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| Somali Bible Society (SBS)Newsletter March 2024 |
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Our Mission……is to enable and facilitate opportunities for the holistic development of the illiterate masses, impoverished families, and fatherless children. We aim to evangelize the lost and disciple the believers in Somalia and beyond. We will achieve this mission by producing, distributing, and teaching biblical and contextualized resources in partnership with local churches. |
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Imagine that some masked men pulled you from your car and demanded that you deny your faith in Christ. They give you two options: (1) Deny Christ and live, or (2) refuse to deny him and loose your head to the rugged knife they held in their hands. That’s the choice that Mansur Mohamad was given. He refused to deny Christ and four masked men beheaded him while villagers stood by and witnessed Mansur join the ranks of martyrs. You can witness this beheading yourself by clicking button below.
Warning: There are two videos on this link. The first one is identified as very graphic. It shows the beheading! This one should not be seen by children or even adults who might be overly sensitive. The second video clip is by the Voice of the Martyrs and does not show the beheading and is rated PG. Please use caution when going to this web site. |
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The story of Mansur’s life and martyrdom is told in my book, Underground, Stories of the Persecuted Church in Africa. At the time of writing this book, I used the name Tamim instead of Mansur for security purposes. See chpt 9.
This book is currently available only in eBook format. Purchase options are given on the Publisher’s web site, and can be seen by clicking the button below. |
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Many Somali Christians have been beheaded for their faith. Sometimes one lone Jesus follower is beheaded much like Mansur was, but other times they have been beheaded in a group. I am aware of one such incident where a group of four ( 3 men and 1 woman) were given an opportunity to turn back to Islam or die by the sword. One at a time each one refused to deny Christ and suffered beheading. Can you imagine what it would have been like for the fourth one, waiting their turn? It would have been horrible for all four, but the fourth one would have been especially tempted hearing the horror of the three who went before. On that fateful day all four were slaughtered because they would not turn away from their faith in Jesus.
See Christian Post article on the four Somalis beheaded for their faith by clicking Four Martyred button below. |
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The Christian Post quoted a Somali Christian leader who told the International Christian Concern (ICC) that “such murders will only serve as a rich seedbed from where many more house churches will form.” Somali leaders who worked with me when I was a missionary in the Horn of Africa conducted a study of the relationship between martyrdom and expansion of the Church. It was determined that everywhere a Somali was martyred for their faith a cluster of underground churches formed within a five-kilometer radius around the blood-stained ground of the beheading. The study also confirmed that there was no other place (other than locations of beheadings) where a cluster of churches were formed within a five-kilometer radius. Tertullian’s (one of the Early Church Ecclesiastical Writers of the Second Century) declaration has once again been validated in Somalia:
“The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church.” |
Although we can’t imagine the kind of trauma experienced by those facing such a terrible death, those who face non-lethal persecution are often traumitized in ways that cause lasting debilitation. When it is known that a Somali has become a Christian, he or she will be persecuted in a variety of ways. Somali men may lose their families. The wife’s clan members will come and forcefully take away his wife. If she is pregnant at the time, they will have the baby aborted. He would most likely lose his employment. He will be completely isolated from society. No one will talk with him.
Just over a year ago I was in the Horn of Africa and had the opportunity to be the speaker at a Trauma Healing Conference. All of those attending that conference had been severely traumitized. I was surprised to hear the story of one of the Somali men present. He was running from a man who was trying to kill him. He escaped death on that day, even though he was stabbed in the back as he fled. What surprised me was that he said it was not getting stabbed in the back that had traumitized him the most. It was what took place afterward that was so horrible for him. Once the news spread of his faith in Christ no one would talk with him. He had no place to go. He was totally ostracised from the society in which he lived. He shared how terrible it was to live in a situation in which he could not share his feelings with anyone. |
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When a man or woman is so traumatized that they can not function properly, it is important to remove them from ministry and place them in a safe place for healing. It is also important to provide an opportunity to share with others who have gone through similar persecution and to receive biblical counseling that will help them overcome their trauma. |
The Somali Bible Society (SBS) holds periodic Trauma Healing Conferences to provide opportunities for healing for those who have been traumitized in their ministry. Holding these conferences come at a high cost. There are costs for transporting the persecuted Christians to the conference, venue expenses, food, housing, and various other expenses. |
| | A Formal Trauma Healing Conference Indian Ocean Costal Venue |
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If you would like to partner with the Somali Bible Society in providing trauma healing opportunities for the severely persecuted Christians in Somalia, click DONATE - TRAUMA HEALING button below (after reading donation instructions).
