Updates on the persecuted Church – 15 March 2023

Pastor and two sons killed by Islamists in Plateau State, Nigeria; church minister escapes from captors in Haiti; dozens killed as jihadi violence continues in north-eastern DRC; drought persists in Kenya.

• Militant Islamist Fulani herdsmen are suspected of carrying out an attack on 4 March in which Pastor Musa Hyok and his two sons were killed in Plateau State, Nigeria. The pastor’s wife escaped unhurt when gunmen launched the assault in Ganawuri community of Riyom Local Government Area. Pray that the Lord will comfort Pastor Musa’s surviving family and the wider community at this difficult time.

• Antoine Macaire Christian Noah, a church minister originally from Cameroon, escaped from his abductors in Haiti on 17 February after ten days in captivity. The minister, who was kidnapped by a criminal gang while journeying to a Christian community in Kazal, made a hole in the ceiling of the room where he was being held, through which he made his escape. Give thanks for answered prayer in the release of our brother. Pray for three other Christians, abducted after a church service in the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince on 13 February, who remain unaccounted for.

• At least 36 people were killed in an attack on Mukondi village, North Kivu province, in Christian-majority Democratic Republic of the Congo on 8 March. The attack is believed to have been carried out by jihadi group the Allied Democratic Forces. The attackers used machetes and set homes on fire. Pray that the Lord will bring peace to this troubled region of Africa.

• “Please keep us in your prayers,” requested a Kenyan Christian leader reflecting on the worsening drought situation in his country. Many schools in northern Kenya no longer have enough water or supplies to provide pupils with a daily meal of maize and beans, and as a result children are dropping out of school and are helping their parents to forage for what little food they can find. The situation is so bad in some villages that people are dying. Christians are praying for rain to restore the land. They are hopeful that February’s rains in South Africa will move north to end the successive seasons of drought in Kenya. Ask the Lord to heed the prayers of our brothers and sisters and bring rain to drought-afflicted Kenya. Pray for guidance for the country’s leaders at this difficult time.