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Egypt Tries to ‘Reconcile’ Coptic Churches to Non-Existence
By — From attacks by Muslim mobs to closures by Muslim authorities, the lamentable plight of Coptic Christian churches in Egypt always follows a pattern, one that is unwaveringly only too typical.
Thus, last April 14, a Muslim mob—predictably riled by the previous day’s Friday mosque sermons—attacked the church of the Holy Virgin and Pope Kyrillos in Beni Meinin, Beni Suef. According to Watani, as with 3,500 other Egyptian churches, after patently waiting for decades to receive a permit, the church “had been used for worship for some 10 years now… [T]he building authority committee had recently [earlier that day] visited the church in preparation for legalising its status, and the attack was waged in retaliation.”
Local authorities’ response was even more typical: Twenty people were arrested after the attack—eleven Muslims (attackers) and nine Copts (defenders). At least five of the arrested Christians, whose “crime” was to try to put out fires Muslims started, were illegally incarcerated for over a month. One lost his job due to this prolonged absence (police refused to admit holding him to his employer).
Thereafter, on May 22, followed the usual “reconciliation” meeting between local Christian and Muslim elders, whereby victims forego their legal rights in an out of court settlement. In order to release their innocents the Copts had to agree to close the church—no more mass, wedding or funeral services on grounds that it is a “security risk”—and agree that the eleven Muslims who led the violent attack also be acquitted.
Just four days after that, the whole process was repeated again: on May 26, another Muslim mob attacked a church in the village of al-Shuqaf in the province of Beheira. “The mob,” notes the report, “also pelted the Coptic villagers’ houses with stones, damaged the priest’s car, and set on fire a motorbike that was parked in front of the church. Seven Copts suffered slight injuries. The police was called and caught 11 Muslims and nine Copts.”
As with the previous church incident, according to Watani, this church had also
been in use for worship for over three years now, and is known as the church of St Mark… a few months ago, construction work started on building a mosque close to the church. On Saturday afternoon [May 26], the Muslim worshippers began shouting slogans against the church and the Copts, and used the mosque microphones to call upon the villagers to attack the church. Many villagers gathered and waged the attack.
The Coptic villagers claim that the nine Copts who were arrested had been caught randomly in what has now become common practice by the police in order to pressure the Copts into ‘[re]conciliation,’ so that no legal action would be taken against the Muslim culprits in exchange for setting free the Coptic detainees and ensuring a swift end to hostilities.
Such is the unvarying “boilerplate” plight of Egypt’s Christians and their churches. To become acquainted with the persecution of one Coptic church is to become acquainted with all. For instance, nearly two years ago I offered the following detailed look at the “reconciliation” process—one that, as these two recent incidences show, remains perfectly applicable to and well entrenched in Egypt:
Christians trying to build a church … are typical violations that prompt large, armed Muslim mobs to attack all the Christians in that village (and their church if one exists) as a form of collective punishment, which is also Islamic….
After the uprising has fizzled out, authorities arrive. Instead of looking for and arresting the culprits or mob ringleaders—or, as often is the case, the local imam who incites the Muslim mob against the “uppity infidels” who need to be reminded of “their place”—authorities gather the leaders of the Christian and Muslim communities together in what are termed “reconciliation meetings.” During these meetings, Christians are asked to make further concessions to angry Muslims.
Authorities tell Christian leaders things like, “Yes, we understand the situation and your innocence, but the only way to create calm in the village is for X [the offending Christian and extended family, all of whom may have been beat] to leave the village—just for now, until things calm down.” Or, “Yes, we understand you need a church, but as you can see, the situation is volatile right now, so, for the time being, maybe you can walk to the church in the next town six miles away—you know, until things die down.”…
[Should Christians] rebuff the authorities’ offer and demand their rights as citizens against the culprits, the authorities smile and say “okay.” Then they go through the village making arrests—except that most of those whom they arrest are Christian youths. Then they tell the Christian leaders, “Well, we’ve made the arrests. But, just as you say so-and-so [Muslim] was involved, there are even more witnesses [Muslims] who insist your own [Christian] youths were the ones who began the violence. So, we can either arrest and prosecute them, or you can rethink our offer about having a reconciliation meeting.”
