The Center for Global Religious Freedom at Dallas Baptist University, Texas Baptists’ Christian Life Commission and the Baptist World Alliance have issued a call to prayer for victims of religious persecution in Nigeria.
Leaders at the DBU Center for Global Religious Freedom, the CLC and BWA are urging Texas Baptists to dedicate time during worship services on July 27 — or another date in the near future — to pray for persecuted believers in Nigeria.
RELATED: Check out more stories on the persecuted church.
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They also are encouraging concerned Christians to sign an online letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, calling for the U.S. Department of State to designate Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern.
The CPC designation is reserved for nations that commit or permit systemic, ongoing and egregious violations of religious freedom. Several global experts and advocates for international religious freedom have deemed Nigeria one of the most dangerous nations in the world for Christians.
“Due to the ongoing and particularly severe religious freedom violations occurring throughout the country, especially in its northern states, the Trump Administration should redesignate Nigeria as a CPC and take immediate action to engage with the Nigerian government to confront this growing violence,” the letter to Rubio states.
“From April to June, violent attacks by nomadic Muslim Fulani militants on Christian farmers in Benue and Plateau states claimed more than 150 lives, displacing many more.”
Baptist pastor killed this month
In a July 12 video interview with BWA General Secretary Elijah Brown at the Baptist World Congress in Brisbane, Nigerian Baptist Convention President Israel Akanji said, “While we have been here in the past one week, one of our pastors was killed by terrorists who attacked his church.”
Christian Solidarity Worldwide identified the pastor as Emannuel Na’allah of the Bege Baptist Church in the Yari Bori community of the Kafur Local Government Area of Nigeria’s Katsina State.
During the July 7 attack, another church leader also was killed, and Maryam Ezekiel, wife of the local Redeemed Church of God pastor, was abducted and remains in captivity.
Eight days later, more than 30 people in the Bindi community Riyom Local Government Area in Nigeria’s Plateau State were killed by heavily armed militia, CSW reported. Davou Musa, the local Christ of Christ in Nations pastor, reportedly lost nine family members in the attack.
In the video interview, Akanji also noted more than 200 individuals — most of whom were Christians — were killed in mid-June in Benue State.
When asked how Texas Baptist can pray for Christians in Nigeria, Akanji responded: “The prayer is that we should not lose our hope in God.
“We have the faith that in spite of the persecution, the church of God will continue to grow. Please pray that our hope will be sustained.”
EDITOR’S NOTE — This story was written by Ken Camp and originally published by Baptist Standard.
