This is not a study. Instead it is a plea for anguished prayer, a plea for fasting and a plea for action.
Nigeria is in real trouble as Christians there face the beginning of sorrows and terrible affliction and death from radical Boko Haram who are tied to the horrors that al-Qaida afflicted on 9/11.
Our duty is to provide prayer and support of Nigerians that face the abyss of tribulation from Boko Haram.
You may not realize it due to disinfected reports from our moderated news sources here in the U.S. but if you are still thinking that "Tribulation" is later in the prophetic time-line only for those that profess Christianity "down the road", after some sort of rapture escape, think again, re-read and believe the words of Messiah's warning:
Matthew 24:7-10 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. All these [are] the beginning of sorrows.Just like the events we see today in Egypt where Christians and being attacked by the Muslim Brotherhood, in Nigeria the Boko Haram has attacked and murdered many people at many dozens of churches and Christian homes across northern Nigeria with bullets, bombs and arson. Nigeria is becoming like Sudan where nearly 2-1/2 million Christians have already been killed and many more face the prospect of death for what they profess to believe.
Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake. And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.
Boko Haram's radical Islamists have machine gunned and fire bombed Christian congregations, killing worshipers while in church, killing hundreds and the many of those worshipers that have lost their lives have been women and children. They have targeted the slaughter of many Christian pastors and even executed the children of Muslims that have converted to Christianity. These assassinations have gone on for over a year in Nigeria and the world has certainly not seen any pre-trib rapture for these faithful saints.
Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa and is ranked 7th in the world's population with 167 million only behind China, India, the U.S., Indonesia, Brazil and Pakistan. It's persecution is much like that we have seen over the past 20 years in Indonesia and in other countries around the globe. The future is now. Wake up the contagion is spreading while you were not looking. Christians are virtually extinct in most of the MiddleEast.
Folks, Nigeria has about twice the population of Egypt and 30 million more people than in than Russia, 40 million more than Japan and 53 million more than Mexico. It's more than 100 million more people than the individual populations of the U.K., France or Italy. Nigeria's not some isolated place that you may have envisioned. It is larger than the population of Turkey and Iran combined. The facts today are that roughly 50% of all Nigerians are Sunni Muslims in the Sharia dominated north, and 50% are Christian, generally in the south. If you have not seen them below are some of the horrific news reports that you need to know about so that you can pray for this nation.
The time is now - do something. Pray for peace and protection!! Start a prayer group and pray for Nigeria.
It is the national plea from professed Christian President Jonathan of Nigeria:
"Your prayers can transform the attitudes of those who do not believe in the progress and peace of our country, so pray that God will touch them so they can change for the better... only prayers could sustain a nation like Nigeria."
What does this all mean?
It means that it is now time for you to repent and return to God's covenant, return to hear and do His word and walk in the faith of His Kingdom path so that you can ready your lamp for your coming assignment. God is a sovereign God. He has given us His Biblical prophets to warn in advance of these things. He is a loving God but a time of judgment is coming and He has provided a way to offer you His salvation. You can accept His gift of life. Consider carefully what your life consists of, look at it and repent of your sin, ask His forgiveness and accept His gift of love through Messiah Yeshua. Do it now!
May 9, 2013: As these updates attest, every few weeks Nigeria faces the kind of horror America witnessed in Boston. Yet many ignore the horror. Today, it happened again in Nigeria attack: Nasarawa cult ambush 'kills 30 police'
Nasarawa police chief Abayomi Akeremale said about 60 police officers came under attack on Tuesday.March 19, 2013: Nigeria bus station attack claims 22 lives AAP
"We decided to send our men to the area to arrest members of Ombatse, including their priest," he told the AFP news agency.
"[They] have been going to churches and mosques initiating people into their cult by forcefully administering an allegiance oath to unwilling people."
The police were attacked near the shrine to the traditional deity of the Eggon people, in the village of Alakyo, near the state capital, Lafia.
The ambush came after 55 people were reportedly killed in the north-east of Nigeria in co-ordinated attacks by the Boko Haram Islamist militant group.
"An attack that saw two suicide bombers ram their car into a bus station in northern Nigeria has killed at least 22 people and wounded dozens more.December 30, 2012: Nigeria: 15 Christians 'have throats slit' by suspected extremists
Police said the attack on Monday in Kano, the largest city in Nigeria's mainly Muslim north, led to a huge explosion that hit five buses, police spokesman Magaji Majia told AFP. A rescue official said the toll was at least 20 and a security source said it was likely to climb much higher.
