sanctioned church movement.
Numerous recent cases indicate that the Chinese Government is implementing a unified approach to suppressing house churches across different regions. Local civil affairs bureaux in several provinces have issued announcements to ban congregations.
PRAISE AND PRAYER - Pray for all those affected by the recent killings and kidnappings in Plateau and Kaduna
- Pray for an end to the violence that has been perpetrated against Christian communities in northern and central Nigeria for many years
- Thank God for the witness of Guangzhou Bible Reformed Church, which has been under intense pressure from the authorities. Pray for its protection as well as wisdom for the church’s leaders
(Sources: ChinaAid; Morning Star News) |