Christians and Muslims were once united in the Northeast Nigeria

Christians and Muslims were once united in the Northeast Nigeria
By Vicky Somniso-Abraham, Special to ASSIST News Service
RANDBURG, SOUTH AFRICA (ANS) -- A mere mention of the northeast in Nigeria evokes thoughts of error, abductions, and merciless killings.
The northeast is regarded as a troubled region, however those who are familiar with the state reflect positively on the peace that prevailed in the area prior to the genesis of the two Islamic groups, the Maitatsine and Boko Haram.
Before the uprising of the Maitatsine in the 1980s which left at least 5000 dead and later the Boko Haram which left over 12 000 dead, the northeast was regarded as a peaceful region. However today it has become a bloodbath for Christians and those who oppose the group.
Fifty-year old Pastor Amakom Hyacinth Peregrine an Igbo man grew up in the Kano State and later moved to the Kaduna State where the Boko Haram has currently gone on rampage, kidnapping and killing innocent lives daily.
Peregrine who currently lives in one of the upper class market suburbs in Randburg, South Africa sits on a couch at a lounge in his newly found home. He reflects positively on his beautiful childhood memories on a state that has now become a center of attraction worldwide due to the ongoing bloody massacre.
"Everything was very peaceful, perfect and beautiful. You'd feel at home. We played soccer and hockey with homemade sticks," he says recalling his childhood memories.
"As we grew older, we would go to night clubs and there were no robbers on the road. The police would not arrest you if they saw you on the streets at night.  Instead, they would rather escort you home.
We lived a good life, but not anymore," recalls Peregrine now a pastor at one of the Nigerians churches situated in Randburg, South Africa.
"I wish that place could have remained that way, I would go back there. But I do not plan to go there until there is peace," says distraught Peregrine.
Back then he says the Muslims and the Christians were united.
"The relationship between us Christians and Muslims was cordial. The Muslims were my best friends, I would visit them at their homes and they would do the same."
However, things changed when the leader of the Maitatsine group, Mohammed Marwa robbed the northerners
off their peace. Marwa was known as Maitatsine and his group was named after him.  He was a preacher with a following of 3000. Similar to the Boko Haram, he opposed "secular authority and usage of technology". Ironically, he "rejected Prophet Muhammed".
"In the early 80s we heard people shouting Allah ha Akbar (god is great). They arrived and killed people in the north and nobody knew where they were coming from. They were killing the non-Muslims and Christians helter-skelter. Thousands of people were murdered. Some people ran away from the region for their safety."
Christian groups were formed whereby young men including Peregrine were offered training in order to protect themselves and their community. They were also taught how to make homemade weapons.
"We would have small meetings and they trained us how to fight back. We did not have guns, so we used guava tree sticks to protect ourselves. The training was very helpful."
According to Peregrine, hitting a person with a guava stick at particular areas of their body might lead to death. He said their opponents were armed with knives and guns.
During the fights, Maitaitsine was killed apparently by the police and that marked the demise of the group. People believe that the formation of Boko Haram was motivated by the Maitaitsine group.
"But the group is only wreaking havoc now. We don't know what is going on. They are against modern technology yet they use the same technology to record themselves. How can you say you don't want western method while you are using their devices?"
According to the Nation Online editor and the founder of Journalists for Christ Mr. Lekan Otufodunrin the Boko Haram attacks have mainly been limited to the northeast zone of the country with states like, Borno, Yobe, Kano, Bauchi, Adamawa, Kaduna and the federal capital, Abuja hard hit.
"Many lives and properties have been lost in the attacks but as a country we have all been affected in one way or the other. There are fears that the attacks may spread to other parts of the country. We all now live in fear not sure where next the terrorists will strike," said Otufodunrin.
He said the attacks have scared off Nigerians from the affected parts of the country.
"I for example and most Nigerians will think twice about travelling to the north. Some Nigerians from the southern parts who have lived all their lives in the north have had to return to the south after losing their properties and even family members," said Otufodunrin.
Boko Haram made media headlines when they abducted 200 school girls, but some managed to escape.
While they continue to kill and abduct people in the name of Islam, the Muslim Council of America Foundation (MCA) recently distanced itself from their abhorrent actions.
In his recent column on the MCA website the President of the Muslim Council of America Foundation, Aslam Abdulla said, Boko Haram claims to be Islamic, yet in the eyes of Muslims it has nothing to do with Islam.
"It claims to be a saved sect blessed by God and it believes in the supremacy of its own concept of religious law under the domination and authority of men only. Since, they believe that they are already a saved sect they can do whatever they want without being questioned by the divine either here or on the day of judgment.
They believe that non-Muslims have no rights and they deserve to be killed for preaching their faith. They describe all other Muslim sects as either kafir (non believers) or murtad (apostates) whose murder is part of their religious duty," said Abdulla.
Abdulla further wrote that the group does not interact with other Muslims and are ready to kill anyone who is opposed to them. He said they quote the verses of the Quran and ahadith to justify their position on slavery, status of women, rejection of modern education and the use of violence.
Abdulla emphasized that Boko Haram's understanding of Islam is based on an ideology that has tribal as well as juristic roots. He said the group relies on an understanding of the Quran that calls for perpetual armed struggle against those who think differently from the group claiming to be a saved sect.
Abdulla further said that there are many who view the Quran and Sunnah as a license to promote violence
and terror to achieve their goals.
He wrote that convincing such people that Islam does not promote violence and terror is where
the real challenge lies for Muslim intellect.
"Obviously, the existence of such groups demonstrate the failure of Muslim intellectuals to meet the challenge effectively, yet the efforts must continue at all levels, political , military, social and more importantly the theological," concluded Abdulla.
Photos: 1) Pastor Amakom Hyacinth Peregrine (50), an Igbo man (Photo: Vicky Somniso-Abraham)
2) Boko Haram
January 14, 2015
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Bundled Up

