May 2023 Persecution Magazine

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ICC Newsroom YOUR SOURCE FOR PERSECUTION NEWS Lone Protestant Church in Gaza Struggles to Survive Gaza’s Christian community is struggling to survive after years of steady decline in numbers. Only an estimated 1,000 Christians remain in the Gaza Strip, an area of more than two million residents – the third most densely populated political unit in the world. Internal pressures caused by radical Islamic terrorists and other political and territorial factors drive Christians out of the area. Christians of all denominations have played a vastly important role in healthcare, education, and business in the Gaza Strip for centuries. Today, among evangelicals, only one known Protestant church continues. Its leadership has been struggling to lead its flock ever since local Islamic militants martyred the Bible Society’s Christian Bookstore’s manager in 2007, which was followed by an exodus of church leaders. Christians feel pressure from all sides and are in many ways cut off from fellowship with and support from the wider body of Christ. Pray for the church in Gaza that they would remain strong under daily pressures and threats. More Than 70 Christians Killed in DRC in Two Weeks The Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) killed 72 Christians in Nord Kivu in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) in the span of two weeks. Mulinde Esemo, a key church leader in Butembo, DRC, said the past two weeks have been a period of “great anguish” for the body of Christ in Congo. “We are living in a very tense situation here in Eastern DRC, both in towns and in the villages,” said Esemo. “Scores of believers have been killed in cold blood by the ADF rebels. It is a massacre like one killing animals.” Unabated, the ADF militants have been on a killing spree as they push their agenda of the Islamization of the majority-Christian eastern side of the DRC. Esemo continued, “Families that fled from all those villages are now living as refugees here in Butembo, despite the fact that the town and the suburbs are overpopulated. Women and children are the most affected since they are most vulnerable. You will occasionally hear them crying for the lack of food, as the men look for casual jobs to buy something for the families.” Please consider partnering with International Christian Concern (ICC) to assist our brothers and sisters who are suffering in the DRC and please continue to pray for them. 4 <strong>Persecution</strong> | MAY <strong>2023</strong>
HEAD TO OUR WEBSITE, PERSECUTION.ORG, FOR THE LATEST NEWS More Than 36 Murdered in Brutal ADF Attack In the early hours of the morning on March 9, rebels from the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) attacked a village in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). At least 36 people were killed during the overnight attack. Villagers were trapped in their burning houses or murdered with machetes and hatchets. Militants Promise Attacks on Nigerian Christians Fifty-seven communities in northern Nigeria were unable to vote at their polling unit because of their Christian faith, according to community leaders. Boko Haram and bandits in Kaduna, Borno, Yola, and Adamawa states have displaced more than 200,000 Christians. Other community sources report that 22 individuals were killed for supporting Christian candidate Peter Obi of the Labour Party in Borno State. Moses David, a Christian rights activist who supported Peter Obi’s candidacy, spoke with ICC. He said that the election was not free and fair, and he is worried that Christians will not have a voice in Nigeria again. He predicted Christians will suffer more if nothing is done. The attack took place in an area that has been plagued with violent rebel activity. The Islamic-affiliated ADF made ICC’s 2022 comprehensive Persecutor of the Year report for worst “entities.” 14,000 Gather in Vietnam for Evangelism Event In March, more than 14,000 people in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, attended the Spring Love Festival hosted by the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. The event made history. This was the first time the communist Vietnamese government permitted, outside of a holiday, an evangelistic outreach with a foreign speaker. Rev. Franklin Graham, who is the president and CEO of the association, shared with the crowd, “God makes and creates you and loves you and Vietnam. Jesus is in the city tonight.” Before the event, Graham reportedly met with Deputy Prime Minister Le Minh Khai and other officials to discuss religious freedom in the country. PERSECUTION.ORG 5
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May 2023 Persecution Magazine

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