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Mounting Number of ECWA Christians Abducted, Slain

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ABUJA, Nigeria (Morning Star News) – Suspected Fulani herdsmen and other terrorists in Nigeria have killed six pastors and kidnapped 27 Christians of the Evangelical Church Winning All (ECWA) in the past seven months, according to an ECWA report.

Among the 27 Christians kidnapped from January to date were six pastors, including one abducted in Kaduna state on Monday (July 25), Pastor Moses Dikko Usman.

James Saleh, a coordinator of ECWA’s Evangelical Missionary Society (EMS), reported that among the six pastors slain was the Rev. Ezra Shamaki, an ECWA missionary killed on June 21 in the Kurmin Musa area of Kaduna state.

“Ask God to comfort the family of the late Rev. Ezra Shamaki, our missionary serving in Kurmin Musa DCC, who was shot dead by terrorists,” Saleh said. “The terrorists kidnapped his wife, and they are yet to make any contact.”

Mac Philips, another EMS coordinator, said that 15 other women and five men were also abducted in the June 21 attack.

“At about 7 a.m., one of our missionaries was leading a prayer meeting when herdsmen stormed the village, killing and destroying anything in sight,” Philips said. “The armed terrorists stormed the prayer house, met them praying and opened fire on the missionary.”

Though Shamaki was dead, one of the herdsmen shot him again with an AK-47 assault rifle, he said.

“The herdsmen then abducted all the women in the church, and many other men and women in the community, and left,” he said. “Continue to pray for God’s protection upon our missionaries who are constantly in the line of fire, yet they have remained courageous to continue serving Him in various mission fields.”

On July 5, terrorists killed the Rev. Adamu Buba in Iburu, Kasuwan Magani, Kaduna state, Philips said. Saleh added that Pastor Buba leaves behind a wife and seven children.

“Paul said in Romans that nothing shall be able to separate us from the love of God,” Saleh said. “As long as hell and heaven exist, the gospel must thrive.”

He said Pastor Nehemiah Ezekiel was killed in Unguwan Awallu of Kaduna state’s Kwassam area in an attack on the ECWA station there on April 5.

Philips said pastors Isma Dogari, Bulus Bayi and Yakubu Waziri were also killed for their faith this year.

“To preach the gospel for us is to die, to be safe is to stop preaching the gospel,” Philips told Morning Star News. “It’s a choice we all have to make – for us, we choose the former. The gospel in Nigeria cannot be preached without casualties. Our lives are increasingly on the line, but nothing compares to the excellency of sharing the gospel to a dying world without Christ.”

Northern Nigeria is engulfed in terrorist attacks by Muslim extremists who invade predominantly Christian communities, he said.

“While we mourn every day for these tragedies, we remain resolute with our weapons of love and peace, knowing that the battle before us is a mopped-up operation – because of the resurrection, we have won,” Philips said.

Two ECWA members in Kaduna state were also killed this year, one in Ungwan Busa and another in Ungwan Chiyaya, Saleh said.

Among those kidnapped, he said, were Pastor Ahmadu Maikudi and two other Christians abducted along with him. They were abducted on June 16 in Gidan Isa Giwa, Zaria, Kaduna state. The wife of the Rev. Emmanuel Bako of Kasuwan Magani DCC, Kaduna state, was abducted on July 13. On May 9, gunmen kidnapped the Rev. Matthew Moses in Katsina state, northwest Nigeria, Saleh said.

The Rev. Mamuda Lakwadon, serving in the Indache area of Abaji, Abuja, was wounded during an attack by the armed herdsmen, Saleh added.

“Many of our mission fields across the region are increasingly facing threats of attacks from terrorist herders/bandits and kidnap syndicates who continue to terrorize residents,” he said. “As the security situation in the country continues to deteriorate, our missionaries are increasingly facing grave danger.”

Numbering in the millions across Nigeria and the Sahel, predominantly Muslim Fulani comprise hundreds of clans of many different lineages who do not hold extremist views, but some Fulani do adhere to radical Islamist ideology, the United Kingdom’s All-Party Parliamentary Group for International Freedom or Belief (APPG) noted in a recent report.

“They adopt a comparable strategy to Boko Haram and ISWAP [Islamic State West Africa Province] and demonstrate a clear intent to target Christians and potent symbols of Christian identity,” the APPG report states.