Under the circumstances, dejected Christians generally agree to the further mockery. What alternative do they have? They know if they don’t their youth will certainly go to prison and be tortured. In one recent incident, wounded Christians who dared fight against Muslim attackers were arrested and, despite serious injuries, held for seven hours and prevented from receiving medical attention….
[N]ot only are the victims denied any justice, but the aggressors are further emboldened to attack again.
Indeed, as seen by recent events—including one month where four churches were attacked and then closed—this modus operandi and culture of emboldened impunity is now more entrenched in Egypt than before.
Two Christians Ambushed, Killed in Central Nigeria
Peace Joseph, 6, slain in attack in Miango, Nigeria on March 8. (Morning Star News)
Nigeria (Morning Star News) – Muslim Fulani herdsmen on Sunday (June 10) killed two Christians and seriously wounded another in central Nigeria as they made their way home from a church service, local sources said.
Ibrahim Weyi, 45, and Larry More, 53, were said to be hacked to death when herdsmen ambushed them at 7:40 p.m. as the Christians were going home on a motorcycle from an evening worship service in Plateau state’s Kwall village, in the Bassa area, Patience Moses told Morning Star News.
A third Christian, 23-year-old Samuel Weyi, was wounded in the attack, the local resident said. All three belong to the Evangelical Church Winning All (ECWA) in Kwall, another resident, Lawerence Zango, told Morning Star News. Weyi is receiving treatment at an Intensive Care Unit of a hospital in Jos, he said.
“Fulani herdsmen have continued to kill innocent Christians in our villages, yet the Nigerian government has not taken proactive measures to end the onslaught,” Zango said.
A spokesman for the Plateau State Command, Mathias Tyopev, confirmed the attack and told Morning Star News that an investigation is underway.
Herdsmen attacks on Christian communities in the Bassa area intensified late last year and have continued in spite of the presence of military personnel, sources said. Since February, 11 Christians have lost their lives in the area at the hands of Muslim Fulani herdsmen, including the two killed on Sunday, said the Rev. Sunday Zibeh, pastor of the ECWA church in Nzharuvo, Miango.
“In these cases, the victims were either ambushed and killed by the herdsmen or attacked in their homes at night,” Pastor Zibeh told Morning Star News. “The sad reality is that the Nigerian government headed by President Muhammadu Buhari, himself a Muslim and a Fulani man, has not acted in any way to end these attacks.”
He gave the names of those killed as Adam Sunday, 38; Jatau Akus, 39; Chohu Awarhai and Marcus Mali, 22, all of Jebbu-Miango village. They were ambushed and killed by the herdsmen on April 18.
“The four victims were construction workers working on site when they were attacked,” he said.
In March two other Christians, 17-year-old Lumumbah Chayi and Joseph Alli, 23, were killed in Jebbu-Miango and Rotsu villages, he said.
“Joseph was attacked and beheaded at about 9:30 p.m. on Thursday, March 15 in Rotsu village, while Chayi, a high school student, was murdered on Monday, March 12, at about 7 p.m. by the Fulani herdsmen in Kwall village,” he said.
In February three other Christians were killed and two injured in an ambush by herdsmen near Zanwra village, Pastor Zibeh said. John Esije was 32; Monday Nzwe was 38; and Saku Giyeri was 41. The wounded survivors are Sunday Bala, 33, and, Gudu Gara, 25, he said, adding that all the victims were members of ECWA church.
Zango, a church youth leader in Miango, which is part of the Bassa Local Government Area, told Morning Star News that since the beginning of 2017, 99 Christians in the Miango area have been killed in attacks on at least 26 villages, with another 44 Christians injured and 863 houses razed.
Among them were three children of an ECWA church member in Nzharuvo village, Miango. Joseph Gah Nze said Muslim Fulani herdsmen broke into his house on at 10 p.m. on March 8 and killed his three children – 12-year-old twins Christopher and Emmanuel, and 6-year Peace Joseph – and 18-year-old nephew Henry Audu.
In addition, Zango said more than 23,000 Christians have been displaced from their Miango area homes, thousands of dollars of farm produce have been destroyed and 15 motorbikes and a bus have been burned. At least 24 irrigation water pumps have been destroyed, he added.
