From Barnabas Fund:

CHRISTIAN CONVERTS IN CAMEROON UNDER THREAT FROM MILITANT ISLAMISTS

Country: Africa, Cameroon

Christian converts in northern Cameroon are coming under intensifying pressure following a warning from militant Muslims to return to Islam or “face Allah’s wrath”.

Anti-Christian incidents are rare in Cameroon Philippe Semanaz / CC BY-SA 2.0

The handwritten threat from a group identifying itself as Boko Haram was put under the door of a church leader’s house earlier this month. It called on all Christian converts to return to Islam at the mosque on Friday 13 January or face the wrath of the god of Islam.

A few days later, two turbaned men arrived by motorcycle at the church leader’s house one night while he was away. One entered the house and ordered the man’s wife and children to lie face down on the ground. He asked where the church leader was and then searched the house. The intruder told the wife to tell her husband that they would get him no matter where he was hiding.

After this distressing incident, the family fled the village, and the other converts have gone into hiding.

Another Christian leader, who has been trying to inform church leaders about the militants’ threat, also had his house searched at night. Two turbaned men carrying a sword turned up and spoke to the man’s wife; they also searched the property and stole his computer. The leader arrived home after the pair had left.

Boko Haram is a militant Islamist group that has been wreaking havoc against Christians in neighbouring Nigeria.

On New Year’s Day, the group gave Christians a three-day ultimatum to leave NorthernNigeria. Since the deadline expired, Christians have been gunned down at church and in their homes.

Boko Haram has been behind numerous high-profile attacks on Christians, politicians, police and security services in Nigeria, killing over 900 people since it launched an uprising in 2009. It is fighting to establish an Islamic state.

It is a worrying development that militants identifying themselves with Boko Haram are now threatening and harassing Christians in Cameroon, where it is rare to hear of anti-Christian incidents. The country is around 54 per cent Christian and 26 per cent Muslim.

From Barnabas Fund:

IRANIAN CONVERT SCALDED WITH HOT WATER WHILE SEEKING ASYLUM IN TURKEY

Country: Iran, Middle East and North Africa, Turkey

A persecuted Iranian convert to Christianity who was forced to flee his homeland was beaten and scalded with hot water by his employer in Turkey, where he has been seeking asylum.

Yousef Fallah Ranjbar suffered severe scalding on his back Image: www.mohabatnews.com

Yousef Fallah Ranjbar left Iran in December 2008 because of the problems he was experiencing as a result of his Christian faith. He, like many other Iranian converts, sought refuge through the United Nations’ Refugee Agency (UNHCR) in Ankara,Turkey.

Yousef has faced many setbacks in his case, throughout which he has been continuously working 14-hour days, doing hard labour in tough conditions, for a maximum of 20 Turkish Liras (£7).

He has continued to face persecution. Yousef’s Turkish employer took exception to his Christian faith and has repeatedly denied him his pay as a result.

On one occasion, after Yousef had asked for his pay several times, the employer and several other workers attacked him; they beat him and poured hot water over him, causing severe scalding on his back.

Yousef reported the incident to the police and the case was pursued. But the trial has been postponed because the employer failed to appear for the hearing.

“ONE EXAMPLE OF HUNDREDS”

According to Iranian Christian news agency Mohabat News, Yousef is “just one example of hundreds of Iranian Christian asylum seekers who are living in such situations in Turkey”.

Yousef is still awaiting a decision on his asylum case after a series of delays and interviews and an appeal. Mohabat News said that interviewers and decision-makers at UNHCR fail to understand the danger facing converts to Christianity in Iran and so often turn down their asylum appeals.

Iranian converts live under the constant threat of arrest, imprisonment, torture and possibly even death, as numerous cases have shown.

Most recently, on 18 January, convert Leila Mohammadi was jailed for two years having been declared guilty of “broad anti-Islamic propaganda, deceiving citizens by formation of what is called a house church, insulting sacred figures and action against national security”.

From Barnabas Fund:

CHURCH LEADER MARTYRED WHILE HELPING WOUNDED PARISHIONER IN SYRIA

Country: Middle East and North Africa, Syria

Syrian Christians have hailed as a martyr a 30-year-old church leader who was gunned down as he rushed to the aid of a parishioner wounded amid heavy fighting in Hama.

The anti-government unrest in Syria began eleven months ago CC BY 2.0 / syriana2011

Basilios Nassar was shot in the chest and right armpit by anti-government rebels last Wednesday (25 January) as he gave medical assistance to the man, who had also been shot.

Another church leader who was with Basilios dragged him to a nearby building in an attempt to save his life. But he was bleeding heavily and died within 30 minutes.

Basilios, who led the church in his home village of Kfarbaham, near Hama, had received a phone call asking him to help a parishioner who had been injured in the neighbourhood of Jarajima. It was the second day of heavy fighting between government troops and rebels in Hama.

Basilios had been ordained after receiving a Master’s degree in Theology from Balamand University in Lebanon. Basilios, who was formerly known as “Mazin”, was also a teacher of Byzantine music at a school that he had founded.

Around 100 Christians have been killed in Syria since the anti-government unrest began eleven months ago. The community has also been beset by a series of kidnappings; children are being especially targeted by the kidnappers, who, if they do not receive the ransom demanded, kill the victim.

