Fleeing violence in Mozambique: Rafael’s story
Can you imagine the anguish of a 15-year-old boy who learns his older brother has just been gunned down by Islamist terrorists on the side of a road?
Yet before the boy, called Rafael, can even start to grieve, he and his family must flee because the same murderous gang could be coming for them.
Hurriedly, they set out on a long and arduous journey on foot to find safety, leaving behind their home, their crops and their few possessions.
“If they catch you, they kill you”
Rafael is just one among hundreds of thousands of our brothers and sisters driven out of the far northern region of Cabo Delgado, Mozambique, by the violence inflicted on Christians by Islamic State fighters.
“If they catch you, they kill you,” Rafael, now aged 21, told Barnabas Aid. “You are fleeing for your life because the moment you come into contact with them, there’s no questions asked, there’s no compromise – they just kill you.”
After many weeks of walking, Rafael and his family eventually found refuge further south in Mozambique, in a settlement camp that is home to around 10,000 others displaced by the Islamists’ long campaign of terror.
This Easter, you can help Christians displaced by persecution
Families in the settlement camp have little food, little clothing, and little of anything except their strong and enduring trust in God.
Many thousands of your brothers and sisters around the world are suffering in just the same way.
In Myanmar, Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and elsewhere, the followers of Christ have been left bereaved, injured, displaced and traumatised by the hate-filled violence that opposes their faith.
You can meet that hatred with hope by providing for both their urgent needs – food, medicines – and their long-term future.
We remember the resurrection
At Easter, we remember when our Lord and Saviour was accused, mocked and killed on the cross. We celebrate His resurrection and victory over death.
We remember, too, that He called on us to stand with those persecuted for His Name. “If one part suffers, every part suffers with it” (1 Corinthians 12:26).
Barnabas Aid’s mission is to stand with the persecuted – but without you, this mission comes to nothing. We need your support to provide more aid for believers like Rafael in Mozambique and in other countries of the world.
As Christ laid down His life for us, let us help them today in prayer and in action.
Stand with persecuted Christians this Easter
Help Christians like Rafael rebuild their lives.
Help believers facing hatred experience hope.
Help meet urgent needs and create lasting change.