Christian leaders in Nigeria have said they believe herdsmen attacks on Christian communities in Nigeria’s Middle Belt are inspired by their desire to forcefully take over Christians’ lands and impose Islam as desertification has made it difficult for them to sustain their herds.

Nigeria led the world in Christians killed for their faith last year (Oct. 1, 2020 to Sept. 30, 2021) at 4,650, up from 3,530 the previous year, according to Open Doors’ 2022 World Watch List report. The number of kidnapped Christians was also highest in Nigeria, at more than 2,500, up from 990 the previous year, according to the WWL report.

Nigeria trailed only China in the number of churches attacked, with 470 cases, according to the report.

In the 2022 World Watch List of the countries where it is most difficult to be a Christian, Nigeria jumped to seventh place, its highest ranking ever, from No. 9 the previous year.

If you would like to help persecuted Christians, visit https://morningstarnews.org/resources/aid-agencies/ for a list of organizations that can orient you on how to get involved.

Perfect Jubilee – RCCG 70th Annual Convention

The Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) is organising her Annual Convention for 2022, which is the 70th Annual Convention of the Christian denomination – titled PERFECT JUBILEE

Visit the RCCG website for more info about the event – rccg.org

Vision & Mission of the Church

1) To make heaven.
2) To take as many people with us.
3) To have a member of RCCG in every family of all nations.
4) To accomplish No. 1 above, holiness will be our lifestyle.
5) To accomplish No. 2 and 3 above, we will plant churches within five minutes walking distance in every city and town of developing countries and within five minutes driving distance in every city and town of developed countries.
6) We will pursue these objectives until every Nation in the world is reached for the Lord Jesus Christ

Queen Elizabeth says she lives by the message of Christ

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Queen Elizabeth says she lives by the message of Christ

Queen Elizabeth II issued a message to the Lambeth Conference in London this week, telling the Anglican Communion’s decennial gathering that the teachings of Christ have served as a “guide” in her life.

The queen’s message was sent to the conference on Wednesday, the same day bishops were set to visit Lambeth Palace to launch the Anglican Communion forest initiative.

The 96-year-old monarch sent “warm greetings” and expressed “great pleasure” that the Lambeth Conference could take place after a delay of two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Bishops from over 165 countries are attending the conference, which runs from July 26 until Aug. 8.

“As we all emerge from the pandemic, I know that the Conference is taking place at a time of great need for the love of God — both in Word and deed,” she wrote in the address.

“The bishops of the Anglican Communion set out a path for an ongoing commitment towards Christian unity in a changing world; a task that is, perhaps, even more important today, as together you look to the future and explore the role of the church in responding to the needs of the present age.”

“I send my warmest good wishes to you all for a successful Conference and may God bless you in your ministry and service in his world,” she concluded.

In early June, Queen Elizabeth celebrated her 70th year on the throne through her Platinum Jubilee commemoration.

“When it comes to how to mark 70 years as your Queen, there is no guidebook to follow. It really is a first. But I have been humbled and deeply touched that so many people have taken to the streets to celebrate my Platinum Jubilee,” the queen wrote in a message issued at the end of the commemorations. Read more ….

Muslim Extremists in Uganda Kill Evangelist at His Home

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Muslim Extremists in Uganda Kill Evangelist at His Home

NAIROBI, Kenya (Morning Star News) – Muslim extremists on July 29 came to the home of an evangelist who had held open-air events in eastern Uganda and killed him, sources said.

Cut with a sharp instrument that left his head and neck with deep wounds, Sozi Odongo was killed at his home in Omorio cell, Agule Town Council, Pallisa District, while his wife and four children hid in a room, she said. Odongo was 45.

The previous week, sources said, Odongo had received threatening text messages, including one from Nasuru Ongom, a Muslim sheikh (teacher) in Palissa town, that read, “Please stop preaching to our people using the holy Koran, or else you risk your life.”

Odongo had cited the Koran and the Islamic hadiths (sayings of Muhammad) in evangelistic events directed at mixed-race Arabs in several villages of Pallisa District, sources said.

After such an event on July 29, he arrived home and had eaten dinner with his family when they heard a group of people coming toward their house at about 7:15 p.m., said his wife, Stella Kilo. They locked the door.

