The Power of Love

Many of you are already aware of the recent bombings in Jos which took the lives of many innocent and unsuspecting people. Many of the victims were women selling goods with their young children tied to their backs. The bombings happened in very public places and did not target any one tribe, religion or gender.

Though bombings like these are nothing new for the people of Jos, the pain and loss caused are no less intense. Residents of Jos have lived in times of uncertainly before during the crisis of 2001, 2008 and 2010 which stemmed from complex political, ethnic and religious tensions. For many, this is a time of intense fear and suspicion. Many people are afraid to leave their homes for fear of becoming victims of vigilantly justice like that which followed many of the attacks in past years.  

The new aspect of the recent violence in Jos and around the country of Nigeria is that the bombings have not targeted any one group, but have affected everyone equally. Still, many fear that they will be blamed because of their religion or ethnicity and suspicious are high. This is an opportunity for the people of Jos to let go of their fears and memories of past atrocities and band together as one. 

BRiCC is one important organization which is trying to encourage a calm and empathetic reaction from its members and the larger community. There are plans for a prayer vigil in the next weeks to mourn the victims while allowing leaders of both the M*l and Christian communities to encourage forgiveness and peace. 

Love in the face of evil is a powerful force. I have been very encouraged in the past week by reading a book called My Brother’s Keeper: Stories of grace from the Jos Plateau. This book was written by a key member of BRiCC, Ruth Beattie whose passion for peace made me cry the first night we shared a meal. One of the stories she shared in her book was from the 2001 crisis and it remains an effective weapon against the fog of fear and suspicion that covers Jos today.   

In short, during that time a Pastor named Luka was a student at a Christian seminary in Jos. As many people were afraid to leave their homes for an extended period and shops were closed food supplies started to run low. A week into the crisis, the students at Luka’s university noticed two young Muslim boys harvesting in the field opposite the school. Since there was deep suspicious between M*ls and Christians, (which continues till today) many of the students assumed the boys were there to spy on the school and report back to others who would come and attack them. By the time Pastor Luka found out about it, his fellow students had already seized the boys, stripped them of their clothes and began to beat them. Luka positioned himself between the boys and their attackers saying, “We shouldn’t do this! We are Christians at a Christian college. Let these boys go!” By that point, another student (who was already so overpowered by the fear and grief of the crises that he could not have been thinking clearly) had already arrived with matches and petrol and was planning to burn the two boys alive. The other students agreed that the boys should be killed before they had a chance to report to whoever sent them and justified their decision by reminding Luka how many innocent Christians had recently been killed at M*l hands. Luka held up his hands and said, “We are Christians, we should not repay evil for evil.” He then went on to remind the other students that no amount of innocent blood could pay for the lives of those who had already been killed in recent days. Finally, the other students saw the truth and power of his words and let the boys go free. 

Stories like these are powerful and God is using people like Pastor Luka today to be the peacemakers that can turn the tide in their community. I’m praying that God will use Jeremy and I to encourage some of those people through BRiCC to stand up for what is right in the face of very real fear and suffering. God’s word promises that what Satan plans for destruction, He can and will turn around for good. Please pray that He will make a way for the Christians in Jos to demonstrate the outrageous love and forgiveness of Christ to the people around them, turning many hearts to God!  

We are safe & still waging peace at BRiCC

In Oceans Deep

We have had a lot of ups and downs over the past few busy weeks.  Still it’s encouraging to see God’s faithfulness through it all. Today Jeremy spoke on the story of Ruth at our church. It was amazing to hear God talking through him to a church facing the darkness of our world with courage and integrity, much like Naomi did in the book of Ruth. Jeremy highlighted the parallel between Boaz role as Ruth’s redeemer in the story and the reality of Christ as our redeemer in the mist of life’s sometimes overwhelming trials.

We have experienced our share of trails over the last weeks with Jeremy becoming sick and too tired to function just days before BRiCC’s final football match and the preshow concert he has been organizing. Thankfully, he had recovered by the day of the match and was even able to get a local company to donate food for some of the fans. The concert also went well and Jeremy’s servant’s heart really shone as he procured and setup the band’s sound equipment and made sure they had all they needed for a successful show. 

Since then, God has given Katie the opportunity to meet with and interview about 9 of the graduates from BRiCC’s catering and cosmetology programs. After hearing about their many interpersonal and business successes, she was able to compile their stories for fundraising and press purposes. Though being involved in this process is extremely encouraging, Katie has been battling a cold and exhaustion all week. 

We had hoped that this weekend would provide us with some much needed rest, but it seems God had different plans. We were involved in a small fender bender on Saturday as Jeremy was driving a friend’s car to buy groceries. Thankfully no one was hurt and their car had very little damage, but since Jeremy was mostly at fault we do have to pay for the other car’s damage. Praise God the cost is very low for their repairs, but the accident was just one trail of many this weekend. Our computer and plumbing have also been acting up this weekend. Being unable to charge our computer due to issues with the charger and lack of electricity has been a burden for us since it is our only connection to our lives in Indiana. Please pray that God will give us patience to deal with all the little annoyances that can add up to a big burden sometimes. 

We also had a nasty little surprise this morning when we awoke to the strong smell of fuel and discovered that our generator had leaked an entire talk of fuel (during a fuel shortage in Jos) onto our garage floor. Thank God for our safety as the problem was probably happening while the generator was running also! We know that in every situation (even the unpleasant ones) God is faithful and we are continuing to trust His plan for our time in Nigeria.  

What a Week!

Wow! This week has been a whirlwind! We are seeing so many opportunities to minister here that we need four of ourselves to keep up. This week was the beginning of the women’s health program at BRiCC. The class started off small with four ladies, but we have seen more interest this week and hope for many more to join tomorrow’s nutrition segment. Please continue to pray for the specific group of ladies that God has put on Katie’s heart in BRiCC’s community! Pray that they would join classes tomorrow. Also, pray that the four Nigerian nurses who signed up to help teach will follow through and more will want to help their community by partnering with us. 

This week’s football match sponsored by BRiCC drew bigger crows then the first and we are trusting that more will be interested in attending the final on May 9^th. Jeremy has approached a major company in Jos called Indomie (Roman Noodles) requesting support with the prematch concert. It’s amazing to see God stretching us in the area of public relations as we learn to approach hospitals, schools, companies and individuals in the community to support BRiCC and peace in Jos. Please pray that God would continue to give us favor with people as we learn. 

We have had the opportunity to make some new friends this week and were hugely blessed to meet an ethnomusicologist here with Wycliffe Bible Translators. We were able to attend a music and art festival this weekend during which people from seven different ethnic groups around this region presented the gospel’s impact on their lives through traditional music, dance, drama and art. It was such a beautiful and inspiring thing to watch people who had previously been discouraged from using their traditional music, dance and arts (due to the misconceptions of early missionaries) use their talents to worship God! Praise God, that even in the most stressful times He is still on His thrown and worthy of praise. 

Katie & a new friend at BRiCC's Second Match

Some of the Nigerian dancers at the Festival

Jeremy performing at the International School in Jos