The Irigwe Development Association, an umbrella community organization for Irigwe ethnic peoples, who are predominantly Christian, in April decried the incessant killings. Sunday Abdu, president of the association, said at a press conference in Jos on April 24 that between Jan. 25 and March 12, more than 70 Christians were killed by armed Muslim Fulani herdsmen.
“The Irigwe nation feels compelled to once more raise the alarm over the continuous loss of lives from attacks on innocent villages,” Abdu said. “You are aware that we buried 25 people on the day we had set out to bury four out of the five that were killed on the night of the president’s visit to the state, this is in addition to the ones we have buried from series of attacks since January, not to mention the number of homes we have lost from such attacks and the destruction of farmlands which has ensured a looming hunger.”
Christians make up 51.3 percent of Nigeria’s population, while Muslims living primarily in the north and middle belt account for 45 percent.
US missionary, captive for 20 months, is alive, reports Niger’s president
For 20 months, there has been no news of Jeff Woodke (Photo: Facebook/Blaise Gaitou)
(World Watch Monitor) A US missionary kidnapped in Niger in October 2016 is alive, according to the West African nation’s president.
Jeff Woodke, who worked for Jeunesse en Mission Entraide et Developpement (JEMED), a branch of the US-based Youth With a Mission, was abducted by unknown assailants late in the evening of Friday 14 October, 2016, from the town of Abalak in northern Niger.
For 20 months, there has been no news of Woodke, but on Monday, 4 June, President Mahamadou Issoufou told TV channel France24 that both he and a German aid worker kidnapped in April this year are alive.
“We have some news; we know they’re alive,” the president said. “We continue to create the conditions for their release. Perhaps the contacts that are underway will help to achieve that goal.”
It is the first proof of life since the kidnapping of the two Western citizens in the Sahel country.
Little had been known, or at least divulged, about Woodke’s condition or location, other than that his captors were tracked to neighbouring Mali by Nigerien authorities. No group has publicly claimed responsibility.
Last July, a coalition of jihadist groups active in the Sahel region (Nusrat al-Islam wal Muslimeen, also known as the Group to Support Islam and Muslims), affiliated to Al-Qaeda, released a video showing six foreign hostages, including three missionaries, but not Jeff Woodke.
The three missionaries in the video were: Colombian nun Gloria Argoti, kidnapped on 7 February from her convent in Karangasso, southern Mali; Australian surgeon Ken Elliott, kidnapped in January 2016 from Djibo in northern Burkina Faso, near the Mali border; and Swiss missionary Béatrice Stockly, kidnapped in Mali’s northern town of Timbuktu, also in January 2016.
All are still captive.
Jeff Woodke’s wife, Els, issued a video pleading for his safe return when there was no sign of him in that video, believing that he could also be held by those who issued it.
“I am sure that the families of the captives were very encouraged by this message and appreciated the mercy shown by Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal Muslimeen in sending this news and instructions about their loved ones,” said Mrs Woodke in her video.
“But my husband Jeff is not mentioned, so I did not receive the benefit of the reassurance and directions of how to proceed that the other families did. This has been very hard for me, for Jeff’s sons and his father to understand.”
The German Joerg Lange, employed by the aid group Help, was kidnapped by armed men on 11 April, in Niger’s western town of Ayorou, which shares a border with troubled northern Mali.
No group has claimed responsibility for his abduction, but a security source, speaking on condition of anonymity, told AFP that his kidnappers had “already taken him to northern Mali”.
On Monday, President Issoufou said he did not know exactly where the pair were being detained, but that “it is more likely that they are in Mali”.
Prayercast Ramadan Challenge: Day 23 – Egypt
SUMMARY: Egypt’s ancient legacy and span of achievements is truly astounding. This remarkable nation is often known by the world for its ancient pyramids, nearly 3,000 years of history, and the Biblical story of the deliverance of the Israelites. Though it has a predominantly desert landscape, farms and sprawling cities line the banks of the Nile River. Egypt remains the most populous country in the Arab world and holds great regional and global influence. What happens here has the potential to impact the entire Muslim world!
