A Somali woman walks past church destroyed by Islamic Militants.
A Christian convert from Islam in Somalia was kidnapped and beheaded earlier this month in Hudur CIty in the Bakool region of Somalia. Compass Direct News reported the following:
Juma Nuradin Kamil was forced into a car by three suspected Islamic extremists from the al Shabaab terrorist group on Aug. 21, area sources said. After members of his community thoroughly combed the area looking for him, at 2 p.m. on Sept. 2 one of them found Kamil’s body dumped on a street.
The kidnapping and subsequent manner of murder suggests that al Shabaab militants had been monitoring him, Christian leaders said. Muslim extremists from al Shabaab, a militant group with ties to al Qaeda, have vowed to rid Somalia of Christianity, and they control the area some 400 kilometers from Mogadishu.
The murder and oppression of the al Shabbab militants have so rocked the small Christian community with fear that none of the residents in the town where Kamil’s body was found would go near it for two days, lest they be associated with the martyred Christian.
The militants are seeking to impose Sharia law in the areas surrounding Mogadishu, the capital city. Even Somalia’s President Sheikh Sharif Sheik Ahmed, while claiming to be a moderate, has adopted a form of Sharia law that allows a death sentence for those who leave Islam for another faith.
Again, in all of this suffering, we must remember that this was prophesied in the Bible thousands of years ago:
Revelation 6:9 And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held: 10 And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth? 11 And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellowservants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled.
Contrary to what many “prosperity preachers” teach to their congregants every Sunday, the Bible prophesied that Christians would be suffering as the end times approached. As the world moves farther from God and increases in its disregard and disrespect for Christianity and Biblical values, the more mistreatment can be justified. Thus the persecution, discrimination and outright murder of Christians for their faith would increase greatly before the time of the Second Coming of Jesus Christ:
Matthew 24:9 Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake.
Continue to pray for the Christians sisters and brothers in restricted nations. Though it does not get mainstream media coverage, thousands and thousands of Christians worldwide are putting their lives on the line just for professing their faith. Pray for their safety and continued faith. Pray for the underground churches that seek to praise and draw people to learn the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Pray for the bold pastors and missionaries who are sharing the Gospel and organizing believers with they and their parent’s safety. And if you do have religious liberty where you live, continue to pray and thank God for your freedom and safety and use it wisely.
