Nigeria: National and international action
As Nigeria struggles with the abduction of 200+ girls in April, Voice of America reported eight more teenage girls being kidnapped from Warabe village in north-eastern Nigeria on Tuesday night. On Monday the leader of Boko Haram said ‘I abducted your girls. Allah commands me to sell them in the market.’ President Goodluck Jonathan, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and several Christian groups are calling for everything to be done to rescue the girls. Boko Haram kidnaps Christian girls and turns them into sex slaves. Their strategy is ‘marry the girls and kill the men’. So by kidnapping these female students they demonstrate the impunity with which Boko Haram has been running its terrorist activities,’ Pray for God to employ more international governments to work in unity using technology and strategies that will end the reign of Boko Haram. See also http://zeenews.india.com/news/world/nigeria-s-boko-haram-abduct-eight-more-teen-girls-overnight_930190.html
Central African Republic: Continuing chaos
A French Christian writes, ‘People were gathered on Sunday for prayer. Open Doors personnel played recordings of messages of comfort from Christians in France to their brethren in the CAR. Subsequent sharing of information led to the conclusion that there is a plot afoot to destabilise the country again. Pale-skinned Arab jihadists are now in the Gbaya quarter of the city, alongside the gangs sowing terror in the Km5 district. One Christian man still living in that area has been an eyewitness and said how taken by surprise he had been. Hundreds of fighters and mercenaries in vehicles are in the capital now. The Seleka claim they have nothing to do with them. A number of our fellow-believers in the north of the country have been keeping us informed, and all confirm that a major mobilisation of Seleka fighters is taking place, ready to descend on Bangui.
North America: Obama called the 'Abortion President'
California Democratic Representative Janice Hahn walked out of the National Day of Prayer event on Capitol Hill after hearing Dr. James Dobson refer to President Barack Obama as ‘the abortion president.’ Later In a TV interview Dr Dobson said, ‘President Obama has done everything he could to promote abortion.’ adding that in his opinion Obama's policies show he’s determined that people of faith and people of conscience are going to have to go along with it and be part of it. (abortion) On April 17th a federal judge granted an injunction for Dobson and his ‘Family Talk’ radio show, blocking the Obamacare mandate that would have required the coverage of abortion-inducing drugs under the healthcare plan, despite religious objections to abortion. Dobson said that in his speech he wasn't only referencing Obama but was also talking about people's response to the mandate and abortion in general.
Iran: Rude homecoming for dissidents
Journalists and many on the wrong side of Mahmud Ahmadinejad fled Iran after his contentious re-election as president in 2009. When the 2013 election brought the relatively moderate Hassan Rohani to power, "A" took the opportunity to return. But while the political atmosphere has opened up in the Islamic republic under Rohani, it apparently is not enough to shield returnees from harassment, or worse. Some like A, who declined to give his name, have been subjected to hours of interrogation. Others have been arrested for their role in the postelection unrest in 2009. Speaking in New York in September to a group of Iranian-Americans, Rohani said no one had the right to prevent Iranians from visiting their homeland. ‘Iranians are the owners of Iran,’ he said. ‘Iran belongs to all Iranians.’ A says he's gone through tens of hours of intensive interrogations by the intelligence office of the powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps.
Afghanistan: Aid reaching landslide victims
The village of Aab Barik was buried by a tide of rock and mud last Friday after heavy rains. The government confirmed 300 deaths, and has given up looking for 2,100 missing. Hundreds of homes are now underneath 300ft of mud, and families are staying in tents from aid agencies. Villagers spoke of their grief at losing husbands, wives and children as their homes were destroyed in moments. Andrew Morris, chief of Unicef for the Northern Region of Afghanistan, said, 'The whole area has been declared a burial ground; our staff described it in some places to be as deep as 50 metres of mud. Our first priority is getting water supplies going and we are urgently looking at sanitation. Then we have to help children to overcome this traumatic event. We have got to get them back to school as soon as we can. That is part of the return to normalcy.'
Syria: Warfare creates a lost generation
Syria's ‘lost generation’ are children whose innocence was stolen in the Syrian conflict. It is not unusual to see a baby-faced boy with his Kalashnikov rifle balanced over his shoulder. Families have to depend on children for tasks usually performed by men. A mother of four said, ‘Their childhood has gone.’ Barrel bombs have had a devastating effect, especially in Aleppo, the city with the largest concentration of Christians. They are made from oil drums packed with explosives and bits of metal and are tossed over the sides of helicopters. Their indiscriminate devastation has forced tens of thousands to flee Aleppo this year. Many refugees have fled to Jordan. In the refugee camps in Amman, two teachers set up schools to help the children keep up their education. Even in adverse weather, the eager children huddle together, hungry to learn.
Nigeria: 'Boko Haram' attacks leave scores dead
50+ Boko Haram Militants attacked Kawuri village in Borno state setting off explosives around the village and setting houses ablaze (no house was left standing) this happened as a busy market was packing up last Sunday. Witnesses said 52 people were killed in that attack, while 22 died in an attack on a church service in Waga Chakawa village in Adamawa state the same day. Borno and Adamawa are two of three north-eastern states that were put under emergency rule last May in an attempt to combat insurgency. Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan sacked his military high command earlier this month. No reason was given, but the move came amid concern that Boko Haram have been able to continue their bloody campaign despite the wide-ranging powers given to the military to tackle the insurgency last year. Since the state of emergency was imposed UN figures suggest over 1,200 people have been killed in Islamist-related violence.
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Sunday 13th through to Monday 14th April 2014 - IPC Member Organisations and friends will be joining with the 4-14 Day of Global Prayer and Praise.
The live broadcast can be followed here: http://globalprayerandpraise.com
Subsequently, one prayer initiative participant wrote about the election on April 5 : "There were no problems at all. I think only on the Pakistan and Afghanistan border. So to sum this up, the election went very well. I understand there are a few reports of ballot stuffing, but very few. The Afghans I know are excited about the election. In the 2009 election, I was here and there were 2000 explosions in Kandahar City, this election there were no explosions...