AP

SUDAN: CHRISTIANS SAY THEY FEEL ‘ABANDONED’ A YEAR INTO CIVIL WAR

Christians in Sudan say they feel abandoned more than a year into the country’s brutal civil war. The comments were made to Illia Djadi from the charity Open Doors. “The situation is deteriorating every day and there is no response from the world. There is a strong feeling of abandonment. Sudan is home to the world’s largest mass displacement with nearly nine million people on the run, and is facing the world’s largest hunger crisis, but it is not getting the attention and the response it should compared to other crises.”
Sudan descended into a civil war between the Sudan Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces in April 2023 and the situation is said to be desperate for the two million Christians who live there. “There is no security, no protection,” said Djadi. “Not from the warring parties or from opportunists who will use this situation to further their own agendas. Christians and their churches have been attacked with impunity”.
So far more than 150 churches have been damaged or destroyed, either deliberately targeted or as a general result of the ongoing violence. Christians, forced from their homes, often flee multiple times, losing contact with other members of the small Christian community. 
[Source: Premier Christian News]

LOSS OF CITIZENSHIP IF A MUSLIM CONVERTS TO CHRISTIANITY
MALDIVES: According to the constitution of the Maldives, if a Maldivian leaves Islam to follow Christ he will lose his citizenship. Praise God for some indications of a softening of attitude in the Maldives on this point, even though the constitution remains unchanged. Pray that this will progress further and that there will also be a relaxation of some of the other restrictions, which forbid any non-Muslim public worship, forbid church buildings and severely restrict the importation of Bibles. Ask that the Lord Jesus will sustain the faith of His people in the Maldives, whether Maldivian citizens or migrant workers from India and Sri Lanka.

THE CHRISTIANS OF UKRAINE
Despite the terrible devastation of war, the help that Christians outside and inside Ukraine are giving to the afflicted church and citizens is bearing much spiritual fruit. Accommodation, food, meals and spiritual counselling are just some of the ways Christians are making an impact. Evangelistic ministries through radio, internet and social media are bringing people to Christ and enlarging church congregations. Some ministries focus on frontline soldiers, military wives, war widows, fragmented families and the thousands who are refugees in their own country. The government encourages these activities and has called a number of pastors to be military chaplains. [Source: FEBC]

CHRISTIANS IN NORTH INDIA
North-east India has a higher percentage of Christians than the rest of the country, with the states of Mizoram and Nagaland having large Christian majorities. This region of India also has higher poverty levels than the rest. The population is growing, but the number of jobs available is not keeping up. Agriculture is not very productive, due to lack of capital to invest, problems with storage, and lack of awareness of new farming technologies. Many young people, in search of employment, migrate to other parts of India, where they are often discriminated against and exploited. Ask for God’s blessings on efforts to alleviate the poverty of our brothers and sisters in north-east India and pray that at the same time they will always be “rich toward God” (Luke 12:21).

BRAZIL – TRIBAL GROUPS STILL LACK EXPOSURE TO THE GOSPEL
Brazil’s isolated groups Within Brazil, South America’s most populous country, are an estimated 305 tribal groups, comprising nearly one million individuals. More than a hundred of these groups still lack exposure to the gospel. Some of them are on the brink of extinction because of migration to the big cities, but this has not diminished the enthusiasm of local missionaries to evangelise the isolated people-groups. These local missionaries come from a variety of ethnic backgrounds. [Source: South American Missions]

YOUNG US MISSIONARY COUPLE AMONG 3 MURDERED IN HAITI’S CAPITAL
A U.S. missionary couple was abducted, shot, and killed by criminal gang members in Haiti’s capital after ministering at a youth group activity at a local church, according to a police official and their missions group. Missouri state Rep. Ben Baker (R) announced Friday that a Haitian gang killed his daughter Natalie and son-in-law Davy Lloyd serving as missionaries there. Mr Baker said: “Most of you know my daughter and son-in-law Davy and Natalie Lloyd are full-time missionaries in Haiti. They were attacked by gangs this evening and were both killed. They went to Heaven together. Please pray for my family. We desperately need strength. And please pray for the Lloyd family as well. I have no other words for now.”
Natalie and Davy Lloyd were married in June 2022 and moved to Haiti three months later, to minister with Missions in Haiti, Inc., a ministry organization founded in 2000 by Davy’s parents, David and Alicia Lloyd. [Source: CBN News]

– compiled by Guido Kettniss