“We heard them talk in the Arabic language and wondered what could be the matter,” Kilo said. “They then arrived and knocked at the door.”

She and their children went into the bedroom, but Odongo unlocked and opened the door, and the assailants began beating him on all parts of his body, she said.

“He screamed while mentioning the name of Nasuru, saying, ‘Leave me Nasuru, Nasuru, Nasuru, please don’t kill me, just tell your colleagues to leave me,’” Kilo told Morning Star News. “Then I heard a loud hit, and thereafter no more screaming.”

The assailants likely left, but she and the children remained in the bedroom for an hour, afraid that they were still there, she said.

Kilo opened the bedroom door and found her husband in a pool of blood, she said.

“I tried calling to my husband, but he was unable to talk, and I then rang a neighbor and informed him about the situation,” she said.

The neighbor arrived and informed the LC1 chairperson of the area, George Ochola, who came and found Odongo’s body cut several times in the head, neck and arm, Kilo said. Ochola called police, and officers immediately arrived.

Ochola filed a report with Agule police (CRB 434/2022), and sources said officers were searching for Ongom on suspicion of murder.

The attack was the latest of many instances of persecution of Christians in Uganda that Morning Star News has documented.

Uganda’s constitution and other laws provide for religious freedom, including the right to propagate one’s faith and convert from one faith to another. Muslims make up no more than 12 percent of Uganda’s population, with high concentrations in eastern areas of the country.

If you would like to help persecuted Christians, visit https://morningstarnews.org/resources/aid-agencies/ for a list of organizations that can orient you on how to get involved.

Source : Morning Star News

Pope Francis may ‘step aside’ and retire, but only if it’s God’s will

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Pope Francis may ‘step aside’ and retire, but only if it’s God’s will

Pope Francis says he may ‘step aside’ and retire, but only if it’s God’s will.

Pope recalls visit to Canada at Angelus . Pope Francis thanks all those who made his visit to Canada possible, and says that while there, his thoughts were also with the people of Ukraine.

Speaking to journalists on a return flight from Canada, Pope Francis said he should slow down on his international travel and possibly consider retiring, but only if he discerns that it’s God’s will.

“I think that at my age and with this limitation, I have to save myself a little bit to be able to serve the Church. Or, alternatively, to think about the possibility of stepping aside,” Francis told journalists during an in-flight press conference on his return flight from Iqaluit, Canada, on Saturday, AFP reported.

“The Lord will say” when it is time to retire, the 85-year-old pope added, according to Catholic News Agency. “The door is open. It’s one of the normal options, but up to today I haven’t knocked on that door.”

He clarified that he wasn’t actively thinking of retiring and that he was just open to it. “But maybe that doesn’t mean the day after tomorrow I will start thinking.”

As a Jesuit, the pope said he will rely on “discernment.”

Speaking on Sunday after the recitation of the Marian prayer, the Pope thanked all those who had made his penitential pilgrimage possible, including civil authorities, heads of the indigenous peoples and the Canadian Bishops. He also thanked everyone who had accompanied him with their prayers, and said he would speak at length about his visit during Wednesday’s General Audience.

Prayers for the people of Ukraine

Despite being in Canada, Pope Francis noted that even during the trip, he never stopped praying for the Ukrainian people, “attacked and tormented, asking God to deliver them from the scourge of war.”

The Pope went on to say that “if one looked at reality objectively, considering the damage that each day of war brings to that population but also to the entire world, the only reasonable thing to do would be to stop and negotiate. May wisdom inspire concrete steps of peace,” he said.

On this, the feast of St Ignatius of Loyola, which also marks the conclusion of the Ignatian year, Pope Francis extended an affectionate greeting to his “Jesuit brothers,” inviting them to continue to walk with zeal, with joy in the service of the Lord.

Dozens of Christians Kidnapped in Northern Nigeria

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Dozens of Christians Kidnapped in Northern Nigeria

ABUJA, Nigeria (Morning Star News) – Suspected Islamic extremists on Monday night (July 25) kidnapped 36 people from a predominantly Christian village outside the city of Kaduna, in northern Nigeria.

The house-to-house abductions came after the kidnapping of 16 people from a nearby area in Kaduna state’s Chikun County on June 28.

Area resident Narin Barde said Muslim terrorists on Monday attacked the Keke B Community area of Millennium City, Chikun County, shooting randomly and capturing 36 Christians.

