Where Christians are Hunted Down like Animals
IT’S WORTH CONSIDERING
Every once in a while, we in America need to be reminded that in other parts of the world, Christians are being slaughtered by Muslims. One of the most dangerous countries is Somalia. When Christians there are discovered, they face almost certain death. The discovery of even a piece of Christian literature in their home is sufficient cause for the Sunni Muslim majority (99%) to remove their heads. One of the most militant Islamist groups in Somalia is Al-Shabab (The Youth), which has recently joined al-Qaeda and has sworn to rid Somalia of every Christian and impost its strict interpretation of Shariah law. Its primary target is the tiny group (less than 200) of Muslim-background believers (MBBs) – former Muslims who have converted to Christianity. When they are discovered by al-Shabab, they are sometimes beheaded on the spot.

The Voice of the Martyrs tells the story of a young man named Abdi, who was suddenly awakened in the middle of the night by four heavily armed al-Shabab soldiers broke into his home, ransacking it while holding him and his family at gunpoint. After finding a few pages from a Bible, he was bound, blindfolded, and driven away to a dark underground cell. There he was interrogated and tortured when he refused to give the names of fellow believers. When they removed his blindfold, he saw the three dead bodies that lay beside him. The absence of windows or a toilet locked in the unbearable stench of his waste and the rotting corpses. His excruciating pain grew stronger and stronger.

After ten days, the corpses were removed and he was joined by two cellmates. When the guards finally allowed them to spend a few hours outdoors, they noticed a scalable wall. They plotted their escape. One night, after the three prisoners had prayed to God (and many fellow believers had prayed for them), the guard on duty failed to lock their cell door. They made it to the wall and started climbing. Abdi and one of his cellmates escaped the barrage of gunfire and made it over the wall, escaping into the city. He phoned his wife, was reunited with his family, and received treatment at a local hospital.

Since then, Abdi has led several Muslims to Christ and now lives with his family in a part of Somalia controlled by the Transitional Federal Government.

AS I SEE IT
As Abdi recounted his story, he said, “I was happy to go through all this because now I am stronger spiritually. People prayed for me to escape. Their prayers are what saved my life.” What an example of the responsibility of God’s people to be in prayer for fellow believer around the world. Abdi’s story is being repeated daily around the world, especially in countries like Somalia and North Korea. They desperately need our prayers. Put yourself in their places. Imagine being tortured and starved for your faith. Your only hope is your sovereign God and prayer (yours and fellow believers’). Many of those who have undergone similar horrible experiences have told of God’s faithfulness. Instead of blaming God for allowing their ordeal to happen, they thanked God for their new intimacy with and new love for their Heavenly Father, who had drawn them closer to Him through the
pain they endured.

Stories like Abdi’s must be told for many reasons. The myth that Islam is a religion of peace must be shattered once and for all. The myth that pain has no place in the believer’s life must be exposed as heretical and counter to the way God works in His children. The myth that God is absent when bad things happen must be shown to be gross unbelief in God’s sovereignty. Check out the website of the Voice of the Martyrs and see what God would prompt you to do to open your eyes, change your perspective, and do something of eternal significance.

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