NAIROBI, Kenya (RNS)—African Christian leaders attending a conference with faith-based health organizations in late November called for countries on the continent to do more to replace U.S. Agency for International Development funds cut by the Trump administration.

 “We don’t have to wait until the taps are finally locked in Europe and America,” said Catholic Bishop Matthew Kukah of the Diocese of Sokoto, in Nigeria.

Kukah spoke at the Nov. 27 closing press conference for the gathering. While African leaders appreciate foreign support, “it shouldn’t be an excuse for us not doing the things we need to do in Africa,” the bishop said.

“We need to begin to raise resources in our own countries to fill up the gap,” warned Francis Mkandawire, general secretary of the Evangelical Association of Malawi, who condemned the idea of “business as usual.”

“There’s fatigue out there, and it’s affecting us already,” Mkandawire said.

Devote 15 percent of budgets to health sector

The conference, “One Faith, One Voice: A Shared Commitment to Health and Wholeness in Africa,” was attended by some 50 Catholic and Protestant representatives from 10 African countries, including women and youth leaders and the heads of Christian health associations.

The leaders urged their governments to make good on the 2001 Abuja Declaration, an agreement in which the 55 African Union countries made it a goal to allocate 15 percent of their budgets to the health sector. A 2023 Human Rights Watch report showed only two of the signers were meeting the goal in 2021.

The conference, called to discuss the health of the region amid a crisis of shrinking resources and a growing need, was organized by the Africa Christian Health Associations Platform, the All Africa Conference of Churches and Christian Connections for International Health.

For years, faith-based health networks have helped to coordinate the work of thousands of local health institutions, becoming trusted partners in providing relief and treatment for deadly diseases such as malaria, tuberculosis and HIV.

Those organizations had long received funding from the U.S. government, delivered through grants and cooperative agreements from USAID and the 22-year-old President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, known as PEPFAR.

Cuts seriously affect health workers

But in January, President Donald Trump ordered a freeze on funding, pending a review and realignment of foreign assistance with his America First policy. The European Union also announced reductions in contributions to foreign assistance.

The abrupt stoppage of the funding has had a grave impact on the organizations’ work, the participants said.

“We have been impacted by the cuts, and the impact includes on our health workers, on service delivery for HIV, for tuberculosis, for malaria,” Nkatha Njeru, CEO of the Africa Christian Health Associations Platform, told reporters.

“We have patients who have been receiving care that now have to seek care in places where the health workers are no longer available in the numbers they were,” Njeru said.

His organization brings together 40 national associations in 32 sub-Saharan African countries and manages 10,000 health care facilities. Delivering 70 percent of services in some countries, the organization reaches more than half a billion people.

“We continue to feel the impact on community programming as well, where services that were available to people in the community are no longer available. … We also have impact on supply chain in many areas as well,” she said.

Without USAID support, said the participants at the conference, lives are being lost to HIV, malaria and tuberculosis, as health facilities run short of supplies and health workers go unpaid.

Community-led outreach cut

Karen Sichinga, CEO of the Churches Health Association of Zambia, said U.S. funding for essential AIDS drugs delivered by the organization is continuing, and the organization had been buying and distributing antiretroviral drugs to 700 hospitals in parts of the country.

But financial support for community-led outreach, crucial in mobilizing and ensuring treatment adherence, was ended, Sichinga said.

“When you cut community-led activities, you can’t expect to achieve much, because you need to mobilize communities toward treatment,” she said.

“We have treatment adherents, particularly the adolescents, who are becoming tired. Some of them are actually saying, ‘Why me?’ And these would be the adolescents who were born with HIV infection. And they’re saying, ‘It’s not my fault.’”

Njeru said the faith leaders are aware that teams from the U.S. State Department have been negotiating bilateral health arrangements with many of the African countries, and the faith sector has been asked to join those conversations.

Engage the faith sector

“Our plea to the State Department of the U.S. government is that they continue to engage the faith sector substantially, so that we can help our specific governments to continue providing health care to our citizens,” she said.

The conversations are at various stages in different countries, according to Njeru.

“Our plea is being heard in some countries, but in other countries, we still need to continue to talk to both our governments and the State Department to understand why the faith sector needs to be engaged substantially,” she said.

The faith leaders said they are not sitting idle. In a statement released at the end of the meeting, they committed to deepening collaboration with national governments, the private sector and international partners.

The clerics called for more government investment in health, which they called a moral and spiritual priority. They also urged African governments to crack down on corruption, citing reports of staggering amounts of funds being sent by politicians and businessmen to European banks and investments.

Kukah challenged the political leaders in Africa to join the search for local funding, saying the faith-based organizations and institutions need their help.

“The question is: What are we doing in Africa?” said Kukah. “But there needs to be greater collaboration, because the church has only a moral voice that it can add.”

Nigeria’s president responded to a surge in violence and abductions by declaring a nationwide security emergency, ordering the massive recruitment and deployment of law enforcement officers and armed forces personnel.

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu issued the declaration Nov. 26, the same day the Anglican Communion of Nigeria confirmed Edwin Achi—a priest who was kidnapped by Fulani assailants Oct. 28—died in captivity.

Achi was abducted along with his wife and daughter from the village of Nissi in Kaduna State. Kidnappers demanded 600 million naira—more than $400,000—in ransom.

“We pray for the release of his wife and daughter still in the hands of kidnappers,” Anglican leaders said in a public statement.

Recruiting police and military personnel

As part of his declaration of a national security emergency, Tinubu ordered the police to recruit 20,000 officers, in addition to 30,000 he had authorized earlier, and to use National Youth Service Corps camps as training depots.

