🔥🕊️ One of Nigeria’s Deadliest Massacres

GOOD MORNING.

This week, we remember the Charleston church shooting—one of the most devastating acts of racial and religious violence in modern American history. On June 17, 2015, nine members of Mother Emanuel AME Church were murdered during a Wednesday night Bible study by a self-professed white supremacist.

It wasn’t just an attack on a congregation—it was an attack on a symbol of faith, endurance, and community. In the years since, Mother Emanuel has become a national reminder of both the persistent threat of hate and the power of forgiveness, as many survivors and families of the victims publicly extended grace to the shooter.

Ten years later, the grief still echoes. But so does the call: to protect sacred spaces, to confront the ideologies that fuel this kind of violence, and to ensure churches remain places of refuge—not targets.

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SPECIAL REPORT

Massacre at a Catholic Mission Shelter

In a devastating escalation of religiously motivated violence, armed Fulani jihadists launched a coordinated attack on the night of June 13, 2025, in Yelwata, Benue State. More than 200 Christians—many of them farmers and internally displaced persons—were massacred while seeking refuge at a Catholic mission shelter. Eyewitnesses and humanitarian organizations described the scene as one of the worst atrocities in the nation’s recent history.

A Pattern of Targeted Violence

The Yelwata massacre marks a grim peak in a broader wave of attacks across Nigeria’s Middle Belt. Since late May, Christian communities have faced a series of brutal assaults: over 80 killed in May 25 violence, followed by more than 50 on June 1. These attacks reflect an intensifying pattern of religious and ethnic violence, where heavily armed militants systematically target Christian populations under the guise of territorial or sectarian conflict.

National and International Implications

The failure of security forces to prevent or swiftly respond to these massacres has drawn condemnation from human rights groups and faith leaders. Calls are growing louder for the Nigerian government to increase protection for vulnerable communities and for international observers to investigate the rising tide of religious persecution. The Yelwata killings underscore the urgent need for coordinated security, humanitarian aid, and justice for the victims and survivors.

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REGIONAL THREATS

AFRICA

• NUMBI, SOUTH AFRICA – Armed robbery at church: During a midnight prayer session at The Moving Ministries of God Church in Numbi, Mpumalanga, five balaclava-wearing men armed with pistols burst in and threatened congregants. They stole 11 cellphones, two amplifiers, and the pastor’s white Audi Q3 (registration KFM 302 MP), which they used to escape via Cartrack-tracked route. No shots were fired and no injuries occurred.

• TARABA STATE, NIGERIA – A United Methodist Church in Jantaro collapsed during a Sunday service on June 15, 2025, amid heavy rain and a windstorm. Several worshippers sustained injuries—including fractures—and were transported to local hospitals and a bone-setter; there were no fatalities.

• OROMIA REGION, ETHIOPIA – Evangelist Ibrahim Mohammed, a convert from Islam who led around 80 people to Christ, was shot on May 15, 2025, after donating land to build a church and continuing his evangelical work despite death threats; he succumbed to his injuries three days later. A suspect linked to local Islamic militants has been identified but remains at large.

• BENUE STATE, NIGERIA – A Christian man abducted from his rural village in Benue State is feared dead, following a demand from his captors for ransom. His community has launched prayer and advocacy campaigns urging authorities for swift action and safe release in the face of mounting insecurity.

MIDDLE EAST & CENTRAL ASIA

• TAMRA, ISRAEL – An Iranian missile strike on June 15–16, 2025 during the Iran–Israel conflict tragically killed four individuals from a Christian Arab family: mother Manar Abu Al Heija Katib (45), her daughters Hala (13) and Shada (20), and her sister-in-law Manar Diab Katib (41). Only the husband and their third daughter survived; the attack has drawn attention to the inadequate protective shelters in Arab towns compared to Jewish neighborhoods.

SOUTH & SOUTHEAST ASIA

• CHHATTISGARH, INDIA – On the evening of June 11, 2025, a mob of Hindu extremists violently disrupted a Christian pastor’s relative’s wedding in a village in Raipur district. Guests were assaulted, several injured, vehicles vandalized—one set ablaze—before survivors sought shelter; the next morning, the groom’s father and two others were beaten during a follow-up attack, suffering serious injuries.

LATIN AMERICA & CARIBBEAN

• LIMA, PERU – During a magnitude 6.1 earthquake on Sunday, June 15, 2025, worshippers in a Lima-area church abruptly fled the sanctuary amid shaking, halting the mass as congregants sought safety.

• SAN LUIS POTOSÍ, MÉXICO – During a Sunday Mass, two state civil guards entered the church attempting to arrest a man with an outstanding warrant. Congregants—especially women—and the priest intervened, demanding the officers wait until after the service. Ultimately, the police withdrew without making the arrest.

NORTH AMERICA

• OKLAHOMA CITY, OKLAHOMA – On June 18, 2025, officials received a bomb threat targeting St. Luke’s Methodist on NW 15th Street. Police, including a K‑9 unit, swept the church and daycare, evacuated children, and concluded the threat was likely non‑credible while continuing investigations.

EUROPE

• ODESSA REGION, UKRAINE – Military officers reportedly abducted Orthodox priest Oleksandr Moskovchuk, allegedly detaining him to coerce military enlistment amid broader mobilization enforcement targeting clergy.

• CHERNIVTSI, UKRAINE – Roughly 50 masked individuals stormed the Holy Spirit (St. Duhovsky) Cathedral of the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) on June 17, 2025, assaulting two priests and a deacon—one with broken ribs, another suffering a head wound—before being escorted out by police. Worshippers subsequently blocked roads in protest.

• LUHANSK REGION, UKRAINE – On June 8, 2025, Russian-occupation authorities raided an unregistered Baptist church in Krasnodon (Sorokyne) during Pentecost, photographing the contents, confiscating religious materials, and detaining Pastor Vladimir Rytikov for refusing to register the church under Russian laws .

AUSTRALIA & OCEANIA

• PAPUA, INDONESIA – In the early hours of June 16, 2025, Indonesian military forces (TNI) engaged in a brief shootout with four armed members of the Free Papua Movement (OPM), specifically followers of Egianus  Kogoya, at Kampung Aleleng. Two OPM combatants were killed; weapons and ammunition were seized. The operation was in response to recent OPM-linked violence, including the killing of church construction workers in Wamena.

PRAYER REQUESTS

As global tensions escalate and the threat of full-scale war looms between Israel, Iran, and the United States, we ask our community to lift up the world’s leaders in prayer. Pray that God would grant wisdom, restraint, and discernment to those in power. Ask for protection over innocent lives and for peace to prevail where war seems inevitable. May hearts be softened, paths to de-escalation be revealed, and the church remain steadfast in prayer during these uncertain times.

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