Bundled Up  

The mother of this baby boy was nine months pregnant when she was forced to flee the area of Qaraqosh, Iraq on foot to escape the Islamic State (ISIS) as it seized her village. She walked for five hours until she reached a checkpoint, where soldiers told someone in a car to take her to Erbil. Born in a church-run tent camp outside Ankawa, outside Erbil, in late summer of 2014, Marvin Basher was one of a handful of children born either in the camp or by a mother residing there – part of a new generation growing up in such camps. As temperatures drop in the high plains and mountains of the Middle East, he and other displaced children benefit from blankets purchased by ministries that Christian Aid Mission assists.

Winter Brings Killer Cold to Those Who Fled Death in Middle East

Winter Brings Killer Cold to Those Who Fled Death in Middle East

January 15, 2015

Children such as this one at a tent camp outside Erbil, Iraq are among those with the greatest needs in the Middle East.

Winter cold has begun to claim lives among people from Iraq and Syria who fled atrocities of the Islamic State (ISIS) and other militants, indigenous Christian workers said.
Among the victims last week was a 2-month-old girl named Layla, born to a Kurdish family from Kobani, Syria.
“A little baby died because of the cold,” said the director of a ministry for Syrian refugees in Turkey. “It’s mauling me even more because I have seen the babe with her mother in their tent. Please pray for us so we can do something for them.”
Thousands of people flowing from Syria into Turkey need baby formula, diapers and children’s clothing, especially socks and shoes, which the Christian workers can purchase locally. The ministry also seeks to arrange for medical care and the local purchase of heaters and blankets, he said.
A leader of a ministry in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley that runs a school for refugees near the border with Syria also reported fatal cold last week.
“Last night a 4-year-old child died, frozen near the school,” he said. “Please pray with us for our brothers in the Bekaa Valley of Lebanon who are facing very low temperatures. Please pray for the school, as well; we are closed because we cannot heat the classrooms.”
The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has warned that winter could bring crisis conditions to up to 1 million people displaced by civil war in Syria and ISIS in Iraq. Christian workers in centers for people from both countries have begun to see their worst fears come to pass.
“Winter is painful and has disastrous effects on the displaced, especially those living in tents and uncovered buildings still under construction,” said the director of a ministry working in camps for displaced people in two cities in northern Iraq, Erbil and Dohuk. “Winter flu is widespread, and there are a lot of children suffering from it. There are a few cases of deaths of children and the elderly.”
Dohuk is nestled in a mountainous area where temperatures can drop below freezing, subjecting people without inadequate shelter and nutrition to illnesses and other health risks. The Iraqi ministry director said some people cannot move from tents into buildings due to unavailability and high rent costs. Those that can often end up in buildings that do not have heating or panes in their windows, and they are overcrowded.
“It certainly is not that easy. The number of families living in one house or apartment is between 10 and 20, and this matter carries painful consequences,” he said.
The need for electric heaters, kerosene-fueled heaters, and kerosene is “very urgent,” he said. “This bad weather weighs most heavily on the chronically ill.”
Iraq has 1.9 million Internally Displaced People (IDPs), as well as thousands of refugees from Syria, with more now arriving from Kobani. The UNHCR estimates about 800,000 people in Iraq are in need of shelter assistance and 940,000 lack basic items to withstand winter weather; it expects to be able to attend to less than a quarter of those affected.
At a newly opened refugee camp for nearly 4,000 people in Turkey, near the Syrian border town of Kobani, another ministry director found children wearing sandals in the frigid temperatures.
“We bought shoes with all the rest of the money we brought with us,” he said. “There is really much pain and suffering. Babies are sick all the time, and the deaths have started to rapidly increase, unfortunately.”
The cost of children’s shoes is $14 per pair and for adults, $21, he said. The ministry would like to buy 1,100 pairs of children’s shoes and 800 pairs of shoes for adults, as well as 1,500 coats for children and babies for $15 each, 500 coats for adults at $25 each, and as many pairs of socks as possible at 40 cents each.

