Take up an Offering, Do Something!
This is a challenge to every Christian in Nigeria. Are we all going to stand idly by and watch as our brethren are slaughtered and completely wiped out in the ongoing genocide being carried out in Northern Nigeria?
Many of us have been like Ostriches with our heads in the sand, living in denial, wishing the problem will go away or otherwise somehow resolve itself and simply thankful that we are not the victims.
I know, because I have been there. But try as I can, it has been impossible to wish the problem away. The killings are increasing in frequency and my heart has been assailed with the question: What can I do? I have been praying and I am sure many Christians have been doing the same. Still, my heart knows no peace. What more can I do? Leave my family, take up arms and fight alongside my brethren? Send reinforcement? Send help? There it is! I can send help. I can take up an offering, find a local contact and send relief materials, food, and money that can help rebuild burnt homes and churches.
“Can’t Christians just leave the North as they were directed to do?”They could but what will happen when the Marauders increase their brazenness and extend their directive to the South of Nigeria? Will we be driven into the Atlantic Ocean? Contrary to the popular belief, not all Northerners are traditionally Muslims; the Christian population in Borno, Bauchi, Kano etc does not predominantly comprise settlers and ‘foreigners’. There are indigenous generations of Christians and many homesteads where Christians and Muslims have dwelt together in harmony over scores of decades. In more recent times, as fundamentalism has grown, Christians are being forced to renounce their faith, or face eviction from their ancestral homes or in many cases: death. Should we just stand by and watch these events unravel doing no more than wishing our brethren well? If we cannot go and join up in the fight to defend their lives, perhaps we can help them in their efforts to organize vigilante groups that patrol the border of their communities, provide security surveillance for Churches, help rebuild lives shattered by the violence, keep children in schools, organize food drives etc.
“Will the money go to the right places? I don’t want to send money that will be mismanaged?” Let that fall on the shoulders of those who are appointed to administer the funds but let not the neglect come from us. Let us do what we can and be our brothers’ keepers. Take up an offering in your church community or adopt a ravaged Church community from Northern Nigeria today.
