Suicide bombers attack Nigerian church

Emergency workers carry away the body of one killed
in the recent suicide bombing in Jos, Nigeria.
Photo: Compass Direct News

(Sources: Christian Solidarity Worldwide, Compass Direct News)

A suicide bomber has killed eight people, including two boys and an expectant mother, after detonating an explosive device just outside a church in Nigeria. The car bomb detonated outside the gate of a church on March 11 could be heard up to two kilometres away, shattering the glass in buildings within a 200-metre radius.

It is believed the attacks are the work of Boko Haram, an Islamic extremist group that seeks to impose a strict version of Shariah (Islamic law) in Nigeria.

The bombing has led to outbreaks of more violence, and some state health and police sources have reported unconfirmed "reprisal" attacks against Muslims. Witnesses have also reported additional deaths of Christians at the hands of military personnel. Some sources said soldiers killed four Christians when they were confronted about how the car containing the bomb had made it past security.

This is the second such bombing in the Christian community of Jos in Plateau State in recent weeks. An earlier bombing at a church in late February killed several people.

Please pray.

• Please pray that those mourning the loss of loved ones will find comfort in Christ. 
• Pray for a peace that surpasses all understanding for those living amidst the ensuing violence. 
• Pray that God will give Nigerian Christians the patience to entrust true justice into the hands of God (Romans 12:17-21).

For more on the persecuted Church in Nigeria, go to the Nigeria Country Report.

Extremist group plots to 'end the Christian presence' in northern Nigeria

A recent bombing in Jos is part of an
effort to “end the Christian presence” in Nigeria.

The al-Qaeda linked Nigerian terrorist group Boko Haram has declared it is plotting to "end the Christian presence" in much of northern Nigeria, reports the Australian Evangelical Alliance Religious Liberty Commission.

According to a spokesman, the group is preparing to launch a campaign of terror against Christians through kidnapping Christian women and coordinated bombings. The women reportedly will be held for ransom and returned only to Christian families who leave the region. The goal is to eradicate Christians completely so that a "proper Islamic state" might be established.

The authorities say Boko Haram is well armed with sophisticated weaponry and munitions. This new threat against Christians is very direct and indicates very dangerous days lie ahead.

Please pray for Nigeria.

• Please pray the Lord will protect and deliver believers in northern Nigeria. 
• Pray He will frustrate the plans of the enemy and though His mercy bring many to repentance. 
• Pray that Christians in Nigeria will not be fearful but trust God (Revelation 2:10).

Visit our Nigeria Country Report for more information on Nigeria's persecuted Church.

Four Christians killed in bomb attack in Jos, Nigeria

Debris of the car engine used in the attack.

(Sources: VOM contacts, Release International)

Four Christians died and over 50 more were injured after a car bomb exploded at the Church of Christ in Nigeria headquarters on February 26 in Jos, Plateau state. The Sunday morning worship service had just started when two suicide bombers detonated their explosives.

One of the bombers was killed, while the other was later apprehended. The Islamist terrorist group Boko Haram has claimed responsibility for the attack, which sparked violent reprisals in which two Muslims were killed.

Boko Haram, which models itself on the Taliban, aims to impose radical Islamic law in Nigeria, including a more extreme form of Shariah in the north. To achieve this, observers believe the militants are attempting to destabilize relations between Christians and Muslims.

The group has been stepping up attacks against the Christian minority in the north and has ordered Christians to leave. At the same time, the militants have been targeting Jos, the dividing line between the mainly Muslim north and the predominantly Christian south.

Please pray!

• Please pray that Christians in Nigeria will remain faithful to God, even in the midst of unrest.
• Pray the Lord will give those affected by the violence the desire and strength to forgive their attackers.
• Pray for those who are grieving.
• Pray the Lord will reach many in Nigeria with the truth of the gospel so they may repent and believe.

For more on the persecuted Church in Nigeria, click here. To post a prayer for Nigeria's suffering Christians, visit our Persecuted Church Prayer Wall.

Bible college bombed in Sudan

This church building, built by Samaritan's Purse,
was bombed in January.
© 2008 Samaritan's Purse.
All rights reserved. Used with permission.

A Bible school supported by Samaritan's Purse was destroyed on February 1 in the latest bombing raid to hit South Kordofan, a Sudanese province that borders the newly created independent country of South Sudan (for more on South Sudan, click here).

Eight bombs were dropped in the area of Heiban Bible College during the school's first day of classes. According to eyewitness accounts, the bombing required a sustained effort with at least four flyover passes.

Fortunately, no injuries were reported. "We have been working for years in Sudan," Samaritan's Purse President Franklin Graham said after the attack. "Today our Bible school in Heiban in the Nuba Mountains was bombed by the Sudanese Air Force. No one was killed or hurt, but buildings were destroyed. Please pray for the safety of believers, and that God would intervene."

Since early August, at least four churches built by Samaritan's Purse have been destroyed by bombing or burning.

