Join us in prayer for the persecuted in Nigeria

Last week, I shared with you a little about my experiences in Brisbane for the BWA Congress and our participation in the Tanzanian Baptists national annual gathering. Both of these have incredible kingdom impact.

One of the values of the Baptist World Alliance, as well as of Texas Baptists, is religious liberty. The religious liberty advocacy arm of the BWA is 21Wilberforce. During my time in Brisbane, I had the opportunity of visiting with its president, Wissam Al-Saliby, who is doing great work.

It is reported that religious freedom is violated in 31% of the world’s countries (61 countries total). In 28 of those countries, people suffer religious persecution.

The Bible consistently urges God’s people to stand with the oppressed, to speak for the voiceless and to work for liberty and justice. Baptists have been champions of religious freedom both because of our heritage as a persecuted people at our inception and because of our theological convictions.

We believe that Jesus Christ is Lord of all, including every individual’s conscience. It is to Him that we will give an account in the end. Christ has not delegated his authority over the human soul to any civil government or religious institution.

Thus, Christians, and especially Baptists, should insist that governments not establish a state religion and not persecute people for their religious convictions or practices. In fact, the government and the church should work to protect people from religious persecution.

This week, the Texas Baptists Christian Life Commission, the Center for Global Religious Freedom at Dallas Baptist University and the Baptist World Alliance are calling all Texas Baptists to pray for the persecuted in Nigeria this Sunday, July 27, including a prayer time during the worship service.

While the BWA Congress celebrated worship together in Brisbane, Christians in Nigeria suffered violence. On July 7, a pastor and another church leader were killed, and a pastor’s wife was abducted. 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.

Our Texas Baptists News reported this week that “in the last two years, more than 10,000 Christians have been killed in Nigeria - and about 62,000 since 2000. Many say the Middle Belt of Nigeria is the most dangerous place in the world for Christians.”

Rev. Wisdom Asita, a Texas Baptists pastor, originally from Nigeria, stated, “The source of the insurgency was Boko Haram, an Islamist militant group founded in 2002 in northeastern Nigeria. This group is responsible for thousands of deaths and widespread displacement of indigenous populations from their lands. They’re known for violence in attempts to establish an Islamic state.”

This Sunday, as many of us will gather with our church families for worship, many Nigerian Christians will fear for their lives. We urge you to take time in your worship service to pray for the persecuted in Nigeria. Pray for courage, for protection, for deliverance and for liberty.

Additionally, we can advocate for religious liberty. One of the ways in which we are encouraging this action is to call Secretary of State Marco Rubio to reinstate Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC), a special U.S. government designation for the worst violators of religious freedom. To become an advocate, complete this form with your name and email.

Let us cherish our religious freedom as we gather this weekend. Let us pray for the persecuted and let us advocate for those who suffer injustice. It’s the Baptist thing to do. It’s the Christian thing to do. It’s the biblical thing to do.