Something is Happening In Nigeria & You Must Know About it!
I once wrote something about the trouble that Nigeria has brought to the rest of Africa through its mass production of false prophets. What I was somewhat unaware of, however, is that Nigeria is a vast country that is divided into North and South. The South side is Christian dominated and relatively peaceful. This is the part of that nation which is a breeding ground for conmen in the name of Christianity. The North, however, is a completely different world altogether. Muslim dominated and very much in turmoil, as you would imagine. According to my little digging, there are an estimated 40 million Christians in northern Nigeria. And these are the brothers who are caught between a rock and a hard place at the hands of the Fulani Islamic Militia. Reports say that there are 22 Jihadist groups in that region, who are on an evil mission to exterminate any form of Christianity in that area.
Imagine yourself inside a church service, as deep in worship as you can get. Then you hear a gunshot from outside, and it strikes somebody sitting next to you. More gunshots – it's chaos everywhere. You run aimlessly and finally manage to crouch behind some bushes. After a little while, you come out of your hiding and try to make your way back to the church building, only to be greeted by complete silence, save for a few desperate sobs and haunting moaning voices. You come to the place to be horrified to witness the bloody scene. Everyone is either lying lifeless or wounded beyond hope, including your own family members.
Brethren, this is the reality of what’s currently happening in the villages of Borno state. According to an article by Newsweek, there are 125 000 Christians who have been killed in that region since 2009. Just this year alone, 7 087 Christian believers lost their lives in Nigeria between January 1 and August 10, and 7 800 others were kidnapped in the same period. That is an average of 35 deaths per day. All this, including the Yelewata massacre in June, where 280 Christ’s sheep were martyred. Apparently, there are more Christians killed in Nigeria than the rest of the world combined. As I wrote last time, there is no peace with Islam. Their Allah is glorified through a trail of blood, and that of unarmed, poor villagers.
A Report by NPR recounts the sobering story of a four year old survivor of the attack, Onyuso David, after his parents were not so lucky. “He was hiding with his mother when they killed her in front of him,” One villager said, while his father was killed elsewhere in the village. “He's been crying and crying, and asking for his dad to come and see him. I don't know how to tell him he has died.”
Why the silence from the media?
Of course, there is a very minor sect of the media outlets that are trying to report these things, yet the truth is that mainstream media is not interested in such news, particularly about Christians, especially if it’s happening in Africa. It’s not the kind of topic that sells. Everyone pretends to care about human suffering only when it comes to the Palestinians in Gaza. I can tell you that even the Nigerian government – whose president is Muslim – went to the UN summit pledging allegiance to the Middle East conflict, while its own citizens are being burnt alive in their own houses.
Why the silence from fellow Christians?
In all fairness, most sincere believers are just not that informed about anything beyond their local area in terms of the state of Christianity around the world. Hence, they cannot talk about something that they, themselves are not aware of. It’s my wish that our Pastors would regularly educate their congregants with the history of the Christian Church, all the way to the current state of affairs.
The second reason why believers seem to be so unconcerned about the Christian persecution, even though some hear about these things, is because of the kind of doctrine that most of us grow under, the Success Gospel. The more you sit under such poisonous teaching, the more selfish you become. Why should you be concerned about a dying Christian somewhere if you believe that God owes you a job promotion and a new car? In fact, according to that mindset, God cannot allow a believer to suffer or to die for their faith because His plans always are for us to prosper according to Jeremiah 29:11. Do you see?
What can you do about it?
Okay, we have heard that the situation is as bad as it gets for the poor believers in Maiduguri city. What can you do about it? The first thing that I would encourage you to do, above everything else, is prayer. Please remember these brothers. Pray that the Lord may strengthen them in their inner man, as they are facing such terrible times. And it’s not wrong to also pray for a permanent solution to this, such as an intervention from the international community.
Secondly, my plea to you is that you spread awareness about this. The enemy would very much prefer it if his evil remained a public secret. God forbid! Let everybody know what is happening. Get hold of web links or anything digital material and share it with fellow believers within your influence. Somebody might see it and it could be a door of redemption for those people.
One more, my prayer is that you may imagine the situation in Nigeria and be thankful for the privilege that you have to freely serve Christ in your area without hindrance. In fact, the only way you can honour the lives of the martyred brothers is not by taking for granted church gatherings, but by being serious and fully utilising such opportunities to serve the Lord. Because I can tell you that those brethren on the other side would give all they have just to experience your freedom of worship.
Finally, if ever you have material things that you can give, towards helping those people, or even if you are ready to give yourself physically to that cause, there are organisations that you can partner with, such as the Global Christian Relief, Open Doors International and Equipping the Persecuted just to name a few. Remember, the Christian faith is all about looking out for each other on this great journey to the Celestial City.
In closing, I have only this to say: Brethren, we can debate the motivations of the media and the failures of the Nigerian government, but what we cannot ignore is the solemn duty that falls squarely on us, the global body of Christ. I plead with you, do not let this knowledge be a mere moment of sorrow before you turn the page. Do not allow the comfort of your pew or your geographic distance to deafen you to the cries of your family in Nigeria. If the faith we profess is real, if the love of Christ truly resides within us, then our hearts must break for those who are facing death for the very Name we celebrate in freedom. The time for quiet reflection is over. The time for loud, faithful action is upon us! Will you commit today to being a voice for the persecuted, or will you allow the silence to continue?
Sinothi Ncube
Related Content...
Comments
Post a Comment