Thank the Lord no one was injured or killed. Pray the Lord will strengthen the faith of the students and other believers after this attack and ask Him to provide for them. Pray the Holy Spirit will bring new life and faith to the people around the Nuba Mountains. Pray for those behind these attacks.

For more information on persecution in Sudan, visit the Sudan Country Report. To post a prayer of solidarity with suffering believers in Sudan, visit our Persecuted Church Prayer Wall.

One year later, no answers to Egypt church bombing

Survivors of the Saints Church’s bombing
in Alexandria examine bodies of victims.
(Photo: Watani)

(Sources: AP, International Christian Concern)

Just over a year ago, Amira Maurice was attending a New Year's Eve Mass in the Saints Church in Egypt's Mediterranean coastal city of Alexandria with her fiancé, their marriage set for only a few months away. Then a bomb blast ripped through the church.

Now, the 28-year-old pharmacist is in Germany undergoing the latest in a string of surgeries to save her leg and deal with her burns. Her fiancé is dead, one of the 21 people killed in the suicide bombing targeting the church (for more on the attack, click here).

The one year anniversary of the bombing of the Saints Church in Alexandria has passed with no new insights to the case. Named as Egypt's most dramatic anti-Christian attack, the bombing killed 21 people and wounded many more.

While a few suspects were detained, they have since been released and no other inroads have been made in the investigation.

Please continue to lift this situation to the Lord in prayer.

• Pray for those who continue to grieve the loss of loved ones. 
• Pray for the wounded who continue to heal from the attack. 
• Pray that the perpetrators will be located and that the authorities will justly investigate the event. 
• Pray that religious freedom will be respected in Egypt.

For more on the trials believers face in Egypt, go to the Egypt Country Report.

Church bombed in Iraq

A bomb blast in Kirkuk, Iraq damaged a church building.

A wave of violence hit 17 cities in Iraq, claiming about 70 lives. Included in the attacks was the bombing of a church building in Kirkuk, reports Compass Direct News. This is the second round of attacks against the city’s Christian community in two weeks.

On August 15 at 1:20 a.m., an explosive device tore through one of the walls of the Syriac Orthodox Church of Mar Afram. Photos show bricks from the wall strewn across the church floor. One of the metal doors has been twisted open.

Thankfully, no Christians were killed in the attack, but police have announced higher protective measures for Kirkuk’s churches.

Abuna Gourgis Alyes, a priest from Mar Afram church, said that this attack was the third assault on his church in the past five years. There were minor attacks in 2006 and 2008, but this last one has been the most devastating.

Another pastor visiting the church was overwhelmed by the destruction.

“Now I am here and seeing it with my own eyes.... They have to demolish the church and rebuild it,” said the pastor.

Abuna Alyes said the incident’s worst repercussion is that many will view this attack as the final straw that leads them to leave Kirkuk. Since January, 10 families from Mar Afram have already fled the area.

About 334,000 Christians remain in Iraq, less than half of their number in 1991. The violence has caused hundreds of thousands of Iraqi people, both Muslim and Christian, to leave the country, and many more are displaced inside Iraq, particularly in Kurdistan.

For the full report, click here.

Pray for Christians in Iraq!

Iraqi Christians are requesting our prayers for two recent incidents, reports Middle East Concern.

Yesterday morning, a car bomb exploded outside the Holy Family Church in Kirkuk. At least 20 people were injured, including the priest, other church staff and neighbours. One person is reported to be seriously hurt. The church building was badly damaged, and several nearby homes were also damaged.

Bombs were found outside two other church buildings in Kirkuk.

Back in July, a house fellowship leader was detained by the police and continues to be held without charge. It is believed he may be held for his Christian activities, because the authorities recently warned him to stop.

Today in Baghdad, four men were convicted of planning and coordinating the October 31, 2010, attack at the Syrian Catholic Church of Our Lady of Salvation in Baghdad in which 58 people, including the perpetrators, were killed. Three were given the death sentence and the fourth a 20-year jail term.

Iraqi Christians request our prayers that:

• The wounded and traumatized will know the presence, peace and healing touch of Jesus.
• The perpetrators of the bomb attack will love mercy and act justly, and know the Spirit's conviction of guilt and the Father's loving offer of forgiveness and new life.
• Our brother will know the peace and presence of Jesus, and be released soon.
• All officials involved will love mercy and act justly.

More Iraqi Christians killed in bombings

A series of 10 coordinated bombings in and around Baghdad last night appeared to target homes of Christians, police said. Two people were killed and 20 wounded, all of them Christians, said the Ministry of the Interior.

You can read a NY Times article about the bombings here.

Please continue to pray for our Iraqi brothers and sisters who have come under intensified persecution in recent months. Pray for their safety and well-being. Pray they will continue to “say of the LORD, “He is my refuge and my fortress; my God, in Him I will trust” (Psalm 91:2).