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CHURCHES DECIMATED AND BELIEVERS KILLED IN AFRICA
(Christian Daily International) – A new report released by Open Doors International paints a grim picture of escalating persecution against Christians in Africa, particularly in sub-Saharan regions, with millions facing violence, discrimination, and displacement. In 2024 alone, in the Sahel region (western and north-central Africa, stretching from Senegal in the west to Sudan and Eritrea in the east).over 4,500 Christians were killed for their faith – 3,100 of these (69 percent) were in Nigeria, according to the World Watch List (WWL). Furthermore, 114,000 Christians were forcibly displaced, 16,000 homes destroyed, and over 1,700 churches impacted. The 2025 WWL reveals that over 380 million Christians globally are enduring high levels of persecution, a significant increase from previous years.
Speaking at the Association of Evangelicals in Africa (AEA) General Assembly held in Nairobi from May 20-23, Joshua Williams, Open Doors International, Director – Africa Services, said the situation “is becoming unbearable.”  The rise in persecution is attributed to various factors, including authoritarian regimes and socio-political instability. Militant groups like Boko Haram and ISWAP** continue to specifically target Christian communities, leading to brutal attacks and forced displacement. A critical issue exacerbating the situation is the widespread impunity for perpetrators of violence against Christians. “Many communities are living in fear, unable to return to their homes due to a lack of justice and protection from government authorities,” said Williams.
He highlighted the devastating impact of conflict across Africa, stating that more than 35 significant conflicts are currently raging across the continent. As a result, over 16 million Christians are displaced, with an additional 74 million at risk if conflicts continue. Internally displaced persons (IDPs) from Christian communities often face harsh realities (local agencies estimate the number to be over 100,000 in Plateaus State (Nigerian). Williams witnessed the immense suffering of persecuted Christians firsthand, recounting a particularly shocking visit to a displacement camp in Nigeria, where thousands of women and children were living in dire conditions, often without basic sanitation facilities and with a noticeable absence of men, many of whom have been killed.
DECIMATION OF CHURCHES
Additionally, Williams revealed that 19,000 churches have been “decimated” across Africa over the last 15 to 20 years. 15,000 of the affected churches are in Nigeria. This devastation, he noted, is a direct result of groups like Boko Haram vowing to eliminate Christian presence in Northern Nigerian states and pushing further south. Williams shared a harrowing testimony of a Nigerian Christian who witnessed his father and younger brother killed for refusing to renounce their faith. “It is a silent persecution, yet it is shouting out,” Williams lamented, emphasizing the incomprehensible scale of the atrocities.
Despite the immense suffering, Williams spoke of the emergence of a “silent church” – marginalized Christians across regions like Sudan and Somalia who are consistently pushed to the fringes of society. He also highlighted the incredible growth of an “emerging church” in Africa composed of underground and secret believers from Muslim backgrounds, with over 5 million such believers.
In light of the disturbing trends, Open Doors in collaboration with the AEA announced the Arise Africa campaign, an initiative aimed at mobilizing Christians worldwide to stand in solidarity with their persecuted counterparts in Africa. The campaign encourages individuals and churches to get informed about the plight of Christians, pray for those suffering, and advocate for an end to violent persecution. [From the US National Counterterrorism Centre -”Boko Haram is part of the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), which adheres to the extreme interpretation of Islam and as such has made a point of targeting non-adherents, often promoting sectarian violence and indiscriminate executions resulting in the death of several thousand Christians over the past ten years. They seek to overthrow the current Nigerian Government and replace it with a regime based on Islamic law.”]

