Fast Facts:

Population:

28.1 million

Number of people groups:

38

Unreached people groups:

30

Largest religion:

Islam (93.3%)

Evangelical Christian:

.97%

Armed men on motorcycles slowed as they reached the center of the village. This wasn’t their first stop in this particular region of Niger, and it wouldn’t be their last. Their purpose: to demand that any man 15 years or older either convert to Islam or pay a tax.

Their directives have become commonplace as terrorist groups from surrounding countries increasingly cross into Niger and officials do nothing to stop it. And in a region home to hundreds of Christian families, the arrival of these particular extremists posed a serious dilemma. Even if they paid the tax, they feared that next year, the sum demanded of them would be even greater.

So, they fled. More than 350 families uprooted their children. They left their belongings, their livelihoods, and the familiarity of home to escape the fear that these men were intent on instilling in them. “They came to tell us to practice their religion,” said one pastor from a local ministry who fled with his family. “We told them that we would never do it.”

But choosing to leave came with another set of risks. They might have escaped the extremists and the law with which they intended to rule, but now they faced other issues. Their makeshift camps were insufficient, food was scarce. “We fled and we have nothing, not even food,” the pastor continued. “It’s very difficult to find shelter.”

Their determination to follow Jesus is what sustains them. They hold their heads high knowing that they did not forsake God in exchange for the illusion of safety. “Let us praise God for the integrity of these Nigerien Christians who refused to renounce their faith,” the local ministry leader said.

Let us also join in the ministry leader’s prayer request: “We pray to Him to provide for the needs of the displaced. Let us also pray to Him to bring the Islamic extremists of the region to repentance.”

Please consider a donation today to assist indigenous ministries serving under such difficult circumstances.