As Pastor Barnabas walks through the camp where he lives, he points out the makeshift tents in every direction. There are hundreds of them with people huddled inside, seeking refuge from the sun. These are the women, men and children he pastors.
Thousands of people live here: an informal camp for internally displaced people (IDPs) in Benue State, northern Nigeria. “Each and every one you are seeing here, we are all Christians,” says Pastor Barnabas. “We are displaced because of violence.”
You can see the compassion register on his face as he talks, but there is something else, too: an authority that comes from a righteous anger that he and his church family have ended up in a camp like this.
It’s one of many similar IDP camps across sub-Saharan Africa, where 16.2 million Christians have been forcibly displaced by violence and conflict. It’s an astounding number. But most of the world doesn’t even know it’s happening.
“Millions of Christians are displaced, here in Nigeria,” says Pastor Barnabas. “Millions of Christians are displaced in Africa. The news doesn’t care about it, politicians don’t talk about it, governments don’t talk about it, global politics don’t talk about it. Nobody talks about it.”
Pastor Barnabas lives with his wife Joy and children in appalling conditions in the IDP camp
Every £19
could give emergency accommodation to a displaced believer.
“The IDP camp is a terrible place to live,” says Pastor Barnabas bluntly. “We don’t have good hygiene, we don’t have water, we don’t have toilets. Many people are dying. Only last week, as I am talking, we lost eight people in this IDP camp.”
People wouldn’t live in a camp like this if they had any other choice. They only live here because it’s too dangerous outside the camps. Because of the horrendous persecution that has displaced them.
“I was on the farm with my brother, Everen, and his wife, Friday,” he remembers. “We heard shooting. We saw people running in different directions. We didn’t know what was happening.”
The community was being attacked by Fulani militants, a group of Islamic extremists who are responsible for many of the violent attacks in north central and central Nigeria. Pastor Barnabas and his family tried to run, but Everen and Friday didn’t manage to escape. “My brother was shot by the militants, and my brother’s wife was also shot and then macheted and killed by the militants,” he says. It’s been almost five years, but the pain of loss is still raw.
Every £58
could provide a day’s training to two church leaders to equip them to disciple believers effectively.
This man tried to attack Pastor Barnabas with a machete, but accidentally dropped it. “He proceeded to remove his stick and hit me on my hand, and my hand was badly broken.”
Years later, he is still affected by these injuries every day. The attack caused long-term damage and, while he managed to gather enough money to pay for initial surgery, he can’t afford to have the metal in his hand removed. Without that second operation, he can’t use his hand properly. It’s a daily reminder of the horror he experienced at the hands of the militants.
Despite the horrendous ordeal, Pastor Barnabas is grateful to God that his life was saved. “If not for God’s intervention, if not for God’s love, I wouldn’t be where I am today,” he says.
https://www.opendoorsuk.org/news/latest-news/arise-africa-barnabas/
Thousands of people live here: an informal camp for internally displaced people (IDPs) in Benue State, northern Nigeria. “Each and every one you are seeing here, we are all Christians,” says Pastor Barnabas. “We are displaced because of violence.”
You can see the compassion register on his face as he talks, but there is something else, too: an authority that comes from a righteous anger that he and his church family have ended up in a camp like this.
It’s one of many similar IDP camps across sub-Saharan Africa, where 16.2 million Christians have been forcibly displaced by violence and conflict. It’s an astounding number. But most of the world doesn’t even know it’s happening.
“Millions of Christians are displaced, here in Nigeria,” says Pastor Barnabas. “Millions of Christians are displaced in Africa. The news doesn’t care about it, politicians don’t talk about it, governments don’t talk about it, global politics don’t talk about it. Nobody talks about it.”
“A terrible place to live”
Pastor Barnabas gets to his tent, and stoops down to show it. Even though he, his wife Joy and their family have lived in the camp for almost five years, their home is made of whatever materials were available – mostly palm leaves and mosquito nets. “It’s smaller than a double mattress,” Pastor Barnabas says. It’s far too small for a large family of eight.Every £19
could give emergency accommodation to a displaced believer.
“The IDP camp is a terrible place to live,” says Pastor Barnabas bluntly. “We don’t have good hygiene, we don’t have water, we don’t have toilets. Many people are dying. Only last week, as I am talking, we lost eight people in this IDP camp.”
People wouldn’t live in a camp like this if they had any other choice. They only live here because it’s too dangerous outside the camps. Because of the horrendous persecution that has displaced them.
An appalling attack
Last year, and for many years, more Christians were killed for their faith in Nigeria than the rest of the world combined. The same violent persecution is quickly spreading across other parts of sub-Saharan Africa, as Islamic extremist ideology spreads: as well as these murders, huge numbers of believers are injured, abducted, sexually assaulted or forced to flee from their homes. Pastor Barnabas can easily empathise with the people in the camp who have faced this violence. He’s been through exactly the same experience himself.“I was on the farm with my brother, Everen, and his wife, Friday,” he remembers. “We heard shooting. We saw people running in different directions. We didn’t know what was happening.”
The community was being attacked by Fulani militants, a group of Islamic extremists who are responsible for many of the violent attacks in north central and central Nigeria. Pastor Barnabas and his family tried to run, but Everen and Friday didn’t manage to escape. “My brother was shot by the militants, and my brother’s wife was also shot and then macheted and killed by the militants,” he says. It’s been almost five years, but the pain of loss is still raw.
Lasting injuries
The attack kept going. Pastor Barnabas couldn’t stop to help his brother and sister-in-law, or even to retrieve their bodies. “I kept running,” he remembers. “Then the militants divided themselves and one of them followed me.”Every £58
could provide a day’s training to two church leaders to equip them to disciple believers effectively.
This man tried to attack Pastor Barnabas with a machete, but accidentally dropped it. “He proceeded to remove his stick and hit me on my hand, and my hand was badly broken.”
Years later, he is still affected by these injuries every day. The attack caused long-term damage and, while he managed to gather enough money to pay for initial surgery, he can’t afford to have the metal in his hand removed. Without that second operation, he can’t use his hand properly. It’s a daily reminder of the horror he experienced at the hands of the militants.
Despite the horrendous ordeal, Pastor Barnabas is grateful to God that his life was saved. “If not for God’s intervention, if not for God’s love, I wouldn’t be where I am today,” he says.
https://www.opendoorsuk.org/news/latest-news/arise-africa-barnabas/
