Elizabeth Kendal of the Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin reports: [my bolding]
NIGERIA: BOKO HARAM'S JIHAD
At least 15 people were killed and more than 40 seriously wounded on Sunday 3 June when a Boko Haram suicide bomber rammed his car into the checkpoint outside the Living Faith Church in the Yelwa Tudu area of Bauchi metropolis. The blast, that occurred around 9:20am, sent fire and shrapnel burning and slicing through believers who were chatting outside after the church's first worship service. The explosion also rocked Harvest Field Church 25m away across the road, causing part of the building to collapse on worshippers. The death toll is likely to rise, as some believers are still unaccounted for and many of the wounded are severely burned. The Islamic jihadist sect, Boko Haram, has claimed responsibility. The Pastor of Harvest Church, Mbamingo Godia, has asked Christians not to retaliate in any way but pray to God for peace.
Increasingly Christians in Northern Nigeria are attending worship behind barricades and checkpoints constantly reminding them that jihadists are plotting to eliminate them. Attending worship is done at great risk. A photo obtained by Compass Direct News shows a little girl lying on the ground, covered in blood. Furthermore Muslim mobs are persisting with organised night raids against Christian communities. By murdering Christians in their beds the Muslims aim to instil terror and trigger an exodus that will have the effect of ethnic-religious cleansing. Their primary aim, however, is to pressure the government into acquiescing to their demand for Sharia (Islamic) Law. The murderous night raids have Qur'anic precedent: '. . . Our punishment came to them at night or while they were sleeping at noon.' (Sura 7:4) The National President of the Christian Association of Nigeria, Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, has declared Saturday 16 June a day of national prayer and fasting for the country. (Add this date to your diary so we might all pray in solidarity.)
While we're looking at persecution of Christians in Nigeria, what's the current situation in Sudan? Kendal reports:
SUDAN: KHARTOUM'S NUBA GENOCIDE
Khartoum's genocide against the non-Arab, non-Muslims of the 'New South' (Abyei, South Kordofan and Blue Nile) has been raging for over a year now and shows no sign of abating. Film footage obtained by Al-Jazeera in late March shows the governor of South Kordofan, the indicted war criminal Ahmed Harun, addressing his soldiers before deployment to Nuba territory. 'You must hand over the place clean,' he says. 'Swept, rubbed, crushed. Don't bring them back alive. We have no space for them.' An army commander standing near Harun then adds, 'Don't bring them back, eat them alive.' (Al-Jazeera, 1 April) This is clearly a call to genocide.
According to the medical charity Medecins sans Frontieres, up to 4,000 people are fleeing into South Sudan every day to escape fighting in Sudan's Blue Nile province, with around 100,000 refugees already in camps across the border in South Sudan's Upper Nile State.
Further to this, famine is starting to set in for the displaced Nuba of South Kordofan. Some 38,000 Nuba refugees have fled over the border into South Sudan's Unity State. Yida refugee camp, which already holds 35,000 refugees, is bracing for an influx as refugees desperately trying to cross the border before the rains make travel impossible. Meanwhile, Khartoum continues its aerial bombardment of refugees and its blockade of humanitarian aid. Reporting from the Nuba Mountains, Nicholas Kristoff says (2 June) that around 800,000 Nuba have completely run out of food in South Kordofan, while some 50,000 are attempting the trek to Yida. However, starvation is taking its toll, with many travellers simply too weak to complete the journey. Samaritan's Purse reports that at least ten percent of the children arriving at Yida are acutely malnourished. Amjuma Ali Kuku, a teacher, says the camp is presently caring for some 2,000 unaccompanied children.
Why is this genocide attracting no attention? Is it because this genocide is an openly declared Islamic jihad and talking about it would risk being politically incorrect? Well, a genocidal Islamic jihad it is! And while the world looks away, hundreds of thousands of predominantly Christian Africans are being deliberately starved to death by the racist, Arab supremacist, Islamic regime in Khartoum.
- supernaturally draw the hearts of his people to him so that in their despair and desperation they might look to him for all things without losing heart, without losing faith; may he supply all their needs according to his riches in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:19).
- rupture all supply lines feeding weapons, funds and fighters into the various African jihads.
' . . . in the name of the LORD I cut them off!' (Psalm 118:10b,11b,12c) - rise up in wrath and indignation, in justice and righteousness, against the wicked and arrogant regime of Omar al-Bashir in Khartoum. (Pray Psalm 10.)
SUMMARY FOR BULLETINS UNABLE TO RUN THE WHOLE ARTICLE
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NIGERIA & SUDAN: JIHAD AND GENOCIDE
At least 15 people were killed and more than 40 seriously wounded on Sunday 3 June when a Boko Haram suicide bomber rammed his car into the checkpoint outside Living Faith Church in Bauchi city. The blast also rocked Harvest Field Church opposite, causing part of the building to collapse on worshippers. Also Christians are still being murdered by Muslim mobs in night raids throughout Northern Nigeria. In Sudan, meanwhile, the genocidal Islamic jihad being waged by the regime in Khartoum against the non-Arab, non-Muslim citizens of its 'New South' (Abyei, South Kordofan and Blue Nile) advances unchallenged by the international community. Hundreds of thousands of predominantly Christian African Sudanese have flooded into South Sudan while hundreds of thousands more await death by forced starvation. Please pray for God to intervene.