He also reiterated a previous order withdrawing officers from guarding VIPs and giving them “crash training” to prepare them for deployment to “security-challenged areas.”

Additionally, Tinubu authorized the Department of State Security to recruit and deploy specially trained forest guards to “flush out the terrorists and bandits” hiding in dense vegetation.

“My fellow Nigerians, this is a national emergency, and we are responding by deploying more boots on the ground, especially in security-challenged areas,” Tinubu stated. “The times require all hands on deck. As Nigerians, we should all get involved in securing our nation.”

Dramatic reversal for administration

The Nigerian president’s declaration of a “national emergency” represents a dramatic reversal for an administration that previously characterized violence as localized in a few isolated regions within the country, said Gideon Para-Mallam, an evangelical pastor and peace advocate in Nigeria.

While he welcomed the president’s acknowledgement of a national emergency, Para-Mallam insisted Tinubu should have issued the declaration on May 29, 2023, the day he was sworn into office.

For years, the federal government in Nigeria has followed a “policy of denial when it comes to the persecution and the killings of Christians in Nigeria,” Para-Mallam said.

He noted the pastor and his wife of Cherubim and Seraphim Church in Ebija, a town in the Yagaba West local government area of Nigeria’s Kogi State, were kidnapped along with several other worshippers during a church service on Nov. 30.

Even with the presidential declaration of a national emergency, “the situation remains dicey and unpredictable,” Para-Mallam said.

‘Challenging moment’ for Nigeria

In his public declaration, Tinubu commended the security agencies who collaborated to secure the release of 24 kidnapped schoolgirls in Kebbi and 38 members of the Christ Apostolic Church in Kwara State.

The church members were abducted Nov. 18 during a thanksgiving service in Eruku. The worshippers were kept in an undisclosed hotel for several days undergoing medical examinations after their release.

“We will continue to sustain the efforts to rescue the remaining students of Catholic School in Niger State and other Nigerians still being held hostage,” he pledged.

Tinubu also commended armed forces personnel, acknowledging it is “a challenging moment for our nation and for the military institution itself.”

“I charge you to remain resolute, to restore peace across all theaters of operation, and to uphold the highest standards of discipline and integrity,” Tinubu stated. “There must be no compromise, no collusion and no negligence.”

The president pledged support both for the nation’s armed forces and for “state governments which have set up security outfits to safeguard their people from the terrorists bent on disrupting our national peace.”

He urged Nigeria’s National Assembly to review laws to “allow states that require state police to establish them.”

Instructions for schools and places of worship

Joseph John Hayab, a Baptist pastor and chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria in the northern states and Federal Capital territory, called the presidential declaration “a welcome development and a move in the right direction.”

Recruiting additional law enforcement and military personnel is appropriate—provided they are “well-trained, better equipped and motivated to do their work,” Hayab said.

In his declaration, Tinubu said: “States should rethink establishing boarding schools in remote areas without adequate security. Mosques and churches should constantly seek police and other security protection when they gather for prayers, especially in vulnerable areas.”

Churches are “helping to provide schools in many rural communities,” Hayab noted.

“It is not good for government to discourage the church from establishing schools in rural areas,” he said. “Instead, as the church provides schools, government should ensure those schools and the children enjoy the protection of the government.”

Pointing to the volatile Middle Belt of Nigeria and conflict between Fulani Muslim herdsmen and Christian farmers, Tinubu urged herders to “end open grazing and surrender illegal weapons.”

Regarding violence in that region, Para-Mallam said: “Today, the evil triumvirate of Boko Haram, bandits and armed Fulani herdsmen are killing Nigerians with reckless abandon. The armed Fulani herdsmen are engaging in what one might identify now as nomadic jihadism.”

Need to ‘win citizens’ trust’

The greatest challenge the federal government faces in combating violence in Nigeria is gaining the trust of the general population, Hayab said.

“Any security emergency that does not win citizens’ trust will not be effective,” he said. “The most important war to win first is the trust from citizens.”

Wissam al-Saliby, president of the 21Wilberforce human rights organization, reported several Christian sources in Nigeria independently shared a similar message.

Some Nigerians fear the military has been infiltrated by terrorist groups, he noted. Others wonder if politicians will use the recruiting of military personnel and law enforcement officers to reward “their people.”

Suggestions they offered included ensuring transparency in the screening of applicants and creating state police who are answerable to state governors rather than to centralized federal authority.

Ultimately, al-Saliby said, a security response never is “the solution” in itself. Rather, he said, “it needs to be part of a bigger effort that includes economic reforms and solutions, and community peacebuilding and reconciliation efforts.”

WASHINGTON (BP)—Nicaragua, Cuba and Venezuela form a Latin American “authoritarian triad” where leaders exert religious persecution to maintain governmental control, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom reported Nov. 18.

“In line with the authoritarian governance models of the three regimes, religious entities face persecution for any activity deemed to undermine state power and influence,” the commission wrote in an update on persecution there.

“In all three countries, the ruling party fully controls government functions and violates human rights to subdue opposition.”

Nicaragua and Cuba are the leading aggressors in the region, the commission report said, citing among many transgressions Nicaragua’s July arrest of evangelical Pastor Rudy Palacios Vargas and seven of his friends and family, one of whom died of unknown causes while in custody; and both nations’ weaponization of citizenship in stripping certain religious leaders of such status.

Citizenship revoked

Nicaragua has stripped at least 450 perceived opponents of citizenship since early 2023, the commission said. That includes people affiliated with the evangelical Mountain Gateway ministry based in Texas, several Catholic laypeople and others.

