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Refined by Fire

Persecution Strengthens the Church in Niger

By Compelling Story

December 20^th, 2020

The Church is in the Heart

THE BAPTIST CHURCH AT THE ROUND POINT

The sign at the round point simply says Eglise Évangélique Baptiste, but locals know it by its landmark. Cars zoom around the busy round point, barely taking notice of the huge church towering on the corner. It was built by American missionaries in 1929, long before Niger’s independence from France. The missionaries brought materials from the U.S., and locals brought rocks from the river to plant a church among new converts in the city.

After the missionaries left, a local pastor took over the church and led it for 30 years. Once he retired, the church searched for a new pastor. Eventually, they sent a young man named Jacques Houeto to Bible school. He has now been the pastor of the more than 500-person congregation for 10 years.

On January 17, 2015, a group of Muslims from the community burned the Baptist church and a vehicle sitting outside the church because of the events surrounding Charlie Hebdo in Paris. Jacques arrived at the church only minutes after the guard had called him, but the fire was already raging. Firemen and police said they were busy and unable to help.

Although many members of the church were angry at first, they began going into the community and forgiving their neighbors.

The next day, Sunday, Jacques asked his parishioners to stay at home for safety. He and other leaders of the church held an emergency meeting. The following Sunday, they held a service amid the rubble and ashes and decided they should build a temporary shelter. Members gathered together to use iron from the burned roof.

That was all they could do. The church had been built by missionaries using materials from the other side of the world. They didn’t have the equipment necessary to build back what they once had.

“I told them the miracle is that God by Himself will rebuild this church because if it’s us ourselves, we can’t make it,” Jacques said. “But our Lord, He can do that.”

Although many members of the church were angry at first, they began going into the community and forgiving their neighbors. They also distributed Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes to Muslim children, which helped bridge the gap that had formed since the burnings.

In Jesus’ Name, Samaritan’s Purse will build a new church for Jacques’ congregation. Through that building, they hope to continue sharing the love of Christ with their neighbors.

“Pray so that Christians have the courage to keep on moving in terms of evangelism,” Jacques said. “And also pray for the audience, the people that will be receiving the Gospel, so that they receive it in their hearts and they receive Christ as their Lord and Savior.”

“They thought they burned the church, but they only burned the buildings.”

Showing Love

UNION OF EVANGELICAL CHURCHES — GOURÉ BRANCH

When the 72 members of the evangelic church in Gouré saw that their building had been burned, it was hard for them to believe that their neighbors had done it.

“The Bible said that you face persecutions, so we knew that it will happen, but we never expected it to be the way it happened,” said Issa Elhadjkouldjami, the pastor of the church.

Issa has two children who first heard rumors of the church burnings at school. His daughter sent him a message asking him to pray. Later, his son ran home from school to tell his father that a classmate had told him that they planned to attack the church that night.

Issa first called a meeting with the church elders. Then he went to the gendarmerie base to request assistance. The base sent a few soldiers to the church and Issa’s house to keep watch, but nothing happened. Early in the morning, Issa went to check on the soldiers and heard shouting. He called the school and asked for all the Christian students to be released. He carried small children on his motorcycle to safety at the base. As he drove, he saw smoke rolling from the church, the missionary compound, and the youth center.

People fled to neighbors’ houses and into the bush. Issa helped his family to the gendarmerie base, tossing his children over walls as they escaped the encroaching fire. Many members of his congregation met there. They shared a meal from one pot and slept at the base.

The next morning, unwilling to be deterred by their assailants, the church members held their regular Sunday service, lifting praises to Jesus in spite of their sadness.

“We were really full of pain,” Issa said. “[But] while we’re reading the Bible, we [felt] relieved.”

Issa went to check on his home and saw that it had been burned to the ground. He heard that the Muslims were coming back to inflict more damage, so he went back to the base, where he stayed with his congregation for a week.

Although Issa lost everything he owned, he asked his parishioners to forgive the people who had caused their pain. He said that although it was difficult, “we have forgiven them because of the love of Christ.” When they went into the community and shared their decision, people cried.

“We hope to rebuild so that we can continue to show the love of Christ.”

Issa and many people in his church used to be Muslims. Some of their Muslim neighbors are also their family members. They’ve chosen to continue to cultivate relationships with these people, and, in doing so, to show them the love of Christ.

One way Issa hopes to minister to people in his community is through the church building that will be provided by Samaritan’s Purse. He hopes to use the building to offer literacy training and teachings on income-generating activities. Through each of these projects, they will show the Jesus film.

“We hope to rebuild so that we can continue to show the love of Christ,” he said. “We will not stop. We will continue with everything we’ve got in our heart.”