"From our tally, 22 people were killed in the suicide blast at the New Road motor park," Majia said. Sixty-five others were injured."
"Suspected Islamist extremists have killed 15 Christians by slitting their throats in an attack on a village in Nigeria's volatile northeast, residents and a relief source have claimed.December 25, 2012: Military: At least 5 killed in Christmas morning attack in northeast Nigeria village
"From the information we gathered, the attackers broke into selected homes and slaughtered 15 people in their sleep," the anonymous relief official said.
Authorities had previously confirmed the predawn Friday attack in Musari, but gave few details and said only five were killed. Musari is located on the outskirts of Maiduguri, the base of Islamist extremist group Boko Haram.
Lieutenant Colonel Sagir Musa, spokesman for a military task force in the area, said on Sunday that he stood by the toll of five dead.
Authorities tend to under-report death tolls, however, and the relief official's information matched that of residents, who spoke of 15 people having their throats slit.
Residents said they suspected the attackers were from Boko Haram."
"LAGOS, Nigeria – Nigeria's military says at least five people have been killed in a Christmas morning attack in northeast Nigeria, a region beset by violence by a radical Islamist sect.November 26, 2012: Voice of America reports: Blast Rocks Military Church in North Nigeria
Military spokesman Lt. Eli Lazarus said Tuesday that the attack happened just outside Potiskum village in Yobe state. Lazarus told The Associated Press that four others were wounded.
There was confusion about where the shooting took place. Lazarus said it happened in a church. A Yobe state police spokesman said that information officers had indicated the attack happened elsewhere in the village.
This is the latest violence in northeast Nigeria, an area where the radical sect known as Boko Haram operates."
"The Nigerian military says an explosion ripped through a church on an army base on Sunday, with reports of an unknown number of casualties.October 28, 2012: Today a Car Bomb Kills 8 and Injures More Than 100 as a Suicide bomber hits north Nigeria Catholic church
Reuters cited military sources as saying the blast was from a suicide car bomb that killed at least five people and injured dozens more.
The incident took place inside the Jaji military barracks in Nigeria's northern Kaduna state after a church service."
"KADUNA, Nigeria (AP) — A suicide car bomber detonated his explosives Sunday at a Catholic church holding Mass in northern Nigeria, injuring a number of worshipers and killing several people, officials and witnesses said.
The attack happened in the Malali neighborhood of Kaduna, a city on the dividing line between Nigeria's largely Christian south and Muslim north where religious rioting has killed hundreds in recent years. The car tried to force its way past the gate at St. Rita's Catholic church just before it exploded, witnesses at the church said."
In a report released on October 11th, Human Rights Watch stated: "Widespread and systematic murder and persecution by Boko Haram, a militant Islamist group in northern Nigeria, likely amount to crimes against humanity".
"The 98-page report, “Spiraling Violence: Boko Haram Attacks and Security Force Abuses in Nigeria” catalogues atrocities for which Boko Haram has claimed responsibility."
The report states that at least 1,500 people have been killed in bomb and gun attacks by Boko Haram over the past three years. You can download the full report here.
October 1, 2012: Students Among the Dead in Attack on Nigerian School
"ABUJA — At least 25 people were killed late Monday in what appears to be a systematic slaughter in Adamawa State in northern Nigeria. Locals say the victims, mostly college students, were individually questioned before being attacked."
September 30, 2012: Kenya is Nigeria's neighbor to the south. Today, the violence seen in Nigeria has arrived as AlJazeera reports Children killed in Kenya church attack:
"At least two children have been killed and two others wounded when a hand grenade was allegedly thrown into a church in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, police officials say.
Moses Nyakwama, the city's police chief, confirmed the injuries in the attack on Sunday.
He said that police suspected the cause of the explosion was a grenade.
Charles Owino, a deputy police spokesman, said that the attack at St. Polycarp's church occurred on Juja Road, in the eastern part of the city.
The grenade exploded, spraying the children with shrapnel.
Blood-stained children's jackets and shoes lay scattered on the floor, surrounded by remnants of metal walls that were broken and twisted by the force of the explosion.
"The children who attend this service are aged between six and 10... we usually divide them according to their ages," said Livingstone Muiruri. "They had just started the morning session when the explosion occurred."