The Arab Spring (a series of anti-government protests and uprisings across the Middle East starting in 2011) sparked political upheaval across the Arab world. Egypt was no exception, erupting in mass protests that led to the ousting of then President Hosni Mubarak. Clashes between the Muslim Brotherhood protesters and the brutally reactive military left hundreds dead. Conflict continues to polarize the nation. Amid an increasingly repressive government, Egypt is terrorized by Islamic extremism. Following the overthrow of President Mohamed Morsi in 2013, militants linked to the Islamic State (IS) led an insurgency, bringing widespread terror and the tragic deaths of thousands. Political unrest has inhibited the nation from addressing economic problems, corruption, and strained resources. Approximately a quarter of the population lives in poverty, only exacerbated by the water crisis. Farmers face imprisonment or hunger due to the regulations on crops that require more water. In addition to this tragedy, forced labor and sex trafficking leaves street children especially vulnerable.
Egypt was a majority-Christian nation for over 1,000 years, and today it remains home to the Middle East’s largest body of Christians – the Coptic Church (12%). Evangelical Christianity is on the rise, though still only about 3% of the population. Yet Islam remains the state religion and the faith of 87% of its people. Egypt is also often seen as the intellectual center for Sunni Islam. Though the Egyptian Church has endured persecution for over 2,000 years, recent instability and the presence of the Islamic State have intensified their suffering. Horrific scenes of church bombings have brought the plight of Egyptian Christians to the world stage. However, even as persecution increases, so does the number of Muslims turning to Christ! Scripture is more accessible than ever, and the Church is growing in unity across theological differences.
As we continue on the nightly prayer conference call during Ramadan, using the Prayercast Ramadan Challenge prayer points, let us unite in prayer that the church in Egypt will grow. Let us pray that there will be those who will come under the shadow of Jesus, and for the Light of Christ to shine in that Nation.
Continent: Africa
Capital City: Cairo
Government: Republic
Population: 97,041,072
Major People Groups: Arab 92.1%, Berber 2%,
Gypsy 1.4%, Nubians 1.1%, other 0.8%
Religion: Muslim 90%, Christian 10%
Language: Arabic, English, French
GDP Per Capita: $13,000
Literacy Rate: 73.8%
UNREACHED: 59.5%
PRAYER POINTS
• Pray for a stable and trustworthy government to act in the interest of all its people.
• Pray for the Church to continue to overcome evil with divine forgiveness and love.
• Pray for Jesus to reveal Himself to an unprecedented number of Muslims disillusioned by Islamic State.
Blaine Scogin, Prayer Director of Persecution Watch and Voice of the Persecuted
Nightly Call scheduled through Ramadan
Time:
9 p.m. Eastern time
8 p.m. Central time
7 p.m. Mountain time
6 p.m. Pacific time
Call Number:
712-775-7035
Access Code:
281207#
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Available International IDOP Prayer Conference Call Numbers
(Note: If using one of the call numbers below, you may experience issues in your country. If you are unable to connect, try using the VoIP dialer available at this link. Click on VoIP dialer, go to this number 712-775-7035 in the drop down menu—enter access code 281207 (do not add the # symbol)—enter your name and click on the ‘Place Call’ button.)
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Vietnam +84 (0) 4 7108 0080
Eritrea: Rights groups call for renewal of UN Special Rapporteur’s mandate
(World Watch Monitor) Rights groups have called for the mandate of the UN Human Rights Special Rapporteur for Eritrea to be renewed in June.
The human rights situation in the East African country has been monitored by the UN Human Rights Council since 2012, when it appointed Ms Sheila B. Keetharuth as the Special Rapporteur. In March this year she, however, acknowledged that during her tenure the human rights violations in the country have “continued unabated”.
Father Thomas Reese, of the US Commission on International Religious Freedom, told a US human rights commission in April that Eritrea remained “one of the worst examples of state-sponsored repression of freedom of religion or belief in the world”.
“The State Department estimates that between 1,200 and 3,000 individuals are held on religious grounds,” he said. Among them are several Evangelical and Pentecostal pastors who have been detained for more than 10 years.
Evangelicals and Pentecostals in Eritrea have been at particular risk of detention since a 2002 law was passed prohibiting Churches other than the Orthodox, Catholic and Evangelical Lutheran Churches, and also Sunni Islam.
“The situation in the country is only getting worse”, Dr Berhane Asmelash told World Watch Monitor.
