Source:  www.persecution.org

Date:  February 6, 2023

Ethiopia (International Christian Concern) – Three people were killed on Saturday in Ethiopia after attackers opened fire on a church in the city of Shashimani, located in the populous Oromia state.   

According to local church sources, the assailants were government special forces who perpetrated the attack amid the growing tensions within the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church.   

The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahado Church (EOTC), one of the oldest Christian institutions in the world, is struggling with internal conflict following several rebel bishops breaking off to create their own synod in Oromia. Two Orthodox Christian youths and a woman were killed in an attack on St. Michael Church after the special forces opened fire on a crowd protecting the church from being taken over by one of the rebel bishops.   

The Holy Synod called the actions of the regional forces “public murder.”  

Please pray for the EOTC as it struggles with internal conflict and government oppression.   

HOW TO PRAY: Pray for peace and comfort for those who lost loved ones. Pray for protection for this congregation and nearby churches. Pray for tensions in this region to ease.