By Lindy Lowry in Stories of Persecution (Open Doors USA)
We are reporting difficult news today about kidnapped Nigerian Christian schoolgirl Leah Sharibu—one month after a faction of Boko Haram, the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), surfaced a video of an execution of a kidnapped aid worker and issued a one-month deadline to the Nigerian government, threatening to kill Leah and two other kidnapped aid workers abducted during a March 2018 raid on a military facility in Rann.
One month to the day of their recent deadline, ISWAP militants have released a video of the second execution of one of the two remaining kidnapped aid workers, 24-year-old midwife Hauwa Leman. They also threatened to keep Leah Sharibu and the third aid worker, Alice Ngaddah, as “slaves for life.”
In a short clip seen by a special correspondent of Nigerian newspaper The Cable, a spokesperson for the Islamic extremist group said:
“We have kept our word exactly as we said, by killing Hauwa Leman, who is working with the International Committee of the Red Cross.
“Saifura and Hauwa were killed because they are considered as Murtads (apostates) by the group because they were once Muslims that have abandoned their Islam, the moment they chose to work with the Red Cross, and for us, there is no difference between Red Cross and UNICEF.
“If we see them, we will kill the apostates among them, men or women, and choose to kill or keep the infidels as slaves, men or women.”
‘LEAH AND ALICE WILL BE OUR SLAVES’
In the same statement issued today, militants threatened to keep Leah Sharibu and the third aid worker, Alice Ngaddah, as “our slaves, ”The Cable reported.
“From today, Sharibu and Ngaddah are now our slaves. Based on our doctrines, it is now lawful for us to do whatever we want to do with them.”
Both Leah and Alice are Christians. Alice is a mother of two who works with UNICEF. Leah was one of 110 girls kidnapped from the Government Girls’ Science and Technical College in Dapchi on February 19, 2018. While her Muslim classmates were released through back-channel efforts, Leah was kept captive because she refused to renounce her faith in Christ.
Since then, her parents and Christian groups across Nigeria and the world have pleaded for Leah’s return. A week before the deadline, her mother, Rebecca Sharibu, held a press conference expressing her anguish and begging the government to “bring Leah back.”
“As we are approaching October 15, on Monday, I am pleading with the federal government, and the president, to hear my plea and the plea of Leah’s dad to secure the release of our daughter,” Rebecca said.
Watch footage from Rebecca Sharibu’s recent press conference:
On Sunday, 24 hours before ISWAP’s deadline, the International Committee of the Red Cross urged the group to free the women:
“We urge you: spare and release these women. They are a midwife, a nurse, and a student. Like all those abducted, they are not part of any fight,” said Patricia Danzi, director of ICRC Operations in Africa. “They are daughters and sisters, one is a mother — women with their futures ahead of them, children to raise, and families to return to.”
Nigerian Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, described the killing as “dastardly, inhuman and ungodly,” saying “nothing can justify the shedding of the blood of innocent people …
“We are deeply pained by this killing, just like we were by the recent killing of Saifura Ahmed, the first aid worker. However, we will keep the negotiations open and continue to work to free the innocent women who remain in the custody of their abductors.”
In recent months, ISWAP has issued a number of messages aimed at putting pressure on Nigerian authorities to pay ransoms for the release of Leah and the kidnapped aid workers, without success.
CONTINUE TO PRAY FERVENTLY WITH LEAH SHARIBU AND HER FAMILY
Pray for God’s protection over Leah physically, mentally and spiritually. We pray that not a hair on this young girl’s head would be touched or harmed. Ask God to reveal to her a vision of His army of warrior angels as they surround her.
Pray for the other hostages with Leah, especially Alice Loksha Ngaddah. God, we ask for her protection and that these two believers would find comfort and courage in each other, praying together.
Pray for strength–that Leah and Alice would be reminded of Your promise to never leave or forsake them. We pray for Your words to flow through their minds.