The Eritrean pastor who was imprisoned for his Christian activities and moved to the United Kingdom 18 years ago, said, “We’re seeing the abused becoming abusers. They know it is wrong but it was done to them too. The government, the president, has been successful in sowing division and creating mistrust. You can’t speak in Eritrea because it might make you end up in jail at any time”.
The rare protests that were seen in the streets of the capital Asmara in November, following the government’s plans to turn all schools public, were not a sign of a possible ‘Eritrean Spring’, according to him. It won’t be repeated again soon, he said, “because of what happened to the protesters: they were arrested, jailed, and tortured. They [the authorities] will make sure you won’t do it again. And it discourages anyone who has similar ideas”.
‘Who needs people?’
The pastor was visiting a refugee camp in Ethiopia three weeks ago. At the end of 2017 Ethiopia was host to 164,668 Eritrean refugees with most of them in transit to other destinations.
People are “streaming out of [Eritrea]”, he told World Watch Monitor. Just the week before about 5,000 people had crossed the border, he said.
World Watch Monitor reported last month that an estimated 10 per cent of Eritreans have fled the country since the turn of the millennium, finding refuge in neighbouring countries or crossing the Mediterranean in search of safety in Europe and beyond. They have become the ‘top group’ of African asylum seekers in 2017.
People leaving their country “is exactly what the government wants”, the Eritrean pastor said. “They say: ‘Who needs people? They only cause trouble’.”
He says that there are hardly any young people left in the country. “The regime makes it impossible for them to stay. They leave the country because they can’t find a job or have a normal family life because of the mandatory conscription. Or they are kidnapped, like the son of a friend of mine. He was sold to someone in Sudan and his father had to pay a ransom to get him back”.
It is a bleak picture the pastor paints of his home country, which has been dubbed the “North Korea of Africa”.
“The kind of people the government want in the country are like the woman I saw in a disturbing YouTube video”, he told World Watch Monitor.
“In an interview with the Eritrean state television she said she had been paralysed but that, after having washed herself in a dam that was built by the government, she had been healed. She praised the president for that. For her it was now first the president, then Jesus.”
Authorities in Zanzibar, Tanzania Close Down Church
Bishop Daniel Kwileba Kwiyeya. (Morning Star News)
(Morning Star News) – The pastor of a church on Tanzania’s semi-autonomous Zanzibar Island was preaching earlier this month when a plainclothes police officer and local officials strode into the church service.
“One of the police officers in civilian clothes walked through the church’s door, stepped up to the podium and then grabbed the bishop by the arm,” a church member told Morning Star News. “The bishop pleaded with him to allow him finish the preaching.”
The congregation of the Pentecostal Evangelistic Fellowship of Africa (PEFA) church in Kisauni, near the Zanzibar City airport, was gripped with fear that day (May 6) as the pulpit microphone picked up Bishop Daniel Kwileba Kwiyeya’s plea. The regional and local district commissioners ordered him to stop the worship service as the officer dragged him into a police car, said the church member, unidentified for security reasons.
“Why are you arresting my father without giving us the reasons for his arrest?” the pastor’s daughter cried. “This is very inhumane.”
The local district commissioner slapped her and pushed her into the police vehicle, the source said.
Other church members tried to intervene, in vain. Bishop Kwiyeya and his daughter were taken to the police station in Mazizini. The 160-member congregation went back into their church building and began praying for them.
“No one can take away our faith in Jesus Christ – Jesus is always with us and is ready to help us,” a church elder told them.
Congregation members later went to the police station, where the chief officer told them there were no charges against the pastor and his daughter, and they were released later that day.
The incident followed an order to close the church after Muslim sheikhs from a nearby mosque complained that services on Sundays and weeknights were too loud – though the congregation does not use loudspeakers as the neighboring mosque does.
“We have the right to worship God just like our brothers the Muslims who worship God using loudspeakers, but no one terms their worship a nuisance,” the church member told Morning Star News. “We as the church are of the opinion that the order to close the church is tainted with favoritism and unconstitutional.”
On April 26, the regional and local district commissioners met with Muslim leaders on the church premises – without inviting the church leaders – and discussed the allegations that the church was becoming a nuisance to the community due to loud noise. The regional district commissioner then ordered the church be closed.
