Your support plants seeds of hope for Nigerian Christian widows
Most of us have experienced grief at some point and know the pain and disorientation that it can cause. In this difficult time, facing COVID-19, we’re more aware of this than ever. Grief is the same everywhere.
For Christian women in countries like Nigeria, their grief is often caused by the loss of income, a home, or even a family member. Beyond just grief, becoming a widow can lead to social and economic rejection. Yet, through these times of grief and crisis, we hear their stories of faith.
Rikiya was married for nine years, during which she and her husband had three children: Jennifer, Peace and Joshua. In the ninth year, her husband became ill. Tragically, only two days after his symptoms appeared, he died. Rikiya was still in mourning when Islamic extremists Boko Haram came to attack her village.
She and her children managed to escape Boko Haram, and stayed in a local town for two months. When it was safe to return home, Rikiya found that her home and all her possessions had been destroyed.
“I was so traumatized,” says Rikiya. “My husband was gone, and Boko Haram had captured our village. We had nothing except the clothes on our backs.”
Will you continue to show your love and commitment to our persecuted sisters around the world with your gifts and prayers?
How can we enact change?
Across the world, grief doesn’t change – but the circumstances in which someone grieves do. In northern Nigeria, being widowed puts you at the bottom of the social hierarchy. A woman who has lost her husband hasn’t just lost the person she loves; she’s lost a breadwinner, a vital contributor to her livelihood and a support for her children.
A Christian widow is vulnerable on two counts – her gender and her faith. Open Doors’ ongoing campaign aims to ensure that every Christian woman who is doubly vulnerable for her faith and her gender is seen, heard, valued and empowered to reach her God-given potential.
Women like Rikiya are persecuted for their faith, and their gender means that they face social and economic exclusion when they are widowed. Their isolation leads to poverty, and it’s almost impossible to get out of that spiral without help. Unfortunately, the global pandemic is worsening the situation.
Thankfully, help is available. Open Doors partners in Nigeria to offer financial help and trauma counselling.
Rikiya was able to buy two goats. Each goat produces two kids every season, and Rikiya can then sell goats to pay for food, crops or clothing. “You are the ones who brought hope and healing back to me,” says Rikiya. “Honestly, if not for the gift I received to rear these goats, I don’t know what I would have done.”
You can sow seeds of hope for women like Rikiya not just in Nigeria, but in many countries where vulnerable women are socially and economically excluded.
See change by seeding change.
Please Pray
Dear Father, the defender and sustainer of widows, we pray that You would draw close to Rikiya and all other excluded and isolated Christian women. Please give them comfort and encouragement, and restore their hope, their dignity and their livelihoods. Thank You that You see them and that You love them. Amen.
DONATE TODAY
Every $35 can help a widow who is affected by COVID-19 become self-sufficient.
April Prayer Points
Please pray for God’s hand of provision to be with Christian women like Rikiya, who are persecuted for their faith and for their gender. May the Lord help alleviate their hardships and restore joy.
Attacks by Boko Haram upon Christians in northern Nigeria leave a trail of death and destruction. Pray for comfort for those impacted, especially in this time of the Coronavirus pandemic.
Pray for the militants and members of Boko Haram to repent and find salvation in Jesus.
