The Forgotten War
It’s horrific. It’s ongoing. And it affects every single follower of Jesus.
Far away from Ukraine, there is another war taking place. This war isn’t between nations. It’s not even confined to any national boundaries. It is way more ancient — and more bloodthirsty — than any war that’s currently in the headlines.
It’s a war between good and evil. It’s a war that is prophesied in Scripture. And as followers of Jesus, it affects us all — whether we know it or not.
I’m referring to the war on Christians — and other religious minorities — in nations and cultures that oppose and even outlaw the gospel. It makes many of our brethren around the world into widows, widowers, grieving parents, and orphans.
A sea of carnage
Where and when the gospel gains a foothold, this is often where Satan’s fury is aroused. Take, for example, Cabo Delgado.
Located in northern Mozambique, this region has seen a tremendous number of Muslims coming to faith in Jesus in recent years. The spiritual harvest has been so great that Christian workers have been moving to shepherd the movement. Currently, this movement claims close to 40% of the population.
In response, the Islamist backlash has been fierce. Just ask Pastor Armando. In the spring of 2020, after terrorists stormed his village and left behind a swath of rubble and decapitated bodies, he could not find his children. He still can’t. Nor does he know where his church members are.
In a similar manner, Islamists stored Pastor Matateu’s village in Cabo Delgado. They gathered all the villagers and asked them each a very simple question: “What is your religion?” Those who answered “Christian” were immediately beheaded. Pastors and their families were killed in an especially torturous manner.
Nigeria
Nigeria is home to more than 80 million Christians. Most of them live in the south of the country. The north is dominated by Muslims. And there, more than 11,000 Christians were massacred by jihadi Muslims between 2015 and 2020.
The north has become one large killing field.
Since 2002, Boko Haram (a Nigerian-based Islamic terrorist organization) has targeted everyone in the north who is not part of “true Islam.” That includes Deborah, whose husband was murdered, and her children abducted when terrorists stormed her village. It includes Juliana, who watched as terrorists executed her husband. It includes the families of 276 young girls abducted from Chibok in 2014.
Between 2015 and 2020, more than 11,000 Nigerian Christians were massacred by jihadi Muslims.
In the first half of 2021, there were on average 17 Nigerian Christians murdered daily.
Let that sink in: 17 Nigerian Christians murdered daily in the first six months of 2021.
Why is it that we Christians in the West have no idea this is happening?
Light in the midst of darkness
The above examples are from countries in which Christianity is legal but persecuted. In other countries, Christianity is illegal. North Korea, for example, sentences anyone caught with a Bible is sent to a concentration camp.
China and Iran are perhaps the most well-known examples of nations that officially outlaw Christianity. More accurately, they outlaw the spread of the gospel. These governments have no problem with traditional churches that tow the line of the state. But underground Christianity is a totally different story. In China, “unapproved” churches are routinely bulldozed while their pastors are routinely imprisoned. In Iran, anyone leaving Islam to follow Jesus is a candidate for imprisonment and torture. Evangelism in both countries is strictly outlawed.
Prior to the 1949 Communist takeover of China, there were an estimated 4 million Christians in China. Today that number is “officially” estimated at 44 million but is closer to 100 million when the underground church is accounted for. Overall, the Protestant church has grown 10 percent annually for the last 43 years (since 1979). Some estimate the overall number could reach 300 million by 2030 — much to the consternation of China’s communist leaders.
Iran, by some estimates, is experiencing the most explosive church growth on the planet. According to David Yeghnazar of Elam Ministries, “Iranians have become the most open people to the gospel. In 2019, Shay Khatiri of Johns Hopkins University wrote that “Islam is the fastest shrinking religion there, while Christianity is growing the fastest.”
And by the way, the vast majority of them have a fervent love for Israel.
The hope — and the reality
An early church father from the 2nd century famously proclaimed that “the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church.” Nowhere is this more true than in China and Iran. It’s also true of much of the Middle East, where more Muslims are turning to faith in Jesus than at any other time in history. And of course, it’s also true in Nigeria and Mozambique.
But let’s not minimize reality. Over 40 million Christians have been martyred in the last 100 years — over half of the total number of martyrs since Jesus’ first coming. According to the advocacy group Open Doors:
- 332 Christians worldwide are murdered for their faith each month;
- 214 churches and Christian properties are destroyed each month;
- 772 forms of violence (rape, kidnapping, arrest, etc.) are committed against Christians each month.
It’s an understatement to say that we’ve been experiencing a slow-moving but steady 100-year holocaust.
They need to be in our hearts
Why, pray tell, are so few of us Christians in the West even aware? Doesn’t Scripture inform us that if one member of the body suffers, we all suffer” (1 Corinthians 12:26)? Aren’t we called to “remember those in prison, as if (we) were their fellow prisoner” (Hebrews 13:3)?
If what you’ve just read touches your heart, then let me suggest you connect with organizations that both serve — and inform about — the persecuted church. Two highly-recommended such organizations are Voice Of The Martyrs (VOM) and Open Doors USA. You can located them respectively at www.persecution.com and www.operdoorsusa.org.
Yes, the people in Ukraine need our prayers — desperately so. But so do the 340 million Christians who live under the daily threat of persecution every day. So do the families of the over 1000 Christians who are raped, arrested, beaten, and murdered every month.
They may not be on your TV screens. But they need to be in our hearts. I beg you: do not forget them. Contact VOM or Open Doors to discover how you can pray and assist.
