Please bear with me for addressing three subjects that interest me in the same post, recognising that folk who are not in my shoes (i.e. everyone) may see these as being unrelated. But as someone who is committed to blogging about things that matter, as I join the dots and continue to watch on my wall what is happening around me, and trying to make best use of time, that’s what I am about to do.

It was only two days ago I posted my “Barnabas Aid, the Persecuted Church, Nigeria” (see here) blog, having a few days earlier shared some thoughts at our church missionary prayer meeting. A friend, aware of my interest, shared a recent prayer letter of a missionary serving overseas, including among Nigerians. I include the relevant (to do with the current situation in Nigeria and how it is being reported) extract from this letter, highlighting some of his concerns, for it made some powerful points, at the end of this post, which included four click onable links to articles referred to.

The letter makes mention of some of attacks now being made on Nigerian Christians and on how the BBC appears to be misreporting what is happening in Nigeria. Pertinently, in recent days, my news feeds have been inundated with stories of alleged BBC bias. This is a subject I have considered in the past concerning a range of issues, e.g. 8 years ago I posted on my website “An open letter to the BBC re. biased reporting” (see here) and, if anything, things have gotten worse. Yesterday, Ed Davey, leader of the LibDems, posted on his Facebook page: “I’ve written to Keir Starmer, Kemi Badenoch and Nigel Farage urging them to condemn Donald Trump’s attack on the BBC. The BBC belongs to Britain, not Trump. We must defend it together”. I posted my response on X: “I don’t wish Ed Davey and the Lib Dems bad but Ed writing to Keir Starmer in righteous indignation mode, condemning Trump for calling out the BBC for its lying is frankly pathetic. While I can’t support Labour or Conservative as things stand, neither can I support Lib Dem as an alternative with fools like Ed at the helm”.

When I checked out the Trump story, Meta AI informed me: “Donald Trump is threatening to sue the BBC for $1 billion over a Panorama documentary that edited his January 6, 2021, speech, making it appear as though he was inciting violence. The BBC has acknowledged the edit was an “error of judgment” and apologized, stating it gave the impression of a direct call for violent action. Trump’s lawyers claim the editing was “malicious, disparaging” and demanded a retraction, public apology, and compensation for reputational harm. The controversy led to the resignations of BBC Director General Tim Davie and BBC News CEO Deborah Turness”

Former British Prime Minister, Liz Truss, recently tweeted her support for Donald Trump on this matter and at the same time argued for abolishing the licence fee and ending nationalised broadcasting altogether, aligning with Trump’s criticism of the BBC’s alleged bias. In another tweet, she writes: “I’m glad the US President and the rest of the world are seeing the BBC for what it is. Its failure to tell the truth on everything from transgender ideology to economics to Gaza has done huge damage to politics and government in this country”. And it isn’t just those on the so-called “Right” who are complaining, a climate change activist friend, many of whose views I disagree with although not his concerns, has been going on for a long time at the way the BBC reports this issue.

As for Trump, it is not just about how the BBC handled reporting the January 6^th Capitol Hill riots but the attacks on Christians in Nigeria is another issue where he differs from the BBC narrative. Love the Donald or loathe him, he is calling out matters of concern in a way those who should, notably the BBC, are not. I like the idea of an independent broadcaster not beholden to commercial interests or interrupting programmes with pointless adverts. The BBC have produced many fine programmes in the past, but its long-term biased reporting and unaccountability to its public is unacceptable.

But back to attacks on Christians in Nigeria (and while this may be at the top of my Christian persecution concerns, there are many other countries where this takes place). I much appreciate this missionary contact of my friend, for the way he is responding. As promised at the start, I end with this extract from his letter …

Since President Trump’s words about Christians suffering in Nigeria, it would seem that everyone has an opinion. The BBC, once a flagship of impartial integrity, was quite dismissive of Trumps claims and went on to fact check them and put them into a more “palatable context”. (this can be read here)
 
Our very own M, who is now back in Nigeria, and amongst other things, is writing for Christianity Today. He wrote this article on the subject, and in it referenced the report that President Trump seems to have quoted. (I trust M’s discernment on these matters)
 
Without a doubt the subject is nuanced, and wherever fallen man is involved it is complicated but the stark headline is that over the last few years more Christians have been killed for their faith in Nigeria than anywhere else in the world combined.  If you are wanting to find out more and to know how to pray I would suggest that Open Doors in a helpful resource.
 
These issues are of constant concern amongst the Nigerians in our church family.  Many have families in high-risk areas, and some have been directly affected. We don’t go many prayer meetings without having requests for prayer for these matters.  This affects our pastoral ministry, and it makes our current peaching series in 2 Corinthians all the more real.  We can trust in the God of all comfort, and we can have confidence that our suffering is not pointless, but we need the Lord’s help as we counsel, comfort and disciple folk whose reality of persecution driven suffering is much deeper than ours.
 
A couple of years back we were interviewing one young man for membership and as he was sharing his testimony, he explained that it was after someone was killed in his sight outside his family home by terrorists that he felt his need of a right relationship with God through Jesus.  The Lord in his total sovereignty used this horror and the wickedness of men to His own glory.  God is still on His throne no matter the wickedness of man.

Another matter that has shocked our church family is that one of our members V, who returned to Nigeria about a year ago has been kidnapped.  This was 2 weeks ago but we only heard about this on Tuesday.  I have spoken with her father who is devastated, desperate and feeling powerless.  The initial ransom was for about £20,000 and after the kidnappers found out that they had reported this to the authorities, it went up to £25,500.  This may not seem a lot in our terms, but when the average monthly wage is £200 it is a huge amount of money to them.
 
Friends in the church who know her acted quickly, and on Wednesday they were fasting and we had a prayer time on zoom when old LPC members who knew her were able to attend.  The circumstance was devastating but the time together in prayer was very special.  I was so thankful to hear biblical truth applied in prayer, from coming to the God of all comfort, to the total sovereignty of God, to pleading His salvation not only of V’s life but the souls of the perpetrators.  As yet, there has not been the news that we long for and we ask you to earnestly to pray with us.