A worldwide alert on communities of faith

This episode of the America Out Loud Podcast Network's National Security Hour features a powerful conversation between host Blanquita Cullum and Pastor William Devlin, a veteran advocate for religious freedom who has risked his life to defend persecuted Christians in northern Nigeria. Devlin recounts his harrowing mission to rescue eight children kidnapped from a Christian orphanage by Islamist forces under Sharia law, detailing threats of stoning and the ongoing brutality faced by Christians in Nigeria, where over 4,000 people have been killed in the first quarter of 2026. He draws parallels to rising attacks on religious institutions in the U.S., including synagogues, Catholic churches, and even the Little Sisters of the Poor, who are being pressured to conform to progressive ideologies in their hospice work. Devlin calls on American pastors to lead with courage, citing his own decision to offer his life for a condemned man in Nigeria—a gesture that led to a pardon. The episode also features artist Human Khalili, whose murals honor women murdered in Iran for showing their hair, and highlight the overlooked suffering of Iranian children under the Islamic regime, while criticizing the UN and global media for silence. Khalili’s art seeks to restore dignity to the voiceless and reframe the historical bond between Persians and Jews, as seen in the Book of Esther.