Cuba was inspired by Nicaragua, the commission report said, in passing the 2024 Citizenship Law that allows Cuba to revoke the citizenship of those who engage in acts “contrary to the political, economic, or social interest” of the nation.

In Venezuela, the commission reported governmental threats to religious leaders not deemed supportive of President Nicolas Maduro, whose latest election the international community widely considers fraudulent.

In January, hooded Venezuelan state security members captured Carlos José Correa Barros, a Christian journalist and director of the human rights group Espacio Público, and held him in a hidden location for a week before releasing him after a nine-day confinement, the commission update said.

The commission also noted Maduro’s launch of a refurbishment program called “My Well Equipped Church.” The report described it as “an aggressive strategy to secure evangelical support,” complete with cash stipends to 13,000 pastors.

The move copied Cuba’s mode of cultivating relationships with religious leaders willing to support the government, the commission report noted.

Surveillance, detention and control of messages

Broadly, the three nations persistently harass religious communities through surveillance, threats of imprisonment, arbitrary detentions and arrests, control of religious messages including sermons and public attacks.

The nations enact laws that unjustly restrict the activities and legal status of religious groups; practice favoritism in attempts to control messaging and deny religious freedom to prisoners.

The U.S. State Department in 2022 designated Cuba and Nicaragua Countries of Particular Concern for “engaging in or tolerating systematic, ongoing and egregious violations of religious freedom” under the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998.

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom recommended U.S. governmental responses in its 2025 Annual Report, including sanctions of those culpable in violations.

The 2025 annual report does not address Venezuela, but violations there and in Nicaragua are so widespread many consider them crimes against humanity, the commission said in its update.

Baptists in Africa called for “all parties concerned” about religious freedom and human rights in Nigeria to “embrace peace for the good of all.”

Meanwhile, some American evangelicals—including the interim president of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission—endorsed a letter by a conservative group commending President Donald Trump for “placing all available Presidential action on the table to ensure that action is taken soon.”

In late October, Trump declared Nigeria a Country of Particular Concern—a designation reserved for nations that engage in or tolerate systemic, ongoing and egregious violations of religious freedom.

On social media, Trump also indicated he instructed the Department of War to prepare for possible military intervention, going into Nigeria with “guns-a-blazing.”

Multiple human rights and global religious freedom organizations long had called for Nigeria to be designated as a CPC. However, some religious leaders registered serious concern about Trump’s threat of military action.

‘Embrace peace for the good of all’

On Nov. 7, the All Africa Baptist Fellowship—a transnational regional group affiliated with the Baptist World Alliance—released a public statement expressing “great concern about the ongoing global uproar regarding the largest black nation on earth, Nigeria.”

“To us in Africa and the Baptist family, the peace, stability, and prosperity of Nigeria is a blessing to the entire continent,” the AABF statement said. “We therefore appeal to all the parties concerned to embrace peace for the good of all.”

The fellowship—a network of 77 Baptist unions, conventions and associations representing 20 million Christians in 38 countries—expressed “great concern” about alleged violations of religious freedom and human rights in Nigeria.

The AABF called on “all the stakeholders to chart the paths that put a stop to the menace of religious crisis.”

Nigeria’s government “has the responsibility of securing the lives and properties of people of all faiths, including Christians,” the fellowship stated.

Actions must be ‘agreed upon and not imposed’

At the same time, without explicitly citing Trump’s threat of military action, the AABF stated: “The United States and Nigeria are two sovereign and independent nations.”

Therefore, the fellowship stated its belief that “any help offered to the latter be such that is mutually agreed upon and not imposed.”

The fellowship assured Nigerian Christians, particularly those who have been displaced, lost family members or suffered other severe hardship that “we stand with you in prayer.”

“To the perpetrators of this injustice, please, lay down your weapons and embrace peace,” the AABF statement urged. “Nigeria needs true peace. Africa needs stability. We are calling upon the name of Jesus Christ the giver of peace.”

Trump commended for ‘strong and decisive action’

One week after the AABF issued its statement, the CPAC Foundation and its First Freedom Movement sent a letter to the White House, thanking Trump for his “strong and decisive action” in designating Nigeria as a CPC.

“We commend your recognition of the major threat and devastation facing Christians in Nigeria from radical Islamists and a government that has taken little action to protect them, as well as your clear-eyed statements placing all available Presidential actions on the table to ensure that action is taken soon,” the letter states.

“You saw the evidence, you listened to the cries of the persecuted, and you acted.”

Calling on Nigeria to demonstrate improvement

Citing the “targeting of Christians in horrifying numbers,” the letter asserts Nigeria should remain on the U.S. Department of State’s CPC list until it demonstrates improvement in four areas:

• Increased security for Christian populations, particularly in Nigeria’s Middle Belt, “with the deployment of additional military and law enforcement units trained to be proactive in fighting militants.”
• “Ending impunity for those responsible for attacks against Christians, and ensuring that attackers are fully and quickly prosecuted.”
• “Facilitating the safe return of internally displaced persons to their homelands, and assisting in the rebuilding and security of these communities.”
• “Ceasing enforcement and initiating the repeal of the country’s Sharia blasphemy laws, releasing individuals imprisoned or detained for blasphemy-related offenses, and prosecuting mob attacks.”

While the letter focuses primarily on Nigeria, it also commends Trump for taking a “strong stance to defend all persecuted Christians against grave atrocities and serious violations of their God-given right to religious freedom.”

“While the U.S. should defend religious freedom for all people, we agree that the threat to Christians worldwide is particularly severe, that Christians are the most persecuted religious group on the planet, and that the scourge of the persecution of Christians has been ignored by too many for too long,” the letter states.

