Africa
Neary 50 Christians have been killed in a series of militant attacks on villages in Benue, Plateau and Kaduna states in late April through early May, with dozens more wounded and displaced, according to news reports. Militant Fulani killed six Christians in southern Kaduna on May 5 in the latest in a series of attacks.
The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) in its 2024 report urged the U.S. State Department to add 15 nations to the current list of egregious religious freedom violators, and recommended key policy guidance for the Biden administration. Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, India, Nigeria and Vietnam should be added to the 12 Countries of Particular Concern.
Madagascar, the world’s fourth-largest island, is renowned for its beautiful avenues of baobab trees and its most famous, wide-eyed resident, the ring-tailed lemur. The island — 250 miles east of southern Africa — is also “one of the most underrated surfing destinations in the world.” Madagascar’s southwest Toliara region has 12 sites that the website designates as “world-class” for catching waves.
Daystar University, a Kenyan school whose academic programs started with a certificate course from Wheaton College and later rose to be a leader in the training of communicators in Africa, has been forced to defend its Christian identity after a Muslim member of parliament accused it of discriminatory practices.
(ANALYSIS) The U.N. Security Council recently heard a new report on sexual violence in conflict (conflict-related sexual violence, also referred to as CRSV) prepared by Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. The report, which covers the period from January to December 2023, suggests that CRSV is on the rise. If the previous years were bad, the situation only got worse.
The OM Ship, carrying a crew of 350 missionaries from 70 nations, arrived at the Richards Bay’s port in the Eastern Cape in South Africa for their five-month ministry stay earlier this year. They are currently stationed at five South African ports and are expected to complete their work in June.
No money, no phones, no school, no medicine — and no questions. This is what life was like in Canaan, the shrine of an African Apostolic faith church on the outskirts of Zimbabwe’s capital Harare, where police last month rescued hundreds of people — including more than 250 children — forced to believe they were prepared to depart for heaven.
In several districts of central and southwestern Uganda, places with high levels of poverty, a beacon of hope shines bright these days. It’s The Share the Light Gospel Initiative — led by an American couple, Brian and Mary Kluth through HealthyCharity.org — that’s illuminating lives and brightening the future of hundreds of Christian families.
Islamic extremists waging an insurgency in Mozambique have increasingly targeted Christians and churches in the first three months of this year. As a result, priests and their followers — a total of 100,000 people — have been forced to flee following increased attacks that have left scores of dead and some church buildings destroyed.
(ANALYSIS) The United Methodist Church’s General Conference will meet in Charlotte, North Carolina from April 23 to May 4, 2024. Originally scheduled for 2020 and delayed three times due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this meeting of the church’s legislative body comes at a critical time for the United States’ second-largest Protestant denomination.
Zimbabwe’s renowned cleric and Prophetic Healing and Deliverance Ministry founder Walter Magaya recently built a modern soccer stadium in less than six months at his Yadah Complex in the capital city Harare. The project comes at a time when Magaya is facing several scandals, including being accused of rape and financial wrongdoing.
Four months after supporting blessings for same-sex couples, the Vatican on Monday declared gender-affirming surgery and surrogacy as violations of human dignity — making them equal to abortion and euthanasia as practices that reject God’s plan. The Holy See’s office that handles doctrine issued “Infinite Dignity,” a 20-page document that had been in the works for five years.
Even though the days of slavery and indentured labor in South Africa are long gone, the Hindu and Muslim festivities that take place on Easter weekend have become beloved occasions for their respective communities. In a variety of ways, South African Hindus and Muslims have made the Christian holiday their own.
Statistics compiled by Amnesty International show that there is a culture of stigmatization and victim-blaming towards rape survivors in Nigeria. The result is a large percentage of rape and sexual assaults going unreported. One man is trying to change all that by helping others after experiencing abuse himself as a child.
(TRAVEL) Sitting snugly at the start of the escarpment taking visitors up from the floor of the Great Rift Valley, not far from Kenya’s capitol Nairobi, is Mai Mahiu Catholic Church, otherwise known as the “Travelers’ Chapel.” Older generations call the place as “Msikiti,” which means mosque. One of Africa’s smallest churches, in fact, dates back to World War II when it was built by Italian prisoners of war.
