Persecution of Christians

The 5th grade class is just beginning its new year, so the children have not yet had much exposure to my teaching on how the choice to Come to Jesus and to be a young disciple of Jesus is something that some people will oppose, and not just by their ridicule of our beliefs.   Some of the opposition is violent, carried out by Islamic militant terrorists.

I don't present information like what is shown below, in class.   But I am recording it here in the Class Blog, which is primarily for parents.     The Blog will serve as an archive of reports I have received of Christian persecution; at some point during our year of teaching, it will be time for a reality-check for the kids -- our faith is "politically incorrect" and subject to violent attack.    But it will be done it a faith-affirming way that is developmentally appropriate for pre-teen children.


Church Targeted by Muslims Militants Boko al Haram
Monday 11 June 2012 00:00
Militants attacked two churches in Nigeria yesterday, spraying the congregation of one of them with bullets, killing at least one person, and blowing up a car in a suicide bombing at the other, wounding 41.
No one was killed by the car bombing in the central city of Jos, but mobs of youths attacked bystanders in retaliation, killing two, police said.
There was no claim of responsibility. Attacks on churches have become a trademark tactic of Islamist group Boko Haram, which says it is fighting to reinstate an ancient Islamic caliphate in northern Nigeria.

Link to full story:     http://voiceofpersected.wordpress.com/ 

Islamists Bomb Three Churches in Kaduna State, Nigeria

Blasts in two churches in Zaria, one in Kaduna city kill dozens of Christians.

JOS, Nigeria, June 17 (CDN) — Suspected Islamic extremists bombed three churches in Kaduna state this morning, the third consecutive Sunday that worship services in Nigeria have ended in lethal bloodshed.

In a predominantly Christian area of Zaria known as Wusasa, a suspected Islamic extremist crashed a car into a barricade at an Evangelical Church Winning All (ECWA) church at around 9 a.m., setting off explosives that killed at least 24 people and wounded 125, according to one unconfirmed report citing an anonymous state official. A few minutes later, suspected Islamic extremists set off explosives at Christ the King Catholic Church in the Sabon Gari area of Zaria.

An eyewitness told Compass that at least 10 corpses were removed from the cathedral, with dozens of people injured, many critically. At press time the Nigerian Red Cross Society reported the death toll from the blast at the Catholic church had reached 16.

A short while later, a Pentecostal congregation called Shalom Church in the Trikania area of Kaduna city was bombed, killing at least 10, according to the Red Cross.