MidnightWatcher – Prophecy in Motion

“Washington, D.C. September 7 (International Christian Concern) – Al Shabab, an Al Qaeda-linked terror group in Somalia, has sought to rid the region of Christians and is specifically targeting Christian converts from Islam. Many Somali Christians, having fled persecution in their homeland, have found little security in neighbouring East African countries. Even in the Christian-majority country of Kenya, radical Islam is steadily gaining numbers and influence.

Two months ago, three Christian converts from Islam returned to their homeland to attend a university in Somalia’s capital, Mogadishu. The men, whose identities have been concealed for their protection, had been working in Ethiopia and converted to Christianity in 2005. Upon their return, however, people grew suspicious when the men were not seen praying at the local mosque.

‘One of our fellow students jokingly questioned us about why we were not serious about attending prayers at the mosque,’ recalled one of the men. ‘I kept quiet and the discussion ended. Three days later is when we were attacked.’

On June 25, six armed Al Shabab militants entered the Christians’ home and opened fire. The Christians were found by neighbors and were rushed to the hospital. All three suffered gunshot wounds and, after spending a week in the hospital, they determined it was no longer safe to live in Somalia. The men crossed the southern border into eastern Kenya joining thousands of other displaced Somalis in refugee camps in Dadaab.

Local sources told ICC that Al Shabab had been closely monitoring the men for months. ‘New arrivals outside of Somalia are monitored by Al Shabab because they are considered to support western ideologies, including foreign religions, and they are viewed as sympathizers to the West,’ said a Somali journalist in the area. ‘That is why they were victimized.’

The men’s plight is one among many acts of violent extremism that has targeted the Somali Christian community in recent months. In a similar case, a Christian family fled Buula-barde, a village in central Somalia, after receiving death threats in May. ‘The extremists began sending threatening messages to their mobile phones to recant their faith or face execution,’ …” Read more.

The Voice of Russia – “Islamist extremists have attacked the Christian village of al-Hasaniya near the city of Homs, Syria.

According to local TV, they killed five civilians and took 17 people hostages.

Islamists are linked to the rebels that are now being forced out of the city by the government troops.

Assad’s troops have regained control over the major part of the city though they still see resistance in the old part of the town and in the suburbs.

Late Tuesday, the government forces repelled a terrorist attack by Lebanese mercenaries” Source – The Voice of Russia.

Flashback: Syria: Entire Christian Family Beheaded By Suspected Islamists In Damascus – “As reported by Fides sources in Damascus, the Christians in the suburbs of Jaramana (south-west of Damascus) and Zamalka (South-East of the city) are under pressure from armed groups jiahdisti and are terrified. Today in Zamalka a family of Armenian Christians was found murdered, and all members of the family horribly decapitated. The execution brings to mind the work of radical Islamist Salafis.” Read more.

Flashback: ‘Deliberate and Growing’: Christian Persecution From ‘Arab Spring’ Insurgents in Syria Becoming a Steadily Growing Reality, ‘It Will Never Be the Same Anymore’ – “Refugees who have fled to Jordan from Syria are telling mission leaders supported by Christian Aid Mission about deliberate, new persecution from the ‘Arab Spring’ insurgents who are seeking to overthrow the brutal Assad regime in Damascus. Nearly 100,000 Christians so far have fled from Homs and other cities being targeted by government forces, but it is no longer just to escape the crossfire. Now, more reports are revealing that a new wave of persecution is deliberate and growing… ‘It is over; we can’t get back what we lost,’ said one discouraged Christian refugee here in Jordan. ‘It will never be the same anymore for me or my family. We’ve lost hope.’” Read more.

“Tensions grow even more in Nigeria for Christians

Muslim extremists attempted to kill a pastor supported by VOM and his family earlier this month in Nigeria.

At least seven gunmen entered Pastor Audu D. Gadzama’s church on August 10, intending to kill the pastor, his wife and his three children. One gunman shot Pastor Audu’s 24-year-old son, Thomas, in the leg.

Pastor Audu ran outside when he heard the gunshot, and the gunmen fired at him as well but missed. The gunmen, assuming both their targets were dead after seeing the men fall to the ground, then entered the house to search for the church key.

They forced Pastor Audu’s wife and other two children to lie on the ground as they set fire to the house and church. The family was able to escape and hide in the bushes as the gunmen fired into the air while shouting, ‘Allahu Akbar!’ The Christians remained in hiding through the night, and the next morning took Thomas to a hospital. The family is now living with another pastor in the area.

Please pray for the safety of this family. Pray that this incident will not sow anxiety in their hearts, but that they will remain steadfast in their faith. Pray for wisdom for Pastor Audu and other church leaders in Nigeria. Pray that Nigerian Christians will be able to forgive and love their persecutors.” Source – Vlad Tepes.

Results Of Missed Prayers In Bangladesh

By Nozrul Islam, AsiaNews – “Dhaka (AsiaNews) – In Bangladesh, Christian children from Tripuri tribes have been taken away from their villages and forcibly converted to Islam. Local Catholic sources, who asked their names be withheld, told AsiaNews that almost 300 children have been taken to madrassas (Islamic schools).

