18 January 2023
Seventeen Christians killed in DRC church bombing, five killed in Myanmar church attack, and church minister burned to death in Nigeria.
A church and other buildings damaged or destroyed by fire in the Christian-majority Chan Thar area of Myanmar [Image credit: Irrawaddy]
- Seventeen Christians were killed and 39 wounded in a church bombing in Kasindi, North Kivu province, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) on Sunday 15 January. The DRC military has said that the attack was carried out by the Allied Democratic Forces, a jihadi group linked to Islamic State (IS, ISIS, ISIL, Daesh). Ask the Lord to comfort the bereaved. Pray that He will bring an end to violence in DRC, especially in North Kivu, which has been under a state of emergency since May 2021.
- Five people were killed as the Myanmar military (Tatmadaw) bombed a church at Lay Wah village, in Christian-majority Karen State, on 12 January. Among the dead were two church leaders, along with a young boy, thought to be three years old, and his mother. In a separate incident on Sunday 15 January, Tatmadaw soldiers set fire to a church building and torched homes in the Christian-majority Chan Thar area of Sagaing Region. Pray that the Lord will continue to sustain His beleaguered people in Myanmar.
- A Nigerian church minister, Isaac Achi, was burned to death after armed men set fire to his home in Paikoro Local Government Area, Niger State, in the early hours of Sunday 15 January. Another minister who was at the house was shot and injured as he tried to escape the blaze – he is recovering in hospital. Pray for believers in northern and Middle Belt Nigeria, where anti-Christian violence is constant, asking the Lord to bring peace.
