The world today appears to be a very inclusive place. Specifically, in America, you are free to act however you want, dress however you want, and follow whatever religion you believe in. If you hop on a plane and fly across the sea into Africa, you will enter a very different reality. The country of Nigeria has murdered over 100,000 Christians since 2009, and there seems to be no end in sight. The excruciating thought of not being able to worship God freely weighs heavily on my heart, and a lthough this can be viewed as just a news story to us, it’s not. These are real lives being ended and families being torn apart for simply going to church, an act that most of our community does weekly.
Why Is This Happening?
The persecution of Christians has been happening for many years, but the real question is, why? Northern Nigerian states view Christians as ¨second-class citizens¨ due to the majority of their population being Muslim. This is why many terrorist groups have started to target Christians in Nigeria. These terrorist groups would commit attacks on worship centers and churches. This year, from January to August, 3,000 Christians have been persecuted, which is only a small fraction of the 100,000 that have been killed since 2009.
How does this affect our community?
Although we live in a small town in Kentucky, this matter still affects us. If we compare a community in Nigeria to our community, you would find one major thing in common: our love for Jesus. You cannot deny this fact. I mean, just look around our town: there are Christian churches everywhere filled with people every Sunday. We get to go to Church in peace, and they have to go to Church in fear. The Christian community in Nigeria is just like us; they are families who want to go to church to worship, yet some of them don’t know if they will come back home after. Now imagine if the roles were reversed. That thought is sickening, isn’t it? It is is exactly what was brought up when I sat down and spoke with community member Tammy Estep. Estep is an active member in the community and works downtown at the courthouse. She was the first person that came to mind when I was researching this topic due to her effect on my faith. When asked her overall opinions on this matter, she stated ¨I believe persecution of Christians in Nigeria is happening, and I am sickened by it. To think that Christians are mistreated or even killed for their beliefs is incomprehensible to me.¨ When I asked about how she believes this will affect our community, emotion struck. With tears in her eyes, Estep stated ¨I think it has a daily minimal effect on our community, but overall the humanitarian effect is huge. Also, to see this happening in other countries is scary, and makes us wonder… if the time will come that it will affect us locally¨. Knowing that this is happening in other countries, it is terrifying to think this could happen to us, but it is not far from reality. In the scary world we live in today, there is no telling what could happen. So, as a community, we need to cherish every moment of what we have. Each morning that we are capable of waking up and going to church without fear, we need to view it as a blessing. We need to be grateful every time we wear a cross necklace or make a public statement of our faith.
