How are Christians persecuted in Mozambique?
- Islamist extremist groups continue to target Christians with intense violence – burning homes and churches, kidnapping believers and carrying out executions. This is felt especially by communities in Mozambique’s Cabo Delgado Province in the north.
- Converts from Islam can face pressures from their community and family to recant their faith. Many choose to be silent because of the risk of abduction or even murder.
- Christian women are victimised by the acts of extremists, with some targets being as young as seven years old. Many experience forced marriage, rape and sexual slavery, whilst women who convert from Islam could also lose custody of their children.
- Christian women who are displaced can be especially vulnerable to trafficking and deep trauma, as well as the loss of education and security.
- Boys from Christian homes are often forcibly recruited into Islamist militias, whilst older men are executed.
- Church leaders are the targets of both extremist groups and the government, leading to churches being weakened without leadership.
- Because of extensive violence and attacks, many believers flee their homes and are displaced to other regions or neighbouring countries.
Why are Christians persecuted in Mozambique?
- Extremist militants seek to establish an Islamic caliphate and perceive Christian existence in the country as an obstacle to that goal.
- The departure of some protective governmental forces from regions of Mozambique is worsening the suffering experienced by believers in these areas as they are increasingly vulnerable to religious extremism.
Who is particularly vulnerable in Mozambique?
- Believers who have left Islam and live in the northern regions of Mozambique are most at risk of brutal attacks.
- “When Islamist terror groups attack communities, targeting the most vulnerable – including children and Christians – is a primary objective. This horrifying pattern is now unfolding in northern Mozambique,” says Yonas Dembele*, Open Doors World Watch Research analyst.
“When Islamist terror groups attack communities, targeting the most vulnerable is a primary objective.”
Yonas Dembele, Open Doors analyst
What has changed in Mozambique in the past year?
- Mozambique fell by two spots on the World Watch List, but persecution has actually worsened. The change is because persecution has intensified more in other countries.
- Countless acts of violence have shaken Christian communities this past year – many believers were murdered and churches burned. Many fear the attacks will continue to spread without the action of governmental or peacekeeping powers.
How can I help Christians in Mozambique?
Please continue to pray for our brothers and sisters in Mozambique. Your prayers are a precious and essential means of supporting believers counting the cost for Jesus.
Open Doors supports the church in Mozambique through cross-cultural ministry training, persecution survival training and work to strengthen the church’s prophetic voice.
*Names changed for security reasons
Lord, the stories out of Mozambique are horrific. The burden on Christians is more than any person can bear. And yet we know that Jesus has already carried and conquered the most unimaginable burden of all. We ask that Jesus’ presence would be with those who suffer in Mozambique, and that You would redeem the suffering of Your people there. God, we ask for protection, for resilience and for hope. We ask this in Jesus’ mighty name, Amen.
