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Just over a month ago, there was a devastating attack in the community of Yelewata, a village in Benue State, Nigeria. More than 200 people were killed in the violence, and thousands were displaced. The attackers were Fulani militants, a group that has killed many Christians over the last decade.
"When we arrived there, the situation is really still not good because people are still hungry ... mainly when you [talk to] anybody and you ask them [what their biggest need is], they tell you it's hunger."
Virtue*, a local Open Doors' partner
The descriptions of the attack are horrifying. Tese Matthew, a 60-year-old woman from Yelewata, explained that because of ongoing threats, some believers had begun to sleep in their businesses and shops to keep their livelihoods safe. "Some people ... selected to sleep in the stores in the market," she says. "So the [extremists] burnt down the stores with people inside, together with [the] goods."
Dennis Nomsoo, a 31-year-old farmer from the Yelewata area, said he and his family had already decided to sleep in a church the night of the violence. They were afraid for their safety because an earlier attack had left five people dead. But that didn't lessen the impact for Dennis. His grandfather was killed, and his father's wife was severely injured.
Dennis was stunned by the scope of the violence. "When it was morning, we went to the market square where the attack took place, and we saw so many people there who were killed," he remembers. "Some were burned in the stores, And others were killed outside the stores. My grandfather was killed outside the store because he tried to escape, so [the militants] shot him down and butchered him."
Dennis, Tese and thousands of others fled for their lives. Virtue*, a local Open Doors' partner, visited these displaced believers shortly after the attack. She prayed with them and learned how the ministry could serve them best.
"When we arrived there, the situation is really still not good because people are still hungry ... mainly when you [talk to] anybody and you ask them [what their biggest need is], they tell you it's hunger," she explains.
That's why Open Doors' local partners recently delivered life-saving relief aid to 300 families who fled from Yelewata. Each relief parcel contained 80 kg of maize, 25 kg of rice and 25 kg of beans—enough to care for the people who needed food most urgently.
Your gifts and prayers make this kind of relief possible! And these displaced believers have a message for you: "Thank you."
"Thank you for the food you have given to me," Dennis says. He was one of the people who received a relief packet. "The food will really help us, and we will also share with others that do not have [any]."
"Before now, I had no food, but now you have given me this food," echoes Tesa Matthew.
Virtue explains that the relief work was carried out in a way to ensure the neediest people received the food they desperately needed. This is vital in a place like this makeshift internally displaced persons (IDP) camp, as sometimes corruption or greed can stop emergency aid from reaching those who need it most.
A local tuktuk (a sort of makeshift taxi) driver told Virtue that he'd seen that kind of corruption on display in the camp. "[The driver] helps the people in the camp," Virtue explains "He has an aunt who is displaced and is also in a camp. He told me how the corruption stops the displaced from receiving the food because he saw it with his own eyes. He told me: 'I'm so happy with what you people are doing. This is the best way of sharing this food.'"
Additionally, most of the aid the displaced people receive isn't food relief, but medical support. So these food packets, supported by your gifts and prayers, are truly saving lives of believers who have lost everything.
However, this doesn't mean that all is well.
The IDP camp where the believers live centers around an abandoned marketplace. Sleeping quarters are cramped inside the brick building, and many people have very few worldly possessions. Families are separated because the camp is organized so that women must stay with small children, and men and teenagers are on their own. Children have lost access to education. The problems are long-term and not easy to fix.
Additionally, Virtue explains that these Christians are so traumatized that many of them seem to be in shock. "From what I saw, the people are really traumatized," she says. "They need psychosocial healthcare [like trauma care]. You could see it from their faces even when we give them the relief aid you could see. They couldn't really smile or sing. They were excited about the food. But then at the same time, you couldn't see it on their faces because of the trauma they're carrying."
This kind of trauma is normal after such horrific violence. Even those who don't have physical scars or didn't lose loved ones bear immense pain. "Most of them have lost loved ones," Virtue explains. "And then, aside from losing loved ones, many have lost their livelihoods."
That's why our partners have sent an urgent call for more help. Farmers from Yelewata are losing out on precious planting and harvest timetheir families depend on these crops for their basic needs. In the coming months, the little food these believers have will run out. Trauma will take root, and, perhaps most alarmingly, they may begin to wonder if God really cares about them.
"A lot of people are really discouraged about God," Virtue says. "They will tell you, 'I still trust God.' But then they have this inner feeling that God isn't there. [They ask questions like] 'Can God really help me? Then why didn't He stop this?'"
Through our church partners on the ground, we've identified 9,000 people who desperately need your help in the coming months. They need food, living necessities like clothing and blankets, along with trauma care and basic protection. They also need Bibles—and the presence of believers like Virtue, who will pray and cry with them and offer them the encouragement of God.
A gift of $80 can provide this kind of aid for a single person, making both an immediate and long-term difference. Will you help now?
These displaced believers also urgently need your prayer. "Brothers and sisters, please pray for us so that we will have peace," Tesa Matthew asks, "and can go back to our homes so that we can continue with our farm work and our businesses."
Dennis echoes Tesa Matthew: "Brothers and sisters please pray for us, pray for Yelewata, pray for Benue State. [Pray for] peace to be restored so that we can return."
Even amidst the devastation, there are still signs that God is at work. "God is supreme; He has a reason for everything," Dennis shares. "I cannot relent in my worshiping Him. I will still praise Him and be glad for my life and my other surviving family members. God is great all the time; I believe in Him and I trust in Him."
This kind of faith is a miracle, attributable only to the work of the Holy Spirit. And your support has shown these 300 families they are not alone—your prayers and gifts are part of God's miraculous work!
As Open Doors continues to walk alongside these thousands of displaced believers, please consider an additional gift if you're able, and remember Dennis, Tesa and countless others in your prayers. "Pray that God will strengthen their faith even through this, that they will really see Him even through their pains," Virtue says.
*Names changed for security reasons.
