On Sunday, 15 January 2023, hundreds of Christians gathered at a church in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) to end a weeklong series of prayer meetings. The gathering was so large that chairs and tarps were placed outside to provide overflow seating. Those in attendance did not know that the radical Islamic group ADF (Allied Democratic Forces) had buried a bomb in the outdoor seating area. Just after a children’s choir finished performing, the bomb exploded, killing 15 people and seriously injuring roughly 70 more. “Now some people are saying that we planted the bomb!” said one assistant pastor, explaining, “Those people think we are trying to gain sympathy and funding.”
The pastor asked that Christians pray for those who are grieving and struggling to recover from their injuries.
He also asked for prayers that the church will be vindicated, that Christ will be glorified and that peace will come to the DRC.