Endorsed by conservative Christian leaders

The letter originated with the CPAC Foundation—the organization behind the annual Conservative Political Action Conference. It carried the signatures of Matt Schlapp, chair of CPAC, and Mercedes Schlapp, CPAC senior fellow.

More than two dozen others endorsed the letter. They included Gary Hollingsworth, interim president of the ERLC; Samuel Rodriguez, president and CEO of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference; Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council; and Troy Miller, president and CEO of the National Religious Broadcasters.

While the Nigerian government acknowledges violence within the nation’s borders, officials assert it is not based on religion, and they attribute it to extremist groups.

A high-ranking Nigerian official told the Baptist Standard the presence of violence in his country is perpetrated by “some extremists.” He strongly rejected the assertion Christians are targeted.

Mohammed Idris Malagi, minister of information and national orientation for Nigeria, insisted: “It is sad that this has been characterized as a religious conflict. We don’t believe that it is. It never has been a religious conflict. It actually is an extremist conflict.”

Russian courts have banned at least 10 unregistered Baptist congregations from meeting without state permission, a Norway-based human rights organization reported.

Six of the 10 lawsuits against Council of Churches Baptist religious communities have been filed in the Krasnodar Region of Southern Russia, Forum 18 news service reported in early November.

The Council of Churches Baptist formed six decades ago in opposition to Soviet religious restrictions. Unregistered congregations affiliated with the council often meet in private homes—or houses of prayer—on private land.

The council asserts the Russian Constitution, the 1997 Religion Law and international human rights laws all provide them the right to meet without government involvement and state registration.

In practice, however, prosecutors and judges in Russia have broad discretion in how they enforce laws regarding religious activities.

Russia’s Religion Law requires all unregistered religious associations to notify authorities of their existence and activities.

A religious community’s “failure to submit notification” of its activities “cannot in itself be grounds for prohibiting the activities of such a group,” a December 2016 Supreme Court resolution stated.

However, the same resolution allows the government to restrict “activities prohibited by law, or in violation of the Constitution of the Russian Federation” or “other repeated or gross violations of the law.”

Alleged ‘illegal missionary activity’

As a result, activities of unregistered religious communities often are prosecuted under Russia’s Administrative Code. Administration prosecutions often are pursued for alleged “unlawful missionary activity.”

Among other examples Forum 18 reported, a September 30 court ruling in Armavir City upheld a prosecutor’s request that activities of the local Council of Churches Baptist congregation be prohibited.

The court ruling stated local Federal Security Service operatives observed “the systemic conduct of missionary religious events” by the congregation.

Pastor Vladimir Popov insisted his congregation has “not committed gross violations of the norms of current legislation that entails a ban on carrying out activities.” He further asserted the prosecutor “is not permitted to interfere in the activities of a religious association.”

In a July report on “Russia’s Persecution of Religious Groups and FoRB Actors,” the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom cited the Russian government’s closing of a different Baptist house of prayer for alleged “illegal missionary activity.”

Last year, Russian courts considered 431 cases of religion law violations—many related to alleged “illegal missionary activities”—resulting in fines totaling more than 4.7 million rubles (more than $58,000), the report said.

Since 2017, the commission has recommended Russia be named a Country of Particular Concern for engaging in systematic, ongoing and egregious religious freedom violations. The U.S. Department of State designated Russia as a CPC in 2021, 2022 and 2023.

In its latest annual report, the commission urged the State Department not only to continue to designate Russia as a CPC, but also impose targeted sanctions on Russian government agencies and officials responsible for religious freedom violations.

The Baptist World Alliance announced the appointment of Valérie Duval-Poujol from France as the first BWA ambassador for standing against gender-based violence.

Approved unanimously by the BWA trustee committee, the role includes a five-year term of service and membership within the BWA Leadership Council.

“The BWA celebrates Valérie and her historic appointment to this position which demonstrates our commitment as a global Baptist family to respond to this worldwide issue,” said Elijah Brown, BWA general secretary and CEO.

“I am grateful for Dr. Duval-Poujol’s years of faithful engagement and advocacy, and I look forward to how God will continue to work through her in this new role.”

BWA ambassadors serve as volunteer leaders who provide pastoral presence, specialized expertise and global representation in advancing strategic ministry priorities.

Working under the guidance of the BWA general secretary and alongside a designated staff liaison, ambassadors serve as catalysts for strengthening relationships, equipping churches and elevating the global witness of the Baptist family.

Advocate for gender justice

Duval-Poujol, a theologian and Bible translator, brings years of experience and passion to this role. She has long been an advocate for gender justice and launched the gender-based violence advocacy initiative known as the Red Chair Project.

Typically implemented annually during the United Nation’s 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence, the Red Chair Project involves reserving an empty red chair in a public place alongside information about domestic abuse and violence against women. The empty chair symbolizes the many women who have been killed through acts of gender-based violence.

The French government awarded her the National Order of Merit in 2023.

 “I thank BWA leadership for showing their commitment to stand against the terrible plague of gender-based violence through this appointment,” Duval-Poujol said.

“Together, we will fight against this as a witness to God’s love and justice for this broken world. I ask the BWA family to pray for this position and to support it in all ways possible.”

Involved with BWA Women

Duval-Poujol has been involved in various BWA Women advocacy efforts, including serving as a delegate to the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women.

She also was co-leader of numerous BWA Women workshops related to domestic abuse, presented research as a panelist at the 2025 Baptist Women’s Summit, and helped launch the Stand Against Domestic Violence resource hub.

“It has been a profound honor to work alongside Dr. Duval-Poujol to advance our shared commitment to raise awareness, offer support and provide resources that stand against the scourge of gender-based violence,” said Merritt Johnston, BWA Women executive director.

