Together we thrive: Join us in equipping local communities who actively experience persecution to advance and protect their religious freedom. Over the last decade, countless individuals and communities have been impacted by the inhumanity of religious persecution. To continue our mission and expand our reach, we are seeking financial support.
Our goal for 2025 is to work with local partners to launch sustainable Christian-led centers in countries experiencing persecution. This approach equips Christians to engage with their government and society to support freedom of religion, human rights, and the rule of law.
Nonprofitsource.com reports that 30% of all giving takes place in the final few weeks of the year. The last six weeks of the year is when 21Wilberforce conducts an annual giving campaign which this year is titled “Unite to Fight with the Persecuted.”
We invite you to be part of this journey of fellowship and unity with the persecuted and suffering. We are investing in these frontline workers, with a vision of building up impactful and sustainable religious freedom advocacy in the countries where it is threatened. Here are highlights from some of the work 21Wilberforce did this year:
- In Lagos, in July, and in October in South Korea at the Lausanne Congress, 21Wilberforce leadership worked with Nigerian church leaders to discuss the next phase of cooperation, to understand how to equip them. In Nigeria, our President also helped lead a panel on religious freedom and (in)security in that country.
- We later held a virtual consultation with evangelical leaders in Nigeria to equip them on research, documenting, and reporting violence and how it ties to broader advocacy in Nigeria. Future activities will include coursework and equipping Nigerian Christian institutions with in-country research including with universities.
- We concluded a counseling project begun the prior year to support pastors as they minister to those affected by the violence that erupted in Manipur in May 2023, and which is ongoing.
- Building on this effort, we are working to support Baptist leaders to equip pastors and communities with peacemaking tools. We brought together church leaders from the region for a collaborative workshop that will equip them with advocacy, peacebuilding, negotiation, and conflict-resolution tools. The workshop also provides a platform for the leaders to build initiatives that will empower Christians in NE India to take the lead in effective peace-making.
- Discussions and ongoing advocacy work with leaders from Myanmar and the Burmese diaspora have revealed opportunities for “upstream solutions” to support the millions of Christians who continue to live with the many challenges resulting from the 2021 military coup. For example, 21Wilberforce partners with a seminary on the Thai-Burma (also known as Myanmar) border that is working to help address a crisis that displaced people fleeing a new military offensive by the Karen National Union.
- We are advocating with the U.S. Congress to raise awareness and spur action for Christians and other religious minorities trapped by debt slavery in the brick-making industry in Pakistan. The Pakistan brickmaking industry employs over 3 million people who produce 82 billion bricks per year with a large portion of this industry being built on the back of modern-day slaves. The practice disproportionately affects religious minorities in the country. While religious minorities are estimated to be only 5% of Pakistan’s population, the percentage of religious minorities working in brick kilns is often as high as 50%. Many marginalized Hindus, Christians, and non-majority Muslim groups are trapped in this work and face pressure to forcibly convert.
- 21Wilberforce is developing the foundations for a partnership between Baptist universities in the United States with Baptist universities in countries facing persecution. Our objective is to disseminate knowledge on the theological and legal foundations for religious freedom as well as the protection of the right to life in contexts of violence.
Three-quarters of the world’s people live under religious discrimination and persecution. And so, we ask you to make a gift to support our shared mission of uniting to equip those persecuted for their faith. A generous donor has pledged $25,000 as a matching gift for our year-end campaign. This means that we can double the life-changing impact of your gift to 21Wilberforce.
As we are reminded in Hebrews 13:16, “Do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.”
During Advent, we ask that our hands and voices not remain still and silent. Rather, we commit to knowing the testimonies of persecuted people, weep for their wounds, and intercede on their behalf through prayer, advocacy, and giving.
Donate here.