Tears, neatly dug graves at bombed Nigeria church

From ADF and the AP:

Feb 1, 12:39 PM EST Tears, neatly dug graves at bombed Nigeria church By BASHIR ADIGUN  Associated Press

World Video Advertisement Multimedia Death Row Art Nigerians honor Emir of Kano Traditional Boxers Face Off in "Dambe" Kegbara Dere's Fire Latest News from Nigeria Nigeria secret police: Sect spokesman arrested Tears, neatly dug graves at bombed Nigeria church Nigeria dictator's top aide sentenced to death Nigerian terror suspect's trial set for Oct. 1 Nigeria Supreme Court fires 5 governors Buy AP Photo Reprints MADALLA, Nigeria (AP) -- A Catholic church in Nigeria still in mourning after a Christmas Day bombing by a radical Islamist sect buried its dead Wednesday amid wails of grief and under the watch of security agencies that still fear more violence. Neatly dug graves awaited the corpses in a vacant dirt lot in the church's compound, now turned into a mass tomb. Church officials said that of at least 44 people who died in the violence at St. Theresa Catholic Church, some still remain unclaimed and unrecognizable after the Dec. 25 attack by the sect known as Boko Haram. Inside the church, whose front steps have been barred off by iron fencing, red bunting hung above the altar over a crucifix and a painting of Jesus Christ at the Last Supper, his hands open wide, his face serene. About 2,000 mourners and priests surrounded the caskets placed there. One casket, covered in Nigeria's green-and-white national flag, had a pair of black boots sitting atop. The body within belonged to a young Boy Scout. "As I look at you, I am consoled and comforted. As I looked at the caskets here covered in white, I am comforted and consoled because from the day of our baptism we were given a white cloth," Bishop Martin Uzoukwu said. The bishop called on the crowd to forgive, as well as praise God. He said: "If that vehicle that brought the bomb had been allowed to come in, it could have been worse." The bombing there Christmas Day struck just after 8 a.m. as worshippers began to leave the sanctuary after a morning service. A car bomb detonated near the church's front steps, cutting down those leaving. Those wounded quickly overwhelmed Nigeria's chronically underprepared emergency services, filling the cement floors of a nearby government hospital, crying in pools of their own blood. Corpses lined an open-air morgue. Boko Haram later claimed responsibility for the attack that saw others die in attacks in two other Nigerian cities. The sect, whose whose name means "Western education is sacrilege" in the local Hausa language, is carrying out increasingly sophisticated and bloody attacks in its campaign to implement strict Shariah law and avenge Muslim killings in Nigeria, a multiethnic nation of more than 160 million people. The sect was blamed for at least 510 killings last year alone, according to an Associated Press count. The violence has not stopped this year, as the sect claimed a coordinated assault Jan. 20 in the northern city of Kano that killed at least 185 people. Outside the church, the town near Nigeria's capital Abuja remained tense Wednesday. Heavily armed soldiers guarded the road. The crowd within hysterically shouted away a local Muslim leader who wanted to attend the ceremony. Bishop John Onayekan still called on those gathered to pray for those who organized the attack. "Beyond forgiveness, let us pray for the conversion of those who have allowed themselves to be used by the devil to perpetrate such a diabolic act targeting and killing innocent men, women and children," Onayekan said. But violence by Boko Haram, which has increasingly begun targeting Christians, has inflamed longtime tensions between the group. Thousands have died in recent years in rioting sparked by ethnic and religious differences in this nation largely divided into a Christian south and a Muslim north. © 2012 The Associated Press.

Christians fear being kicked out of unreached areas; Five more people are dead

From Mission Network News:

Christians fear being kicked out of unreached areas

POSTED: 1 FEBRUARY, 2012

• Topics in this story:
 
• africa
 , 
• boko haram
 , 
• nigeria
 , 
• sharia
 , 
• terrorists

Africa Director Rae Burnett took this photo of a Kanuri woman who just heard the gospel for the first time from indigenous missionaries.

Nigeria (MNN) ― Five more people are dead as Boko Haram continues its spread of terror across northern Nigeria. Churches have been attacked, Christians murdered, and now even Muslims are being targeted. Mostly those who are trying to protect Christians, or are sympathetic to them.
The most recent attack came when the Boko Haram Islamic Sect on Monday night invaded the Nigerian Air Force, NAF, barracks as well as a police station in Maiduguri, Borno State, killing five people including a soldier, two policemen and two civilians.
It's a quest to force the region into Sharia law
Africa Director for Christian Aid Mission Rae Burnett says missionaries they're supporting are reaching the unreached in these areas, but she's concerned that openness will end. "The fear is that the villagers will get word of this and be afraid to allow the Christian missionaries in. They've seen and appreciated the love of the Christians to be helpful to them. If Boko Haram gets word of it, they'll chase them out."
Up until just recently Boko Haram had been focusing on terror in major cities. But, that's changing, says Burnett. "Some of the villages in the north
This would destroy the work Christian Aid Mission has been able to do. It's already affected some of their partners. "Several of the missionaries have had to leave their fields because of the threats. Of course, these Boko Haram people have relatives everywhere. And if one of them is in one of these villages, then it can cause these missionaries trouble."
Christian Aid Mission supports national Christians who are focused on reaching the unreached. Burnett says, "Nigeria is the most populated country in Africa, and there are many, many areas that have not been reached with the Gospel. The ministry that we have, primarily, helped has been so successful."
Burnett says, "They came into being to reach one particular tribe, and they've grown. Now they're reaching 14 tribes. Most of them are in the north, which has been extremely closed to the Gospel."
Christian Aid Mission supports Nigerian believers who have a plan to reach the unreached with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Your financial support can help keep them work in these areas while the doors are still olpen. Click here to help Nigerian missionaries.