MidnightWatcher – Prophecy in Motion

“After a recent lull, there has been a fresh outbreak of violence in Nigeria which has resulted in the deaths of at least 15 Christians.

Last week Plateau State, of which Jos is the capital, was subjected to a series of attacks. After allegations of an animal theft, Ferom was attacked twice on 4 August with eight members of one family killed in the first attack and a further three people killed in the second. On 14th August, Muslim rioters took to the streets in north Jos and killed three Christians by machetes. The Residents of Jwol community reported an attack on Friday in which one person was killed. There was another slaughter at Hiepand leaving at least 8 dead, some with gunshot wounds.

Residents claim that the police and army were complicit in these attacks and produced a helmet, a blood-stained military belt, cartridge cases, and 5 military identity cards in evidence…

Islam spread into Nigeria from the north from the late middle ages. The north is now predominantly Muslim, while the south of Nigeria is predominantly Christian. Many fear that these attacks demonstrate a renewed effort by some Muslim extremists to make Islam the dominant religion throughout Nigeria.” Read more.

“Karachi: August 16, 2011. (PCP) On 14th august at 6:30 AM, near sea view, Defense Housing Authority DHA phase 8, in jurisdiction of Durkhshan Police Station, Karachi, Pakistan, Ashfaq Munawar, brother of Civil Society forum MASS, was attacked and seriously injured by six Muslim fundamentalists.

Ashfaq Munawr was on Clifton seaside of Karachi where youth and common residents of Karachi city gather to celebrate Pakistan Day like a feast from decades from night of August 13, till morning of August 14.

August 14, 1947, was a day when Pakistan was declared an independent state after division of sub-continent India from British Colonial rule.

Ashfaq Munawar was stopped by six Muslim bearded men who asked him, who are you? When Ashfaq told them that he is Christian, they entered in argument and said ‘How you can celebrate Pakistan Day when you are Christian? Convert to Islam to join feast’

When Ashfaq Munawar denied reciting ‘Kalma’ to convert to Islam, the group of Muslims attacked him. They have beaten him so severely on his denial that both jaws of Ashfaq were broken and he became unconscious.” Read more.

Christians Assulted for Watching ‘Jesus’ Film Near Bin Laden’s Compound – “A group of Christians have been attacked by a mob of Muslims in a park near where Osama bin Laden was killed in Pakistan. The Christian group was gathered to watch a 1979 movie called ‘Jesus,’ depicting the life of Christ when they were set upon by the extremists. The August 12 assault on the church workers included a beating as well as a smashed projector before the police intervened, UCANews.com has reported.” Read more.

“ISTANBUL, August 10 (CDN) — A Coptic Christian was killed and several others were injured in Upper Egypt after Muslims on Sunday (Aug. 7) attacked a predominantly Christian village following an argument between a Muslim and Christian.

The attack at Nazlet Faragallah village in Minya, 218 kilometers (136 miles) south of Cairo, lasted until Monday morning (Aug. 8), Christians said. The attackers raided an unknown number of homes owned by Christian villagers and set eight on fire, area residents said.

The assailants killed Maher Nassif, 46, a civil servant and livestock farmer, when he tried to defend his home. The men burst into Nassif’s house, shot him in the head and slit his throat while his teenage son watched from under a bed where he was hiding, Christian villagers said. The men looted the home and stole Nassif’s livestock as his son escaped into the night, according to villagers who spoke with the boy.

One villager, Melad Thabet, a 25-year-old teacher, said he spent the night of the attack listening to gunfire and the sound of people ‘weeping and screaming in the village.’

‘Any [Christian-owned] house close to a Muslim house was looted and attacked,’ Thabet told Compass. ‘And if someone had stood up to them, they would have killed them as they did with Maher.'” Read more.

A ‘committee’ is needed to ‘investigate’ Boko Haram and to look into the ‘reasons for the violence’?  Well, investigative committee, here are just a few of many that they see every day within the pages of their Qur’an:

 Surah 5:51, “O you who believe! do not take the Jews and the Christians for friends; they are friends of each other; and whoever amongst you takes them for a friend, then surely he is one of them; surely Allah does not guide the unjust people.”

