(Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons)
Cameroon (MNN) — Terrorism. Some believe it’s in someone else’s back yard. Cameroon may have thought that, too, but now 143 Boko Haram militants are dead after attacking a Cameroonian military outpost across the Nigerian border.
According to reports, militants attacked a Cameroonian military camp in Kolofata. In the five-hour fight that followed, 143 militants were killed. One Cameroonian soldier was killed and four others were wounded.
President of Open Doors USA David Curry isn’t surprised by this attack. “Boko Haram, I think, has been learning the tactics and strategies of Islamic State, seeking to put out a wider caliphate in the region. So they’ve been making attacks across the border into Cameroon and into Chad.”
Nigeria is ranked #10 on the Open Doors World Watch list of worst persecutors of Christians. “There were 2,484 Christians martyred in the previous 12 months. That’s more than any other country in the world. More than Iraq and Syria. I’m not talking about Christians who are collateral damage in a wider war. I’m talking about Christians who are targeted for their faith.”
Why is Boko Haram branching out into other countries? Curry says, “They don’t see a border as a hindrance at all. They want a regional caliphate where they can control and set up Sharia Law and force their opinions and their medieval view of the world upon people.”
Curry has a theory about what the increasing amount of persecution means. “The persecution of Christians is a lead indicator of when a country or region is about to tip into chaos. Where Christians are persecuted, there are wider issues at play. And it just happens that that’s the lead indicator.”
Open Doors is helping the church share Christ as they help communities recover. They’re doing that through counseling, building community centers and schools, and sharing Christ as they do that.
An important way for you to help fight persecution against Christians is to download the World Watch List list or share it on your Facebook page.
Open Door’s ministry is in my prayers daily and I praise God and thank Him for the tremendous good He enables them to do. Keep them steadfast, Lord, and filled with your love and wisdom.