Somalia: Can It Get Any Worse?

Somalia’s recent past is riddled with wars, fighting factions, pirates, a famine that killed over a quarter of a million people, and governmental instability. The terror group Al Shabab is based in Somalia and frequently carries out its activities across the border in neighboring Kenya. Ongoing fighting between factions and government forces have forced many Somalis to leave their homes to seek safety elsewhere. Somalia’s capital, Mogadishu, has been the center of the fray for many years.

In recent weeks, torrential rains have pummeled this embattled country. “According to the humanitarian group Save the Children, the flooding has forced an estimated 250,000 people, or 90% of Beledweyne’s [a city in south-central Somalia] population, out of their homes…. Many parts of Somalia, as well as in neighboring Horn of Africa nations Kenya and Ethiopia, are still receiving torrential rainfall” (PBS, November 23, 2023). The United Nations warned that as many as 1.6 million Somalis could be affected by floods during this year’s rainy season, which lasts through December. So far floods have killed over 200 people and displaced over 700,000 in poor nations where citizens are already suffering (Reuters, November 27, 2023; Deutsche Welle, November 29, 2023). Sadly, the citizens of Somalia have borne the brunt of this ongoing and worsening suffering.

While many in the West and the developed world see their privileges slipping away, it is easy to overlook the profound suffering experienced by human beings in other places of the world. In His “model prayer,” Jesus Christ instructed His disciples to pray for God’s Kingdom (Matthew 6:10). This world is rife with suffering and desperately needs the relief that will come when Christ returns to establish His Kingdom. To learn the real cause of this world’s suffering, be sure to read or listen to “The Origin and Future of Suffering.”