“Her passion, wisdom and collaborative spirit make her an instrumental voice in the world to address this critical issue. I look forward to continuing this important advocacy together as she steps into this new role with the potential for even greater global impact for the glory of God and the good of women across the globe.”

Committed to BWA global ministry

Drawing from her personal passion for the Bible and her educational background that includes doctorates in history of religions and theology, Duval-Poujol is the author of several books and serves on various theological faculties.

In her work as a Bible translator, she was also the chief editor for the revision of the French Bible Nouvelle Français courant.

Within BWA’s global ministry, she has been a presenter at numerous BWA and European Baptist Federation events and served as vice chair of the Commission on Baptist Doctrine and Christian Unity from 2020 to 2025.

She also represented the BWA as a fraternal delegate at the Synod on Family in 2013 and the Synod on Synodality in 2023 and 2024.

Duval-Poujol also serves in her local church alongside her husband who is a French Baptist minister.

Her commissioning will take place in March 2026 when the BWA Leadership Council convenes in Falls Church, Va., with global leaders in attendance from all six of the BWA’s regional fellowships, commissions and standing networks.

After Hurricane Melissa ravaged Jamaica, Texans on Mission deployed an initial task force to support local partners on the ground as they look to find their way through the destruction to restore and rebuild.

They discovered evidence of the powerful storm across the island—damaged roofs and homes, flooded roads and piles in the streets containing families’ belongings and other debris.

As part of the Texans on Mission Emergency Response Team, volunteers Melanie and Robert Howington began working closely with churches in Jamaica.

Their team visited three churches near Montego Bay to meet with pastors, provide immediate aid to families and serve as a listening ear to those in need.

“Every Jamaican we’ve met has been very kind and gracious to us,” he said.

The initial response team was “not seeing very many relief groups,” he added.

Assembled and distributed aid kits

The Texans on Mission team scoured local stores to create 250 aid kits in canvas bags, full of food and hygiene necessities. But putting the kits together was no easy feat, as store shelves were quickly becoming bare.

Volunteers distributed the kits to churches to disperse among those in their community.

While visiting these churches to drop off kits, the Texans on Mission team had the chance to spend time with Jamaicans facing life after the storm.

Melanie Howington visited with Nadine and Madine, sisters living in the Montego Bay area.

The women not only are trying to piece together life following Hurricane Melissa, but also honor their grandmother who recently died.

While her death was not related to the hurricane, its timing makes it hard to grapple with all the tragedy at once, she noted.

“Nadine was in the church we were visiting to ask the pastor to please let her have her grandmother’s funeral there. It was her church home.” Melanie said. “But the pastor told her it’s just too damaged.”

The church has water damage, broken windows and roof damage, making it unsafe to host a service.

“I reminded Nadine: ‘You are the church. You lost a building, you didn’t lose the church. So, wherever you go, have your church to have your service,’” Melanie Howington said.

“She had such a sweet spirit, but was facing a lot of tragedy all at once.”

The Texans on Mission team was able to distribute aid kits to these two women and offer a glimpse of hope in a challenging time.

Hearing stories of people who needed to talk

Keisha, a proud mother and grandmother, was sitting quietly in a damaged church. Melanie Howington saw her and knew she needed someone to hear her story.

When Hurricane Melissa rushed into Jamaica, Keisha was sitting outside. She knew the storm was coming, but was enjoying the beautiful breeze during a season that’s typically hot and humid. She was home with her children and grandchildren.

 “But then she said it turned into a not-so-beautiful breeze,” Melanie Howington said. “The windows started shaking, things started flying around. She was trying to hold her things down so she wouldn’t lose them—putting her body weight on them.”

Her 2-year-old grandson was outside with her when a window flew past them, and then a tree flew by and struck him in the back. While the hit could’ve been life-threatening, a doctor examined her grandson and found him healthy.

Even so, Keisha mourned the loss of her home.

“It took years to get it, and in one minute, it’s gone,” she said.

Entire homes and livelihoods in the Montego Bay area washed away with nothing but silt and receding waters left behind. Not only will it take time to rebuild, but it will take time to heal.

The volunteer team is continuing to assess needs in the storm’s aftermath and Texans on Mission continues to develop response strategies in the Caribbean island nation.

“Based on the few people I’ve been able to talk to, they’re all just still in crisis mode. They’re still reeling from it [the storm],” Melanie Howington said.

“The prayer need for them is just that they’d feel God’s presence, know God is there and that they’re not alone. God is walking through this with them.”

KINGSTON, Jamaica—In the wake of Hurricane Melissa’s damage across Jamaica and the wider Caribbean, Texans on Mission has deployed an initial task force to support local partners on the ground.

The four-person team is working primarily with the Jamaica Baptist Union to assess immediate needs, develop recovery plans and implement actionable strategies for long-term community resilience.

More than planning though, they are responding to local needs by providing food and hygiene kits sourced on the island nation.

Texans on Mission volunteer and chaplaincy coordinator Melanie Howington said the team has been building relationships with on-the-ground partners and expected to move toward the most-affected areas near Montego Bay.

Assembling care kits for families

Volunteers also are responding to requests from the Jamaica Baptist Union to provide immediate aid to families.

“Their big need is to get some kind of a kit to some of their people in areas where the churches have had bad damage or were destroyed,” she said.

“And so we spent yesterday and today going to multiple stores. We had to divide up and buy canvas bags because you can’t have plastic here, then piece out kits for 250 people.”

The team worked with Jamaica Baptist Union members to assemble the bags with food staples like flour and rice, plus hygiene items needed by affected families.

