The Persecution Report from Voice of the Martyrs Canada

Here is the December Persecution Report from Voice of the Martyrs Canada.

Part 1

Part 2

Christian Beheaded for Converting from Islam

Compass Direct News reports that followers of the religion of peace beheaded a Somali aid worker last month because he converted from Islam to Christianity.

NAIROBI, Kenya – Among at least 24 aid workers killed in Somalia this year was one who was beheaded last month specifically for converting from Islam to Christianity, among other charges, according to an eyewitness.

Muslim extremists from the al Shabab group fighting the transitional government on Sept. 23 sliced the head off of Mansuur Mohammed, 25, a World Food Program WFP worker, before horrified onlookers of Manyafulka village, 10 kilometers six miles from Baidoa.

The militants had intercepted Mohammed and a WFP driver, who managed to escape, earlier in the morning. Sources close to Mohammed’s family said he converted from Islam to Christianity in 2005.

Read the full story at Compass Direct News.

Church Attacked for the Second Time in Somalia

By Michael Ireland
Chief Correspondent, ASSIST News Service

MOGADISHU, SOMALIA – A Muslim mob has once again attacked a house church in Tayeglow, a town 198 miles from Mogadishu, Somalia’s capital.

According to the Washington-DC based human rights group, International Christian Concern (ICC) www.persecution.org , dozens of Muslims, including children and women, demolished the church and attacked the Christians worshipping at the church with spears, machetes, sticks and stones. Two elders of the church, Mr. Faysal Amin, 50, and Mr. Mubarak Hussein, 45 [not real names for security reasons], suffered serious injuries as a result of the attack. Read the rest of this entry »

Islamic Extremists Kill Somali Christian as Fifth Believer Martyred in Somalia in the Last Nine Months

By Michael Ireland
Chief Correspondent, ASSIST News Service

SOMALIA ANS — Islamic extremists shot and killed a Muslim convert to Christianity on July 10, 2008 in Afgyoye, a town 18 miles away from Mogadishu, Somalias capital. The victims name was Sayid Ali Sheik Luqman Hussein, and he was 28 years old.

ICC International Christian Concern www.persecution.org says that on Tuesday, July 8, two Muslim men approached Mr. Hussein and asked him if he faces Mecca when he prays Mohammed instructed his followers to face the city of Mecca when they pray. Hussein told them that as a Christian, he does not have to face a specific direction to pray because God is omnipresent.

The two Muslim men returned on July 10th armed with an AK-47 assault rifle and a semi-automatic handgun and shot Hussein to death.

ICC says Husseins wife went into premature labor and delivered a stillborn baby upon hearing of her husbands murder.

According to ICC, Hussein came to Christ from Islam in 2004. He grew in his faith and started to evangelize in the community in which he was working as a teacher. Husseins pastor described him as the most effective evangelist in his area. One of Husseins students described him as the godliest man he has ever met.

Recently, Islamic extremists have intensified their attacks against Christians in Somalia. In the past nine months alone, five Christians, including Hussein, have been martyred for their faith. The other four martyrs are: David Abdulwahab Mohamed Ali, Daud Ali, Mohamed Yusuf and Hassan Moalim.

ICCs regional manger for Africa, Jonathan Racho, stated, “Somali Christians are paying the ultimate price for their faith in Jesus Christ. Despite the spike in persecution they face, they have chosen to trust in the Lord Jesus Christ to the point of death. Christians should continue to pray and support their brothers and sisters in Somalia.”

To learn more about the needs of Somali Christians and how you can help them, please contact ICC.

ICC is a Washington-DC based human rights organization that exists to help persecuted Christians worldwide. ICC delivers humanitarian aid, trains and supports persecuted pastors, raises awareness in the US regarding the problem of persecution, and is an advocate for the persecuted on Capitol Hill and the State Department.

Islamic Extremists Kill another Christian in Somalia

By Jeremy Reynalds
Correspondent for ASSIST News Service

WASHINGTON, D.C. (ANS) — Islamic extremists have shot and killed a Muslim convert to Christianity.

According to a news release from the Washington, D.C. based human rights group, International Christian Concern (ICC), the slaying occurred on April 22 in Baidawa, a town 149 miles from Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia.

The 29-year-old victim’s name was David Abdulwahab Mohamed Ali.

ICC filled in some of the horrifying details. On April 22, one of Ali’s cousins took two other members of the Islamic extremist group Al-Shabab to Ali and asked him if he was a Muslim or an infidel. He answered, “Neither.”

They asked, “Then what are you?”

He answered, “Waxaan ahay Masiixi,” which means, “I am a follower of the Messiah.”

ICC said that at this point Ali’s cousin became both furious and humiliated. In Somalia’s strict Muslim society, Ali’s conversion to Christianity brought enormous shame on his family. His cousin’s first response was to pull out a gun and shoot Ali. The other two extremists did the same, and the three continued shooting Ali until their Muslim “honor” had been avenged.

Ali had been living in Ethiopia since 2000 when he traveled to Somalia this April to visit his family.

ICC reported he came to Christ in 1995, in Yemen, where he was living as a refugee. In 2000, Ali’s friend, Mohammed Omer Haji, was sentenced to death by the government of Yemen for his faith in Christ. Haji was able to take refuge in New Zealand.

However, Ali had to flee Yemen and move to Ethiopia because Yemeni authorities were looking for him also.

According to ICC, Ali was a gifted evangelist who led many to the Lord, actively sharing his faith through blogs. He was also a linguist and a philosopher whom some Somalis called “The Great Thinker.”

ICC reported that Islamic extremists have recently intensified their attacks against Christians in Somalia. In the past six months, four Christians, including Ali, have been martyred for their faith.

ICC said the attacks against Christians in Somalia are carried out by a group called Al-Shabab, an Al-Qaeda linked militant group. Al-Shabab is fighting to establish an Islamic state in Somalia, ruled by Sharia law, and is on the United States’ list of terrorist organizations.

ICC spoke with a leading Somali Christian who urged the international community to condemn what he called the “genocide-in-the-making” that the Church in Somalia is facing.

ICC said the Somali Christian expressed his fear that “less than three percent of the Somali population is Christian, and we (the Christians) could be eliminated in this generation by the Muslim violence if the massacre is not stopped now.”

ICC’s regional manager for Africa, Darara Gubo, said in a news release, “The deadly Jihad against Christians continues, and Christians in Somalia need our help and support. Please don’t forget our brothers and sisters in Somalia.”

To learn more about the needs of Somali Christians, go to www.persecution.org