Surah 3:151, “We shall cast terror into the hearts of those who disbelieve…”

Surah 4:89, “Have no unbelieving friends. Kill the unbelievers wherever you find them.”

Surah 9:14, “Fight them, Allah will punish them by your hands and bring them to disgrace …”

Surah 8:12b, “… terrorize and behead those who believe in scriptures other than the Qur’an.”

By Michael Ireland – “WASHINGTON, DC (ANS) — Members of a radical Islamic group, Boko Haram, have killed at least ten Christians in Maiduguri, Nigeria over the past two months in what one Christian leader is calling a ‘silent killing’ of Christians.

In an interview with International Christian Concern (ICC – http://www.persecution.org ), an anonymous local church leader explained, ‘Boko Haram is seeking to eliminate Christianity because they want Islamic (Sharia) law. They don’t want to see anything Christian in the northern states [of Nigeria]. That is why churches are being persecuted and Muslims who don’t follow the [hardline teachings of] Boko Haram are also persecuted.’

ICC says Boko Haram is close to achieving its goal of eliminating Christianity from Maiduguri.

In its latest report on the situation, ICC said: ‘Most of the Christians have fled the city in fear of further attacks by the Islamists. Of the churches that remain, some have felt compelled to suspend their services to protect their congregations.’

ICC explained that the Nigerian government, which has also been attacked by Boko Haram, deployed security forces to quell the violence, but came under sharp criticism from human rights groups for excessive use of force and the indiscriminate killing of civilians. The government of Nigeria has now established a committee to investigate the members of Boko Haram and look into the reasons for the violence.” Read more.

“(AINA) — Muslims attacked Christians in the village of Nazlet Faragallah, in the southern Egyptian Minya province, on Sunday evening. The attack continued until the early hours of Monday morning, August 8. One Copt was murdered and homes were looted and torched when Muslims from Nazlet Faragallah together with Muslims from four neighboring villages started their violence at approximately 8 PM, after breaking their Ramadan fast.

According to eyewitnesses, thousands of Muslims entered the village from all sides, firing automatic weapons (mostly in the air), looting and throwing Molotov Cocktails at several homes. ‘They even destroyed our irrigation pumps,’ said one witness.

The first attack was on the house of Father Youanes, pastor of St. George Church, which lies at the head of the village. He was beaten and his home was looted and torched.

Maher Nassif Tobias (50), an employee at the local council, was murdered in his home. He was found by his son. His house was completely looted, including his livestock.

Security forces arrived 4 hours after the attack began and there were too few of them. ‘They only had batons in their hands, and were unable to control the situation,’ said a Coptic village resident. ‘Our village is surrounded by corn fields. The Muslims came into the village to loot and quickly disappeared in the fields, the police could not follow them. They were coming from all directions at the same time.’

Nazlet Faragallah has 8000 inhabitants, 80% are Copts and 20% Muslims.” Read more.

“NEW DELHI – Four months after a recent convert to Christianity from Islam in eastern India’s West Bengal state was stripped and beaten, about 50 Muslim extremists yesterday disrupted a prayer meeting held in her home, threatening to burn it down if she did not return to Islam, area Christians said.

The extremists warned Selina Bibi of Motijil village in Murshidabad district that if she did not return to Islam, then she must either leave the area or see her house burned down. At her baptism at Believers Church four kilometers from her home on March 29, a large crowd of Muslim extremists disrupted the service, said a pastor identified only as Bashir.

‘I pleaded with them to let me at least finish the worship service before they attack us,’ he told Compass.

When word of her conversion to Christianity reached her village, another extremist group from Motijil led by Jamal Shaike disrupted the service. Shaike and the others verbally abused the Christians, and he ordered his son who was present at the service to leave immediately, Bashir said.

The pastor said that on April 5, two Muslim women along with members of the extremist group summoned Selina Bibi to one of their homes and forcefully stripped her naked.

‘The radicals believe that when any person from the Muslim community becomes Christian, they get Christian marks on their body,’ Bashir said. ‘When the radicals could not find such marks, they started beating her up.'” Read more.