The church did not comply with the order since leaders had not been given the opportunity to defend themselves, the source said. The church instead filed an objection with the regional district commissioner.
“The church could have been given a hearing before such radical decision of closing the church was taken,” he said. “This is quite unfair and contrary to the provision of the constitutional rights of freedom of worship of the United Republic of Tanzania.”
Church members say the closure was a calculated move to weaken Christianity and do away with it in Zanzibar, off the coast of Tanzania, he said.
“The worship by the church should be respected as it is guaranteed by the constitution of Tanzania,” the church member said.
Area Muslims did not complain about noise at the church until it completed a worship building with a seating capacity of 500 people in February, he said. Previously church members worshipped in a tent.
In March, authorities closed another church in Zanzibar when police pulled down the temporary structure of 50 iron sheets of the Free Pentecost Church of Tanzania in Kiwengwa, sources said. The congregation has yet to find another worship place.
On Jan. 7, local government officials in Zanzibar Town gave no prior warning to church leaders before a bulldozer arrived and razed the building of Zanzibar Pentecostal Church of Jesus to make way for a state university.
Ramadan Challenge: Day 6 – Niger
The door is open. Hearts are open. For now.
97% of Niger is Muslim, yet many are ready and willing to hear about Jesus! In fact, many previously unreached peoples now have their first believers in Christ! But folk Islam holds many captive to demonic oppression. And strict interpretations of Islam are on the rise.
Who knows how long the door will remain open? Now is the time for the Gospel to take root across this land!
SUMMARY
The landlocked North African nation of Niger, a country of sand dunes and desert plains, still has the fresh flavor of freedom on its lips. Under military rule for thirty-one years, violent coups and bloody political infighting have finally unfolded into a fledgling democracy. One of the richest sources of uranium in the world, Niger has instead focused on developing agriculture and raising livestock. Future economic growth is hoped to be found in the mining of gold, coal, and recently discovered oil.
One of the poorest countries in the world, the agricultural economy is frequently destroyed by drought, making it insufficient to support the growing population. Slavery is still practiced in isolated areas of the country. Nigerian children are trafficked for labor in gold mines, sexual exploitation, and begging. Women are abducted and sold into domestic servitude or prostitution, and young boys are kidnapped for work in stone quarries. A land dispute between Libya remains unresolved and often triggers acts of violence.
Less than one percent of the population claims the Christian faith. Ninety-seven percent of the nation is Muslim, with 76% of the people listed as unreached ethnic groups. Christianity is slowly growing through humanitarian efforts such as well-digging, agricultural development, and education. The number of Evangelicals triples every year, though that is not keeping up with population growth. The cultural pressure to maintain the Islamic faith continues to hinder outreach efforts, though indigenous pastors, many of whom have converted to Christianity from Islam themselves, are stepping up as leaders in the fledgling church. Niger still has the taste of political freedom on their tongue. May spiritual freedom in Christ soon quench their eternal thirst with His bottomless well of compassion.
PRAYER POINTS
• Pray for focused efforts to evangelize those under the age of 15, half of the overall population.
• Pray for speed and accuracy for the workers translating the Scriptures for many barely reached people groups.
• Pray for a visible Christian presence in society and peace among struggling believers who feel isolated.
Blaine Scogin, Prayer Director of Persecution Watch and Voice of the Persecuted
Nightly Call scheduled through Ramadan
Time:
9 p.m. Eastern time
8 p.m. Central time
7 p.m. Mountain time
6 p.m. Pacific time
Call Number:
712-775-7035
Access Code:
281207#
Recommended: For those who may be subject to added charges for conference calls. Please download the app, it’s free!
MOBILE APP: Free Conference Call HD also provides a quick and easy way for you to dial into conference calls without having to remember the dial-in credentials. Save all of your conference call dial-in numbers and access codes using this free app. With the Free Conference Call HD you can instantly dial into a conference call via 3G/4G data network and or regular mobile carrier. Google Play link or App Store – iTunes
Available International IDOP Prayer Conference Call Numbers
(Note: If using one of the call numbers below, you may experience issues in your country. If you are unable to connect, try using the VoIP dialer available at this link. Click on VoIP dialer, go to this number 712-775-7035 in the drop down menu—enter access code 281207 (do not add the # symbol)—enter your name and click on the ‘Place Call’ button.)
