Jacob woke up to the sound of machine gun fire in the distance. He opened his tent to find the others at the encampment scrambling to pack up and move out. Moments later, men on motorcycles sped into the camp and shot at Jacob and his group. One man was killed and another was shot in the hand before their group escaped.
This is how the underground church in Northern Nigeria must meet—in secret rural camps, hidden from the watchful eye of Islamic militants who have come to power in the north. “If we are caught, it’s certain death,” says Jacob, whose name has been changed for this article. “Leaving Islam is punishable by death, so anyone who attempts to do that is actually stoned to death.”
Imagine what happens to those who preach the gospel.
Brushes with death like this have become routine for Jacob. In fact, they’ve been happening more and more. Since 2009, more than 52,000 Christians in Northern Nigeria have been killed, with 7,000 of those deaths taking place in the first half of 2025, according to The Washington Post. Millions have been displaced from their hometowns, but as the persecution of Christians increases, Jacob embeds himself further into Nigeria’s most dangerous city.
He has work to do.
Gateway’s Connection to Northern Nigeria
Originally from the north, Jacob went to college in Southern Nigeria and landed a cushy job at HiTV, a now defunct satellite television service. Even though this kind of job was in high demand, he wanted to do something that gave him a deeper sense of purpose. “How can I spend my life just trying to connect people to their TVs?” he says. “I couldn’t stay there.” So, he left his job and became an associate pastor of a church. But even in this role, he knew there was a calling that couldn’t be fulfilled by working at a church.
“God showed me billions of people,” Jacob says. “You can’t reach that many people in one church.”
Meanwhile, Jacob’s hometown of Sokoto in the north was becoming unrecognizable. He attributes it to the introduction of Sharia (Islamic) law in 1999, the same year Nigeria adopted a democratic government for its 36 states. Out of the 18 states in the north, 12 voted to make Sharia law part of their legal system, which made Islamic law fundamental to life there.
While the south continued to grow economically and socially, the north grew more archaic as radical Islam took over, limiting opportunities for young people outside of joining extremist groups like Boko Haram and Islamic State in West Africa Province (ISWAP). Sokoto was and is the seat of the Caliphate in Nigeria, headquarters of the Islamic government. This made it the single most dangerous place for a Christian like Jacob to be.
Yet he felt called to go back home. “My heart would go back to Sokoto,” he says. “So, I started praying about leaving my work as a pastor and returning there.” Soon after, Jacob knew he was meant to move back to his hometown, begin a ministry, and bring the gospel to those who don’t know Jesus.
Becoming a Gateway Partner
Around the same time Pastor Charles Ikutiminu, one of Gateway’s global outreach pastors, had been searching for a ministry partner in Northern Nigeria for Gateway to establish a connection with. Up to that point, no one he found had been from the north, and Gateway's influence in the troubled region was almost nonexistent. But in 2018, things changed for Gateway and for Jacob.
“Everyone I met was a missionary from the south,” says Charles. “Jacob was the first person I met who was actually from the north and I knew he was the right person.”
“Meeting Charles was a turning point for me,” says Jacob. “I was struggling to get started and now it’s a whole different thing.”
Gateway's Growing Impact in Nigeria
Since that meeting in 2018, Jacob’s small ministry has grown tremendously. He’s visited more than 2,500 villages, sharing the gospel and playing the 1979 Jesus film for anyone who’s willing to watch. “We take the gospel to places where people haven’t had the opportunity to hear,” he says. “And we’ve seen thousands give their hearts to Jesus.” His ministry has planted and established 34 churches, and in 2025 alone, they have held discipleship classes in more than 100 locations in Northern Nigeria.
While Jacob’s ministry continues to grow, it’s dangerous work. And Christians aren’t the only ones being killed. Extremist Muslim groups will clash with one another in efforts to create their own Islamic caliphates, often killing those they believe are not devout enough. The numbers of Muslims being killed are similar to those of Christians but the percentages of Christians being killed are significantly higher. As a population, Christians are being wiped out in Northern Nigeria.
But not if Jacob can help it. “People need to hear about Jesus,” he says. “People need to get saved, because life on Earth is just a vapor.”
When asked about the dangers he must face every day and the growing risk of death, Jacob pauses before answering. The tears welling up in his eyes are visible over a grainy Zoom connection.
“I am not afraid to die,” he says, “I died a long time ago.”
How to Help Christians in Northern Nigeria
Jacob needs our help, but he’s not asking for financial support. He needs our prayers.
“Remember us. Put us in your daily prayers,” he says. “We know that we’re being covered in prayer, and we know there’s a harvest that we need to bring into the kingdom of God.”