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Ambushed by the Moro Islamic Liberation Front
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| Note: This is the seventh in a series of nine emails examining the major Islamist groups currently persecuting Christians around the world. Read each informative email, and request your free prayer guide to learn how to pray more specifically for persecuted believers facing Islamic extremists. |
May 3, 2009, was a beautiful day on the lush island of Mindanao, in the Philippines. Jean Tongcua, pregnant with her fourth child, was doing laundry in a river near her home when she suddenly heard gunfire in the distance. Immediately thinking of her three young daughters, she began climbing the river bank to return home.
As she reached the top of a small cliff, she saw the source of the gunfire — armed men shooting at everyone in sight. Dropping to her knees, she crawled backward as bullets whizzed over her head. Then a bomb suddenly exploded nearby, hurling metal and debris into the air around her; a piece of shrapnel struck Jean in the chest.
By the time the attack ended, four people had been killed and six hospitalized, including Jean. Eighty houses, all belonging to Christians, were burned to the ground, leaving more than 200 homeless. Homes belonging to Muslims were left untouched.
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Although the Philippines is a predominantly Christian nation, those on the country’s second-largest island, Mindanao, have for decades faced ongoing persecution at the hands of Islamist groups like the one that attacked Jean’s village.
The Moro Islamic Liberation Front, which formed in the 1970s, carries out violent attacks on Christians in the hope of ultimately driving them off the island of Mindanao and creating a separate Muslim state. They marginalize and intimidate Christians, routinely stealing and destroying their crops and hijacking their motorbikes.
Christians in these conflict areas need your prayers to help them stand strong in the Lord and continue sharing the gospel with those who don’t know Christ. Please pray for Christians in Mindanao and other areas of the Philippines, and pray that members of extremist groups will see the truth of the gospel and place their faith in Christ. Request a free copy of VOM’s Christians Facing Islamic Extremists guide, and learn how you can pray more specifically for Christians in the Philippines.
After requesting a copy for yourself, forward this special offer to Christian friends so they can join in prayer for our persecuted family.
Watch for the next email in this series this Thursday, focusing on Sudan’s Islamist regime.
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