DONATION INSTRUCTIONS: Clicking DONATE - TRAUMA HEALING button will direct you to the donation page of My Fathers Work, d/b/a the Good Samaritan Network (GSN). The GSN routes all donations to the Somali Bible Society, while providing the donor with IRS approved tax-deductible giving status. In order to assure that your donation is directed to the appropriate place select Good Samaritan Ministries in the Apply my gift to* field and insert Project # 103327 in the Comment field when completing your donation. |
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| Informal Venue
Women and children are also persecuted, leaving many severely traumitized. | | |
| Sometimes very informal venues are used to bring healing to the persecuted. | | Informal Venue
The Somali Bible Society is on the front lines of reaching the hurting and bringing healing to their traumitized souls. |
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GOOD SAMARITAN CENTERProject #102852
Seeking donors for the Somali Bible Society’s (SBS) Priority #1 Project. We currently have a MOU to purchase a strategic plot of land for the construction of a 4-story building that will become the artery in which all SBS ministries flow. Trauma Healing, Widow and Orphan Ministries, Literacy Training, Bible Translation, Curriculum Development, Discipleship Classes, Pastoral Training, and Church Multiplication Training with Local Churches will all flow out of this building.
The purchase price for the building site is $250,000. Contractor estimates for the building is another $250,000. |
| | Image is not an exact likeness because of security concerns. |
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Seeking donors to purchase this strategic building site. Consider a generous one-time gift or a reoccurring gift of $19 per month. |
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WIDOWS AND ORPHANSProject #102730
The Somali Bible Society is very concerned about the growing number of widows and orphans in Somalia. This humanitarian need is expanding greatly because of the many years of civil war and unrest in this country. The minority Christian population is suffering even more than the general population because of the persecution and martyrdom of men and women for their faith. The need is great but a financial gift of any size will be appreciated and will make a difference. | | SBS set this widow up with a souk (shop) |
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Microenterprise Opportunities
The Somali Bible Society sets up widows with a shop to sell food items or with a small herd of cattle to provide income for their families. It costs SBS about $5,000 for each income-generating project for a widow and her family. | | SBS set this widow up with a small herd of cattle |
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LITERACY CAMPAIGNProject #102727
The Somali Bible Society plans to start a literacy campaign in Somalia when funds are available. The literacy rate in Somalia is 38%. The plan is to teach 3,000 families how to read and write Somali, their mother tongue. This will help them to read and understand the Bible. Literate people also make more money to support themselves and their families.
Donations of any size will be appreciated.
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| The literacy campaign will be implemented in three major cities of Somalia. The total budget for this project is $148,881 USD. Donors to this literacy project will receive more information. | | Literacy Training by an SBS Partner |
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BIBLE TRANSLATIONProject # 102472
The Somali Bible Society recently completed the translation of the Somali New Testament. We have now started the translation of the Old Testament. We intend to complete this translation by 2030 at an estimated cost of $519,372 USD. Donors to this Bible translation project will receive more information. Donations of any size appreciated. |
| | “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” (2 Timothy 3:16-17) |
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The SBS is a member of the UK-registered United Bible Societies. |
If you would like to partner with the Somali Bible Society in any of these ministry projects, click the DONATE button below (after reading donation instructions). |
DONATION INSTRUCTIONS: The DONATE button provides a link to the Donation Page of My Fathers Work, d/b/a the Good Samaritan Network (GSN). The GSN routes all donations to the Somali Bible Society, while providing the donor with IRS approved tax-deductible giving status. When completing the donation form, be sure to select Good Samaritan Ministries in the Apply my gift to* field and insert the appropriate Project # in the Comment field. This will assure that your donation reaches the desired project.
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PRAYER REQUESTSSBS is overseeing a Bible study program for dozens of professing believers. Pray for the security of the believers and their teachers as they meet for this study. SBS will soon start a discipleship program in a region where radical Islam is aggressively persecuting the followers of Christ. Please pray for the success of the discipleship training and the security of these believers. SBS is coordinating a grassroots effort to teach dozens of women souk-owners (small shops selling food and household items) how to read and write their own mother tongue. Please pray for more volunteer teachers needed urgently. SBS is translating the OT into the Somali language. For this translation to continue SBS will need to raise money for this important translation. Pray for the finances necessary to complete the OT translation of the Somali Bible. The purchase of land for the Good Samaritan Center is our highest priority project. Pray that the $250,000 needed would be raised this year. Pray for donors to support this critically needed facility. Tensions between Ethiopia and Somalia continue to intensify and could spark conflict. Pray for peace between these nations.
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PRAISE REPORTS More Somali women are following the Lord than ever before. This is good news for the Somali Church whose members are historically mainly young single men. The hostile social media campaign against the leadership of the SBS is dying down. We praise God for this. More Somali Muslim nomads are coming to the Lord than ever before. We praise God for this. SBS expects to send the 2nd edition of their translated Somali NT to the printers in South Korea later this year. SBS continues to make contact with Somalis who want to become Christians and those who are nominal Christians but need discipleship, as a result of their successful census in the Somali Peninsula.
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AVAILABLE FOR SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS |
Dr. Howie Shute is available to speak in Mission Conventions, Faith Promise Services, and Local Church Missionary Meetings to raise awareness of the exciting possibilities in the mission to Somalia.
If you would like to schedule Howie for a speaking engagement in your church or district assembly, email him at howie@somalibiblesociety.org or howieshute@mac.com or scan QR Code for Howie’s Contact Info. |
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