“The Muslim terrorists attacked the community at about 9 p.m., shooting at the people, and broke into their houses and forcefully took away the victims to an unknown place,” Barde said in a text message to Morning Star News.

On June 28 suspected Islamic terrorists attacked predominantly Christian Sabon Gero village, kidnapping 16 people, area residents said.

In northwest Nigeria’s Sokoto state, Roman Catholic leaders reported that one of their parishioners, Tony Udemezue, was kidnapped at gunpoint on Monday (July 25) at 2 a.m. from his home in Tambuwal, Tambuwal County.

The Rev. Chris Omotosho, director of communications for the Catholic Diocese of Sokoto, said in a press statement that Udemezue called police before being taken away at gunpoint but received no help from officers.

“There was no police response to the distressed phone call by Udemezue at about 2 a.m.,” Omotosho said. “This is despite several phone calls he made to the police before he was taken away. Please let us keep him and his family in prayers.”

The kidnappings follow the abduction and killing of the Rev. John Mark Cheitnum of the Catholic Diocese of Kafanchan, Kaduna state. He was kidnapped on July 15 from the parish rectory of Christ the King Catholic Church in Yalding Garu, Lere County and later killed. His body was found on July 19.

Cheitnum served as priest at St. James Parish in Fori, Jema’a Local Government Area, according to the diocese.

The Rev. Julius Kundi, bishop of Kafanchan Diocese, said while addressing mourners at Cheitnum’s funeral on Thursday (July 21) that Christians will remain steadfast in spite of such attacks.

“I was crushed by the news of the death, but I am convinced that his death will prove to our enemies the genuineness and the beauty of our faith,” Kundi said at the Cathedral of St. Peter Claver, in Kafanchan town. “Those whose stock in trade is the abduction and the gruesome murder of members of the clergy should know that this will not stop us from courageously carrying the torch of the gospel to the ends of the earth, notwithstanding the barrage of attacks on our faith.”

Gunmen attacked another village in Kaduna state, Janbaba in Giwa County, on July 19, killing one Christian, said area resident Philip Umar in a text message to Morning Star News.

“For two days, we were not able to sleep at night as the bandits visited us with horror,” he said.

The chairman of the Southern Kaduna Christian Leaders Association (SKCLA), Pastor Emmanuel Nuhu Kure, condemned the spate of attacks in a statement on July 20.

“The rising cases of priests being kidnapped and in some cases killed by their abductors, even after receiving ransoms, is worrisome,” Kure said. “We pray God to expose these killers and rescue all Christians in the den of their kidnappers.”

Nigeria led the world in Christians killed for their faith last year (Oct. 1, 2020 to Sept. 30, 2021) at 4,650, up from 3,530 the previous year, according to Open Doors’ 2022 World Watch List report. The number of kidnapped Christians was also highest in Nigeria, at more than 2,500, up from 990 the previous year, according to the WWL report.

Nigeria trailed only China in the number of churches attacked, with 470 cases, according to the report.

In the 2022 World Watch List of the countries where it is most difficult to be a Christian, Nigeria jumped to seventh place, its highest ranking ever, from No. 9 the previous year.

If you would like to help persecuted Christians, visit https://morningstarnews.org/resources/aid-agencies/ for a list of organizations that can orient you on how to get involved.

TELL MY STORY Movie

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Los Angeles, CA — In 2018, Jason Reid and his wife, the parents of four teens, went away for the weekend, only to experience the most harrowing moment for any parent: their youngest son Ryan texted to say he was going to kill himself. TELL MY STORY, a feature length documentary, follows Reid one year after his son’s suicide as he looks for the signals he may have missed with his son while candidly sharing his family’s experience. On March 23, 2021, TELL MY STORY was released on DVD, video on demand and theatrical on demand platforms and will stream for 90 days on WellBeings.org, a multi-platform multi-year campaign to address the critical health needs in America. Wellbeings.org was launched with a focus on youth mental health to raise awareness and shed stigma through candid conversations and storytelling. TELL MY STORY, along with original broadcast and digital content, continues to build on the Wellbeings.org mission to encourage compassion and a better understanding of mental health challenges facing teens, parents and families across the country.

