In Nigeria, Pastor Zachariah can still praise God after devastating attack 

Violence against Christians is increasing across sub-Saharan Africa – more Christians are killed for their faith in Nigeria than the rest of the world combined. Find out how you can show believers like Pastor Zachariah that they’re not alone.

In May 2023, Pastor Zachariah was returning to his home in Mangu, Plateau State, when he noticed that villagers were fleeing in the opposite direction. “Most of them were barefoot,” he remembers. “Their bodies were covered with mud, because they had had to crawl to escape the attack. The closer I got to my house, the more I saw people with injuries – and dead bodies beside the road.”  

When he arrived at his home, he found it burned to the ground – and the bodies of his wife and son in the kitchen area. “Since this incident, no matter what I am doing, I will always remember what we went through,” he says. “Even when I am praying, I get lost thinking of the incident. That day I cried like never before; it was on that day I knew that death was truly painful.”  

“Why would God allow this kind of attack?”  

The attack on Pastor Zachariah’s village was one of several in the region that killed 125 people in a single week. Understandably, he wasn’t sure where God was in this awful situation: “Honestly, when this attack took place, I felt as if God had forsaken me, because I said if God is in control, why would He allow these people to cause this kind of attack on us? Where is He that He will not take charge of the situation?”   

Sadly, Pastor Zachariah’s experience is becoming more and more common. Nigeria is number six on the World Watch List – Open Doors’ ranking of the countries where Christians face the most extreme persecution – and violence against Christians is increasing: more Christians are killed for their faith in Nigeria than the rest of the world combined. Men and boys are often specifically targeted, to undermine the growth of Christian families in the future. Women and girls face abduction and sexual violence, with the knowledge that sometimes their communities reject them when they come home. 

Violence by Islamic extremist groups such as Fulani militants, Boko Haram and ISWAP (Islamic State in West African Province) have increased in recent years, putting Nigeria at the epicentre of targeted violence against the church across sub-Saharan Africa.  

How you can stand with Pastor Zachariah 

But Pastor Zachariah and his church are not alone: local Open Doors partners were able to come alongside them with trauma healing ministry. 

“Your organisation called us for counselling and trauma healing for affected individuals and I learnt a lot,” says Pastor Zachariah. “This teaching has encouraged me greatly because right now I am asking God to forgive our attackers, and for them to enter the Kingdom of God and not to die in their sins. Had I not come for this counselling, I would not have been living a good life – but since I came for this programme, now my mind is at rest.”  

Your prayers and support truly show our persecuted church family around the world that they are not alone – and, because of you, they can continue to be salt and light in their communities even as they count the cost of following Jesus.   

“For those who have found themselves in similar situations which we have experienced, my prayer is that we should rely on God because He is everything we live for,” Pastor Zachariah shares. “If we turn our attention away from God, we will see Him as someone who cannot help us, but if we believe He can do all things then we will not be broken.”