Pray for peace. We pray for calmness of spirit that only God can provide. Ask God to give Leah, Alice and their families enduring patience, to place peace that passes all our understanding in their hearts and as others see that peace, many will come to know Christ.
Pray for a bold witness. Ask God to be Leah’s and Alice’s light in this darkness and make their lives living testimonies. May their witness be so profound to their captors’ eyes, ears and hearts that they would be opened to the truth.
Pray for comfort. Ask God to be tangibly close to Leah, Alice and their families–that His presence would give them peace, comfort, strength, faith, and even joy as they set their eyes on Him.
Pray for rescue. Pray that God would open closed doors to bring Leah, Alice and the rest of the captives home. Ask God to work a miracle so divine that it would astound her captors and lead many of them to Him. We ask that their captors’ eyes might be open to the heavenly realm and the myriad of angels surrounding them.
Pray for the families of the executed midwives. Ask God to comfort them and provide for them in ways they could never imagine.
Pray for the Nigerian government and President Buhari–that they will be convicted to work diligently and do all they can to release all hostages. Pray that the international community will not remain silent on this, but will assist the government to fulfill their responsibilities towards these citizens.
In Your Son’s name, we pray and ask for these things… #RememberLeah
Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever! (Ephesians 3: 20-21)
Leave your prayers for Leah and her family at our Leah Sharibu Prayer Wall where hundreds of believers have shared their hearts and words, interceding and groaning for her return.
A massive crackdown on religious freedom has for years been underway in China, where churches are being demolished, Bibles confiscated and posters of Jesus replaced with imagery of President Xi Jinping.
In China, the communist government sees the spread of the Christian faith as a Western threat to their culture and way of life. In 2016, Xi said, “We must resolutely guard against overseas infiltrations via religious means.”
The Chinese government wrote religious freedom provisions into its constitution in 1982, but that hasn’t slowed the oppression of Christians living in the restrictive country.
According to a recent report from The Sun, Xi’s regime has gone so far as even barring children from visiting churches.
The most recent crackdown has reportedly been in the Xinjiang province, along the borders of Afghanistan and Pakistan. Government officials have called the region “not Chinese enough.”
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As a result, Xi’s administration is requiring “Chinese characteristics” to be incorporated into all activities, religious beliefs and cultural traditions, a large part of which is adherence to the communist ideology.
Xi began his push for the “sinicization” of the Catholic Church in particular in 2015, when he said the Church must be free of any “foreign influence.” Earlier this year, bishops in China jumpstarted an effort to bring the Catholic Church in the Asian country more in-line with the native culture.
And despite its claims of religious tolerance, in June, officials with the Chinese government tore down Christian imagery of Jesus from Our Lady of Mount Carmel in China’s Henan province, which has served as a popular pilgrimage for Chinese Catholics since the very early 1900s.
One religious source on the ground told the Catholic News Agency at the time that the Communist government would “allow Catholicism to exist but not develop.”
The Chinese government also destroyed the Liangwang Catholic Church in July, according to Asia News, even though the building was owned by the community and had been registered since 2006
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As for unregistered Protestant house churches, according to The Associated Press, Xi’s government once seemingly tolerated them. But that’s no longer the case. Now the Communist regime is taking a tougher approach that leans heavily on “thought reform,” a kind of political indoctrination.
In November 2017, Christian residents of a rural township in the southeast Jiangxi province were convinced by the government to replace posters of the cross and Jesus with images of the Chinese president.
“Xi is a closet Maoist — he is very anxious about thought control,” Willy Lam, a Chinese politics expert at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, told the AP. “He definitely does not want people to be faithful members of the church, because then people would profess their allegiance to the church rather than to the party, or more exactly, to Xi himself.”
There are also several instances in which the government confiscated Christian literature and Bibles. One such raid occurred in May, when government authorities stole more than 1,000 Chinese Bibles from five house churches in the Shandong province, claiming it was part of an effort to quell the spread of pornography in the sprawling country.