Motivated by a note left by his son to “tell my story,” the grieving Southern California father embarks on a quest to understand what he could have done differently to prevent the suicide and especially the role that cell phone use and unfettered access to the internet may have played, with the hopes of helping other parents and caregivers. Jason’s quest begins with Mariangela Abeo, a Seattle-native whose photography project Faces of Fortitude profiles survivors of suicide.

Movie Trailer

Click here to Watch Full Movie

Parents Bobbi and Ed Villareal, co-founders of Project 99, a Southern California non-profit that brings awareness about mental health and suicide prevention to schools, share their experiences after losing their 16-year-old son Diego to suicide in 2015. They describe warning signs that they had missed, such as increased moodiness and pulling away from friends, stressing the need for kids to have someone they feel safe to talk to potentially outside of the family.

Flying to Seattle, Jason attends a group meeting with several young suicide survivors where they discuss the significance of social media, bullying, isolation, and what it feels like when depression spirals out of control. Jason then visits a wilderness camp in Nevada City, CA, where Collin Kartchner, with #SaveTheKids, warns teen campers (and parents) about the impact of unmonitored cell phone time and social media access on their lives. Peter Mayfield of the Gateway Mountain Center in Truckee, CA, shares the tenants of his program which helps kids develop a stronger sense of self through physical activity in the outdoors while building relationships, practicing problem solving, and building resiliency and the ability to come back after taking a “hit” without a parent/adult trying to “fix” things for them.

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Back at home in Murrieta, Jason and his children attend a safeTALK seminar, where participants learn of the warning signs of suicide and the importance of being able to talk about suicide, debunking the misconception that talking about suicide causes suicide. Jason’s journey concludes at Didi Hirsch Mental Health Services in Los Angeles, which provides mental health and suicide prevention services and operates a 24/7, multilingual Suicide Crisis Line that is part of the 1-800-273-TALK National Suicide Prevention Lifeline network.

In 2019, as the film was being shot, the center fielded over 1000 calls a week from teens, with the youngest caller identified as 8 years old. Finally, Jason speaks with Dr. Mark Goulston, PhD, a psychiatrist and suicide prevention expert, who explains the chemical impact of cell phones and constant adrenaline on people’s brains while sharing techniques to break through to uncommunicative teens.

TELL MY STORY is produced by Cinema Libre Studio’s Philippe Diaz and Beth Portello and was an official selection at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival and premiered in January 2020 before the pandemic.

‘Tell My Story” has a running time of 85 minutes, is not rated and is heading to DVD and SVOD (Amazon and Vimeo) on March 23, 2021 with additional platforms to follow. The film’s website includes additional resources culled from experts including “Recognizing Depression in Teens,” and “How to Begin a Conversation with Your Teen.”

SYNOPSIS:

A grieving father seeks answers after his 14-year-old son dies by suicide. He uncovers painful truths about the lives of teens, the impact of unfettered access to internet and social media, and the shocking rise of depression among America’s youth.

The journey brings him together with young suicide survivors, prevention experts, and parents trying to understand the 70% increase in adolescent suicide. Closer to home, with his family fractured, he examines his son’s technology use to discover what no parent wants to find.

Seeking to find the warning signs that were missed, he instead finds ways to reverse the isolation and disconnectedness that is killing our youth.

Website: www.tellmystoryfilm.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TellMyStoryFilm/

Twitter/Instagram: #tellmystoryfilm

Video On Demand – Vimeo, iTunes, Vudu, Google Play, and Amazon

About WELL BEINGS
The WELL BEINGS campaign addresses the critical health needs of Americans through broadcast content, original digital content, and impactful local events. The multi-year campaign, created by WETA Washington, D.C., brings together partners from across the country, including patients, families, caregivers, teachers, medical and mental health professionals, social service agencies, private foundations, filmmakers, corporations and media sponsors, to create awareness and resources for better health for all. To learn more, visit WellBeings.org or follow @WellBeingsOrg on Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter, and join the conversation with #WellBeings.

The Well Beings Tour will be coming to 34 cities across the country, 2020 – 2022, in collaboration with public media stations, local community organizations, national sponsors, and partners. Through resource fairs, panel discussions, youth storytelling, performances, Mental Health First Aid Training, and more, the Well Beings Tour will convene and connect communities in a joint effort to address stigma and raise awareness about mental health and well-being.