At a mall and office building made available to displaced Iraqis in Erbil, windows without panes allow cold air to shoot into rooms.

At an office/mall complex near the center of Erbil, where many IDPs from Mosul, Qaraqosh and other parts of Iraq seized by ISIS have taken refuge, the father of one family said children are missing more than winter clothes.
“They don’t have schools,” Ayad Neha from Qaraqosh said. “School started months ago. It’s not like they’ve missed a year or two years of school, but probably they will.”
All the displaced Iraqis would like to return home, he said, but that is not possible as long as ISIS controls cities like Mosul and Qaraqosh, which had large Christian populations. The afflictions and unknowing have deepened their faith, he said.
“I have more faith now in Jesus,” Neha said. “We are ready to die for our Christianity. We decided to leave because we didn’t want to convert.”
In the same building a pastor who requested anonymity said Christians who were born into families from traditional churches in Iraq but do not practice the faith have had a tougher time dealing with hardship.
“The more difficult thing is when someone gets persecuted for someone he doesn’t know – he’s a Christian in name, but he doesn’t know why he is getting persecuted, because he does not truly know Jesus,” the pastor said. “Those people are suffering a lot. And most in Qaraqosh didn’t even know DAESH [ISIS] was coming. Some of them literally woke up hearing [the jihadist chant], “Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar [God is greater],” everywhere – which is the worst nightmare, when you hear that.”
Practicing Christians, by contrast, have seen their faith grow, the pastor said.
“The people in the churches have said, ‘We used to hear preaching from you that God as a Father takes care of his kids, but now we are living it. Today we have trust in the Lord more than ever. The Lord did not leave us.’”

To help indigenous missionaries to meet needs, you may contribute online using the form below, or call 434-977-5650. If you prefer to mail your gift, please mail to Christian Aid Mission, P.O. Box 9037, Charlottesville, VA 22906. Please use Gift Code: 400REF. Thank you!

