Summary

SummaryI am Pastor Barnabas. I live with my wife and our seven children in an internally displaced persons (IDP) camp in Nigeria. For more than four years, we were forced to flee our home because extremist herdsmen violently targeted Christians. Our tent is tinyβ€”just about 1.2 by 1.2 metersβ€”under the heat of the sun and battered by dusty winds. Each morning, my three youngest children sleep at a neighbor’s, and they return at dawn. We share simple food and thank God for each day.

I’ve seen many here begin to lose their faith when they watch their children go hungry or fall sick, believing God has abandoned them. It pains me deeply to hear their doubts. But I stand before them, raise my voice in prayer, and say, β€œGod is merciful and great. He will not leave us. One day, He will restore us to our ancestral homes.” That hope gives us strength. In our makeshift church inside the camp, we worship God, ask the Holy Spirit to renew and strengthen us. Despite hunger, fear, and cold nights sometimes, my heart remains full of trust that God hears our prayers and will bring us home someday.

Pastor Barnabas lives in one of many internally displaced people (IDP) camps in Nigeria, along with thousands of Christians who have been forced from their homes by Islamic extremist violence. Across sub-Saharan Africa, 16.2 million Christians have been forcibly displaced by violence and conflict. But most of the world doesn’t even know it’s happening. Thank you for standing with Pastor Barnabas and the African church.

Give your support, sign the petition and share a prayer: www.opendoorsuk.org/ariseafrica

Open Doors Prayer News 304 (September-October 2024)

www.opendoorsuk.org/prayernews

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Open Doors UK & Ireland
Open Doors is an international ministry serving persecuted Christians and churches worldwide. We supply Bibles, leadership training, literacy programmes, livelihood support and advocacy services. We also seek to mobilise the church in the UK & Ireland to serve Christians living under religious persecution.
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