Australia +61 (0) 3 8672 0185
Austria +43 (0) 732 2781155
Belgium +32 (0) 9 324 29 17
Brazil +55 61 4040-4314
Bulgaria +359 (0) 2 495 1527
Canada (712) 775-7060
Chile +56 (0) 44 890 9161
China +86 (0) 510 6801 0117
Costa Rica +506 4000 3885
Croatia +385 (0) 1 8000 065
Cyprus +357 77 788854
Czech +420 225 852 060
Denmark +45 78 77 36 35
Dominican Republic (829) 999-2585
Estonia +372 614 8061
Finland +358 (0) 9 74790032
France +33 (0) 1 80 14 00 56
GCC/Arabian Peninsula +973 1656 8325
Georgia +995 (0) 706 777 110
Germany +49 (0) 89 143772955
Guatemala +502 2458 1416
Hungary +36 1 987 6821
Iceland +354 539 0323
Indonesia +62 (0) 21 51388813
Ireland +353 (0) 1 437 0318
Israel +972 (0) 76-599-0026
Italy +39 06 8997 2187
Japan +81 (0) 3-5050-5075
Kenya +254 (0) 20 5231033
Latvia +371 67 881 516
Lithuania +370 (8) 37 248962
Luxembourg +352 20 30 10 03
Malaysia +60 (0) 11-1146 0070
Mexico +52 (01) 899 274 5015
Netherlands +31 (0) 6 35205061
Nigeria +234 (0) 1 440 5221
Norway +47 21 93 53 35
Pakistan +92 (0) 21 37130640
Panama +507 838-7821
Poland +48 32 739 96 40
Portugal +351 21 114 3145
Romania +40 (0) 31 780 7760
Slovakia +421 2 333 255 32
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Ramadan Challenge: Day 5 – Senegal
In the Parable of the Mustard Seed, Jesus said,
“How shall we picture the kingdom of God, or by what parable shall we present it? It is like a mustard seed, which, when sown upon the soil, though it is smaller than all the seeds that are upon the soil, yet when it is sown, it grows up and becomes larger than all the garden plants and forms large branches; so that the birds of the air can nest under its shade.” Mark 4:30-32
SUMMARY
Senegal is an atypical African country that defies most people’s expectations. Home to at least twelve diverse ethnic groups and one of the most stable democracies in Africa, the nation has fostered a reputation of mediation, tolerance, and acceptance. This is rare for most of the African continent. The capital, Dakar, sits on the westernmost point of Africa overlooking the Atlantic Ocean, which feeds both its fishing and tourist economies. As a Muslim country and black nation, Senegal acts as a cultural and political bridge between the indigenous African and Islamic worlds.
With a mostly agricultural economy, Senegal has been devastated by droughts, and as these dry periods push citizens from rural to urban settings, social issues such as alcoholism and drug use have permeated the population. Though the tradition is slowly dying away, the practice of genital mutilation is still performed in spite of government reform. Also, the nation is plagued by multiple health problems, including intestinal and parasitic infections and sexually transmitted diseases. Due to lack of sanitation, medical personnel, and adequate medications, many of these preventable diseases result in death. A growing practice of sending children to live in schools that, in turn, disperse the children to the streets to beg for money and food has resulted in a malnourished, uneducated, and forgotten generation. Even though the nation prides itself in its ideals of acceptance, the Diola tribe of the Casamance region has engaged in violent revolt against northern Islamic neighbors.
Due to the level of religious freedom, a source of pride for the Senegalese, Christians are able to worship freely and evangelize. The New Testament has recently been translated into seven languages and seventeen other translations are in the works. Though ninety percent of the population claims the Islamic faith, Christianity is starting to take hold as hearts remain open in the Senegalese people. God’s at work in the nation, and He is moving mightily.
PRAYER POINTS
• Pray for spiritual breakthroughs among the Muslim majority.
• Pray for the the small body of believers to boldly live out their faith in a way that draws Muslims to Christ.
• Pray for indigenous churches to be planted among many unreached people groups.
Blaine Scogin, Prayer Director of Persecution Watch and Voice of the Persecuted
Nightly Call scheduled through Ramadan
Time:
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