All of this is part of the government plan to “Sinicize” churches, both Protestant and Catholic.
“Only Sinicized churches can obtain God’s love,” the government stated.
According to a recent report from The Sun, Xi’s regime has gone so far as even barring children from visiting churches.
The most recent crackdown has reportedly been in the Xinjiang province, along the borders of Afghanistan and Pakistan. Government officials have called the region “not Chinese enough.”
SUBSCRIBE to Faithwire for stories of FAITH and INSPIRATION, Faithwire …it’s free!
As a result, Xi’s administration is requiring “Chinese characteristics” to be incorporated into all activities, religious beliefs and cultural traditions, a large part of which is adherence to the communist ideology.
Xi began his push for the “sinicization” of the Catholic Church in particular in 2015, when he said the Church must be free of any “foreign influence.” Earlier this year, bishops in China jumpstarted an effort to bring the Catholic Church in the Asian country more in-line with the native culture.
And despite its claims of religious tolerance, in June, officials with the Chinese government tore down Christian imagery of Jesus from Our Lady of Mount Carmel in China’s Henan province, which has served as a popular pilgrimage for Chinese Catholics since the very early 1900s.
One religious source on the ground told the Catholic News Agency at the time that the Communist government would “allow Catholicism to exist but not develop.”
The Chinese government also destroyed the Liangwang Catholic Church in July, according to Asia News, even though the building was owned by the community and had been registered since 2006.
As for unregistered Protestant house churches, according to The Associated Press, Xi’s government once seemingly tolerated them. But that’s no longer the case. Now the Communist regime is taking a tougher approach that leans heavily on “thought reform,” a kind of political indoctrination.
In November 2017, Christian residents of a rural township in the southeast Jiangxi province were convinced by the government to replace posters of the cross and Jesus with images of the Chinese president.
“Xi is a closet Maoist — he is very anxious about thought control,” Willy Lam, a Chinese politics expert at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, told the AP. “He definitely does not want people to be faithful members of the church, because then people would profess their allegiance to the church rather than to the party, or more exactly, to Xi himself.”
There are also several instances in which the government confiscated Christian literature and Bibles. One such raid occurred in May, when government authorities stole more than 1,000 Chinese Bibles from five house churches in the Shandong province, claiming it was part of an effort to quell the spread of pornography in the sprawling country.
All of this is part of the government plan to “Sinicize” churches, both Protestant and Catholic.
“Only Sinicized churches can obtain God’s love,” the government stated.
MUSLIM TERRORISTS CAPTURE CHRISTIAN MAN, TIE HIM UP AND SLAUGHTER HIM IN FRONT OF HIS WIFE AND CHILDREN
The family of the slaughtered Christian man
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Muslim Terrorists went on a rampage of terror and persecution, raiding and burning Christian villages and terrorizing Christian people. Among all the terrible things that took place during this massacre was Muslim took a Christian man, tied him up and then slaughtered him in front of his wife and children.
“International Christian (ICC) has learnt Boko Haram insurgents killed at least two people yesterday when they attacked the Christian villages of Kuburumbula and Boftari in the Chibok area of Nigeria’s turbulent northeast. In addition to yesterday’s murders, Boko Haram militants also burned homes, vandalized shops, and destroyed various food products in the market square.
Gunmen first invaded Kuburumbula, a Christian major village, causing the villagers to scatter. in the confusion, the insurgents killed Nkekina Lalai, a Christian man, before the Nigerian military arrived to defeat the gunmen.
Later, insurgents attacked Boftari, another Christian majority village. During the attack, the insurgents caught Mallum Tela Madu, as he was attempting to escape. According to locals, the gunmen dragged Madu back into the village, tied him up with a rope, and “slaughtered him in front of his wife and children. source; SHOEBAT
Will you observe some minutes today, praying for persecuted, imprisoned and suffering Christians worldwide? That might be the only means through which you can reach and support them. Heaven is recording your good works. keep praying for the church of Jesus Christ as we awaits His return. Also read WOUNDED FOR FOR CHRIST http://thinethegloryorg.com/2016/08/24/wounded-for-christ/
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A Catholic priest, Rev. Father Fidelis Ifeanyichukwu Ugozo, was reportedly beaten to a coma by a group of idol worshippers in Ugbenu, Anambra State.
