The Plateau State IDP Orphans

IDP – Internally Displaced Persons: I have been working with Christian IDP’s for decades. In the 1980’s as President Ronald Reagan dealt with the communist takeover in Nicaragua, I worked to take aid to Christians who had fled to Honduras.

Using what was then called the “Denton Amendment” I arranged for entire military cargo plane loads of aid to be taken to Nicaraguan refugees in Honduras.

The first Christmas program my ministry did was in Honduras taking plane loads of Christmas gifts containing essential items to Nicaraguan refugees. The program was operating ten years prior to Franklin Graham’s founding of Samaritan’s Purse and the first “Christmas Child” program. I’ve been aiding Christian refugees and IDP’s for decades.

All the programs I have initiated have aided Christians during times when they faced persecution and even death.

Since our first aid program in the 1980’s this ministry has assisted Christian refugees and IDP’s in Kosovo, Serbia, Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan, the Sudan and Nigeria. I have visited and witnessed the worst of the worst forms of persecution given to Christians for their faith.

I thought I had witnessed the worst Islamic extremism could do in Iraq and Syria, but I was wrong. The crimes against humanity by the Sunni Muslim Fulanis in Nigeria are the worst I have ever seen. I am not forgetting 9-11 although the American media seems to have forgotten that horrid day in our history.

What happens to the children made orphans in the latest attacks in Plateau State?

Worst case scenario: Hundreds of the new orphans who witnessed the murders of their parents turn away from Jesus.

The main purpose of the programs I have initiated for more than 40 years is to show the love and faithfulness of our Lord. The purpose of every program is to reinforce the faith of the persecuted by showing the love of Jesus for them from other believers.

Not enough beds: We cannot absorb 1,000 new orphans into the orphanage we designed and built for a maximum of 160 children.

Relatives of the children are poor villagers themselves and can’t take them into their homes without help. Many live on less than $2.00 per person per month.

Right now, the work is being done to fully set up the process to have families sign up to take in a child who is a relative. I am working with our staff in Nigeria and tribal leaders to set up the process and vet the families.

As part of the package the families will be required to attend church weekly with the children they are caring for. The program is meant to grow the family spiritually as well as to assist the children materially.

The planning for the program to place the orphans is done, but not all the mechanics of it have been finished, including work with tribal leaders.

Our ministry in Nigeria is more important than ever. These children need our help. Please consider donating to allow us to continue and further our ministry in Nigeria.

William J. Murray, RFC President