‘My husband Todd and I were serving at an orphanage. The kids hadn't had meat in a year so we made them hamburgers. I noticed the pre-schoolers kept coming back for more before disappearing. I was curious, so I followed them. The children were hiding the burgers underneath their mattresses for another day. I called my husband over, and that was a defining moment for both of us. We couldn't un-see that scene, we knew that we were called to ministry.’ In 1997 Beth and her husband saved, took a year's leave of absence from work and moved to Mexico to start their orphanage. Today, Back2Back Ministries is an international orphan care ministry serving abandoned, orphaned and impoverished children in Mexico, Nigeria, India and Haiti.

Praise: God for Beth and Tod’s obedience to His call on their lives. (Zechariah 4:10)

More: https://www.gospelherald.com/articles/71980/20190515/found-global-orphan-care-ministry-shares-heartbreaking-story-inspired-mission.htm

In the eighteenth century mission agencies were established, recruiting missionaries and mobilising mission across continents. Later, a new generation of pioneers took the gospel into regions of unreached people. But Christians realised that many were still isolated from the gospel by cultural and language barriers. Then mother tongue evangelists appeared. Work progressed, identifying more unreached peoples and taking the gospel to them. Globally, churches became significant missionary senders. Former pioneer areas like South Korea, Nigeria, India, Brazil and the Philippines sent missionaries into the world. Today, local churches have cross-cultural opportunities on their doorstep. Translators are using modern technology to interpret the gospel into other languages in a matter of months. The same work previously took years to complete. Satellite TV broadcasts into closed countries, and the Church continues to rise to the challenge of taking the gospel to the whole world.

Praise: God for amazing growth of cross-cultural ministry opportunities and resources. (Matthew 24:14)

More: http://docs.google.com/document/d/10wQTR3ROs9vTVCzaPvNVAzpk8GkjJOeVXJzQtDKuWdA/edit

Since 2012, non-state armed groups in north-east Nigeria have recruited and used children as combatants and non-combatants, raped and forced girls to marry, and committed other grave violations against children. Some of the girls become pregnant in captivity and give birth without any medical care or attention. Recently 894 of these children, including 106 girls, were released from the ranks of the Civilian Joint Task Force (CJTF) in Maiduguri, north-east Nigeria, as part of its commitment to end and prevent the recruitment and use of children. The CJTF is a local militia helping Nigerian security forces fight against insurgency by protecting communities from attack. The children will now be helped to return to normal civilian life and learn vocational skills. Pray for the children who have borne the brunt of this conflict, witnessing killing and violence, resulting in serious implications for their physical and emotional well-being.

Pray: for God to bless the work to repair communities and bring lasting peace. (1 Samuel 25:33)

More: http://www.unicef.org/nigeria/press-releases/nearly-900-children-released-armed-group-north-east-nigeria

Mercy Corps posted on their twitter account, ‘It is with great sorrow that we share heartbreaking news: Faye Mooney, our communication specialist in Nigeria, was killed in an attack in Kaduna state on Good Friday. Our entire organisation is grieving with her family during this difficult time.’ Nigeria’s president, Bukola Saraki, has tweeted his reaction to the killing: ‘My heartfelt prayers go out to all the families affected by Friday’s attack in Kaduna. Deep condolences to the government of the United Kingdom and Mercy Corps, over the death of the British aid worker, Faye Mooney, who was killed in the attack.’ He added, ‘It is my fervent hope that our security officials do everything in their power to rescue those that were abducted, so that they can be reunited with their loved ones as soon as possible.’

Pray: for the government to reinforce security for all humanitarian and development workforces, whose presence and activities are increasingly challenged in Nigeria. (Psalm 5:11b)

More: http://dailypost.ng/2019/04/22/kajuru-saraki-reacts-killing-briton-kaduna/

Five years ago, 230 girls were abducted in Chibok by Boko Haram. Parents whose daughters have not yet returned say it still feels like a ‘fresh wound’ but refuse to give up hope. Boko Haram set classrooms ablaze and told the girls they were under attack while they pretended to protect them. They herded them into trucks, drove into the forest and subjected them to rape, pregnancy, violence, and death. Those who did not obey militants or refused to renounce their Christian faith were punished severely; there are suggestions that some of them were forced to become Boko Haram fighters and commit murders for the group. 165 of the girls belonged to the Nigerian Church of the Brethren. Pray for parents like Yana, whose daughter has not returned. ‘Any time I speak about Rifkatu, I feel so much pain in my heart’, she said. ‘When she was kidnapped, laughter ceased in my house.’

Pray: for God to keep the families strong, and make it possible for girls who are still alive to return homes and be rehabilitated into their families after their trauma. (Genesis 49:25)

More: www.premierchristianradio.com/News/World/I-feel-so-much-pain-in-my-heart-5-years-since-Chibok-girls-were-taken

Esther refused to deny her faith when she was abducted by Boko Haram as a teenager. She was forced to marry one of the militants and faced horrific abuse at his hands. Soon she became pregnant. When she finally escaped and returned to her village, her community mocked her for being a ‘Boko Haram woman’. Even her own relatives called her daughter ‘Boko’, not Rebecca. There are thousands of women like Esther, who are doubly at risk of persecution, both because of their gender and because of their faith in Jesus. We, the global church, cannot allow the persecution facing our sisters to go unseen and ignored. We can pray for an increase in resources to be available for those who are giving them support and hope for the future God has prepared for them.

