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There are an estimated 16.2 million Christians in Sub-Saharan Africa, including this woman from the Benue State of Nigeria, who have been displaced from their home amid a worsening wave of Christian persecution, according to Open Doors International.
Photo courtesy Open Doors Canada
September 5, 2025
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OSV News photo/David Snyder, Catholic Relief Services
As of Sept. 5, Open Doors International’s “Arise Africa” petition has garnered a striking 225,000 signatures.
The global organization with 25 national bases – including in Halton Hills, Ont. – that strives to raise awareness about, and provide support to, an estimated 380 million persecuted Christians around the world, desires at least one million people to stand in solidarity with oppressed believers in Sub-Saharan Africa.
A concerted “Africa Week of Prayer” push will be made between Sept. 7 and 14 to significantly bolster the number of participants in this campaign.
Open Doors is calling for the vulnerable to receive protection from militant attacks, fair justice to be administered to the perpetrators, and for afflicted individuals and communities to receive restorative healing.
Rev. Andrew Croft, the communications and events manager for Open Doors Canada, outlined the oppressive reality for Christians in Sub-Saharan Africa.
“Of the top 10 countries with the most violence against Christians, (five) of them are in Africa,” said Croft. “Nine out of every 10 Christians who are killed for their faith are in Sub-Saharan Africa, and eight Christians a day are killed in Nigeria alone for their faith.
"The violence is growing,” continued Croft. “We're constantly, unfortunately, hearing stories in places like the Democratic Republic of Congo and Nigeria, where there's been mass killings. It's extremists who are disproportionately attacking Christians with impunity, getting away with it. Not enough (is) being done to protect the citizens of these countries, not enough is being done to protect Christians.”
Open Doors International’s figures about the number of Christians killed daily in Nigeria came out at the beginning of the year. Multiple watchdogs have declared that the daily rate of violent acts against Christians has scaled upward significantly.
In fact, a Christian criminologist and researcher for the International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law, Emeka Umeagbalasi, reported that 7,087 Christians were murdered between Jan. 1 and Aug. 10, an average of 30 fatalities per day.
Eritrea, Somalia, Sudan and Libya (particularly foreigners from Sub-Saharan Africa) are among the other African nations ranked within the top 10 of Open Doors International’s worldwide watch list for 2025.
Open Doors also estimates that 16.2 million Christians are currently displaced from their homeland in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Following the culmination of the Arise Africa signature drive, the petition will be presented to the United Nations, the African Union, and federal governments and international bodies before the end of 2026.
“We’re going to show governments that this is important, and they need to do something,” said Croft. “Also, when we raise a million voices, Christians in Sub-Saharan Africa can say, ‘hey look, we’re not alone and unheard. There are our brothers and sisters around the world who care about us, who are praying for us.’”
Brother Andrew van der Bijl, the late Dutch Christian missionary who founded Open Doors International 70 years ago in 1955 and was nicknamed “God’s Smuggler” for running Bibles and Christian literature into communist bloc countries, revered the famous saying “prayer is not preparation for the battle, it is the battle.”
Using prayer as a sword and shield remains a guiding ethos of Open Doors International’s advocacy in 2025.
“Our battle is a spiritual battle,” said Croft. How are we supposed to fight that battle if it's not without the sword of the Spirit, but also the prayer? Brother Andrew said that we have the opportunity to literally direct the course of history while on our knees.”
A specialized “Africa Week of Prayer” guide has been developed for anyone who signs up for the one week of intentional prayer between Sept. 7 and 14.
To add your name to the Arise for Africa call-to-action petition, visit leavesofhealing.org.
(Amundson is an associate editor and writer for The Catholic Register.)
A version of this story appeared in the September 14, 2025, issue of The Catholic Registerwith the headline "A million voices sought for Africa's oppressed Christians".
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