Christian Martyrs in Nigeria

The slaughter of Christians in Nigeria was a concern of President Trump, so Biden and Blinken had them removed from the watch list! Apparently, didn't think it was a problem or, they want to tamp down the many good things for religious freedom done by Trump. There are now more documented cases of Christian martyrdom in Nigeria than every other country combined according to Revelation Media. Our current State Department is concerned about anti-Muslim hate crimes--but not they people they are killing.

"At the beginning of his administration, Biden called on the State Department to monitor vigilantly countries that do not embrace “transgender rights” and authorized diplomats to meddle in their affairs. A country that upholds the natural moral law is more likely to end up on a State Department blacklist than a country that violates it. To hear Biden and Blinken speak, one would think Christians pose the greatest threat to “global progress.” Biden’s rhetoric about Islamic countries is always very hesitant, but it turns very robust on the subject of “Christian nationalists” like Hungary’s Viktor Orbán."

According to Gallup poll in Dec. 2021, about three in four Americans said they identify with a specific religious faith. By far the largest proportion, 69%, identify with a Christian religion, including 35% who are Protestant, 22% Catholic and 12% who identify with another Christian religion or simply as a "Christian." " And yet both Obama and Biden refuse to call this a Christian nation. Not everything is defined in the Constitution, like what is a woman, and what is a marriage, but sometimes politicians have no common sense about what is common knowledge.

https://spectator.org/christians-warned-biden-and-blinken-about-nigeria/?

Fulani Terrorists Kill More than 70 Christians in Central Nigeria | Christian News Network

Power to Help - Morningstar News

Christians killed in Nigeria (theallineed.com)

Nigerian Christians Protest Deborah’s Death...... | News & Reporting | Christianity Today

Let's not forget about Nigeria

Nigeria was the first mission field I heard about as a child.  Church of the Brethren missionaries would come to our church in Mt. Morris and talk about their work. The Church of the Brethren in Nigeria is now larger than the mother church denomination, but is experiencing terrible persecution from Muslims.  What follows is from The Catholic News Agency and is the most recent I could find, a report of June 9 of a meeting at Heritage Foundation.  It will take more than a hashtag to solve this.  Boko Haram is more lethal than ISIS according to the Global Terrorism Index and the number of displaced people is second only to Syria.

“What is unfolding in Northern and Central Nigeria is one of the worst, most neglected humanitarian crises in the world,” Elijah Brown, executive vice president of the 21st Century Wilberforce Initiative, stated at the Heritage Foundation on June 9, introducing the report.

Attacks on villages and schools by the terror group Boko Haram– most known for its April 2014 abduction of over 200 school girls in Chibok – have displaced millions in the last few years. Other problems that have arisen are attacks by militants of the Fulani herdsmen in the fertile Middle Belt region, destroying entire villages."

http://www.heritage.org/events/2016/06/nigeria

http://europe.newsweek.com/boko-haram-splinters-isis-over-child-suicide-bombers-us-general-473004

http://www.standwithnigeria.org/

http://www.cnn.com/2015/11/17/world/global-terror-report/index.html

http://www.cnn.com/2016/02/11/africa/nigeria-suicide-bombing-boko-haram/index.html

Church of the Brethren won’t forget their girls

These may not be the girls about which we heard so much in April 2014, and which were quickly forgotten except by the Church of the Brethren (EYN), the largest Christian group in Nigeria. That denomination has been devastated by Boko Haram. Unfortunately most of these girls appear to be pregnant.

http://www.mamamia.com.au/news/boko-haram-girls-freed/

•More than 500 women and children kidnapped, many of whom are EYN members
•3,038 EYN members killed
•Around three million people affected
•96,000 EYN members are displaced—needing shelter, food and water
•37 of 50 EYN districts are impacted
•18 districts are closed in areas now controlled by Boko Haram
•280 EYN pastors and evangelists are displaced

From the COB website: As the escaped Chibok girls return to school and society, one of them reported, “Education gives me the wings I need to fly.”

Save Nigeria

Nigeria is the wealthiest African country, and Nigerian-Americans also are at the top of the charts in education and income. Disagree if you wish, but in my opinion this is a result of Christianity and capitalism, just as in the USA. Sixty years ago, Christianity was only about 20%, outnumbered by Muslims, and now Christians outnumber Muslims. Christian missionaries were faithful and prolific, targeting education and agriculture along with the gospel. Other African countries which depended on foreign aid from the World Bank and their former colonial powers got 70 years of roller coaster failure (like our own War on Poverty the aid held them back). But aggressive jihad is threatening the Christian culture of Nigeria. It's a country in peril.