The Well Beings Youth Mental Health Project is made possible by Otsuka, Kaiser Permanente, Bank of America, American Psychiatric Association Foundation, One Mind, Movember, National Alliance on Mental Illness, Dana Foundation, Dauten Family Foundation, The Hersh Foundation, Mental Health Services Oversight & Accountability Commission, John & Frances Von Schlegell, Sutter Health, Robina Riccitiello, and Jackson Family Enterprises. Partners include CALL TO MIND at American Public Media, PBS NewsHour Student Reporting Labs, WE Organization, Forbes, PEOPLE, Mental Health America, National Council for Behavioral Health, The Steve Fund, and The Jed Foundation. The project underwriters are leveraging their organizational resources to support Well Beings and have created a video, available to view at https://youtu.be/6Ke4BTivJzU.

About WETA
WETA is the leading public broadcaster in the nation’s capital, serving Virginia, Maryland and the District of Columbia with educational initiatives and with high-quality programming on television, radio and digital. WETA Washington, D.C., is the second largest producing-station of new content for public television in the United States, with news and public affairs programs including PBS NEWSHOUR and WASHINGTON WEEK; films by Ken Burns such as COUNTRY MUSIC, KEN BURNS PRESENTS THE GENE: AN INTIMATE HISTORY and THE ROOSEVELTS: AN INTIMATE HISTORY; series and documentaries by Dr. Henry Louis Gates, Jr., including FINDING YOUR ROOTS WITH HENRY LOUIS GATES, JR. (Seasons 3-6) and RECONSTRUCTION: AMERICA AFTER THE CIVIL WAR; and performance specials including THE KENNEDY CENTER MARK TWAIN PRIZE and THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS GERSHWIN PRIZE FOR POPULAR SONG. More information on WETA and its programs and services is available at www.weta.org. Visit www.facebook.com/wetatvfm on Facebook or follow @WETAtvfm on Twitter.

ABOUT CINEMA LIBRE STUDIO:

Cinema Libre Studio is a mini studio known for producing and distributing high-quality feature films and social impact documentaries. The company is in pre-production on a feature film about the Angola 3 and a feature length documentary on CNN camerawoman Margaret Moth. Headquartered in the Los Angeles area, the team has released over 200 films including: THE END OF POVERTY?, CAN’T STAND LOSING YOU: SURVIVING THE POLICE, and Canada’s 2020 Oscar ® submission, ANTIGONE. Visit: www.cinemalibrestudio.com, https://www.facebook.com/cinemalibrestudio or find us @CinemaLibre on Twitter and Instagram.

FOR HOME ENTERTAINMENT INQUIRIES:

Publicity – reviews, interviews

Jamie Coker Robertson | JCR Public Relations

[email protected]

Marketing & Partnerships

Beth Portello | Cinema Libre Studio

[email protected]

Thy Kingdom Come

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Thy Kingdom Come is a non-denominational revival worship meeting put together to contribute to the revival, that God is already stirring in the United Kingdom.

Thy Kingdom Come is a revival worship meeting holding at OVO Arena Wembley, London on Sunday, July 24 2022. Although the program is being organized in partnership with churches, Thy Kingdom Come is not organized by any church particularly.

Led by Nathaniel Bassey featuring Victoria Orenze and Dunsin Oyekan, it is a free ticket event and is open to Christians from all over the world and non Christians who are on a journey to find God.

Date : 24 July 2022

Time : 6pm – 10pm

Venue : OVO Arena Wembley

See more info here – https://thykingdomcomeuk.com/

Gentle Notice : This event is not affiliated with the prayer movement by the Church of England.

Christian group warns social media can be ‘deadly’ after 2 girls die in TikTok challenge

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Christian group warns social media can be ‘deadly’ after 2 girls die in TikTok challenge

Christian Post reports – A Christian organization commented on the potential harms of young children using social media without proper supervision amid reports that two sets of parents are suing TikTok over the belief the company could have done more to prevent their daughters’ deaths via an online challenge.

The Social Media Victims Law Center filed a civil lawsuit against TikTok and its parent company, ByteDance Ltd., in a Los Angeles County court on behalf of the families of Lalani Erika Walton and Arriani Jaileen Arroyo, two children who died while attempting the viral TikTok challenge known as the “blackout challenge.”