By Anugrah Kumar – July 31 – “Ramadan, the 30-day annual Islamic fast which begins next week, may expose Christians to an increased risk of persecution in Muslim-majority countries and believers in the West should pray for them, Open Doors USA said as it launched a Ramadan Prayer Calendar.

‘Ramadan is a time when Christians are especially isolated in some Muslim-dominated countries,’ said Open Doors USA President Dr. Carl Moeller in a statement. ‘This is why it is so important for us to unite in prayer for persecuted Christians throughout the world.’

To help Christians pray for the persecuted, Open Doors has prepared a Ramadan Prayer Calendar having multiple prayer points and designed to help believers pray for vulnerable Christians around the world during the 30 days.

The group, which has served the persecuted church worldwide since 1955 when its founder Brother Andrew smuggled Bibles into Eastern Europe for the first time, will also send out daily emails with a story from a Muslim-dominated country, prayer requests, and a call to action. Open Doors has provided a link on its website for believers to register.

Ramadan, the ninth month of the Islamic calendar which begins August 1 this year, is the time when most Muslims fast from dawn until dusk, seeking to shed their sins through acts of restraint as they believe this is a time of purification accomplished through good deeds and self-control.

However, ‘the observance of Ramadan could increase pressure on believers,’ Moeller said.” Read more.

“NAIROBI, Kenya, August 1 (CDN) — Muslim extremists on Saturday (July 30) burned down a church building on Zanzibar island off the coast of Tanzania, church leaders said, just three days after another congregation’s facility on the island was reduced to ashes.

In Fuoni on the south coast of Zanzibar (known locally as Unguja), Islamic extremists torched the building of the Evangelical Assemblies of God-Tanzania (EAGT) at around 2 p.m., said Pastor Leonard Massasa, who oversees Zanzibar’s EAGT churches. The assailants were shouting, ‘Away with the church – we do not want infidels to spoil our community, especially our children,’ Pastor Massasa said.

The EAGT church is about 60 kilometers (37 miles) from Zanzibar town.

‘Tomorrow is Sunday, and my members numbering 40 will not have any place to worship,’ Pastor Paulo Magungu of the Fuoni EAGT church said. With fear in his voice, the pastor added, ‘We have reported the case to the police station. I hope justice will be done.’

He reported the case at Fuoni police station immediately after it happened, he said.

In Kianga, about 10 kilometers (six miles) from Zanzibar town, another church building was burned down on Wednesday (July 27) at about 2 a.m., said Pastor George Frank Dunia of Free Evangelical Pentecostal Church in Africa. The fire destroyed 45 chairs.

‘I have 36 members, and it will be very difficult for them to congregate tomorrow,’ the pastor said on Saturday (July 30). ‘The members are afraid, not knowing what other plans the Muslims are out to do. We request prayers at this trying moment.'” Read more.

“In a coordinated effort to generate fear among Iraqi Christians, the ethnically and religiously diverse city of Kirkuk witnessed another attack outside a Syrian Catholic Church on Tuesday around 6 a.m.

At least 23 people were wounded in the attack, mostly from surrounding homes. The church’s parish leader, Imad Yalda, was inside the church during the bombing and was also among the wounded.

Following the attack, two other car bombs were also found outside Kirkuk’s Christian Anglican Church and the Mar Gourgis church.

The bombs were defused by security forces prior to their explosion.

Kirkuk’s Deputy Police Chief, Torhan Abdulrahman said of the attack, ‘It was a coordinated attack to target churches at the same time.’

The Rev. Haithem Akram, of one of the targeted churches in today’s attacks said, ‘The terrorists want to make us flee Iraq, but they will fail. We are staying in our country.’

Iraqi’s Christian minority, formally standing at around 1.4 million, has been significantly downsizing its presence in the country since the ousting of Saddam Hussein in 2003, with close to 1 million having fled to other regions in Iraq or leaving the country to seek refuge.

Christians in Iraq are targeted predominately by Sunni extremists that find Christians in the country to be ‘non-believers.'” Read more.