Open Doors reports that the bodies of 70 Christians have been found beheaded inside a church in the Democratic Republic of Congo, in the latest devastating attack on believers by Islamists in the northeast of the country.
According to sources in the field reporting to Open Doors, the attacks happened at around 4 a.m. last Thursday, February 13, when suspected Muslim jihadists from the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), an armed group with ties to the Islamic State (ISIS), approached homes in Mayba, saying: “Get out, get out and don’t make any noise.”
Twenty Christian men and women came out with their hands up. They were immediately taken captive.
Shaken by this incident, people from the local community gathered to figure out a plan of how to rescue those held captive.
But the Islamic terrorists surrounded the village and captured another 50 believers.
What happened next was so horrific I will spare you the details.
Suffice it to say that all 70 of those kidnapped were taken to a Protestant church in Kasanga where they were tortured and beheaded.
The mainstream media likes to stay quiet about Christian persecution around the world. They’d rather focus, for whatever reason, on the Middle East and the Muslim-Israeli wars. Rarely do Christians caught in the crossfires of Israel-Muslim wars even get mentioned. In the eyes of many, it’s like they don’t exist. Imagine how that must feel.
The director of the Kombo primary school, which belongs to the CECA20 church (Evangelical Community in Central Africa), says that even before the incident involving the beheadings of 70 Congolese Christians, churches, schools and health centers in the area had all shut their doors because of the chaotic security situation.
Field sources told Open Doors that, as of Tuesday February 18th, some families had not been able to bury their dead because the area was still not secured. Many Christians have now left their homes and fled the area.
An elder of the CECA20 church told Open Doors: “We don’t know what to do or how to pray; we’ve had enough of massacres. May God’s will alone be done.”
The Christians in DR Congo not only have the Islamists to deal with, they are also often targeted by the M23 rebels, who fight against the country’s government. As one example, in February 2024 M23 rebels found 14 Christian men working their farmland in North Kivu. The rebels demanded the men join their ranks. When they refused, the rebels killed them.
In June 2023, Human Rights Watch reported human rights abuses by M23 rebels in the Congo, including unlawful killings, rape and other war crimes.
Please pray for the Christians of Central Africa. There is no easy believism there like we have in America and many other Western countries. Being a Christian can cost you your life.
Originally published at leohohmann.com