The group’s efforts were slowed by some food and hygiene item shortages that forced them to source from several locations over two days, Howington said.

Even so, she added: “God does provide. God is good.”

The team also is networking with other aid providers. They’ve attended coordinated meetings with other governmental and NGO disaster response organizations for daily briefings.

They also met with a medical relief group, MedGlobal, and provided them with water purifiers destined for use at a local hospital.

David Azar and his young family awoke at 2:30 a.m. on Oct. 12 when they realized they were in danger.

“Israeli settlers attacked. They burned our car,” Azar, a deacon at Ramallah Church in the occupied West Bank, told the Baptist Standard on a WhatsApp call. “It was completely destroyed.”

Although their house was not damaged in the assault, Azar and his wife Hiba, along with their 3-year-old daughter Maribelle, left their home in the village of Taybeh.

“We can’t go back,” Azar said. “It’s not safe for our daughter.”

Pastor Munir Kakish of Ramallah Church, president of the Council of Local Evangelical Churches in the Holy Land, invited Azar and his family to move into a room at the church building until they are able to find permanent lodging.

Azar is uncertain what the future holds, but he remains sure of one thing.

“We trust in God,” he said.

‘Daily dependence’ on God

Trust and dependence upon God characterizes Palestinian Christians, said Jay Abernathy, pastor of First Baptist Church in Woodville.

“They practice daily dependence on the leadership of the Holy Spirit, the guidance of Scripture and the community of believers,” he said.

Abernathy, who has developed a close relationship with Palestinian Christians in the Middle East over the past two decades, returned early last month from a weeklong trip to Jordan, Israel and the West Bank.

Abernathy’s recent trip to the West Bank occurred prior to the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Gaza.

“The ashes of Gaza figuratively fell on every conversation,” he said.

Even so, the Palestinian Christians he encountered held no animosity toward Israel.

“I never met a believer over there who harbored any ill will toward Israel,” Abernathy said. “They pray that Israel will do well.”

‘God wants you’

While Azar’s trust in God and desire to follow his leadership are typical among Palestinian Christians, Abernathy said, his testimony is extraordinary.

Azar grew up in a Greek Orthodox family in Gaza and dreamed of becoming a priest one day. However, when a bishop who had promised to send him to Greece to study reneged on that pledge, Azar grew disillusioned and turned his back on the church.

During the Fatah-Hamas conflict in 2006, Azar found himself on a street during heavy gunfire.

“That’s when I heard a voice saying: ‘Do not fear, for I have redeemed you. I have called you by my name, and you are mine,’” Azar said.

After escaping the crossfire and returning home, Azar continued to think about the unexpected message of reassurance. He remembered a card the pastor of Gaza Baptist Church had given him much earlier.

When Azar contacted the pastor and repeated the words he heard, the minister told him he was quoting Isaiah 43:1. He assured Azar, “God wants you.”

“That moment marked the beginning of my journey of faith,” Azar said.

Serving and preaching at Ramallah Church

After he committed his life to Christ, Azar moved to the West Bank and began attending Ramallah Church. Pastor Kakish helped him enroll in a Bible college in Bethlehem and supported him in his studies.

In the years that followed, Azar distributed Bibles and Christian literature locally and internationally. He was ordained as a deacon, and he often preaches at Ramallah Church.

In fact, Azar preached on Oct. 12—the same morning his car was burned and his family had to seek shelter at Ramallah Church.

His sermon text was Numbers 23:23, with a special emphasis on the final phrase of that verse: “See what God has done.”

Instead of focusing on the dangers his family endured, he gave thanks for God’s protection in keeping them from harm.

“It bothers me that more American evangelicals are not aware of what so many of their evangelical brothers and sisters in the Holy Land experience,” Abernathy said.

President Donald Trump announced on social media the United States is designating Nigeria a Country of Particular Concern due to the “mass slaughter” of Christians at the hands of “Radical Islamists.”

In a subsequent post, Trump indicated he instructed the Department of War to prepare for possible military intervention, going into Nigeria with “guns-a-blazing.”

“Christianity is facing an existential threat in Nigeria,” Trump wrote. “Thousands of Christians are being killed. Radical Islamists are responsible for this mass slaughter.”

The Country of Particular Concern designation is reserved for nations guilty of “systemic, ongoing, egregious violations of religious freedom.” The U.S. Secretary of State typically announces the designation, acting under the president’s delegated authority.

“The United States cannot stand by while such atrocities are happening in Nigeria, and numerous other Countries,” Trump posted on social media. “We stand ready, willing, and able to save our Great Christian population around the world!”

Sanctions likely, military action possible

In his post—first released on his personal account and later on the official White House account—Trump suggested he would pursue economic sanctions against Nigeria.

Trump stated he was asking Rep. Riley Moore, R-W.Va., a member of the House Committee on Appropriations Committee, and Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla., committee chair “to immediately look into this matter, and report back to me.”

In a later post first appearing on Truth Social, Trump raised the possibility of direct military intervention.

“If the Nigerian Government continues to allow the killing of Christians, the U.S.A. will immediately stop all aid and assistance to Nigeria, and may very well go into that now disgraced country, ‘guns-a-blazing,’ to completely wipe out the Islamic Terrorists who are committing these horrible atrocities,” Trump wrote.

“I am hereby instructing our Department of War to prepare for possible action. If we attack, it will be fast, vicious, and sweet, just like the terrorist thugs attack our CHERISHED Christians! WARNING: THE NIGERIAN GOVERNMENT BETTER MOVE FAST!”

Call to ‘strengthen peace efforts’

International religious freedom advocates applauded the decision to designate Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern, without endorsing Trump’s threat of military action.

