Many of you donated to our Christmas appeal for the persecuted church in Nigeria at the end of last year. Today we want to share with you a little of what this meant for people.
For those of you who are unaware of the situation in Nigeria, a short recap. Nigeria is a massive county in West Africa, and the religious line separating the continent into a predominantly Muslim and predominantly Christian half, runs right through it. About half of Nigeria’s population is Muslim and they live mostly in the North. About half is Christian and they live mostly in the South. Several Islamist terrorist groups, like Boko Haram and ISWAP have set up camp in the Northern jungles. They terrorize everyone whom they decide is not Islamic enough to their liking, but specifically attack Christian villages, churches and schools, often abducting large groups of people.
These ISIS-related terror groups also arm a herdsmen tribe, called the Fulani, and have been radicalizing them. The Fulani are Muslim and their territory borders that of the Christian farmers in the south. Historic struggles over grazing rights and land ownership have now turned into a bloody religious persecution, where Fulani sweep into Christian villages, torch the place, kill whoever they can find, chase away the rest and take the land for themselves.
These attacks are frequent, gruesome and deeply traumatizing for the Christian population in Nigeria’s Middle Belt, where most of these attacks take place. It means that Nigeria is the country with the highest number of Christians murdered anywhere in the world, by far. Many Christians feel deeply unsafe and abandoned by their government, who does very little to protect them. Many have seen family members slaughtered before their eyes, have lost their homes and livelihoods and have become destitute. As a result, they struggle with feelings of hate and rage, which sometimes can spill over into more violence.
Because so many of these attacks concentrate around important Christian feasts like Christmas and Easter, we had a goal to bless as many of these believers as we could with two things they often lack: food and safety. Because of the generous donations we received, we could distribute food aid to thousands of believers through our contacts with Nigerian pastors. In a safe location, some of our partners were able to minister to different groups of people who bear the scars of the violence against Christians. Widows of pastors who were killed in the violence, pastors and leaders who are facing persecution, others who have survived violent attacks, and even recovering addicts, who turned to addictive substances to deal with the deep anguish.
Over a thousand people were served in this location. They were listened to, hugged, prayed for and received teaching around anger and reconciliation. We want to share some of the testimonies of the people that came to this place. They reflect on both the depth of the pain, as well as the work God is doing in them despite all this.
People were asked what kind of things they were angry with. These were some of the things they mentioned the Fulani did to them:
- They burned my house and took all my food
- They killed my brother and burnt my brother
- They killed my father and took all I have
- They burned 8 of our villages, we cannot return
- They chased me from my house, my husband went to check our house and they killed him
- They killed my son, my husband and my younger sister
- I don’t have anywhere to sleep, I want the Fulani to disappear
- They killed my husband – they burned the house and took all I have
- I am angry with the government and the soldiers who did nothing to protect me
- They killed my son and my younger brother
- They destroyed my farm produce – last Friday they killed my uncle – they cut off his head and burnt his body, I am angry with the government – they are not helping!
One of the pastors, called Harris, saw people massacred like animals and his student’s made orphans, deeply traumatised because they had seen their parents butchered. He felt angry with God. Right from the first session, God started to deal with him, he had to forgive himself and realise God is still God. He later said it was as if the conference was made for him.
These were some other comments people made:
“After the teachings yesterday, I went back home and slept. I have not slept well for a long time. I read my bible and then slept. I woke up at 5am and prayed.”
“I felt as though I was going to die but with these prayers I feel I have peace of mind.”
“This teaching has impacted me and touched my heart. When the Fulani people chased us out – I vowed I must kill them. But when I heard the teaching, I have left everything in the hands of God.”
Thank you for making it possible to minister to these brothers and sisters in our need. Please continue to keep the church of Nigeria in your prayers. Also remember those from the Fulani tribe who have become believers and are now sharing the hope of the gospel with their tribe, despite the huge risk. May those who were once enemies may be made one in the body of Christ.