Save the girls of Chibok--you don't hear much now except from the tiny Church of the Brethren. It's lost 8,000 members to recent Muslim attacks on Christians in Nigeria. The Church of the Brethren in Nigeria (160,000 members according to the World Council of churches website) is now over twice the size of its mother church.  I remember the COB missionaries visiting our little church when I was a child to raise support.  Now they need our help again, but this time to saves lives on this side of eternity.   http://www.brethren.org/nigeriacrisis/

http://www.cananusa.org/

Christian Association of Nigerian-Americans, CANAN, is calling on the US President Barack Obama to reinvigorate America’s support to the effort to rescue the over 200 Nigerian schoolgirls who were abducted exactly one year ago by Boko Haram terrorists.

As the whole world marks one year after the disturbing abduction, CANAN wants the US government to renew and upwardly review its military and technical assistance to the Nigerian government’s effort and those of the neighboring countries in confronting the terrorists. April 15, 2015

http://www.cananusa.org/index.php/campaigns/press-release.html

http://www.forbes.com/sites/kerryadolan/2014/11/19/africas-50-richest-2014-worth-a-combined-111-billion-up-nearly-7-percent-from-a-year-ago/

http://www.forbes.com/profile/folorunsho-alakija/ Richer than Oprah.

The richest man in Africa will help Liberia

Before I read the article, I figured the richest man in Africa would be Nigerian. The richest African Americans are often Nigerian Americans; look at the rolls of Harvard and Yale and you'll find Nigerians. Something in their culture pushes them to excel; also Nigeria is close to 50% Christian. American and European missionaries brought Jesus and the Protestant work ethic. Aliko Dangote himself is Muslim. That said, why can't he do anything with his lavish wealth to stop Boko Haram, a Muslim terrorist group?

http://www.forbes.com/sites/mfonobongnsehe/2014/10/20/africas-richest-man-aliko-dangote-to-support-liberia-in-fight-against-ebola/

Nigerians make up less than 1 percent of the black population in the United States, yet in 2013 nearly one-quarter of the black students at Harvard Business School were of Nigerian ancestry; over a fourth of Nigerian-Americans have a graduate or professional degree, as compared with only about 11 percent of whites. (NYT, Jan. 25, 2014)

Church of the Brethren in Nigeria is being persecuted—for over a decade by Boko Haram

Ekklesiyar Yan'uwa a Nigeria (EYN)  is the name of the Church of the Brethren in Nigeria. Their members are being killed, kidnapped, raped, and the churches are being burned by Boko Haram, a radical Islamic terrorist group similar to ISIS, but bumped from the news lately. The original kidnapped girls were from a Brethren community.  Other Christians like Catholics, 7th Day Adventists, Mormons and also Muslims are also being slaughtered. (Nigeria is about evenly divided between Christians and Muslims.)  CoB in the U.S. is tiny--probably about 120,000 members, but the gospel was so successfully spread in Nigeria that the EYN has about a million members. I've looked through several articles from the Church of the Brethren headquarters in the U.S. and the word Muslim and Islamic doesn't appear in the disaster stories, unless it's about Muslims being killed or interfaith work with the Muslim communities. Boko Haram is referred to as "insurgents." Other Christian sources use terms like Islamic or Muslim.

“The Boko Haram insurgents came to the villages in large numbers and, using rocket-propelled launchers, explosive devices, and bombs, invaded our communities in Madagali,” he said. “They killed, maimed people and destroyed houses before hoisting  their flags in different locations in the villages.”

“Boko Haram attacks that killed at least 150 members of the Church of the Brethren in Nigeria (Ekklesiyar Yan’uwa a Nigeria, or EYN) in the past 10 months (2013) have caused 8,000 Christians to flee, EYN leaders said.”

“Militants from the Islamic extremist group destroyed 15 places of worship belonging to EYN, which is the dominant denomination in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states in northeastern Nigeria with 180,000 members.”

“The Rev. Filibus Gwama, (EYN) Borno state chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria, believes the adoption of sharia is a strategy to checkmate Christianity in Nigeria.” (news report from 2001 about Sharia)

 http://www.brethren.org/news/2014/aid-efforts-continue-in-nigeria-mmb-members-to-do-advocacy.html

http://www.crossmap.com/news/how-can-i-celebrate-my-birthday-with-a-homeless-scattered-family-12600

http://christiannews.net/2014/09/09/bible-college-churches-shut-down-as-boko-haram-claims-territory-in-nigeria/

http://morningstarnews.org/2013/11/boko-haram-violence-cripples-christianity-in-areas-of-nigerias-borno-state/

http://www.worthynews.com/605-persecution-forces-nigerians-christians-to-flee-to-cameroon

Boko Haram killed 9 in Nigerian village

I grew up in and was baptized in the Church of the Brethren, as were my parents, grandparents, great grandparents and siblings.  Even as a little girl I enjoyed hearing the stories of taking Christ to the Nigerians, and eventually there was a strong Brethren church there, EYN, Ekklesiyar Yan’uwa a Nigeria. The Brethren Newsline of May 20, 2014, reported that five EYN members were killed by Boko Haram who are seeking a pure Islamic state for Nigeria. Nine were killed in the village of Shawa.