“The crisis in Nigeria is indeed worthy of the urgency and moral imperative that the Trump administration is conveying. However, U.S. military intervention would not only escalate the violence; it would undermine those most capable of bringing peace—the Nigerian people themselves,” said Wissam al-Saliby, president of 21Wilberforce.

“True and lasting security cannot be imposed by force,” al-Saliby asserted.

“Government corruption and fecklessness are among the roots of the failure to protect citizens, and this cannot be bombed away,” he said.

“The most effective way to protect lives, steward resources wisely, and prevent deepening anti-American sentiment is through sustained investment in conflict prevention, peacebuilding, and support for local initiatives that promote reconciliation, justice and accountable governance.

“As Christians, we believe every person is made in the image of God, and that peace rooted in justice is both a moral calling and a practical necessity. We urge U.S. policymakers to pursue strategies that expand and strengthen local peace efforts rather than replace them with military might.”

‘Engage positively’

Christian Solidarity Worldwide noted “particularly acute” violence in Nigeria’s Plateau State, including the raiding of a hospital that led to the repeated gang-rape of two Christian girls who were abducted.

The Country of Particular Concern designation “should be regarded by the Nigerian government as an encouragement to address grave violations of freedom of religion or belief that have persisted for decades with greater urgency,” said Scot Bower, CSW chief executive officer.

“We urge Nigeria to engage positively, and to view this designation as an opportunity to secure the assistance needed to trace and hold funders, facilitators and perpetrators of religion-related violations to account, and to close the protection gap by tackling every source of security definitively.”

Vicky Hartzler, chair of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, affirmed the CPC designation for Nigeria and applauded Trump “for speaking out on the religious freedom crisis in Nigeria.”

“The U.S. government can now develop a tough plan with Nigeria to ensure that perpetrators of violence are held to account, people of faith are protected, and those held hostage are released.”

Asif Mahmood, vice chair of the commission, also called on the U.S. to “hold the Nigerian government accountable for allowing the enforcement of blasphemy laws in 12 states.”

Official denies Christians are targeted

Last month, a high-ranking Nigerian official told the Baptist Standard the presence of violence in his country is perpetrated by “some extremists,” but he rejected the assertion Christians are targeted.

Mohammed Idris Malagi, minister of information and national orientation for Nigeria, insisted: “It is sad that this has been characterized as a religious conflict. We don’t believe that it is. It never has been a religious conflict. It actually is an extremist conflict.”

Malagi asserted both Muslims and Christians are victims of extremist violence, and disputed statistics about the scope of the violence reported by multiple international human rights groups as “not supported by the facts on the ground.”

“Nigeria will continue to fight extremists that perpetrate violence toward both Christians and Muslims,” he said.

Nigeria is “a country governed by laws,” where religious freedom for all its people is guaranteed in the constitution, Malagi insisted. Islamic Sharia law in 12 northern Nigerian states applies only to the Muslim population, he asserted.

‘Religious conflict … reached a critical juncture’

Dapo Ipaddeola, senior network coordinator for the Global Freedom Network, offered a significantly different perspective.

“The ongoing religious conflicts and violence in Nigeria, particularly in the Middle Belt and Northern regions, have reached a critical juncture,” he said in a prepared public statement.

“Attacks on Christian communities, widespread killings, kidnappings, and destruction of properties have sparked widespread concern.”

Attacks on entire communities—including non-Christians—represent a “new dimension” to the violence in Nigeria, Ipaddeola stated.

“Reports from human rights organizations, eyewitness accounts, and church bodies indicate that Christian communities in Nigeria’s Middle Belt and Northern regions are facing unprecedented levels of violence and persecution,” he stated.

In his statement—issued prior to Trump’s social media posts—Ipaddeola called on the international community to condemn violence in Nigeria, support humanitarian efforts, ensure accountability and urge the Nigerian government “to address root causes, such as poverty, inequality, and religious extremism.”

“The international community should support dialogue and reconciliation efforts, ensuring the rights and concerns of all parties are respected,” he stated. “By working together, we can prevent further violence and promote peace and stability in Nigeria.”

China, Russia, Iran and North Korea form an “Axis of Upheaval” whose members collude to repress religious freedom both within—and often outside—their borders, a new study says.

“As societies around the world become less free, religious freedom is under global assault, which is also being increasingly coordinated among autocrats, who share their playbooks,” a 74-page report from the McCain Institute of Arizona State University states.

“The State of Religious Freedom Worldwide” focuses on four authoritarian governments—China, Russia, Iran and North Korea—that “collude to advance their agenda on the world stage—discriminating against religious practices and attacking those who participate ‘illegally,’” the institute’s report states.

‘League of tyrants’ engage in persecution

In writing the foreword to the study, international human rights lawyer Knox Thames refers to China’s Chairman Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and North Korea’s Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un as a “league of tyrants” whose regimes are “world-class religious persecution machines.”

“Not without reason, these four authoritarian regimes are globally renowned for their oppression: they brook no dissent and relentlessly crack down on any political opposition,” Thames writes.

He expanded on that idea in a Zoom interview with the Baptist Standard.

“The commonality is fear of some type of idea that would lead individuals to pursue something beyond what the regime wants them to think,” Thames said. “They are afraid of religion. They are afraid of faith. … They are afraid of their own people.”

The four authoritarian regimes “are able to bring to bear the power of the state to crush any religious activity that they deem illegal or unorthodox,” he said.

‘Industrial-scale persecution’

Thames noted the “industrial-scale persecution” in China of Uyghur Muslims and Christian churches that “don’t play by the Chinese Communist Party’s rules.”

