Say, “NO!” to Christian Persecution in Nigeria

By: Steve Huston

Take action by signing a petition at the bottom of this email to save Nigerian Christians.

Several years ago, while visiting the Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary bookstore in Grand Rapids, Michigan, I met a Nigerian pastor who was soon returning to his native land in Africa. It was a meeting directed by Providence. We’ve communicated throughout the years via email, praying for one another and, when needs arise, if possible, financially helping our Nigerian brothers and sisters.

The greatest prayer need and all the financial needs have come from a common cause: Persecution of Nigerian brothers and sisters in the Lord. My heart is so heavy as I, almost daily, hear about the immense Christian persecution taking place in Africa’s most populous nation.

No, I do not hear these reports from my friend, Pastor Joseph; I hear many of them from either Robert Spenser’s articles or from one of the many news sources I’ve subscribed to that follows and helps “them that are in bonds, as bound with them; and them which suffer adversity,” throughout the many regions of this world.

One report states that over the past 14 years 18,000 Christian churches and 2,200 Christian schools have been set on fire, and at least 52,250 Nigerian Christians have been brutally murdered at the hands of Islamist militants. From January to April of this year alone, over 1,000 Nigerian Christian souls were sent into their Redeemer’s arms. These numbers do not include the abductions of Christian women and children that have taken place or the various torture, displacement, and attacks which our Nigerian brothers and sisters endure. Open Doors, an interdenominational foundation that supports persecuted Christians around the world, reports that Nigeria accounts for 89% of Christians martyred worldwide.

Can you even imagine what your response would be in the midst of such violence? Let me share with you a small excerpt, but a fair representation, from an email sent to me by my friend Pastor Joseph. In the midst of his concern for their then upcoming elections and an explanation of a couple of the candidates – only one being Christian, here is a part of what he wrote (I am always encouraged after reading his emails):

“Muslims want to declare Christianity illegal in Nigeria. But God, the owner of His church does not sleep (Psalm 2). He will arise and fight for His people, His bride and the church will come out victorious. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principals, nor powers, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of Christ, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Rom. 8:35-39).

“I must thank you so much for your fervent prayers for churches in Nigeria. I want to assure you that God listens and hears all your prayers for us. He makes the church to be strong and face the situations with great faith and assurance that Christ builds, protects, and keeps His Church and no gates of hell shall ever prevail against her. The devil is battling in vain. Christians must win the battle.”

Dear Reader, I urge you to watch Frank Gaffney’s 3-15-23 webinar from his Save the Persecuted Christians website. It’s title, Nigeria’s Descent into Chaos: How the Loss of Election Integrity Emboldens Terrorists, should both cause you to pray for these fellow-believers and cause you to shudder, recognizing the potential that could await American Christians if/when election integrity is lost. Elections, particularly stolen ones, have consequences. Frank’s opening words are sobering:

“Thank you to all of you joining us for what I consider to be one of the most important of this webinar series to date, because it talks about the travails of people in Africa’s most populous nation, about half of whom are Christian, the other half are Muslim. The conflicts that have erupted at the hands of the Muslims against the Christians are reaching levels of horror, and persecutions that are, if not unique in this world, certainly among the most egregious. What makes it worse is the government that is presiding over all of this in Nigeria is considered to be a friend of the United States. It is the beneficiary of immense amounts of taxpayer support and other political and economic considerations. And yet, as we will document in the course of this conversation, it is complicit in the horrors that are now being inflicted upon the Christian population of Nigeria and it seems as though it is being emboldened by the outcome of new elections, that we’ll also be discussing. To become even more aggressively supportive of and enabling of the violence being perpetrated against innocent Christians both in their native villages and in internally displaced persons camps now scattered around parts of Nigeria. This is a tale that I think will touch your heart. I encourage you to stay with the conversation. It will almost certainly become unbearable at points because the people that we’ve tasked to help explain what’s going on have personally experienced, in many cases or through their immediate family, colleagues, neighbors, acquaintances, the full terrifying horror of what is being done in one of, if not Africa’s most important nations, as well as its most populous.”

In an alert sent out by the American Center for Law and Justice, we can see how America is neglecting its duty to stand for righteousness, thereby emboldening evil. Here is an excerpt from the alert: “President Biden even REMOVED Nigeria from a vital persecution watchlist in the face of this bloodshed, and the death toll went up. In fact, our FOIA lawsuit has uncovered the Biden State Department willfully ignoring the grim facts in furtherance of their political agenda. …

“If we don’t act, our brothers and sisters in Christ will continue to be slaughtered. We JUST filed again in federal court against the Biden Administration and at the U.N. to protect Nigeria’s Christians. We also just met with key Members of Congress. And we are hosting a critical meeting at the U.N. Human Rights Council next month about this atrocity. It is our sacred duty to act.”

I urge you to pray for my friend Pastor Joseph and all believers in Christ throughout Nigeria and the rest of the world. Then, please Sign American Center for Law and Justice’s petition to help “save Christians in Nigeria from genocide!”

 

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