ICC NOTE: ICC has recently received reports of Somali Christians fleeing their own country of Somalia only to be terrorized by Islamic extremists targeting them in refugee camps and even in areas of the Horn such as Nairobi . This is the testimony of one man, M and his family.
ICC NEWS
Persecution follows Somali Christian Man
January 13, 2007
M was born in a small village of Gilib in the middle of Juba province in Somalia , and is ethnically from the Bantu tribe of the Somalis. He was raised as a Christian and eventually raised his own family in Gilib as well. Because of the Civil War, it was impossible for M to take his family to church because Islamic fundamentalists had either burned down all Christian houses of worship or destroyed them through explosives. Many Somali Christians were martyred and many more fled the country. Missionaries were also killed in Somalia by the Islamic Extremists during the civil war and others left the country after president Siad Barres government collapsed.
The life in Gilib was difficult, so M and his family had moved to Mogadishu in hopes of a better life, but during their stay in Mogadishu neighbors realized that they were not practicing Islam.
Unfortunately, the Islamic Fundamentals targeted his family after a long investigation and planned their demise. On December 25th 2004 a group of Al-Itihad Al-Islamia (one of the Islamic Fundamental groups) attacked Ms family shooting and killing his son. The rest of the family had managed to escape while the Islamists fired on the house. At this point, M and his family decided to come to Kenya to seek safety and an opportunity to worship Christ freely.
Unfortunately Kenya has not been the refuge that M and his family had hoped. Problems with Islamic Fundamentals whom are aware of Somali Christians identify the names of the believers, the churches they attend, and their ethnic clans. Somali believers are often intimidated, beaten, or even pushed out of their homes after they were given warning. Some do not go to church any longer for they are afraid of what might happen to their parents and relatives. Sadly, children of Christian families have been abducted and still remain missing today.
When M was asked about the possibility of going back to Somalia , he said
It is too risky for someone who believes Christ as his personal Savior to go back to Somalia . Moslems believe that any one who abandons Islam should be killed.
Please pray for M, his family, and other Christian Somalis that continue to be persecuted in the Horn of Africa.
