Nigeria is Africa's most populous nation, with over 130,000,000 living in this coastal country. While Nigeria practices freedom of religion, the country is split between Muslims living in the north and Christians living in the south. This split has always caused tension, and often violence between the north and south, with Christians being the recipients of horrific persecution as of late. Carolyn McCulley responds to this violence after watching a documentary on Nigeria. Her insights are very helpful as we pray for, and think about, Nigeria.
 

My junior year of college I went on my first mission trip. Ever since my conversion I had felt a strong urge to work with orphans and impoverished children in some capacity, but primarily through short-term mission trips. So when the list of trips came out that fall I could hardly stand waiting to pack my bags to head to an orphanage in Reynosa, Mexico. 

Just by watching the news it seems that every week brings a new form of devastation to a country. In reality, devastation happens all around us every day, it is in the large magnitudes that we are shocked awake. But these great tragedies that happen, that affect us on a global scale, do often bring our attention to countries otherwise would have been far from our minds.

I hate admitting it, but it is hard to imagine horrific poverty and overpopulation. I live in a suburban area. My streets are clean. My apartment is clean, and not overpopulated. I drive my nice car to work every day, where (by God's gracious and undeserved provision) I make an above poverty level wage. And it's not just me. My husband alone makes above the poverty line. On top of all of that, I drive to my nice church building three times a week where I hear God's Word preached, sing the Word in song, and experience fellowship with other believers. All without any fear that someone might come in at any moment and torture me, or worse: kill me.

If you are watching the Olympics, or even the news, then you have probably heard about the Georgian man who died before the games even started. While the name of the country has been heavily talked about, I realized that I don’t know a lot about the people or the presence of the Gospel there. For most of my life when someone said "Georgia" I would immediately think about the state down south, not the country far away. So this week’s Missions Wednesday will focus on Georgia.

This week’s country focus shifts to Western Europe. Germany is a country with a rich history, and like much of Europe, is a country whose religious leanings are now only a memory of what once was. According to Operation World, while 70% of the people in Germany would claim to be Christians, only 45% believe in a God who is personal, and only 8% actually worship the Savior they claim. Because of this exodus from orthodox Christianity, to be a sold-out Christian means facing hostility from your countrymen. While there were once many church buildings filled with Germans, these are now only empty edifices. In many ways, Germany is very hard soil to penetrate.