There are places in the world where saying yes to Jesus means losing everything —your home, your family, your children, your life. Northern Nigeria is one of them. And for over a decade, one man has been living inside that reality, not as a spectator, but as a servant. Brad Brandon was a senior pastor in Connecticut when God stripped everything back. A month-long stay in the ICU became a turning point — a divine interruption that revealed, in Brad's own words, that ministry had become "a work of my own power." He came out transformed, unable to return to his former life, and eventually followed a prompting that led him to buy a one-way ticket to one of the most volatile regions on earth: Northern Nigeria, where 12 states operate under strict Sharia law, and where faith in Christ is legally punishable by death.
What Brad has built in that soil is nothing short of remarkable. Across Nigeria now operates 23 ministries — a refugee facility for families who have lost homes, bank accounts, and children; underground congregations that move locations to avoid detection; schools reaching over 5,000 Fulani Muslim children; a BibleInstitute training former Muslims as pastors; and radio programs broadcasting the gospel in Hausa and Fufude to communities that have never heard it. Over7,000 Muslims have come to faith in Christ. Many are now pastors. Some work for Brad's own organization. The persecutors, in God's hands, have become the proclaimers. In this episode of The UPside Conversations, Brad speaks with host Marion MacKenzie about the scale of what is happening — the staggering human cost, the extraordinary fruit, and the urgent call for the Western church to wake up. "Bind yourself to them as though it's happening to you,"Brad says, quoting Hebrews 13:3. "This isn't something horrible happening to them over there. This is happening to our family." The Kingdom is advancing in Northern Nigeria. The question is whether the rest of the Body will rise to meet
Watch the full conversation on YouTube and visit acrossnigeria.org to pray, give, and stay informed.
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