He also cited Iran’s theocratic repression of women who refuse to wear hijabs and persecution of the Baha’i faith and the country’s Sufi and Sunni communities. In North Korea, the government requires worship of the nation’s “Supreme Leader.”

Alexis Mrachek, senior program manager of the human rights and freedom program at the McCain Institute, wrote the chapter in the study on religious repression in Russia and the territories it controls, including occupied areas of Ukraine.

Mrachek pointed to the relationship between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Putin regime as an example of the distinction between religious nationalism and freely practiced faith.

“Of course, Russia calls itself a Christian nation. They are officially Orthodox Christian. But really, that is the state’s religion, and it’s all tied into the politics and power that Putin holds, together with Patriarch Kirill, who is Putin’s crony” Mrachek told the Baptist Standard.

In Russia, religious identity and national identity are promoted by the state as “one and the same,” she noted.

Recommendations for action

The McCain Institute report includes multiple recommendations for the U.S. government, including:

• Integrate international religious freedom and human rights into foreign policy and diplomatic engagements.
• Expand designations, sanctions and legal measures against nations and leaders of governments that perpetrate severe religious persecution and repression.
• Enforce corporate responsibility and apply economic pressure on countries that violate international standards of protection for freedom of religion and belief.
• Strengthen congressional oversight of actions promoting international religious freedom.
• Amplify support for civil society, religious minorities and freedom of information.
• Counter authoritarian propaganda and influence.

The McCain Institute issued the report on the 27th anniversary of the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998, legislation that established freedom of religion or belief as a core objective of U.S. foreign policy.

(RNS)—Franklin Graham confirmed Samaritan’s Purse, the international humanitarian relief organization he heads, is ramping up its role in delivering aid to Gaza as the embattled Gaza Humanitarian Foundation is being shut down.

“I don’t have all the specifics, because these details about the plan are still being developed,” Graham told RNS in an Oct. 25 phone interview from Greensboro, N.C., where the organization’s new Boeing 767 took off for Israel loaded with humanitarian supplies.

Graham said he understood the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation—with which Samaritan’s Purse worked earlier—was being phased out.

“It’s being folded,” said Graham, a longtime supporter of President Trump who has served as one of his evangelical advisers. “They operate with government funding, and I think their government funding has run out. It’s not going to be carried forward.”

The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, created by Israel and the U.S. to deliver aid in the ravaged Gaza Strip, had come under heavy criticism for its militarized distribution sites, where more than 1,000 Palestinians were killed by Israeli forces as they approached the sites.

Reuters recently reported many European nations were opposed to the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation having any future role in Gaza.

‘Asked to pause operations’

Gaza Humanitarian Foundation spokesperson Chapin Fay responded in an email, “GHF was asked to pause operations during the hostage release phase which is still ongoing.”

The group, which began delivering aid to Gaza in March, ceased operations since the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas was signed nearly two weeks ago.

While acknowledging the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation was being paused, Fay did not say the organization is shuttering.

“While the situation remains fluid on the ground, GHF has been instructed to remain ready to re-engage and specifically not to take any actions that would preclude us from resuming operations immediately,” Fay said.

Johnnie Moore, the evangelical PR guru who has served as Gaza Humanitarian Foundation chairman, recently stepped down.

Delicate ceasefire in place

The fragile ceasefire deal—brokered by the United States, Qatari and Egyptian mediators—has been strained by violent flare-ups and tensions over the exchange of deceased Israeli captives.

All the living captives have been returned to Israel, and Israel has released some 2,000 imprisoned Palestinians.

The Gaza Strip remains in ruins after a devastating two-year campaign that damaged or destroyed 90 percent of buildings, razing hospitals, universities, mosques and water and sewage plants. Israel has killed more than 68,000 people, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, and thousands of corpses remain buried under the rubble.

The Gaza ceasefire plan names the United Nations, the Red Crescent and other international institutions as the entities responsible to deliver aid to some 2 million Palestinians.

Immediately following the ceasefire, Israel allowed more aid to enter Gaza, where a global hunger monitor warned in August that famine had taken hold. But that aid has since been restricted in the wake of ongoing clashes.

‘Don’t like to be tethered to incompetence’

Samaritan’s Purse would prefer not to work with the United Nations to deliver aid, Graham said.

“If we have to, we can work with anybody,” he said. “But they have such a bureaucratic organization, it just really slows you down. We don’t like to be tethered to incompetence.”

On Saturday, Graham prayed with the aviation team before it took off. The new Boeing 767 airlift, which was carrying 290,000 packets of Ready-to-use Supplementary Food, used to treat acute malnutrition, as well as blankets and solar lights, was due to land at Israel’s Ben Gurion Airport later Saturday.

It was not clear how the supplies would be delivered to Gaza.

In the wake of the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel that killed 1,200 people, Samaritan’s Purse began assisting Israel’s recovery, as well. It donated 42 ambulances and is building nine community centers and bomb shelters in the north of the country.

Samaritan’s Purse has also deepened its relationships with the Israeli government and is now working with the U.S. State Department to assist Gaza in a larger way.

The faith-based operation, one of the U.S.’s largest humanitarian relief organizations, also benefits from its close ties to U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, a former Southern Baptist pastor. Graham said Huckabee’s wife, Janet, is a longtime volunteer with Samaritan’s Purse.

Graham confirmed all the aid donated to Gaza was privately funded. However, he said, Samaritan’s Purse would be open to accepting government funds.

It also is considering building an emergency field hospital in Gaza, a service in which it has developed unique expertise. In the past, it has erected temporary hospitals in Ukraine, Sudan and Myanmar, among other hotspots.