The story is the same. So-called intermediaries, who are also ethnic Tripuri, visit poverty-stricken communities where they convince families to send their children to a mission hostel, charging between 6,000 and 15,000 taka (US$ 500 to 1,200) for school and board. After pocketing the money, the intermediaries sell the children to Islamic schools elsewhere in the country.

The latest case involved 11 children, ten boys and a girl, from Thanchi, Ruma and Lama in the Chittagong Hill Tracts. Their story has a happy ending though. After six months of threats and violence, the children were able to escape thanks Hotline Human Rights Trust, a Dhaka-based civil rights organisation that defends minorities run by a Catholic woman, Rosaline Costa.

Tripuri are one of the many tribal groups found in Bangladesh. Most are Christian, both Catholic and Protestants, especially in the Chittagong Hill Tracts, in south-eastern Bangladesh.

Radical Muslims are engaged in a campaign against Christian missionaries whom they accuse of proselytising and forcibly converting others in order to create a Christian majority in the area so that it can be annexed to India.

In the latest case, the first eight boys were taken in January and February and brought to the Darul Huda Islami School in Mia Para village (Gazipur). The girl was placed in a madrassa (whose name she could not tell) in Muhammadpur, Dhaka. The other two boys were brought to another Darul Huda Islami in Maddha Badda (Gulshan, Dhaka).

Their days included Arabic lessons (8-12 AM), Qur’an reading (Nurani Shikkha, 2-5 PM) and five daily prayers.

In their respective madrassas, the children found other tribal Christians, many even younger themselves. They also saw acts of physical violence when children missed prayers or refused to take part in a lesson. In fact, after she was rescued, the girl showed scars to the hand, where she was struck with a cane.” Read more.

Flashback: Muslim Teacher In Bangladesh Burns Children’s Legs With Hot Iron Rods After Learning They Didn’t Pray Regularly During Vacation – “Police in Bangladesh are looking for a teacher from a Muslim religious school who allegedly placed burning hot iron rods on the legs of her students for failing to offer prayers regularly. They say 14 girls, aged between eight and 12, received burn injuries… ‘It was the first day of the madrassa after our holidays. Our teacher got angry when she heard that we were not offering regular prayers during our vacation,’ said Ferdousi Akther, aged eight. ‘Then she asked her servant to heat up the rod and then she pressed it on our legs. The pain was unbearable.’ Pupils say that the teacher asked the students whether they knew the severity of the fire in hell.” Read more.

By Felix Corley, Forum 18 – “Protestant Christians have faced an upsurge since late July in raids, threats of expulsion from villages or social ostracism, threats that their children will be kept under close scrutiny in school and other harassment, Protestants have told Forum 18 News Service from Turkmenistan. At least three separate administrative trials of Protestants have taken place, leading to large fines. ‘The situation has got markedly worse since July and we don’t know why,’ one Protestant, who asked not to be identified for fear of state reprisals, told Forum 18 in late August.

Several Protestants have told Forum 18 that they fear their children will face discrimination and harassment in schools, especially in rural areas. The new academic year began in Turkmenistan’s schools on 1 September. ‘Children of believers can be singled out by head teachers and individual teachers for ridicule and can have their grades lowered because of the faith of their parents,’ one Protestant complained to Forum 18. The Protestant pointed to several such instances in the academic year that finished in the summer…

Three administrative trials of Protestant Christians are known to have taken place from late August in Lebap Region of eastern Turkmenistan. All were accused of violating Article 205 of the Code of Administrative Offences (‘violation of the law on religious organisations’), which carries a punishment of fines of between five and ten times the minimum monthly wage for refusing to register a religious community or participating in an unregistered religious community. Fines can be doubled for repeat offenders…

In a village in Serdarabad District, the Deputy Hyakim (administration chief) responsible for culture Almagul Nazarova, Lebap’s Regional Imam, local Imams and Aksakals (elders) summoned a meeting of all local residents. They threatened to ostracise or expel all local Protestants. They also warned that once school resumed on 1 September, all Protestant children would be kept under special observation…

On 25 June, police raided the home of a Protestant in Tejen, a town south-east of Ashgabad. He was at work, and only his mother was at home. When he returned that evening, he found his mother crying. ‘She told him men in civilian clothes had visited, gone into his room and seized seven of his Christian books, including Bibles, and asked many questions,’ Protestants told Forum 18. They had ordered him to come to the police station the following day to write a statement.

When the Protestant arrived at the police station on 26 June, his local police officer told him he was in trouble with the MSS secret police. An MSS officer took him into a room set up for recording, and interrogated him about his work and his religious activity. ‘He asked why he did not pray the namaz [Muslim prayers], adding that all young men of his age go to the mosque,’ Protestants told Forum 18. The Protestant responded that what he believed and what religious books he reads was his business. The MSS officer then shouted at him and threatened him.” Read more.