The Lord’s Tools

EVANGELIC CHURCHES OF NIGER — ZINDER BRANCH

In 1961, the evangelical church was the first Christian church recognized by the government in Niger and the first church led entirely by nationals. The evangelical church in Zinder—sometimes referred to as the heart of radical Islam in Niger—has provided wells and cereal banks for years to develop relationships in the community. Historically, Christians were discriminated against in Niger’s second largest city, but in recent times, relationships have improved. That’s why mid-January was such a shock.

“The 16 and 17 of January were kind of a surprise to us,” said Harouna Labo, the former pastor of the church in Gouré and the president of the Union of Evangelical Churches. “Given the good relations we had, we never expected such violence to happen.”

Many people in Gouré are illiterate, so they only knew what they heard. After the Charlie Hebdo attacks, most Muslims in Niger assumed Christians were at fault and chose to burn their places of worship and their homes.

On the Sunday after the attacks, the church in Zinder met in a military camp for safety. That week, many people went to the church to clean up the debris. By the next Sunday, they were able to hold services in the burned remnants of their building.

Since then, the church has not been able to hold weddings or other celebrations. The congregation has managed to begin rebuilding, but they don’t have the funds or supplies to finish. Harouna said that he believed God would help them. His prayers were answered when God sent Samaritan’s Purse to restore the building that was lost.

“Our hope is that the Christian community continues to show that love of Christ to the community.”

The events of mid-January have created more meetings between Muslims and Christians, and more Muslims have been willing to listen as the Gospel is shared with them. Many have expressed regret for their actions.

“Our hope is that the Christian community continues to show that love of Christ to the community,” Harouna said.

Beauty from Ashes

SALAMA CHURCH OF NIGER

Two hundred people gather for church on Sundays at Salama, which means peace. On Wednesdays and Fridays, there are prayer meetings. On Saturdays, there’s women’s fellowship, youth meetings, and choir practice. The church’s doors are always open.

Sometimes, Muslims enter through those doors. They come for ceremonies for their relatives. Pastor Zackariah Jadi’s house sits just on the edge of the compound, so he’s always close by. On January 17, he was having a meeting with church elders when news of the burnings came to them. The elders told him to take his family and leave.

Muslims who live close to the church quickly entered the walls and started burning. They took what they wanted and broke everything they didn’t. Zackariah returned in the afternoon and “found everything in ashes.” His family hadn’t had time to take clothes, important documents, and other necessities and irreplaceable items. In three hours, their entire lives had burned.

But Zackariah didn’t let his circumstances stop him from proclaiming the Gospel. Although his church was left without chairs, electricity, and running water, they continued to meet.

God is using the event for good. “I want to see something good, something beautiful, to come out from the ashes.”

“The only thing to do is to forgive because that’s what the Lord asked us to do, though it’s not easy.”

Since that day, many church members have recommitted themselves to Christ. Zackariah has seen people change, and he said that he knows God is using the event for good.

“I want to see something good, something beautiful, to come out from the ashes,” he said.

A Fertilizer for Faith

BOUKOKI CHURCH

Yakaya Sherrif watched as a crowd of community members marched from the mosque to his church. They were people he knew—people who had shared in celebrations at the church. He said they were caught in a mob mentality, led by the leaders of the local mosque.

He watched helplessly as they burned the building, ripped off the roof, and dug electrical sockets from the walls. He watched as all the books in the library burned. He watched as Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes burned. And then he showed an act of total forgiveness.

Yakaya arranged a distribution of Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes to the children of the people who had burned the church. The distribution happened inside the shell and rubble of the burned building.

“Even after the churches were burned down… we continued to bring them the testimony of love,” he said.

The church continued to meet the week after the burnings. There was a surge in attendance, especially at the prayer meetings.

Boukoki Church was built by missionaries and was one of only five Christian churches in Niger in 1976. The materials and equipment used then aren’t available to Boukoki Church today, both because of cost and availability. In the seven months since the burning happened, the church has built a temporary shelter for meetings. But the main building won’t be rebuilt without help.

“I do believe that this persecution is somehow a fertilizer for the faith.”

The church leaders had faith that God would help them rebuild, so when Samaritan’s Purse announced that they would rebuild the church, the members were ecstatic but not surprised. This was God’s answer to their prayers.

“We believe that God will continue to grace us with His blessing,” Yakaya said.

When asked about prayers, Yakaya said his biggest request is for the youth and children in the church, that they will stand strong for Christ in the difficult environment around them. He said that he doesn’t want people to pray against persecution because he knows it’s part of God’s plan.