Persecution of Christians in the Democratic Republic of Congo: Christians are nearly 94% of the population, but as in Nigeria and elsewhere in Africa, Islamic jihadis are increasingly aggressive.
There is in Congo a small indigenous Orthodox Church under the jurisdiction of the Patriarchate of Alexandria. Please pray fervently for an end to this cruelty and bloodlust, and ask our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ to enable the Orthodox Church in Congo to enjoy peace and security, and to flourish, bringing the light of Christ to this troubled region.
For more ChristianPersecution.com coverage of the persecution of Christians in the Democratic Republic of Congo, see here.
“Pastor martyred in DRC for refusing jihadists’ demand he convert to Islam,” Barnabas Fund, February 6, 2020:
Islamist militants murdered a 60-year-old pastor in north-eastern Democratic Republic of Congo on 29 January after he refused their demands to convert to Islam.
Ngulongo Year Batsemire, the Archdeacon of Eringeti, was walking to his fields with his wife when they were surrounded by members of the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), an Islamist militant group that has been active in the north-east region for more than two decades and repeatedly targets Christians.
The militants demanded Pastor Ngulongo tell them where they could find other pastors. They then attempted to force him to convert to Islam. When the father-of-ten refused to renounce Jesus Christ, the jihadists martyred him. His wife’s life was spared. She recalls that the militants had uttered a local phrase known used when they are looking to kill Christians but spare Muslims.
Earlier the same day, ADF militants murdered at least 30 people in a series of raids on four villages in the Beni region. The area has seen a surge of violence since October 2019, when the army launched a large-scale offensive against the rebels….
Photo by MONUSCO Photos – 05 décembre 2014. Eringeti, Nord Kivu : Opération de sécurisation conjointe entre les troupes de la MONUSCO et les FARDC dans la localité d’Eringeti., CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=46294456
