Pandemic is often the strategic site of religious creativity, critical reappraisal and dynamic
readjustments. The fundamental essence of religions in the construct of its beliefs, liturgies
and rituals are generally shaped by the outbreak of pandemics. While different studies in
religion have engaged these radical changes of religions during pandemics, they have not
directly interrogated the creative religious encounters among faith communities in their
negotiations with the pandemic and the volatility of the refugee camps. Situated among
refugee camps, the paper analyzes the creative religious beliefs of internally displaced
persons in their experience of religion, pandemic and terrorism in two refugee camps in
Southern Kaduna Nigeria. Our findings suggest a spiritual awakening in religious thoughts
of these displaced Christians who in 2020 were existentially threatened by the combining
forces of terrorism and COVID-19. Significantly, these Christians operate a subversive
grassroots theology which creatively challenges the dominant African Pentecostal theology of
prosperity and wellness in other parts of Nigeria. The COVID-19 outbreak and the ongoing
persecution of these Christian communities in northern Nigeria have destroyed the false
illusions of Pentecostal Christianity, which preached prosperity and healing for all true
Christians. As a result, the findings point to shapeshifting identity and inner crises of
Nigerian Christianity seen from the existential struggles of these Christian refugee camps.
The global importance of this work lies in its creative mapping of World Christianity in the
“praxis of pandemics” and the human sufferings of African refugee camps.
