Couldyou imagine waking up to gunshots?
Your wife and children running outside
of your home to see what
was going on,
getting caught in a trap,
and then being brutally killed
because of a
vengeance between people groups
yet your wife and children were completely innocent?
You then look up and the church you pastor
is
completely engulfed in flames?
This is
the reality of one man we met.
Could
you imagine waking up to rebels coming to burn down all the Christian homes,
businesses, and churches in your entire village?
Could you imagine being the
one who decided to leave his
home with his brother and sister to protect
the church from being burnt down, looking back and seeing your own home on fire, completely
destroyed?
This is the reality
of one man we met.
Could
you imagine being the head of a village
of over 500 people
and waking up to your home on
fire?
Could
you imagine leaving your home
and seeing your
entire village
being
surrounded, burnt, and massacred?
Could you image being the head
of a village
and not only losing 250 villagers
but also 10 of your own children
and 4 of your own grandchildren?
This is the reality of one man we met.
Couldyou imagine
waking up to multiple
armed men in your room
who
not only cut off your nose
and
severely slashed your arm,
but they also killed your mother
and
sister
who are in the
same room as you?
Could you imagine
being 20 years old and
being the only survivor
of
your family?
girl we met.
Could you even begin to imagine,
because I can’t. Even being here amongst these villagers, I cannot even pretend to relate with them.
But these stories are the harsh reality of the villages of
Nigeria who have been affected by the senseless
tragedies that have occurred recently.
Each of the
stories of the people that we met today have been different and each
have been affected in different ways, but one thing unites them all… hope. Each and
every one of them embraces hope and will not
stand for fighting any longer. Some of these people we have met
that have lost everything and
still have even gone to neighboring villages to see how they can help
out.
children, and children are singing songs of joy to their creator. Hope, joy, and peace
is what these villagers are now claiming!
Could you imagine,
despite hardships such as the ones of these experienced by these
amazing people, claiming the hope of Christ? I know, now I can. For God works everything for good.
Jos will be a place looked up to across history for their hope in Christ
and stand for peace.
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Wow, that’s intense stuff. No, I can’t imagine…but there response is what community is all about. The courage and faith to be able to love and have hope after all they’ve been through…what an example!
Wow. Difficult to imagine that is “normal” for so many. Thanks for sharing, Seth.
I have been learning in life that there must be a “holy state of discontent” where we realize God is more interested in our character than our comfort. Thanks for being a tool for that this morning.
I can’t imagine…but I somehow can grasp, just barely, through suffering like this when I think of Jesus, that this is why Christianity is spreading in areas of the world where there is suffering. Comfortable complacency is not what Jesus died for.