Pray: for God's healing for all those with mental and physical scars. (Psalm 71:20)

More: www.opendoorsuk.org/act/donate/1903-4-womens-campaign/?

The recent death toll of Christians in Nigeria has reached 120 with this week’s slaughter of more than 50 by Fulani Muslim militants in the Kaduna state of Nigeria, the Christian Post reported.

The Fulani jihadists, who have become a greater threat to Nigerian Christians than the Islamist terror group Boko Haram, stormed the villages of Inkirimi, Dogonnoma, and Ungwan Gora in the Kajuru Local Government Area last Monday, destroying 143 homes, killing 52 people, and wounding dozens more.

The assailants reportedly split into three groups, the first of which fired upon the people, the second set fire to buildings, and the third chased down people fleeing from the scene. Victims of the assault included women and children.

In Nigeria, Boko Haram captured 76 Muslim-background Christians. Four men were told at gunpoint to renounce Christ and revert to Islam. When they refused, they were shot in front of their families. Later the men’s wives were ordered to renounce Christ, or their children would be executed the next day. In the morning the children ran in, saying Jesus told them in the night that ‘all would be well’. Then Jesus appeared to them all and told them He would protect them. When the mothers again refused to renounce Christianity their children were lined up against a wall. As the soldiers took aim they suddenly grabbed their heads, screaming ‘Snakes!’ Some ran away, others dropped dead. A captive grabbed a gun and was about to fire at the fleeing militants but a child put her hand on his arm and said, ‘You don’t need to do that. Can’t you see the men in white fighting for us?’

Praise: God for revealing His power, As they share this testimony, may many have their faith in God’s grace and love grow. (Jeremiah 1:8)

More: barnabasfund.org/en/news/gods-intervention-saves-72-captive-nigerian-christians-from-boko-haram-firing-squad

The Government estimates that tens of thousands of people are slaves in the UK. Most are trafficked from Albania, Vietnam, Nigeria, Romania and Poland. There are also significant numbers of British national slaves. Forced labour is in agriculture, construction, hospitality, manufacturing, and car washes. Women and girls are trafficked for sexual exploitation or domestic slavery. Children are forced into cannabis production, petty theft and begging. In 2009 the Government set up a mechanism to which potential cases were referred to access relevant support. It wasn’t fit for purpose. Slavery victims were not supported, and traffickers got away with their crimes. A new Modern Slavery Act was introduced in 2015. Research has found that the number of potential victims of trafficking and modern slavery reported to the authorities has risen by over 80% in two years, and the number of modern slavery cases involving UK children is alarming. See

Pray: for improvements in detection and apprehension of slave masters in the UK. (Proverbs 21:15)

More: www.antislavery.org/slavery-today/slavery-uk/

A few militants defending a Syrian river bank are all that is left of IS’s ‘caliphate’. 40,000 foreigners from 110 countries joined it; many have gone home, creating security challenges. Thousands are in Kurdish detention camps awaiting relocations. Distinguishing between regretful and repentant hangers-on and truly dangerous fighters is a legal and political nightmare, creating relationship cracks between Europe and US. Meanwhile IS’s black flag flies over an enclave on the Philippine island of Basilan, where a cathedral was bombed. IS-linked groups are still active in Nigeria, Sudan, Pakistan, India, Indonesia, Bangladesh, and stretches of northern Africa and the Sahel. While they may not have access to the oil revenues that enabled IS to claim to be an actual state, they remain a security threat. IS is also alive and well on the web, with gruesome and well-produced propaganda.

Pray: for God to touch and turn around misguided violent hearts. (Ezekiel 36:26)

More: us12.campaign-archive.com/?e=2b376728db&u=7404e6dcdc8018f49c82e941d&id=92acd321b5

Rev Solomon Mfa and ten other Christian leaders filed a suit against the Nigerian government at the West African States Court of Justice, which has jurisdiction over human rights issues in the area. On 26 February the court ordered the government to investigate attacks that killed 300+ Christians and destroyed property; identify and prosecute the perpetrators; and redress the victims. ‘The government is in violation of its obligation to protect the human rights of these communities,’ the three judges stated in their unanimous verdict. The court also ordered the government to take urgent measures to protect Christians in the area by deploying soldiers and police to the affected communities. In the past three years, Muslim Fulani attacks have killed 1,000 people and destroyed property in 15 counties.

Pray: for the government to end ethno-religious cleansing, to move swiftly to reimburse and protect Christians. and to prosecute all law breakers. (Luke 18:7,8a)

More: morningstarnews.org/2019/03/west-african-court-faults-government-of-nigeria-for-failing-to-stop-killings-in-benue-state/

On 19 February CSW organised a protest outside Nigeria’s high commission in London, commemorating one year since the abduction of Leah Sharibu. 14-year-old Leah was the sole Christian among 110 girls abducted from their school in Dapchi by a Boko Haram offshoot. While all the other classmates were released the next month following government negotiations, Leah was denied her freedom as she refused to convert as a precondition for her freedom. She has been held in captivity ever since. In September 2018, Boko Haram issued a final ultimatum on her life after executing a fellow hostage. She was eventually spared, but only after the group executed another hostage and declared that Leah and an abducted humanitarian named Alice Ngaddah were to be their slaves for life.

Pray: for Nigeria’s government to secure the release of Leah and Alice, and of the 112 girls kidnapped from Chibok. (Psalm 109:21)

More: www.indcatholicnews.com/news/36566