Father Tony Onyeihe joins World Day of Prayer in California, Mo.
Speaks of troubles facing Christians in Nigeria
“Bring all that weighs you down, so that you may find rest.”
A priest from Nigeria, tables full of faithful churchgoers and an hour of prayer, songs and food filled the gymnasium of California United Church of Christ (UCC) the afternoon of March 6 as it celebrated the 2026 World Day of Prayer.
Local World Day of Prayer director Linda Schnieders said the event is an ecumenical day set aside to pray for others around the world.
Each year, participating churches are given a nation to pray for.
“This year, the country that we’re praying for is Nigeria,” Schnieders said. “It’s for anybody who is a part of the ministerial alliance in California, Missouri, and it extends out to other towns — Jamestown, High Point and McGirk are also involved.”
According to the event’s program, Christian women in Nigeria are in urgent need of prayer and support.
Christians in Nigeria, especially women, face persecution regularly.
This year’s World Day of Prayer observance called on participants to lift up Nigeria in prayer and consider those affected by this persecution.
The California event was open to anyone who wanted to join.
This was the 10th year California UCC has hosted the event.
Although Schnieders said they didn’t have anything new planned to mark the 10 anniversary, her church was happy to have Father Anthony “Tony” Onyeihe from Nigeria to speak to guests.
Fr. Onyeihe, a priest of the Diocese of Okigwe, Nigeria, and a missionary priest in the Jefferson City diocese, is currently serving as pastor of St. Theresa Parish in Dixon and St. Cornelius Parish in Crocker.
Fr. Onyeihe gave participants an insight into life in Nigeria, detailing how the nation’s civil war in 1967 led to many of the challenges its people face today.
One of the effects of the war was the removal of Christian missionaries throughout the country.
“When they left, it also affected the educational sector, because the missionaries built almost all the schools in the country,” Fr. Onyeihe said. “So, the government took all the schools that the missionaries built in the years before, and when you took the schools, the educational sector collapsed.”
Fr. Onyeihe said the ensuing decades were marked by religious violence.
He said the northern half of the country is majority-Islamic and the southern half majority-Christian, with Nigeria’s Middle Belt acting as a place where both groups can live fairly peacefully.
“The problem is that the current government we have right now is complicit in the killing of believers,” Fr. Onyeihe said. “Over the years, the government (fought) the terrorists, but now the current government enables them, and that is what makes the problem more complex and complicated, as well.”
The literacy rate for women in the northern part of the country is about 20 percent, compared to the south’s 62 percent.
“Women cannot speak for themselves,” said Fr. Onyeihe. “They are limited by inequality in education, employment and representation, as well.
“There is also violence against women,” he continued. “... Unfortunately, women bear the brunt of it. When these attacks happen, sometimes the men run away, or sometimes the men can’t defend themselves and fight.
“But the women and the kids are left to fend for themselves,” he said. “Most times, they are victims of sexual abuse, religious abuse and all kinds of abuse.”
The theme for this year’s World Day of Prayer was “I Will Give You Rest: Come” — based on Matthew 11:28-30.
The event called on all participants to pray for others’ burdens and to pray for these women to find rest in Christ’s love.
“I don’t know how you can help, but one thing I can have you do is to pray,” Fr. Onyeihe said. “If nothing else, please pray.
“Pray for our country,” he continued. “Pray for us. Pray for our women, especially those in the northern part of the country. They are going through a lot, and it’s been a difficult thing for them.”
Kaden Quinn is the editor of the California Democrat newspaper (californiademocrat.com), which published a version of this story March 11. This version is published here with permission.