The attack was led by GebrielIkegbunam, who believed that the priest and his followers were trying to burn down the deity in their village.
Ikegbunam had initially tried to stop the procession but soon called for help when the group overpowered him. Anambra Broadcasting Servicereports.
Rev. Father Uzozo, who was reportedly stabbed in the face was taken to the St. Joseph’s hospital, Adaeze Ani, by the Ebenebe Denary Chaplain.
Speaking on the matter, CletusNwankwo, who is a former catechist at St. Raphael’s Parish, Ugbenu, disclosed that the area is notorious for its practices of paganism.
He said, “They moved from Agueke village to Obiagu and decided to branch at Obubo before ikegbunam blocked them and in the process, he called some of them and told them that Catholics are coming to burn their shrine.”
“Soon the youths trooped out wielding dangerous weapons such as, axe, gun and machetes”
Igwe Lawrence Egwuonu, a traditional head in Ugbenu community revealed that the attack on the Christian group is not justifiable and thinks the perpetrators of such act will be punished.
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“After investigation, I discovered they were all liars. None of their shrines were burnt and I can defend it anywhere.
“It was Ikegbunam that incited others to attack the priest and other Christisns.
“Their greatest mistake was touching the priest and and destroying the blessed sacrament. It is a sacrilege and they will pay for it,” he said.
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Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you. Matthew 5:11-12
He Stood the Test
Hassan, from Attagara Village in Gwoza Local Government, Borno state, had a terrible encounter with the members of Boko Haram on 1st July, 2014. After a brutal attack on Christian worshippers on Sunday in Attagara, the young child was running back home holding his Children’s Bible when three of the Islamic insurgents gripped him and sat him down. According to an eye-witness, one of the insurgents wanted to collect the Children’s Bible from Hassan’s hand, the boy refused. The Muslim insurgents snatched the Bible by force and threw it into a nearby burning fire. Hassan ran to where the fire was to rescue his “Children’s Bible”. While he was struggling with a stick to remove his Bible from the fire, an insurgent hit the three-year old Hassan on the head with the butt of AK47 and pushed the little child into the fire. Not satisfied, he proceeded to step on Hassan’s head and pressed the head of the child inside the fire, all the while railing curses and abuses on the little child and calling him “Stubborn infidel”. The heartless Jihadist left the child inside the fire and walked away.
Source: THE VOICE OF CHRISTIAN MARTYRS NIGERIA
That’s Amazing!
Aren’t you perplexed as you imagine the possibility of a child of that age standing for Christ, even when he had to be wounded for Him?
And I guess this is what was responsible: “Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.Proverbs 22:6
When children are well taught and furnished for Christ, they can absorb the worldly pressure at anytime and from anyone. It is the duty of parents to always share the Word of God with their children. The return on this duty is always amazing.
Hebrews 13:3Remember those in prison as if you were their fellow prisoners, and those who are ill-treated if you yourselves were suffering.
As a faithful and a praying Christian, it is part of your spiritual assignment to stand with the persecuted Christians throughout the world. You may have nothing tangible right away to assist them with, but nothing can assist as fast as your prayers.
#PRAY FOR THE PERSECUTED CHRISTIANS.
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Will you observe some minutes today, praying for persecuted, imprisoned and suffering Christians worldwide? That might be the only means through which you can reach and support them. Heaven is recording your good works. keep praying for the church of Jesus Christ as we awaits His return. Also read WOUNDED FOR FOR CHRIST http://thinethegloryorg.com/2016/08/24/wounded-for-christ/
