Somalia (MNN) — Earlier this month, underground church
leader Madobe Abdi escaped an attempted kidnapping in Somalia.
Compass Direct News reports Islamic militants caught up with
him March 15 and murdered him. What
made his death more alarming is that Abdi was an orphan raised as a Christian
rather than a convert from Islam.
Islamic militants have hunted leaders of the underground
church movement as a means of discouraging others from responding to the
Gospel.
Islam is Somalia's national religion. Although the
Transitional Federal Charter grants religious freedom, President Ahmed has
embraced a version of sharia (Islamic
law) that mandates the death penalty for those who leave Islam.
Al shabaab, which
is fighting the Transitional Federal Government (TFG), has embarked on a
campaign to rid the country of all non-Muslims.
Last year, Mission Network News
reported Islamic militants in Somalia sought out and killed at least 15
Christians, including women and children.
This year, on Jan. 1, Islamic extremists shot an underground
church leader to death. Having learned that he had left Islam to become a
Christian, al Shabaab members murdered
41-year-old Mohammed
Ahmed Ali after he had left his home in Hodan, on the outskirts of Mogadishu.
Pray for encouragement and strength for the Christians
remaining in Somalia as well as for those who have been forced to leave their
homes. Ask God to provide for and
protect them. Pray that they will continue to grow in their faith in Christ.
