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Abigail* lost her husband in an attack by militant Fulani herdsmen. She has a young daughter and Covid-19 has made survival even more difficult. A dream has given her comfort but the worries remain crushing. By your generosity Abigail’s tragedy is now a story of God’s wondrous provision.
Comfort and hope can come in unexpected places – even dreams. “My husband came to me in a dream,” Abigail* in Nigeria explains. “He told me not to worry, because he is with the Lord. I told him that I am grateful. I am praying he is with God, in Jesus’ name.”
But the worry is not easy to discard. In fact, the weight on Abigail’s shoulders wondering whether she will have food for her and her young daughter the next day – let alone beyond – has been crushing. The economic impact of Covid-19 has made it even worse, and believers like Abigail are often deliberately neglected when official aid is distributed. This is on top of the grief of losing a beloved husband and being driven away from the place once called home.
In April, Abigail’s husband Geoffrey was killed in an attack by militant Fulani herdsmen on Christian villagers in Kaduna State, one of 12 northern states in Nigeria under Sharia (Islamic law). Sadly, these attacks are all too common.
“We heard a gunshot,” Abigail recalls of the day when tragedy struck her young family. “We are used to hearing the Fulani firing shots, but on that day, we heard many gunshots. We had no idea what was happening. We continued working. Then we heard the shots coming closer, and Geoffrey told me to fetch our daughter, who was napping nearby.
“We continued working for a little while, but then my husband said we should run. But when we tried, we saw that the Fulani were all over. There was no escape. We split up and each ran in a different direction. When I got home, I realised they were there too. Then I found my way to a neighbouring village.”
Abigail hid there until the next morning. By then, she had still not seen Geoffrey, and no one else had either. She continues, “I asked them to check the route to our farm. That is where they discovered his body. They buried him and then informed me that he had been killed.”
The attackers burned most of the houses in the village and destroyed the food. Whilst Abigail’s house was spared, all the family’s belongings were burned.
Every HK$500 could provide a month\'s relief supplies of food and soap for a family in Africa - as well as other needs such as rent or medicine.
Abigail and her daughter are staying at a local primary school in the southern Christian region of Kaduna State, which acts as a makeshift camp for those displaced by recent attacks. Hundreds of people, mostly Christians, are currently housed there, waiting out the‘storm’ in very harsh and uncomfortable circumstances.
“These people’s houses were burnt, their food was burnt, what little wealth they had was taken away,” the coordinator of the camp, Samaila*, explains. The camp only has enough food to provide people one meal a day. The pandemic has created shortages across the country. Samaila continues, “Individuals and NGOs are the ones helping us, because they heard about what happened to our people.”
A tearful Abigail returns to the home she shared with her husband. Dark shadows now puncture the memories of happier times.
“This is Geoffrey’s clothes. And this is his picture. Whenever I see this picture and these clothes, I remember him,” she laments. “It reminds me of the moments we shared together. He is not here for me anymore and I cannot see him again.”
\""Whenever I see this picture and these clothes, I remember him.”- Abigail
Geoffrey was the family’s faithful breadwinner, always working to provide for his wife and daughter. “He was a caring man,” Abigail reflects. “He used to provide food, and everything else we needed. But now he is no more, we are facing challenges.”
The burden of provision now falls on Abigail. \""We are suffering,” she says. Asked about her challenges, one concern predominates: What will they eat tomorrow? And the day after tomorrow? And the day after that?
Official aid is being distributed during Covid-19 – but Christians in central and northern Nigeria are often last in line to benefit from government food and aid. Often, they don’t receive any from local authorities at all – simply because of their faith. And there is little hope of getting a job in the wake of Covid-19. Abigail will work the farm in the hope of a future harvest at least. But it is by no means easy. “I am not used to doing farming, but now I do the job of a man. Honestly, we are finding things difficult, because of the situation we find ourselves in. People are suffering because of what these people did to us.”
Thanks to your generosity we could provide enough food to see her and her family through the next three months. We also gave her fertilizer to boost the farming that now squarely rests on her shoulders.
“I am really happy, I really am! Because of the food they gave us today. I usually have sleepless nights. Thinking where will my next meal and money for fertilizer come from. Then God made a way. I am grateful to the people God used to provide for me, may He open more doors for them.
It is because of your generosity that Abigail’s story has not ended in tragedy. On the contrary, it has become a testimony of God’s miraculous provision.
*Names changed for security reasons
CHRISTIANS ARE LAST IN LINE
As has been seen in other countries, Christians are often last in line when government food and aid is distributed – often deliberately neglected by local authorities.
You can change the tragedy like Abigail’s. Open Doors partners are courageously taking vital food, aid and financial and prayer support to vulnerable Christians who urgently need them, and has identified more than 15,000 families across Sub-Saharan Africa in urgent need of help, Nigeria has the highest level of need: 9,000 families.
Every HK$500 could provide a month’s relief supplies of food and soap for a family in Africa –as well as other needs such as rent or medicine.