EX-DRUG ADDICT IN SOMALIA DRIVEN FROM HOME FOR ACCEPTIING CHRIST
(Christian Daily International-Morning Star News) – Muslim parents in southern Somalia were overjoyed to see their missing 20-year-old son, a drug addict, return home free of substance abuse. The young man had come to Christ on April 20 after an underground Somali pastor shared the gospel with him. “When I first met the convert on April 20, the young man was addicted “to all kinds of drugs” and felt utterly hopeless, the underground pastor said. “I began sharing with him the love of God who sent Issa to come and seek and save the lost,” he said. “He confessed that it was his first time to feel as a human being loved by God. The young man decided to hear more about Issa. After spending the whole day explaining to him the way of salvation from Christ, the young man put his faith in Him as Lord and Savior, he said. “I stayed with him for five days, and in my amazement he got transformed and left taking drugs,” the pastor said. “He promised to go back to his parents who had not seen him for a couple of months, which he did on May 17, and the family was very excited and happy to see their son again smartly dressed and well groomed,” said the pastor, who like the convert is unnamed for security reasons. “The parents watched him for two days, and on May 19 they started interrogating him. They asked him to explain to them how he left the drugs as they wondered about the changes seen in his life.”
The convert told his parents how the pastor had led him to Christ, he said. “I told them what had happened to me, and that I asked Issa [Jesus] to come into my life, and since then the transformation started in my life. They then asked me to pray the Islamic way.” Noting that he did not pray in the Muslim manner, his father told him, “You were better when you were performing prayers before receiving Issa. Now you have become worse. Leave this house and never come back,” according to the convert. “I was not expecting such a terrible experience after receiving Issa,” he said. “My mother who used to be very lovely and friendly to me and who even used to give me some money secretly to buy cigarettes has now turned against me and even denied me breakfast at home. Now that I have loved Issa, I do not have a family standing with me. I do not know what to do. I need prayers.” The underground pastor said he was trying to connect him with a Christian cell group.”
Somalia’s constitution establishes Islam as the state religion and prohibits the propagation of any other religion, according to the U.S. State Department. It also requires that laws comply with sharia (Islamic law) principles, with no exceptions in application for non-Muslims. The death penalty for apostasy is part of Islamic law according to mainstream schools of Islamic jurisprudence. An Islamic extremist group in Somalia, Al Shabaab, is allied with Al Qaeda and adheres to the teaching. Somalia is ranked 2nd on Christian support group Open Doors’ 2025 World Watch List of the 50 countries where it is most difficult to be a Christian.

ANOTHER CHURCH FALLS VICTIM TO HAITI’S GANG VIOLENCE
Haiti (MNN) — Another church falls victim to Haiti’s gang violence. Church Partners in Haiti tell Greg Yoder of Christian World Outreach (CWO) that the gangs struck a village north of the capital. “It’s outside of Port-au-Prince, so they’re (the gangs) expanding in their territory,” Yoder says. “There was a pastor and several of the people from his church who were killed by gang members, and I believe they also burned the church down.” Estimates vary, but most agree that gangs now control at least 90 percent of Port-au-Prince. When gangs took over Mirebalais at the end of March, CWO partners had to shut everything down and run. “We had one of our feminine training centers there, and that town is pretty much shut down. Everybody’s left, and the gang members have taken over,” Yoder says. “People are migrating away from these areas, and then it adds a burden to the families and the people of other areas.”.
The United States designated two Haitian gangs as terrorists earlier this month. Yoder went on to say: “They’re acting very much like terrorists taking over, looting, and just advancing to more and more territory. The activity in Haiti reminds me of terrorist actions in Burkina Faso. We just have to rely on the Lord’s wisdom and discernment to find ways we can help these people.” Church partners in Haiti continue their work in eight locations, but the needs are growing daily. Yoder continues, “We’re looking for ways we can help those we know and those in great need of food and shelter. “I don’t know the answer at this point, but we just pray that God will intervene in what’s going on in Haiti and that, even during these hard times, Christ will be shared,” Yoder says.
PRAYER: Ask the Lord to guide and protect Gospel workers in Haiti. Pray that their daily needs will be met.

DESPITE FIERCE OPPOSITION, BILL TO CURB CHILD MARRIAGES SIGNED INTO LAW
Christian Daily International-Morning Star News  – Despite fierce opposition from Islamist groups in Pakistan, President Asif Ali Zardari on late Thursday night (May 29) signed into law a landmark bill to curb child marriage, setting the minimum age for marriage for both genders at 18 years in the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT). The bill defines a child as anyone under 18 years of age of either sex and states that no Nikah (Islamic marriage) registrar (officiant) is allowed to solemnize a marriage if either of the individuals is under 18. Registrars are also required to check and confirm the age of both parties using their Computerized National Identity Cards (CNIC), issued by National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA). Under the Bill, living with a child under 18 in a marital relationship will be considered statutory rape.
Those opposing the Bill, included the Council of Islamic Ideology (CII), which declared that classifying marriage under the age of 18 as rape did not conform with sharia (Islamic law). Previously, kidnapped Christian girls in Pakistan, some as young as 10, are abducted, forced to convert to Islam and raped under cover of Islamic “marriages” and are then pressured to record false statements in favor of the kidnappers.. As previously reported in these columns, Judges routinely ignore documentary evidence related to the children’s ages, handing them back to kidnappers as their “legal wives”. Pakistan, whose population is 96 percent Muslim, ranked eighth on Open Doors’ 2025 World Watch List of the most difficult places to be a Christian.

– compiled by Guido Kettniss