Originally published in BCNN5. For the first time in centuries, a remote African tribe called the Batwa Pygmies is being introduced to Jesus Christ. “We smoked, we drank, we performed witchcraft,” said Jovanis Nyirakayanje, a Batwa Pygmy. “We were devil worshippers.” For centuries, the Batwa were rain forest dwellers who […]
Africa News
Report sheds light on deadly persecution of Christians in Nigeria’s Middle Belt
Originally published in World Watch Monitor. Nigeria’s Middle Belt is the scene of ever-continuing attacks on Christian farmers by mainly Muslim Hausa-Fulani herdsmen, including this past week where attacks have occurred in both Kaduna and Benue states. Now a recent report about another state in the Middle Belt, Nasarawa, shows that […]
Missionary kidnapped in Niger
Originally published in World Watch Monitor The kidnap of a pioneering American missionary in Niger is a “terrible tragedy” for the communities he served for 24 years, according to the local mayor. It has also raised security concerns among the country’s missionary community. Jeff Woodke, 55, who worked for Jeunesse […]
Christian woman tortured – because she kept saying the name of Jesus
Originally published in Christian Today. A young Christian woman from Eritrea has described how she was imprisoned in a shipping container, tortured and beaten and starved – all because she refused to stop saying the name of Jesus. Helen Berhane is from Eritrea, one of the worst countries in the […]
At least 23 killed in fresh attack in Central African Republic
Originally published in World Watch Monitor After a period of relative calm, violence has returned to the Central African Republic (CAR), which was wracked by near-civil war and inter-religious violence between 2012 and 2014. Fighters from Central African Republic’s largely Muslim Seleka militia attacked refugees in Kaga Bandoro, in the […]
Boko Haram frees 21 kidnapped Chibok schoolgirls in Nigeria
Originally published in Christian Today. More than 20 schoolgirls kidnapped by Islamist group Boko Haram in Nigeria in 2014 have been released, Nigeria’s government confirmed on Thursday. “The release of the girls…is the outcome of negotiations between the administration and the Boko Haram brokered by the International Red Cross and […]
Ethiopian teenage girls detained after giving out Christian book
Originally published by World Watch Monitor. In Ethiopia, three teenage Christian girls have been arrested following the distribution of a Christian book in the town of Babile, about 550km east of the capital, Addis Ababa. Babile is close to the historic walled city of Harar, also known as the City […]
Al Shabaab claims death of six Christians in Kenya attack
Originally published in Christian Today. Islamist militant group al-Shabaab claimed the deaths of six Christians in an attack on a residential compound in Northeast Kenya on Thursday. “We are behind the Mandera attack in which we killed six Christians,” Sheikh Abdiasis Abu Musab, al Shabaab’s military operations spokesman, told Reuters. […]
Over 6 000 people accept Jesus Christ during Kenya outreach
Originally published in Christian Today When hundreds of missionaries urged locals in Kenya to pray for a revival, they did not expect that it would lead to thousands of lives being saved just 10 days later. Over 640 missionaries from around the world gathered to bring revival to a Kenyan […]
Nigerian Christian woman stands firm even after losing entire family to Boko Haram
Originally published in The Gospel Herald A Nigerian Christian woman has refused to turn her back on her faith — even after Boko Haram militants murdered her husband and kidnapped her three children. According to a report from persecution watchdog Open Doors USA, Deborah Shettima converted to Christianity from Islam […]