Though it goes widely unreported by the Western press, the violence perpetrated by Islamic extremists in the Middle East is claiming Christian victims as well as Jews. Here, for instance, is a story and video clip from Chris Mitchell, CBN News Middle East Bureau Chief, about a pipe bomb disguised as a Purim gift severely injuring the 15-year old son of a Christian pastor in the West Bank.Last fall, Rami Ayyad, the manager of the only Christian bookstore in Gaza, was kidnapped and brutally murdered.
Not surprisingly, Christians have been fleeing the Gaza Strip because of such terrorism. The Gaza Baptist Church, which was forcibly seized twice last year for use as a strategic "watching point" by Palestinian Authority Police (occupations in which $4,000 worth of equipment disappeared) once had hundreds of Palestinian Christians at its Sunday services. According to Prayer Digest, on one Sunday recently, there were less than 10.
Prayers are in order.
