Thousands of Muslims attacked the Coptic Church of St. Mary and Anba Abraam building in Ain Shams, Cairo on November 23, angry that an extension had been recently added to the building. The mob gathered at the premises at approximately 5:00 p.m., following a consecration service that was held by the believers earlier that day. The mob, shouting anti-Christian slogans, threw stones at the building and set a portion of the structure on fire with the believers trapped inside. A nearby shop and two cars belonging to Christians were also burned in the violence.
Pray that attacks on Christians and church buildings in Egypt will cease (Psalm 33:14-22). Ask God to grant boldness to these believers as they face opposition from their Muslim neighbours. Pray that the Egyptian government will protect Christians from such acts of violence.
To learn more about the difficulties of being a Christian in Egypt, click here. To watch video clips of this attack, go to our blog.
Anti-Christian violence erupted in the central Nigerian city of Jos on November 28 following a local election. Sixteen church buildings were ravaged by Muslim mobs, thousands of Christians fled from their homes, and sources estimate that hundreds were killed. Although initial reports blamed the local governmental elections as the catalyst for the violence, Christian groups in Nigeria maintain that the voting process was peaceful and that the attacks occurred before the results were even announced. Other news reports have also suggested that Christians were responsible for the deaths of 300 Muslims; however, local security sources insist that the Muslims were shot by authorities when they defied the imposed curfew and launched fresh attacks. Some sources suspect that the violence may have been planned in advance since the majority of the 500 arrested Muslims have told police that they arrived in Jos three days prior to the attacks from neighbouring Niger or from northern Nigerian states. Some of the arrested were also wearing fake police and military uniforms.
