Hadiza watched her father be viciously murdered by Islamist terrorists in Nigeria when she was seven years old. Her family was displaced, and her mother struggled to provide. Sometimes they ate only once per day.
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In the Arabian Peninsula, Noya*, Sazwa*, and Zeyan* were displaced with their family because of war. Then, their father, Omar*, was arrested and sent to prison because he was a Christian. Noya, Sazwa, Zeyan, and their mother had no one to provide for them.
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Members of her father’s clan had repeatedly tried to kill Yara’s* father after he left Islam and became a believer in Syria. He eventually had to flee the country. Meanwhile, some of the clan looking for her father beat 6-year-old Yara and her mother badly.
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PERSECUTION AFFECTS CHILDREN. And it’s usually because of their parents’ choice to follow Christ rather than something they chose themselves. This suffering can cause deep trauma. The children of persecuted Christians may lose homes, family relationships, and even future opportunities when they miss years of school or when their families lose jobs.
In Nigeria, Hadiza was seven when Islamic militants from Boko Haram invaded her village. Her family fled on foot, and she and her father took shelter in their church building. When the militants began banging on the gate, her father boosted Hadiza up into a tree and told her not to come down for any reason. She had to watch as they slashed her father to death with a machete and burned the parsonage with a young boy inside.
Then Hadiza was kidnapped by Boko Haram fighters while looking for her mother the next day. They marched Hadiza and other captives through the bush. When the men stopped to pray, Hadiza escaped.
When she was finally reunited with her mother, she did not speak for several months. Meanwhile, the family struggled. They had to leave their home in Maidurguri, and they didn’t have her father’s income to support them. Her mother’s blood pressure shot up, and she developed ulcers. Her older brother got kidney disease and died.
Hadiza grew angry with God. She told an ICR partner that she did not understand why God allowed this to happen to her family.
Hadiza was at a Christian boarding school when God got through to her. As she let go of her anger, she began to hold on to God for comfort.
When an ICR partner supported her family with food items, Hadiza’s mother’s health began to improve. Today, Hadiza is 22 and lives with her mother and two other siblings. They have lost a lot, but today they have the reassurance that God will remain faithful.
IN THE ARABIAN PENINSULA, a long-running war affects everyone, but believers have it the worst. Christians are the last to receive relief aid that is often distributed by Muslim organizations.
Many children in this region haven’t been to school in years, few teachers are being paid, and existing school buildings have been damaged. The effects will be long-lasting, ICR partners say. “Students who are unable to access education or are forced to leave school may never return to the classroom, perpetuating a cycle of poverty and increasing risks of exploitation and abuse. Young girls are more likely to be forced into early marriage…while young boys are more susceptible to being recruited into the fighting,” an ICR partner wrote.
In this region, ICR partners provide scholarships for Christian children to attend private schools, operate early childhood development centers, give teachers stipends so they can teach and support their families, and distribute school supplies.
THEY’RE CALLING THE CHILDREN OF SYRIA THE “LOST GENERATION.”
In some places, no one under 20 has been in school. The conflict that began in 2011 has robbed an entire generation of education.
And even if they can get an education, there are few jobs. Young people in the country don’t see a future for themselves, and many young people, including Christians, are leaving. This leaves a vacuum in church leadership.
Here, ICR partners believe education can change the trajectory of the nation, while also positioning Christians in places of influence. Christian teachers can reflect Christ to the next generations and provide an antidote to the long-lasting effects of trauma with the hope of the gospel. “Having a good education gives Christians the chance to get good jobs and then to stay in the country and help the country,” an ICR field worker said.
At government schools, Christian children are forced to take Islamic religion classes along with everyone else. Opportunities for Christians are always fewer than they are for others. ICR partners provide informal schooling in refugee camps for children of believers. Not only will this help them in the long term, but learning to read has a big benefit for the church. “In the end, they are able to read the Bible, to participate in church meetings, and maybe become pillars of the church,” an ICR field worker said.
*names changed
