When the Gates of Hell Cannot Prevail

A Saturday reflection on this week’s series about the global persecution of Christians

This week I’ve written about the crisis facing our brothers and sisters in Nigeria and across the Persecution Belt—that arc of nations from West Africa through the Middle East to Southeast Asia where following Jesus can cost you everything.

I want to end the week by telling you about a moment I’ll never forget.

“For the Gospel, I Would Stay and Die”

In 2013, I was working with The Great Commission Movement of Nigeria, offering training and resources for pastors and church leaders among the Dukkawa people—a previously unreached people group.

Before I became pastor of Upper Room Community Church, the congregation, in 2003, had paid for The Jesus Film to be translated and shown among the Dukkawans The strategy worked. Dukkawans converted and became followers of Jesus. Churches were formed. Pastors were appointed. Most had little training.

So I found myself helping The Great Commission Movement disciple these new pastors and their churches.

Before the 2013 gathering, they asked me to help them prepare for persecution. The Christian community had grown to the point where they were now getting attention and they assumed that meant persecution was coming next.

While I recognized I had more to learn from them about this topic than they could possibly learn from me, I prepared and led a week-long conversation about following Jesus when it costs you everything.

I’ll never forget the last day.

I created a scenario to help them move from theory to practical strategy: “You’re aware that Boko Haram might come over those hills one day. What are you going to do?”

The group of 200 pastors and pastors’ wives broke into small groups to discuss. Later, they reported their conclusions.

Overwhelmingly—men and women alike—they stood up and said the same thing:

“For the gospel, I would stay and die.”

I was in awe, trying to keep tears from flowing as I heard the fiber in the souls of these men and women whose names are written in the Book of Life. They weren’t being dramatic. They weren’t engaging in performative art. They were counting the cost and deciding Jesus was worth it.

I’ve never forgotten that moment.

Why This Gives Me Hope

When Jesus said, “The gates of hell will not prevail against my church,” I think he was thinking of these Nigerian pastoral couples.

Not because they’re superhuman. Not because they’re more faithful than Western Christians. But because they’ve learned what it means to take up their cross daily. They know the shape of cruciform faith—the pattern of death and resurrection that marks all who follow Jesus seriously.

This week’s series on Nigeria wasn’t meant to induce guilt or despair. It was meant to wake us up to what’s happening—and to invite us into solidarity with those who are paying the highest price for following Jesus.

While data helps tell the story of what is happening, none of these men and women are statistics. They’re our family.

Thank You for Reading. Thank You for Praying.

This week, many of you engaged deeply with these posts. You read. You commented. You shared. You prayed. Some of you wept. Some of you got angry—the good kind of anger that refuses to look away.

Thank you.

Your attention matters. Your prayers matter. Your willingness to let this reality interrupt your week matters more than you know.

But here’s the challenge: The media will underreport this persecution crisis. It doesn’t fit the political narrative. So, you won’t see many headlines about Nigerian Christians. You won’t hear updates about displaced pastors or burned churches. You’re as likely to hear denials of genocide than factual reports of what is happening. But most of the time, the slow genocide happening across the Persecution Belt won’t make your news feed.

Which means if you want to stay informed and engaged, you’ll need to be intentional.

Ways to Stay Engaged Beyond This Week

If this week woke something up in you—a sense of grief, anger, solidarity, or calling—here are some ways to keep that flame lit:

1. Subscribe to organizations doing the work:

• International Christian Concern - News and advocacy

• Voice of the Martyrs - Stories and prayer guides

• Open Doors USA - World Watch List and resources

• Release International - Support for persecuted church

2. Pray consistently, not just emotionally: Set a weekly reminder to pray specifically for Nigeria, Pakistan, India, or another nation on the World Watch List. Sustained prayer matters more than sporadic intensity.

3. Share what you learn: When you encounter stories of persecution, share them. Don’t let the algorithm bury what the media already ignores. Your network needs to know what’s happening to our family.

4. Support financially: Organizations like Samaritan’s Purse, Barnabas Fund, and others provide direct aid to displaced Christians and persecuted pastors. Your dollars fund relief, rebuild churches, and sustain families.

5. Subscribe to The Compass: I’ll continue writing about the global church, cruciform faith, and what it means to follow Jesus when the cost is high. Not every week, but regularly. If you found this series valuable, subscribe so you don’t miss what comes next.

The Church Jesus Is Building

The Western church often measures success by attendance, influence, and comfort. The global church measures faithfulness by endurance, witness, and willingness to suffer.

We need each other.

They need our resources, advocacy, and prayers. We need their example, courage, and theological clarity about what following Jesus actually requires.

The church Jesus is building isn’t confined to one culture or one continent. It’s a global family where suffering in one part of the body is felt by all—and where the faithfulness of Nigerian pastors standing before Boko Haram should inspire American pastors standing before consumer Christianity.

This week, I’ve tried to help you see them. I pray you won’t look away.

---

Thank you for reading this series. If it stirred something in you, would you do two things?

1. Pray this week for the Dukkawa Christians and pastors, many of whom are still there, still faithful, still counting Jesus worth the cost.

2. Subscribe to The Compass so you stay connected to stories and reflections that keep the global church in view.

The gates of hell cannot prevail. Not in Nigeria. Not anywhere. Because Jesus builds his church on the rock—and rocks endure.

---

Next week, we return to “When Shepherds Limp”—our series on pastoral burnout and renewal in the American church.