AP

30+ CHRISTIANS BEHEADED IN MOZAMBIQUE AS ISLAMIC TERRORISM RUNS RAMPANT

More than 30 Christians have been beheaded at the hands of Islamic State terrorists in Mozambique. The Islamic State Mozambique Province, or ISMP, announced that they destroyed at least seven churches, committed acts of arson against Christians and village civilians, and shot and beheaded more than two dozen people in the Cabo Delgado and Nampula provinces in the northern area of Mozambique. The Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) screen-captured, translated, and shared the terrorists’ report on their website, which included 20 photos of the brutal attacks on Christians. The group also claimed responsibility for the beheading of two believers on September 25. The ISMP later took responsibility for a September 26 attack, which left a Christian local shot and killed. Four Christians were then beheaded in the town of Macomia days later. The group also posted images of homes and churches burned to the ground in Nacocha, Nacussa, Minhanha, and Nakioto villages. To counter the attacks in local villages, Mozambique renewed an alliance with Rwanda in late August. In the Status of Force Agreement, Rwanda’s Defense Force agreed to send troops into Cabo Delgado.
Violent attacks began in Cabo Delgado Province in 2017. Since then, more than 6,000 people have been killed and thousands more have been displaced. The province of Cabo Delgado is the only area in the country with a majority Muslim population. The nation as a whole is predominantly Christian, with evangelical and Pentecostal Christians making up a significant portion, a State Department report outlined. The Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN) points out that the plight of Mozambican Christians is largely ignored in the Western world: “It is hard to process the fact that in 2025 you have people around the world who are terrorists and are beheading Christians. It is the most horrific thing imaginable,”CBN commented. “The world does not care.” [Source: NBN News]

IS THERE A NEW CHRISTIAN COUNTRY FORMING IN THE MIDDLE EAST?
Could a new Christian-friendly country be emerging in the Middle East? It seems there could be a possibility in Syria. A region of Syria known as Sweida is starting to form and they have the support of Israel. A people group in Syria known as the Druze have been facing genocide, but they are fighting back and are now in full control of a southern Syrian region known as Sweida, which has almost half a million people. A large percentage of the population of Sweidia are Christian. It’s by far the safest area for Christians in that country.
Most Christians do not know that after WWII, the world decided that Christians needed their own homeland, so they carved out a nation called Lebanon. Within only a few years, Lebanon became one of the most wealthy nations in the Middle East with the best economy, universities, and job markets. Within a decade, the capital city of Beirut was called the “Paris of the Middle East”. Unfortunately, the economy and stability  of the nation was also their downfall. As they flourished, they also became the target of many Muslims looking for education and job opportunities. Muslims from surrounding war-torn nations like Syria, Iraq, Iran, etc began to flood in asking for opportunity to work and be educated. As the number of Islamic immigrants in the new Christian nation increased, so did the violence. After the number of Muslims grew, so pressure grew to turn Lebanon into an Islamic nation, eventually leading to a bloody civil war. Since the fall of Lebanon, Israel has been the only nation in the Middle East to provide a safe haven for Christians. If Sweida gains it’s independence, it would become the first overwhelmingly non-Muslim state in the Middle East since Israel, allowing Christians to worship freely! [Source: Back to Jerusalem]