The wife of EYN president, Rebecca Dali writes: “We need your prayers.  Now there is virtually no security in Borno State, especially outside Maiduguri.  Many have fled to Cameroon.  In refugee camps in Cameroon and for some who are displaced there was no food, medical, or other kinds of help.  The government, even when warned, does not stop the violence.  People are suffering.”

The school from which the girl were kidnapped was established by a Brethren missionary couple now living in Kansas.

http://www.hutchnews.com/news/local_state_news/mcpherson-couple-watching-events-unfold-at-nigerian-school-where-they/article_ca81e3ca-e875-5ab1-a28a-bc6ad654e512.html

Modal verbs, can, could, may, might, must, ought, shall, should, will, would

27 million men, women, and children are trafficking victims at any given time.  Boko Haram is adding terrorism to the centuries old African slave trade and religious persecution by kidnapping Christian school girls.

“It ought to concern every person, because it’s a debasement of our common humanity. It ought to concern every community, because it tears at the social fabric. It ought to concern every business, because it distorts markets. It ought to concern every nation, because it  endangers public health and fuels violence and organized crime. I’m talking about the injustice, the outrage, of human trafficking, which must be called by its true name – modern slavery.” President Barack Obama, September 25, 2012

This would be a much stronger statement without all the "oughts."  For instance, "Slavery concerns every person because it is a debasement of our common humanity." A modal verb is an auxiliary verb which is used with another verb to talk about possibility, probability, permission, intention, etc. Sounds preachy and finger wagging without any action intended.

The Nigerian school girls

Michelle Obama's comments about the abducted Nigerian girls has gotten some attention, "In these girls, Barack and I see our own daughters." All North and South Americans could be reminded that we can see our fellow citizens with African heritage in this tragedy.  This reenacts in the 21st century what Arab (Muslim) and African tribal groups, where reducing your enemy to slavery was the custom, contributed to the slave trade of the 17th and 18th centuries.  Europeans couldn't get to the interior of Africa (just as they aren't having much luck finding these girls today) so had to rely on those who knew the territory.  It was lucrative for all involved--Arabs, Africans and Europeans (especially Dutch and Portuguese). Today's slave trade is far larger than the Atlantic slave trade of 5 centuries ago, much of it for sex and cheap labor of children.

“The sex trafficking of boys is often hidden, reflecting cultural taboos in many parts of the world. In Afghanistan and coastal Sri Lanka, boys are more likely than girls to be subjected to prostitution; in Mexico and Central America, boy migrants are vulnerable to commercial sexual exploitation en route to the United States; boys in Southeast Asia are exploited in prostitution; to a lesser extent, men are victims of sex trafficking; in recent years, Brazilian men were identified in forced prostitution in Spain and men were identified as sex trafficking victims in the United States.” U.S. State Department report on Trafficking, 2013

Cool or cruel?

Recently an abortion clinic worker posted a video of her own abortion. No way to know if it was real or just a way to get attention. But when I saw the video of the kidnappers of the Nigerian girls spew hate for Western culture, I think he must have that in mind--when a woman calls killing her own baby, "Cool."

Nigerian Churches burned, members killed

I noticed a small prayer request in a church newsletter, "Plea from our brothers and sisters in the Church of the Brethren, Nigeria: "Please pray for all Christians in northern Nigeria, more especially in Bauchi, Yobe, and Borno States. Pray for peace in Nigeria and these places." 13 churches have been burned (including EYN Maiduguri Wulari anf EYN Jajer), and 50 Christians have been killed since Monday in Maiduguri." No date on the request, so I didn't know what Monday, and I hadn't seen anything in the papers, and haven't caught much news. So I checked Google, and found a lot of stories at Christian sites. It apparently happened on July 27.

"At least six churches were destroyed in the last few days in Northern Nigeria as a result of the violence by members of a radical Islamic group. Militants of the group Boko Haram, which translates to “western education is sin,” have damaged at least half a dozen churches across four states ruled by Sharia, or Islamic law, according to Open Doors sources. A Baptist church was burnt to the ground in Potiskum, Yobe state. Another five churches were reportedly burnt in Maiduguri, Borno state. Moreover, the Christian ministry has learned that unlike what the government is saying, the number of deaths may be over 250 people. The official figure is about 50 deaths. This past Saturday, the group Boko Haram, also known as the Nigerian Taliban, launched a series of attacks in Bauchi state against police stations and state facilities in Northern Nigeria. The violence soon spread to three other states: Borno, Yobe and Kano states.

Another site said churches in Bauchi were not torched. I looked through about 40 stories, all reporting the killing of Christians, even one from Japan. Finally I got to the New York Times account, which reported clashes between the police and a fundamentalist Muslim group, and that the cause was economic problems. Muslims lashing out at Muslims. The Times reported that people died, but not that they were Christians. Nice touch. It's the economy, not ethnic hate. If the roles had been reversed, I wonder what the headlines would have been?

Update in 2015 on Boko Haram: http://www.wsj.com/articles/the-horror-of-boko-haram-1432163481?mod=rss_opinion_main