"We were in the main church so we all ran there to assist the kids," he said.
Janet Wanja was just entering the church when the blast shook the building.
"I heard a loud explosion and then heard kids screaming," she said. "I am traumatised by what I saw, kids with injuries and blood all over. "Why are they attacking the church?""
June 17, 2012: Multiple Church Bombings in Nigeria Ignite Riots
BUJA - Three churches were bombed this morning in Kaduna, Nigeria, igniting riots in the state capital and prompting a 24-hour curfew. The blasts killed 21 and injured at least 100. The violence Sunday is just the latest development in areas where tensions have risen dramatically recently.June 10, 2012: The BBC reports: Nigeria violence: Seven dead after Boko Haram attacks
Kaduna has been tense since after the 2011 elections when riots broke out killing nearly 700 people. Locals say the violence was political but it also cut across religious lines, deepening distrust between Muslims and Christians.
"Boko Haram militants have attacked two churches during Sunday services, triggering deadly reprisal attacks.MSNBC's report stated:
In the central city of Jos, a suicide bomber blew himself up outside a church, wounding at least 50 people.
In a separate attack, gunmen opened fire during a service in Biu in northeastern Borno state, leaving at least one person dead.
Six people were then killed in Jos in reprisals when angry demonstrators took to the streets in protest.
Radical Islamist sect Boko Haram said it carried out the attacks. The group has carried out a number of attacks on churches in recent years, killing hundreds of people."
"Attacks on churches have become a trademark tactic of Boko Haram, which says it is fighting to reinstate an ancient Islamic caliphate in northern Nigeria."
June 3, 2012: Deadly blast hits Nigeria church
"According to Bauchi residents, a man tried to drive a car through a fence outside the Harvest Field Pentecostal church on Sunday.April 28, 2012: AFP reports Nigeria attack on church services kills around 20
The vehicle did not break through the fence and the bomb was detonated. Some of those killed by the blast were inside the church and others were standing outside.
Eyewitness Aliku Jon told Reuters news agency: "I had just left after the morning service and was out of the church when I heard a loud explosion. I rushed back and there were dozens of people lying in pools of blood.""
KANO, Nigeria — Attackers armed with bombs and guns opened fire at church services at a Nigerian university on Sunday, killing around 20 people as worshipers tried to flee, witnesses and officials said.April 8, 2012: Nigerian Easter bomb kills many in Kaduna
Explosions and gunfire rocked Bayero University in the northern city of Kano, with witnesses reporting that two church services were targeted as they were being held on campus. One of the services was being held outdoors, while the second was inside a building, but with an overflow audience outside, witnesses said.
Officials were unable to confirm casualty figures, but an AFP correspondent counted six bullet-riddled bodies near one of the two sites.
At least another dozen bodies could be seen on a roadside by the university, but the exact number was unclear.
Musical instruments and half-eaten meals could be seen at the site of one of the services. An army spokesman confirmed the attack but could not provide a casualty toll. Lieutenant Iweha Ikedichi told AFP that it appeared the attackers used bombs and gunfire in the assault.
"At least 38 people have died in a car bombing in the northern Nigerian city of Kaduna, officials said.
Many others were injured in the attack, which took place when officials stopped the vehicle as it approached a church.
Just hours afterwards, a bomb exploded in the central city of Jos, injuring several people.
No-one has admitted carrying out the bombings, but suspicion has fallen on Boko Haram, a militant group which had warned of attacks over Easter."
January 23, 2012: Hospitals struggle after deadly Nigeria attacks
By Africa correspondent Ginny Stein, wires
Video Report Source: 7pm TV News NSW | Duration: 2min 12sec
"Hospital staff in the northern Nigerian city of Kano are struggling to cope with a rising number of casualties after a string of coordinated attacks.
More than 178 people have been killed in a series of bomb attacks and gun fights in the country's second-largest city.
Islamist sect Boko Haram is reported to have claimed responsibility for the strike - the deadliest ever by the group.
A curfew was imposed after the violent attacks began, targeting police and immigration offices.
Police sources have told AFP that at least 20 huge blasts were heard in the city as a suicide bomber struck a police station and a car bomb targeted the state police headquarters.
A number of other police posts were targeted, including a secret police building, as well as immigration offices.
A doctor in the main hospital said the death toll had risen to 178 on Sunday, making it by far the deadliest attack claimed by the radical Islamist sect."
