Congressman August Pfluger and Pastor Nick Carraway say Islamic extremism has emerged as the greatest threat to Christians in many parts of the world.
“A tragedy has been unfolding for years in Asia and Africa in particular,” said Rep. Pfluger, R-San Angelo, who represents the Permian Basin in the 11th Congressional District. “Christians are being imprisoned, tortured and martyred for their faith in Christ.
“We absolutely need more attention on the targeting of Christians, especially in Africa where Islamic extremism is expanding rapidly and terror groups like Boko Haram are undertaking violent acts of persecution against Christian communities in Nigeria.”
Unfortunately, Pfluger said, even across Western society Christians are seeing an open season on their faith as intolerance for Christians and Christian values grows.
“For example, look at how Olympics organizers made a conscious choice to mock Christianity with that disgraceful display of the Last Supper at the opening ceremony of the Olympics,” he said. “I can’t say I am surprised that western media pays scant attention to Christian persecution worldwide with what I see as a growing anti-Christian bias across many facets of society.”
Pastor Carraway, pastor of Belmont Baptist Church, said the widely respected ministry Open Doors listed Yemen, Libya, Pakistan, Somalia and Iran as being some of the worst countries where Christians are persecuted by Muslims.
“Geographically, culturally and ethnically, these countries are distinct, yet they share an ugly trait in common,” said Carraway, a former missionary in Eastern Europe. “The Christians within their borders often pay for their belief in Christ with their lives.
“Unsurprisingly, an area of the world where Christians daily face persecution is Afghanistan under the control of the Taliban. After the rapid withdrawal of American forces from this country in August 2021, the small but growing Afghan church was simultaneously scattered and pushed underground.
“Many Afghan Christians, fearing for their lives, fled across the border to try and build new lives in other countries, often in abject poverty. Other believers stayed in Afghanistan where they continue to gather in secret, mindful that discovery would have brutal consequences.”
Carraway said there are widespread reports of arrests, kidnappings, beatings, torture and death for the Christians of Afghanistan who continue to keep the faith while under unimaginable pressure.
“Another country where Christians suffer continually at the hands of Islamic militants is Nigeria,” he said. “In fact more Christians are killed annually in Nigeria than anywhere else in the world.
“In 2023 alone it is estimated that between 7,000 and 8,000 Christians were martyred in Nigeria. Of course this shocking number only records those Christians who were actually killed.
“It does not count the tens of thousands of Nigerian Christians who were made homeless when their villages were burned to the ground or those who survived attacks, often with terrible physical and psychological scars.”
Added to this list of suffering, Carraway said, must also be the accounts of a vast number of Christian girls who have been kidnapped, sexually assaulted and often forced to convert to Islam.
“Given the savagery of the Islamic persecution of Christians in Nigeria, it is no wonder that the label ‘genocide’ is being used to describe a reality on the ground that the world seems intent upon ignoring,” he said. “A third country where Christians are enduring persecution from Muslims is Mozambique.
“The north of this little-known country has been embroiled in an Islamic insurgency since 2017. With the collapse of governmental control in this region Christians have been exposed to horrendous acts of violence from Islamist insurgents.
“There are widespread accounts of vicious attacks on Christian villages with Christian men being killed and often beheaded while Christian women and girls are exposed to mass acts of sexual violence.”
Carraway said more than 3,ooo Christians have been murdered in Mozambique since 2017 and more than one million people have been made homeless by the continuing Islamic insurgency there.
“Christians in the West need to be aware of the plight of other believers globally,” he said. “In addition to instilling a sense of respect for the toughness and courage of Christians who are steadfast in suffering, reading these persecution accounts helps Western Christians know how to pray.
“Through prayer Christians as far away as the Permian Basin can join together with their persecuted family and ask that God would strengthen and encourage them. And following the words and example of Christ our Lord, Christians can join together to defy every natural impulse and pray for those who persecute them.”