As Zimbabwe and several other African countries fight a protracted cholera outbreak, Apostolic Christian sects opposed to Western medicine are being blamed for complicating the fight. Zimbabwe is one of the several countries in Southern Africa that are suffering from bouts of cholera outbreaks. Other places include the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Zambia, Mozambique, Tanzania and Malawi.
Fast food aficionados and practicing Catholics alike are often familiar with the Filet-O-Fish story and how the sandwich was born as a result of Lent. Catholics aren’t the only religious group chain restaurants cater to because of faith and dietary restrictions. Here’s a look at some of the biggest menu options from around the world.
Restrictions on religion by government officials across the world reached a new peak in 2021, a new Pew Research Center report released on Tuesday revealed. The report looked at 198 countries and territories around the world. It is the 14th year that Pew released such a report on the global state of religion.
The little settlement of Kijabe, about a two-hour drive northwest from Nairobi, stands out as the only drug- and alcohol-free town in Kenya thanks to the legacy of American missionaries that arrived here over a century ago. In fact, the spiritual footprints of Rev. Charles E. Hurlburt are still visible in this part of Africa.
Violence by Islamic extremist groups such as Fulani militants, Boko Haram and Islamic State in West African Province increased during the presidency of Muhammadu Buhari, putting Nigeria at the epicenter of targeted violence against the church. The West African nation of 226 million is divided evenly between Christians and Muslims.
“Bob Marley: One Love,” a new movie that chronicles on the life of legendary reggae singer and songwriter — from his rise to fame in the mid-1970s up until his death in 1981 — has put a spotlight on what it means to be Rastafarian. Widely considered an iconic figure in the history of music, he is revered as the pioneer of reggae and a symbol of peace.
A modern farming campaign launched six years ago by the Anglican Church of Uganda to transform lives affected by the the Lord’s Resistance Army in northern Uganda has started paying off. As a result, farmers have received quality seeds and hybrid animals such as pigs and cattle to rear.
Not everyone will be enjoying chocolate this Valentine’s Day. For the first time since 2018, Ash Wednesday and Valentine’s Day fall on the same day. In fact, this rare occurrence is taking place once again in less than a week. It has happened three times in the last century — 1923, 1934 and 1945 — and will happen again in 2029.
After joining the global Christian community in celebrating the election of Lazarus Chakwera as President of Malawi, the refugee community regrets it as the Christian leader has embarked on a brutal campaign against them, blaming them for the socio-economic problems that the impoverished African nation faces.
(ANALYSIS) Nigerian Christians have been slaughtered in the tens of thousands by Nigerian Muslims. When press coverage hasn’t been M.I.A., it’s resorted to a lazy “climate change” explanation. Not even the Biden administration seems to care.
Temitope Balogun Joshua (better known as T.B. Joshua) was a Nigerian charismatic pastor and televangelist whose ministry was dogged by one controversy after another until his death on June 5, 2021. Now it seems controversy has followed the man to grave. A BBC expose has former church members accusing the pastor of all sorts of wrongdoing.
Over the next few weeks, a team of pastors will organize events in Ivory Coast — with plans to involve players, coaches and fans — throughout the Africa Cup of Nations, which ends on Feb. 11 with the final. The host nation — along with Senegal, Nigeria, Morocco and Egypt — are among the favorites to win Africa’s premier soccer tournament for national teams.
(ANALYSIS) The Vatican’s decision to allow priests to bless couples in what they called “irregular relationships” continues to get lots of media attention, especially since it involves same-sex couples. Here’s how some Catholic priests who are active on social media and YouTube are explaining what it all means.
The Muslim community in Uganda entered 2024 with three rival muftis each heading his own faction. The fraternity has been split into factions as a result of endless wrangling caused by, among other things, the mismanagement of Muslim-owned properties.
The murder last month of a Catholic priest is the latest in a spate of attacks against Christian clerics. Overall, South Africa’s crime rate has spiked to its highest levels in two decades. At the same time, many see these recent attacks against clerics as an infringement on their religious freedom to worship since Christians are increasingly fearful of going to church as a result of the increased violence.