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New data from Open Doors’ 2026 World Watch List shows the shocking reality facing our brothers and sisters
On New Year’s Eve 2025, Fulani militants attacked the village of Bum, a mostly Christian community in central Nigeria. By the time they left, nine people were dead, and multiple homes were burned to the ground.
“My father, brother and one of my sons were murdered when these Fulani knocked on our door,” one of the villagers from Bum told an Open Doors local partner. “They also went to my uncle’s house and killed five people, and they also killed one person in another house ...”
The local believer seemed stunned by the attack. “We have never had a problem with [the Fulani],” they said. “They come in to graze their cattle from neighboring villages, and we allow them. There has never been a dispute between us.”
It was just one of multiple attacks in Nigeria that has already occurred since Christmas 2025. The perpetrator differed from place to place—some were conducted by Islamic radical groups like Boko Haram or the Islamic State group, others by Fulani militants or “bandits” with unknown motives—but the effect was the same across the scenes of violence.
“The insecurity across northern Nigeria generally and its impact on the Nigerian church more specifically remain deeply concerning,” says Jo Newhouse*, Open Doors’ spokesperson for our work in sub-Saharan Africa. “The situation has kept Christians in flux, unable to find any stability and bearing the physical, economic and psychosocial scars of living with perpetual danger or the result of attacks—death, destruction and displacement, to name but a few.”
It's difficult to overstate the size of the problem facing Christians in Nigeria. According to the latest research from Open Doors’ 2026 World Watch List (conducted from Oct. 1 2024–September 30, 2025), around 70% of Christians killed for their faith last year were in Nigeria.
But it’s also not just Nigeria. Sub-Saharan Africa is the most violent region in the world for Christians. Fourteen of the 50 countries on the 2026 World Watch List are in sub-Saharan Africa, and out of a total of 4,849 total faith-related deaths worldwide, 4,491 deaths took place in sub-Saharan Africa—a staggering 93% of the global number.
To put it another way: Every 1.95 hours on average, a Christian in sub-Saharan Africa is killed for their faith.
Think about it—that means the next time you go to a movie, an African Christian will be killed by the time the lights come back on in the theater. Between the time the referee’s whistle starts and ends a football/soccer match, a Christian will have been martyred in sub-Saharan Africa. By the time the athletes cross the finish line at the 50km Cross Country event at the 2026 Olympics, another believer in Africa will have lost their life for their faith in Jesus.
The violence is not just murder. Other forms of violence are also shockingly high in sub-Saharan Africa. Eight of the top 10 countries where the most churches or public Christian properties were destroyed, damaged, shut down or confiscated are in sub-Saharan Africa. Nearly 90% of the 3,302 Christians abducted for their faith during the research period were in sub-Saharan Africa. Christians in Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of the Congo accounted for nearly half of all the sexual violence against Christians. And more than 165,000 Christians were forcibly displaced from their homes in sub-Saharan Africa.
These statistics are shocking. And while the world recently showed some signs that the international community is paying attention, the violence in sub-Saharan Africa often doesn’t occupy the space in Western media or governmental conversations that it should.
As Christians, this kind of targeted violence is nothing new. We worship a Savior whose family was forced to flee as a maniacal monarch murdered every toddler in the area in an effort to stamp out the hope of Christ. Tradition holds that 11 of Jesus’ 12 disciples were all martyred in brutal ways. Throughout the New Testament, many writers and apostles remind Christians that they will face trials and violence for their faith.
But that’s not all Scripture has to say. Jesus assured Peter that the gates of hell would never overcome His Church (Matthew 16:18). Jesus called the persecuted “blessed” in Matthew 5. Echoing His words, Peter then went on to assure Christians that they were, in fact “blessed” for being “insulted,” telling those who suffer that the Spirit of glory and of God rest on them (1 Peter 4:14).
It doesn’t stop there. Jesus’ life, death and resurrection mean that every Christian who suffers can find comfort and hope in the global Body of Christ, who serves Jesus every time they care for other believers who are oppressed and suffering (Matthew 25).
So how can we make sense of this radical hope in the face of the equally radical devastation we see represented by the 2026 World Watch List?
For starters, we see that the resilient church in sub-Saharan Africa has not been destroyed, even as it lives in violence and precarious realities. The wounds and grief have not crushed the witness of God’s people.
Pastor Zachariah*, a church leader in Nigeria whose wife and son were killed by militants, shows this clearly. “I am asking God to forgive them, and for them to enter the Kingdom of God and not to die in their sins just as the Bible has told us,” Zachariah says.
We also have the opportunity to learn from the witness of those who are “blessed” in their persecution. The powerful faith on display in the midst of violence in sub-Saharan Africa can remind all of us of God’s faithfulness and hope in every circumstance. Martine* is a widow in Burkina Faso who lost her father and several other family members in an attack. “I told the Lord: ‘From now on, it is You who will take care of my life day and night,’” she says. “‘I have no one else to whom I can carry my problems to, except You. As You allowed this thing to happen. Lord, I am counting upon You. And it is You who will take care of me.”
How can any of us not be challenged by this powerful testimony?
And finally, we also have the chance to joyfully participate in the worship of God by standing with our brothers and sisters in sub-Saharan Africa. If we take the words of Jesus seriously, when we provide food, clothing, water and support for those who are oppressed, we did those things for Him. What an incredible gift!
It can be difficult to know how to practically help Christians who face that kind of violence. You probably don’t live in sub-Saharan Africa, and you may not even know an African Christian personally. But through Christ, you are their brother or sister—and you can play a part in helping them remain strong in their witness, helping them persevere as salt and light through the brutality they face.
A good way to do that is through Open Door’s Arise Africa initiative and petition. The African church has challenged Christians around the world—people like you!—to raise up a million voices of prayer and petition for believers in sub-Saharan Africa. Will you add your voice today?
SIGN THE PETITION
But regardless of how you support your sisters and brothers in sub-Saharan Africa, we hope you’ll sit with the reality of what they face … and the reality of the awesome hope that Jesus gives, no matter what.
*Name changed to protect security
