Eric Hovind recently sat down to have a conversation with Bradley Brandon, Founder and CEO of Across Nigeria, and it was one of the most sobering and heartbreaking discussions we have ever had.

Bradley gave a firsthand look into what is happening to Christians in Northern Nigeria right now, one of the most dangerous places in the world to follow Christ. Roughly 72% of Christians killed for their faith worldwide were killed within a roughly 300-mile radius in this region. More than 8,200 Christians were slaughtered last year alone. Over 3,500 have already been killed this year. Since 2009, an estimated 70,000 Christians have lost their lives, and more than 18,000 churches have been burned to the ground.

While not all Muslims are radical, extremist Islamist groups continue spreading violence, fear, and terror throughout Northern Nigeria and West Africa. These groups are actively targeting and pushing Christianity out of entire regions. The violence has intensified year after year, and this year was described as the worst yet.

The conversation also addressed the growing spread of radical Islamist ideology throughout parts of the world. In many places where Shariah law takes hold, freedoms disappear, women are treated as inferior, brutal punishments become normalized, and fear replaces liberty. Even many peaceful Muslims themselves oppose what these extremist groups are doing.

One thing we need to remember: this is ultimately a spiritual battle.

Ephesians 6 reminds us that we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against spiritual wickedness. Even many of the persecutors themselves are deeply deceived and in desperate need of Christ.

Bradley also gave insight into how he ended up in this part of the world, in a place most people would never dare to go.

Years ago, after a near-death experience that left him in intensive care, he says God radically transformed his life and taught him complete dependence upon Christ. Not long afterward, God called him to Northern Nigeria.

He has witnessed countless atrocities and mass burials of Christians there. The Bible calls them martyrs.

But in the middle of all this darkness, something incredible has also been taking place.

Over time, he began building relationships inside Muslim communities through compassion, conversation, and the gospel. Boko Haram members have been prayed with. Radical Islamists have come to Christ. Multiple Muslims have turned to Jesus through relational evangelism.

One Fulani Muslim man told him, “I can see love in your eyes. My people do not know what love is.”

That is the difference Christ inside a person makes. Others can see the light in us. It is real. In the middle of one of the darkest and most violent places on earth, Bradley has seen hardened people encounter something they had never truly experienced before: genuine love, mercy, and forgiveness.

Jesus taught forgiveness, mercy, sacrificial love, and redemption. Even while being crucified, Christ prayed, “Father, forgive them.” The gospel changes hearts in ways violence never can.

We were also given a much-needed reminder that many of us in the West have forgotten: Christianity was never about being comfortable. It is about being uncomfortable. It is about carrying your cross, standing against evil, and remaining faithful no matter the cost.

Right now, Christians in Nigeria are proving with their blood that Jesus Christ is worth everything, even unto death.

Please pray for Bradley Brandon and the persecuted Christians in Nigeria. Pray for protection, endurance, courage, and provision. But also pray for the persecutors themselves, that God would open their eyes and lead them to Christ.

And please watch and share this program. Christians in the West cannot afford to look away from what is happening to the persecuted Church.

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