January 7, 2012: Church attacks in Nigeria leave at least 27 worshippers dead
Islamist group claims responsibility amid growing concern about government's inability to tackle sectarian violence
"A fresh wave of violence against churchgoers in Nigeria has left at least 27 people dead and heightened fears over security in Africa's most populous country.
The religiously motivated massacres, three in as many days since Thursday, targeted Christians in Mubi and Gombe, both towns in the north-east where a state of emergency was declared by President Goodluck Jonathan last week. Some 17 other deaths have been reported in other regions.
There is growing concern that the government's inability to tackle the rising levels of sectarian violence, blamed on radical Islamic group Boko Haram, may result in hundreds of people fleeing their homes. The group is now carrying out weekly attacks on churches and police stations in northern and central areas. Islamic clerics who speak out against the violence have been assassinated.
Last year saw an upsurge in Boko Haram's bloody activities, with some 550 people killed, culminating in a co-ordinated bombing campaign on Christmas Day across Nigeria which left 39 dead and dozens wounded, including at a church near the capital, Abuja."
January 06, 2012: Another Church Attack in Nigeria Kills 6
Voice of America
"The radical Islamist sect Boko Haram is suspected of the attack, and of pushing the country toward religious conflict.
The attack began when gunmen opened fire during a service at the Deeper Life church in Nasarawa. Theresa Munyok says that her father and her brother were among the dead.
"The only thing I heard was my mommy shouting," Munyok said. "She told me that it was gunshots and that my dad is not even breathing. She called and called and he did not wake up."
A purported spokesman for Boko Haram issued a warning on Sunday that said Christians had three days to leave the Muslim-majority north. A day earlier, Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan declared a state of emergency in 15 locations across the north after months of deadly bombings and shootings, including several attacks for which Boko Haram claimed responsibility."
January 5, 2011: At Least 5 Dead, Others Wounded in Nigeria Church Attack FoxNews
"GOMBE, Nigeria – Gunmen attacked a church in northeast Nigeria during a prayer service Thursday night, killing at least five people and wounding others in an assault that occurred amid an increasingly violent campaign by a radical Muslim sect.
Pastor Johnson Jauro said the gunfire sprayed the Deeper Life Church in Gombe, the capital of Gombe state, injuring several worshipers and killing his wife and two others. He spoke at a local hospital, where a joint team of soldiers and police officers stood guard. Two other people later died at the hospital from their wounds and an Associated Press reporter saw their bodies.
Local police spokesman Ahmed Muhammad confirmed the attack, but declined to say how many people the gunmen killed and wounded.
The assault occurred as Nigeria remains under a warrior's attack by the sect known as Boko Haram."You will be hearing of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not frightened, for those things must take place, but that is not yet the end." Matthew 24:6The oil-rich nation's president recently put regions of the country under a state of emergency due to the grave threat, but that did not include Gombe, which sits about 350 miles from Nigeria's central capital, Abuja.
No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, but suspicion immediately fell on Boko Haram. The sect has carried out increasingly sophisticated and bloody attacks in its campaign to implement strict Sharia law across Nigeria, a multi-ethnic nation of more than 160 million people.
Boko Haram, whose name means "Western education is sacrilege" in the local Hausa language, is responsible for more than 500 killings this year alone, according to an Associated Press count."
January 2, 2012: Christians warned to leave Nigeria - CNN
The militant Islamist group Boko Haram issues an ultimatum to Christians in northern Nigeria. CNN's Tim Lister reports.
December 26, 2011: After Deadly Church Attacks in Nigeria, What Do Boko Haram Extremists Want?PBS Newshour
At least 39 people were killed in Christmas Day attacks on Christian churches in Nigeria. Margaret Warner discusses the bombings and the Boko Haram extremist group that claimed responsibility with Paul Lubeck, a sociology professor at the University of California, Santa Cruz.
December 23, 2011: Multiple blasts rock two Nigerian cities
"Six blasts and gunfire rocked the Nigerian city of Maiduguri on Thursday, residents and a military source said, after explosions and shooting earlier broke out in another northeastern city.
"There has so far been six explosions, and four of them in the same area," the military source said, adding that a shootout had also occurred on Thursday.
Gunfire and explosions had earlier broken out in Damaturu. Both cities have previously been badly hit by violence blamed on the Islamist group Boko Haram."
