Men march along the truck carrying the coffins of people killed by the Fulani herdsmen, in Makurdi, Nigeria. REUTERS/Afolabi Sotunde

As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”

Romans 8:36 — English Standard Version

Yet for your sake we are killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.

Psalm 44:22 – English Standard Version

I realize each person has their own troubles, concerns, and situation they focus on and pray to God about. At least I hope and pray folks out there reading this now are praying for strength, guidance, help in their personal lives from God, from the Holy Spirit, which is found in God’s living word and through continual fervent prayer — but each of us also daily, continually needs to pray for the saints around this dark, violent, fallen and sinful world that are being slaughtered daily, nightly for the sake of the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and their faith in Him. Their unwavering faith in Jesus.

Pray my friends, pray dear ones more for the saints around this world who are being persecuted. Severely persecuted. All and only because of their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Yes, the devil and his minions, the legions in darkness and evil, lost and very active listen to the lies the devil whispers in their blinded hearts and they obey him. It’s all out of sin. Out of evil. Out of hatred for God, for Jesus, for the Holy Spirit, for the gospel, for the truth.

And each of us needs to pray fervently, humbly — because these persecutions are only a hair’s breadth away and nearing by the week — asking in faith for the Holy Spirit to give each true believer around this corrupted and collapsing world increased faith, increased strength, and to remain steadfast and a light unto the world to their last breath and heartbeat. For they will be perfected in heaven and with the Lord face to face for fighting the good fight to the end.

Pray, pray largely, pray big, pray sincerely, pray, pray, pray!

Turn to God’s word for comfort, guidance, strength, answers to your heart’s yearnings and concerns.

Turn to God’s word daily. Continually. Eat of it. Ingest, digest, and discern the word of God wisely. Ask the Holy Spirit directly, ask directly for increased spiritual wisdom and discernment in the reading of God’s word and you will be richly blessed by those fervent, faithful prayers for increased spiritual understanding and guidance. From the word. From the Holy Spirit. Not from any man, woman, or source of personal interpretations. From the Bible. From the Holy Spirit. With a good concordance, perhaps some longstanding highly approved and very sound commentaries, but first, foremost — the Holy Bible, prayer and faith, and the Holy Spirit. It’s all anyone really needs.

Heed the times. Know the signs. Equip yourself in these times in the whole armour of the word of God.

Ken Pullen

Monday, May 17th, 2021

ACP — A Crooked Path

1,500 Christians killed in Nigeria – report

16 May 2021

By Staff Writer

Reprinted from Christian Today (in the U.K.)

A staggering 1,470 Christians were killed by Islamist jihadists in Nigeria in the first four months of 2021, a non-profit in the country has said.

The claim came in a report by the Intersociety for Civil Liberty and Rule of Law, which said that another 2,200 were abducted in the same time period.

The largest proportion of killings occurred in Kaduna state, northern Nigeria, with 300 dead. Another 200 were killed in Benue state and 90 in Plateau state.

Over half of the killings were attributed to radicalized Fulani herdsmen, but the report refutes the common claim that the violence against Christians is simply down to a dispute over natural resources.

“[The Nigerian and state governments] have made several deliberate attempts to cover the egregious and grisly massacre of Christians in Nigeria by falsely labelling them as ‘herders-farmers clashes,’ or attacks by ‘bandits,’ or ‘killings that cut across Muslims and Christians,” the report says.

Some 800 abductions occurred in Kaduna, more than any other state. In Niger, there were another 300 abductions.

Among those abducted are farmers, travellers and people living in rural communities. It is feared that at least 220 of the abducted Christians have died or been killed by their captors.

In Katsina state, the report says that “under-age Christian girls are forcefully married to Muslim men and converted to Islam.”

The findings are based on reports from local and foreign media, the government, international human rights groups and eye witnesses.

“Nigeria has devastatingly remained the ‘most Christian killed country’ and ‘most dangerous place to be a Christian’ as well as Africa’s newest hotbed of Islamic Jihad and religious intolerance,” the report said.

Christians have been warning about the situation in Nigeria for some time.

The latest report from the US Commission on International and Religious Freedom warns that Nigeria is heading “relentlessly toward a Christian genocide.”

Illia Djadi, Open Doors’ senior analyst on freedom of religion in sub-Saharan Africa, recently said that Christians across Nigeria are living in fear of being attacked or abducted.

“People are no longer safe in Nigeria,” he said.

“If you travel you are risking your life.

“People all over Nigeria travel fearing they will be kidnapped or attacked. They go to bed fearing they will be kidnapped or attacked. They go to church fearing they will be kidnapped or attacked.”