ONE WITH THEM – A CALL TO CHRISTIANS TO STAND TOGETHER
The African church is calling on the Body of Christ to stand together with them.
What’s the problem?
Nine out of 10 Christians killed for their faith worldwide are killed in Sub-Saharan Africa. Christians in the region are being persecuted on a scale never seen before. Killings, torture, and kidnapping are an everyday threat. Islamic extremists want to eliminate  Christianity and are using unthinkable violence. The brutality is unprecedented and is wrecking many lives. The very survival of the Church is at risk, unless the Christian Church worldwide acts. In August, the Nigeria-based NGO International Society for Civil Liberties and the Rule of Law reported Islamic jihadists have killed 125,009 Christians since 2009, with 19,100 churches burned down in the same time period. And, since the beginning of this year, terrorists have murdered more than 7,000 Christians in Nigeria alone.
Why isn’t it in the headlines?
It’s under-reported in the media. Relatively few people are aware of such extreme violence. Without more attention, nothing will change, and Christians won’t get the help they need. Churches in Sub-Saharan Africa are calling upon the body of Christ around the world to stand with them, as one, to stop the violence and start the healing. Our goal is to join them in raising a million signatures—symbols of prayer and petition—to strengthen African Christians and bring the world’s attention to the violence suffered by followers of Jesus in Sub-Saharan Africa.
The One With Them campaign seeks to raise awareness and inspire you to act. Through a global petition, we call upon the global community to ensure Christians and other vulnerable individuals in Sub-Saharan Africa are treated with dignity and respect through:
    1. PROTECTION: Providing robust protection from violent militant attacks;
    2. JUSTICE: Ensuring justice through fair prosecutions of the attackers,
    3. RESTORATION: Bringing healing and restoration to affected communities.
We aim to present this petition to the United Nations and local governments around the world by 2026. You are able to sign the petition at https://www.opendoors.org.au [Source: Open Doors]

SENATE REFUSES TO HEAR BIOLOGICAL SEX BILL
AUSTRALIA – Labor, the Greens and some crossbenchers have broken parliamentary convention and blocked the first reading of a bill which sought to restore biological reality to the nation’s laws. The normal process enables bills to be fairly considered and debated by the Senate before a substantive decision is taken. Liberal Senator Alex Antic and Nationals Senator Matt Canavan tabled a private senator’s bill to amend the Sex Discrimination Act by removing references to gender identity, and “restoring the act to its original purpose.” The Act states it is unlawful to discriminate on the basis of age, disability, race, sex, intersex status, gender identity and sexual orientation, with the term “gender identity” controversially added in 2013 by the Gillard government. The Antic and Canavan Sex Discrimination Amendment (Restoring Biological Definitions) Bill would have returned clear definitions of a man and a woman as “members of the male and female sex respectively”, Senator Antic asserted. He added that “sex is not a social construct”, but rather a “core biological reality that underpins human nature.” It followed the landmark decision by the UK Supreme Court legally affirming that the term ‘woman’ is based on biological sex, not gender identity.
Manager of Government Business in the Senate Katy Gallagher conceded that first readings were a normal custom and practice. But the Labor Senator said the government would not allow the Senate to become a forum which could enable harm. “We do not agree with the Senate being a place where individual harm can be done to young people across this country. That is what would have happened had we allowed this bill to proceed in the normal course, and we won’t stand for it,” Senator Gallagher declared. The Family First Party called it “a breathtaking attack on parliamentary convention.” The bill would have removed radical gender ideology from the Act and reasserted the common-sense definitions of “man” and “woman” as biological terms. [Source: Vision Christian Media]

CHRISTIANITY IN TODAY’S CHINA
Religious freedom experts say that laws restricting the activities of unofficial churches in China are applied only selectively. ‘Many activities, including gatherings in house churches, religious discussions online and distribution of unauthorised Christian publications are able to function despite the threat of fines, detention, or worse. Concrete legal action against these Christians is still relatively rare.’ By contrast China’s official TSPM churches (Three-Self Patriotic Movement) sometimes face greater pressures. While the government often turns a blind eye to the activities of house churches, leaders of official churches must conform to the process of Sinicisation – ‘making Chinese’ according to the government’s ideology. Pastors are expected to adjust their Christian teachings with insertions from the speeches and writings of President Xi Jinping. Christian music is also under attack, with attempts to make Christian songs comply with guidelines for the inclusion of official Chinese values. Despite the regulations and restrictions, churches continue to grow – and the new believers are not necessarily young; many are middle-aged or elderly. Ask the Lord to give wisdom and integrity to church leaders as they negotiate the difficulties of modern-day China. [Source: Missionary Network News]

– compiled by Guido Kettniss