Christians Persecuted in Nigeria, Iraq, N.Korea, Sudan

“And [God] said to him: What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother's blood crieth to me from the earth.” —Gen. 4:10

Christians continue to be targeted, harassed, arrested, and killed from China to North Korea, from Iran to Myanmar, from Iraq to Sudan, from Somaliland to Palestinian territories, and especially in Nigeria.

Between 60,000 and 100,000 Nigerian Christians have been killed in over a decade of genocidal Islamic jihad, with millions more displaced, yet most Western Christians neither know nor care. Sudan’s civil war is creating a nightmare for Christians, but Western media only sobs over jihad-loving Gazan Muslims. The voice of our brothers’ blood cries to us from the earth.

On Sept. 16, ICC reported on recent attacks committed by Islamic terrorist groups in Nigeria.

According to multiple reports from Kaduna state, Islamic extremists violently attacked the Kuyallo Primary Health Care Centre on Sept. 9 in the Birnin-Gwari local government area.

The attackers, believed to be members of the al-Qaeda-affiliated Ansaru group, stormed the facility at around 9 a.m., leaving many injured. The group also abducted two female nurses and several patients…both Kaduna and Niger states are grappling with another wave of insurgency, particularly around Shiroro Lake and its neighboring communities. Local reports indicate that Boko Haram, ISWAP (Islamic State West Africa Province), and Ansaru have formed a deadly coalition in the area.

The groups are forcing Christian farmers into slave labor, cultivating their crops and tending to their stolen cattle. The farmers are often forced to sell their produce at local markets and give the profits to the Islamists…Authorities also recently thwarted an attack targeting Nigeria’s Department of State Services (DSS) assets in Shiroro.

This week, ICC also featured the story of Salisu Bala, a Nigerian Muslim who converted to Christianity despite Islamic persecution of Christians in his area. Bala’s own family almost starved and dehydrated him to death to force him to renounce Christianity before a Muslim friend rescued him.

But while Nigeria is the most deadly country for Christians, the Christians in other African and Asian countries, and even some Western countries now, face persecution too. In Sudan, for instance, which is about 5% Christian and 91% Sunni Muslim, a bloody civil war includes specifically anti-Christian violence:

[ICC] According to reports, 165 churches have had to close since the war broke out. Some churches are used as bases for military operations in the war, with people sheltering there forced out or even killed to make way for soldiers. Members of the clergy have been targeted, with soldiers shooting or stabbing priests and others during their raids.  

The well-equipped [Sudanese Armed Forces] often bombs churches, indiscriminately injuring or killing those sheltering inside, including women and children. 

In North Korea, ICC said, the Gospel is “unstoppable” despite “the brutal persecution of Christians in North Korea.” North Korean Christian Illyong Ju’s “family has been torn apart, with many members taken into political prison camps after their faith was discovered. Despite these harrowing experiences, Illyong remains hopeful for his homeland.”

In Iraq, ICC stated Sept.21, “Christians, Yazidis, and other religious minority communities … continue to face existential threats from militants and regional governments.” The Islamic State’s (ISIS) power there has allegedly waned, but other Islamic militants have continued the cycle of violence. With over 95% of Iraqis being Muslim and terrorists still plentiful, religious freedom remains an ideal rather than a reality for Iraq’s Christian minority.

These suffering Christians’ stories should be more widely known, and Westerners praying and pushing for assistance to those who are persecuted.