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Thursday, July 28, 2011

Somalia: Christians Living in Fear as Country’s Crises Deepens

07/24/2011 Somalia (All Voices)-It has been widely reported in the media that as a result of the famine in East Africa, Somalia is facing 'not only a humanitarian crises' but also ‘a human rights crises and a children's crises.

This indication is contained in a report by the Prayer Communication team of Open Doors UK a United Kingdom based Christian humanitarian organization (http://www.opendoorsuk.org/) adding that Islamist insurgent, Al-Shabaab, the main armed group opposed to the government in Somalia, is reported to be systematically recruiting children under 15 as child soldiers.

It noted that the group is denying the children access to education, and carrying out indiscriminate attacks in densely populated areas, resulting in the deaths of civilian adults and children.

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According to it, Al-Shabaab currently controls the majority of southern Somalia and targets Christians, who are then routinely killed. Kidnapping and killings of NGO workers have also been reported.

“Open Doors raises awareness and prayer support for the handful of Christians in Somalia. We recently received testimonies from several secret believers in the country,” it stated.

In his testimony on Nishan, 27 who comes from a Muslim background and first heard the gospel in 1999 stated that when he told his family he had become a follower of Jesus, they kept him in a dark room for thirteen days without food.
He noted that it was only after his mother pleaded with his father was he released. He now goes to the mosque but prays to Jesus, one of sixteen secret believers who meet there.

Another underground believer, Ahmed, said: "We know that anyone who is suspected of being a Christian will be tortured or even killed, so we pray secretly. We have prayed in Muslim prayer rooms - sometimes at night and sometimes during the day. But despite our precautions many of our friends have been killed. We now live in fear." (Source)

I pray that my Somali brothers and sisters in Christ will be kept through this tough time and that the many crises going in Somalia will be put to an end.

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