Participants in the challenge share videos depicting self-strangulation until they lose consciousness. Walton and Arriani, ages eight and nine, respectively, died after participating in the challenge.

The parents claim that their children became addicted to TikTok and that the platform promoted content that influenced the kids to harm themselves.

Paul Asay, senior associate editor of the Christian organization Focus on the Family’s PluggedIn.com, which helps parents navigate popular entertainment, weighed in on the controversy, stressing that social media comes with a “built-in irony.”

Asay told The Christian Post that these applications are intended to strengthen friendships but are also a “business.” He said the purpose of the business is to “keep their users as involved and engaged as much as they possibly can.”

He stated that this can be a problem for kids and teens using social media applications. The associate editor argued that children typically don’t have the ability to make “wise, healthy decisions for themselves.”

“Social media is designed to be addictive, in a way — designed to keep its users engaged with it as long as possible,” Asay wrote. “And, as this tragic story illustrates, content found on such sites can be damaging, dangerous and deadly — especially for children.”

The lawsuit notes that the application’s algorithm serves as “a recommendation system that delivers content to each user that is likely to be of interest to that particular user” and “each person’s feed is unique and tailored to that specific individual.”

According to the complaint, TikTok determined that videos showing the blackout challenge were appropriate for young users and fed their children a stream of challenge videos persuading them to participate.

Both girls’ parents also allege that the company does not provide adequate warnings to deter young users or inform parents about the application’s addictive qualities or the presence of dangerous challenges. Read more …

Pastor’s Sons, Christian Teacher Killed in Northeast Nigeria

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Pastor’s Sons, Christian Teacher Killed in Northeast Nigeria

ABUJA, Nigeria (Morning Star News) – Gunmen in northeast Nigeria shot a pastor and killed his sons in one attack and killed a Christian engineering instructor in another this month, sources said.

Near Mubi town in Islamic terrorist-plagued Adamawa state, assailants shot the Rev. Daniel Umaru on July 5, leaving him for dead after killing his sons, 19-year-old Kefrey Daniel and Fanye Daniel, 23, area sources said. The gunmen kidnapped his 13-year-old daughter, Ijagla, who was released on July 8 after the kidnappers received a ransom payment.

Pastor Umaru, of the Church of the Brethren in Nigeria (EYN), was recovering in a hospital, said area resident Aunty Adunni.

“He was shot and left to bleed to death,” Adunni told Morning Star News in a text message. “Both the wounded pastor and his wife, who became unconscious during the attack, were taken to the hospital.”

Police in Adamawa state confirmed the attack, with spokesman Suleiman Nguroje saying the assailants stormed the pastor’s home in Mararaba Mubi, near Mubi, at about 2 a.m. on July 5.

The state governor condemned the attack in a statement and said the assailants must be brought to justice.

Area resident Peter Musa lamented the killings.

“Please pray for God’s intervention in this state over unending attacks on Christians and churches,” he told Morning Star News in a text message.

The pastor’s sons were buried on July 8 at EYN headquarters in Kwarhi Maararba, in the Hong Local Government Area of Adamawa state.

In the state capital, Yola, gunmen on July 14 killed a Christian engineering teacher, Yohanna Mbudai Bzegu, at his home in the Bajabure area of the city, sources said. Bzegu taught at Adamawa State Polytechnic in Yola.

The assailants broke into his home behind the Anglican Junior Seminary at about 3 a.m. and shot him to death, area resident John Usman said in a text message.

“The Christian lecturer was shot multiple times in his chest after the terrorists forcefully gained entrance into his house,” Usman told Morning Star News. “Before this time, the terrorists had attempted breaking into his house more than four times but were unsuccessful.”

Police in Yola confirmed the attack and were searching for the suspects.

Nigeria led the world in Christians killed for their faith last year (Oct. 1, 2020 to Sept. 30, 2021) at 4,650, up from 3,530 the previous year, according to Open Doors’ 2022 World Watch List report. The number of kidnapped Christians was also highest in Nigeria, at more than 2,500, up from 990 the previous year, according to the WWL report.

Nigeria trailed only China in the number of churches attacked, with 470 cases, according to the report.

In the 2022 World Watch List of the countries where it is most difficult to be a Christian, Nigeria jumped to seventh place, its highest ranking ever, from No. 9 the previous year.

This article first appeared on Morning Star News