The longest running conflict in the Americas may now have a chance of peace. Historic progress was made recently as Colombia's president and the leader of the FARC rebel group set a six-month deadline to sign a peace deal. This civil conflict has lasted over five decades: some of the harrowing consequences are:- 220,000 dead and 5 million internally displaced. Colombia has long been held captive by violence, revenge, and corruption. Thousands die every year from drug-related crimes. Bogotá has one of the highest numbers of street children in Latin America and Colombia has one of the highest numbers of internally displaced people. Dozens of pastors and priests are killed every year. The deal between the government and FARC clears the path for a final peace deal settlement to be signed within months. Also, Prayercast reports that the Church is growing - even within the worst prisons, confirming that in the darkest of places the light shines the brightest.

The United States is sending 300 troops along with surveillance drones to Cameroon to bolster a West African effort to counter the Nigerian militant Islamist group, Boko Haram. An advance force of 90 military personnel began deploying to Cameroon on Monday with the consent of the Yaounde government. The troops will conduct airborne intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance operations in the region. US officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the troops would provide intelligence to a multi-national task force composed of troops from Nigeria, Niger, Cameroon, Chad and Benin. On Sunday, two female suicide bombers killed nine people in Cameroon's Far North region, employing a tactic increasingly favoured by Boko Haram. US soldiers would deploy initially to northern Cameroon, near the Nigerian border.