Tag: Trauma

Niger churches ‘abandoned’ after Charlie Hebdo destruction

July 23, 2015 Niger Baptists, Boko Haram, Charlie Hebdo, Churches, Islamic extremism, Mahamadou Issoufou, Niamey, Niger, Prophet Muhammad, Protestants, Trauma, West Africa, Zinder

In the aftermath of the Charlie Hebdo attacks in Paris, the churches in the predominantly Muslim West African nation of Niger experienced the worst attacks in their history. On the weekend of 16-17 January, hundreds of angry Islamists attacked and ransacked dozens of properties and churches, shouting “Allahu Akbar” (“Allah . . . Read More

The man who talks to Boko Haram

March 26, 2015 Nigeria Boko Haram, Borno, Chibok girls, Gwoza, Kidnapping, Maiduguri, Nigeria, Pentecostals, Stephen Davis, Trauma

One year after the kidnapping of 232 Nigerian girls, Australian Stephen Davis still says his contacts indicate complicity among Nigerian politicians. A year ago April 14, Boko Haram kidnapped 275 girls from the government secondary school in the Christian-dominated town of Chibok, Borno State. Students reported to the Chibok Government Secondary . . . Read More

Arab churches’ key contribution to Iraqi relief

October 1, 2014 Iraq Ankawa, Erbil, Islamic State, Trauma, UN, Yazidis

Members of Kasr el-Dobara church in Egypt, shown in 2012, have given generously to support refugees in Iraq.World Watch Monitor As a coalition of Western and Arab countries continues military action to try to defeat Islamic State (IS), it’s timely to hear how the region’s largest Christian minority – . . . Read More

UN urged to protect Syria’s civilians

September 25, 2014 Syria Bashar al-Assad, Islamic State, Syria, Trauma, UN

Open Doors International, a global charity serving Christians who are under pressure because of their faith, has joined 38 non-governmental organizations in a campaign demanding diplomatic action to protect civilians amid Syria’s civil war. The campaign, called ‘With Syria,’ intends to redouble pressure on United Nations members to live up . . . Read More

‘One week’ deadlines for Iraqi Christians to convert or ‘face the sword’

August 22, 2014 Iraq Alqosh, Ankawa, Assyrians, Bartella, Dohuk, Erbil, Iraq, Islamic State, Qaraqosh, Trauma, UN

A Christian Iraqi refugee sweeping the concrete floor of the unfinished building where she now lives. Ankawa; August 20 2014World Watch Monitor An Iraqi Christian Mikha Qasha, fleeing from Qaraqosh, has given a personal account of members of the Islamic State, IS, coming to his house and threatening him . . . Read More

Kidnapped girls’ parents die as Chibok’s trauma rises

July 24, 2014 Nigeria Boko Haram, Chibok girls, Goodluck Jonathan, Trauma

Chibok girls who managed to escape arriving at Nigeria’s State House to meet with Nigerian President Jonathan. Abuja, Nigeria; July 22, 2014Reuben Abati, Presidential Spokesman, Nigeria For the missing Nigerian girls kidnapped over 100 days ago, another trauma has emerged. Eleven of the group of grieving parents have died, . . . Read More

How does Boko Haram justify kidnap of 230 Nigerian teenage girls?

April 25, 2014 Nigeria Boko Haram, Islamic extremism, Nigeria, Trauma

As the world vacillates between outrage and numb impotence in the face of Boko Haram’s recent kidnapping of about 230 teenage girls from the mainly Christian enclave of Chibok, northern Nigeria, the questions “Why these girls?” and “How much longer?” beg yet again for answers. But from whom? A timely . . . Read More

Sudan border dispute brings destitution to thousands

November 19, 2012 Sudan Abyei, African Union, Dinka, Episcopal Church of Sudan, IDPs, Khartoum, Sharia, South Sudan, Sudan, Trauma

As politicians wrangle ahead of an early December deadline over the still-disputed status of the oil-rich region of Abyei, straddling the border of Sudan and South Sudan, local church leaders appeal for help in the face of a potential humanitarian crisis. Both governments have been asked to approve an African . . . Read More

Nuns traumatised after school attack in Egypt

March 16, 2012 Egypt Aswan, Egypt, Islamic extremism, Trauma

Two nuns in Upper Egypt faced “unimaginable fear” – with one later hospitalised over the emotional trauma – when 1,500 Muslim villagers brandishing swords and knives trapped them inside a guesthouse last week and threatened to burn them out. The next day, the assailants frightened children at the school; attendance . . . Read More

Christians face harsh realities of Nigerian church bombing

December 29, 2011 Nigeria Abuja, Boko Haram, Christmas, Nigeria, Sultan of Sokoto, Trauma

Until last Sunday, Christmas Day, St. Theresa’s Catholic Church on the outskirts of Nigeria’s capital city, Abuja, was just one of many branches of Christianity in the country. An early morning suicide bomb attack by Islamic extremist group Boko Haram that left at least 45 people dead and 73 others . . . Read More

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