Senate Needs To Confirm Religious Freedom Ambassador Before More Christians Are Tortured Abroad
While the mainstream media barely covers these events, it’s clear that many Americans want the U.S. to do more to stop the persecution of Christians.
By Sean Nelson | The Federalist | August 22, 2025
The Senate’s remarkable delay in confirming Donald Trump’s nominees is having real-world effects in areas where the president and his administration are poised to push ahead dramatically. Consider one vital role for the United States on the international stage: the Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom.
In April, President Trump quickly nominated pastor and former Congressman Mark Walker to be his International Religious Freedom Ambassador. In Trump’s first term, he made religious freedom into a major U.S. foreign policy priority. The International Religious Freedom Ambassador is the central person who is empowered to advocate for persecuted people of faith, including persecuted Christians, around the world.
As ambassador, Walker would be an advocate for persecuted Christians like David. David (not his real name) is a young Nigerian Christian living within Muslim-majority Northern Nigeria. He is a fervent believer and assists his church by evangelizing others. But early last year, his life changed.
Militants had discovered that he had evangelized two adult women converts from Islam to Christianity. Their families and communities had threatened their lives, and he helped them to escape to a safe place. For his good works, these militants detained him and the pastor of his church for two weeks, chaining them to the ground and torturing them daily. The militants then handed them over to local police. Police prosecuted David for kidnapping and other charges, and he was convicted and sentenced to nine years’ imprisonment in a three-day sham trial, without legal representation.
Lawyers were ultimately able to obtain bail on appeal for David and have the pastor released before he could be tried. Late last month, after a year and a half of a conviction hanging over him, David was finally acquitted. The state did not even defend its actions. He is now safe with another church community, as are the pastor and two women.
David’s story ended well, but many Christians are not so lucky. Northern Nigeria is the most dangerous place on Earth to be a Christian. Year after year, thousands of Christians are murdered by terrorists and militants, inspired by the same Islamist ideology that gave rise to ISIS. One recent report found that more than 7,000 Christians in Nigeria have been killed by jihadists so far this year alone.