Islamic State (IS) Planning to Destroy Ancient Walls of Nineveh

Islamic State (IS) Planning to Destroy Ancient Walls of Nineveh
By Dan Wooding, Founder of ASSIST and ASSIST News Service
MOSUL, IRAQ (ANS) -- "So Jonah arose, and went unto Nineveh, according to the word of the LORD. Now Nineveh was an exceeding great city, of three days' journey." (Jonah 3:3)
Militants from Islamic State (IS), also known as ISIS, have threatened to destroy the walls of the ancient Assyrian city of Nineveh, reports Assyrian website http://www.ankawa.com/. According to residents of the Bab Nergal area of Mosul, Iraq, militants told them they would destroy the walls if the Iraqi army attacks.
In a story, Ahuva Balofsky wrote in www.breakingisraelnews.com, that the Christian Assyrian minority group has suffered greatly at the hands of ISIS invaders. They consider themselves the descendants of the once-great Empire, of which Nineveh was the capital.
"At one time, Nineveh was the largest city in the world, with a population of 150,000 in 700 BCE. Although the city itself is now in ruins, it is surrounded by a 7.5 mile brick rampart, most of which remains intact," she said.
"ISIS (IS) has been aggressively wiping out the Christian presence in Mosul, where Assyrians are the only indigenous people. Among their acts of destruction and desecration have been the demolition of the Tomb of Jonah the Prophet and the black-market sale of Christian artefacts. Adherents have been tortured and killed, with churches reportedly being used as torture chambers."
The Assyrian International News Agency reported that in the last month Islamic State has seized the content of the cultural museum in Mosul as well as destroyed Assyrian monuments in the city, which the group claims "distort Islam."
According to the news agency, Assyrians have a history in Iraq dating back to 4750 BCE, and in 2003 numbered some 1.5 million. Following the US war on Saddam Hussein, that number has dwindled to a mere 500,000. Some 200,000 were forced to flee their homes when ISIS invaded Mosul in July. Many are living now as refugees in the Dohuk and Arbel regions.
The UK Daily Mail reported that Iraqi Defense Minister Khaled al-Obeidi stressed the importance of Mosul when he vowed the country would retake areas captured by ISIS in Iraq's northern provinces.
"We will liberate it with the hard efforts of our armed forces, volunteers and with the aid of our allies," he said.
Bio: Ahuva Balofsky grew up in Toronto, Canada and obtained her B.A. Hons. and B.Ed. at York University. She taught Tanach, Rabbinics and English at the Community Hebrew Academy of Toronto. After making Aliyah in 2004 with her family, she completed a Master's degree in Tanach at Bar Ilan University, and currently teaches Bible studies and English.
Photo caption: The Adad Gate, one of the fitteen gateways of ancient Nineveh (Photo: Redarch/Wiki Commons)
January 15 2015
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Islamists used 10-year-old girls as suicide bombers in Nigeria

Islamists used 10-year-old girls as suicide bombers in Nigeria
By Michael Ashcraft and Mark Ellis
(ANS- POTISKUM, NIGERIA, Jan.15,2015) In the latest episode of escalating Islamic savagery, the Nigerian group Boko Haram has strapped explosives on 10-year-old girls who blew themselves up in a crowded market, killing at least 20 and injuring just as many over the weekend.
There were conflicting reports about whether the attack was by one suicide bomber or two – or if they were separate incidents orchestrated by three girls.
Apparently, Boko Haram uses girls because they don't attract attention as a security risk and because they can hide the explosives easily under their hijab. Boko Haram is using a combination of brainwashing and threats to get the girls to carry out attacks.
Boko Haram's leader (Abubakr) "Shekau is a lunatic," says Rudy Atallah, CEO of White Mountain Research, as reported in Business Insider. "There's nothing between his ears except radicalism. He's a self-absorbed and narcissistic guy who believes he has a solution to the world."
The new barbarianism comes on the heels of Boko Haram's massacre in Baga, where the militant group slaughtered as many as 2,000 people last week in a land grab in the Northeastern region of Nigeria after they declared their own caliphate in August.
By establishing a reign of terror, they have managed to scare off army contingents and infuse fear in the local population.
In April of last year the group kidnapped 276 schoolgirls to sell as wives to raise funds. The appalling human trafficking in the name of religion prompted an internet campaign (#bringbackourgirls) to pressure the Nigerian government to find and free the victims – to no avail.
A Business Insider article estimates that Boko Haram has killed 11,000 people since its inception in 2002. The terrorist organization was also declared an Al-Qaeda affiliate by the United Nations Security Council.
While jihadists elsewhere target Christians, Jews or critics, Boko Haram kills indiscriminately. Even Muslims are slaughtered.
A video produced by Genocide Watch shows a gunman shooting civilians as they lay face down in a dormitory, the Washington Post reports.
"We have made sure the floor of this hall is turned red with blood, and this is how it is going to be in all future attacks and arrests of infidels," a leader says in the video. "From now on, killing, slaughtering, destruction and bombings will be our religious duty anywhere we invade."
PHOTO: Site of suicide bombing at marketplace in Potiskum, in northeast Nigeria

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Ebola scare at the Holy Orthodox Mission in Freetown, Sierra Leone

Ebola scare at the Holy Orthodox Mission in Freetown, Sierra Leone, when mission worker passes away

By Dan Wooding, Founder of ASSIST and ASSIST News Service

FREETOWN, SIERRA LEONE (ANS) – There has been a major scare at the Holy Orthodox Mission in Freetown, Sierra Leone, when Moses Babin, who worked as a driver with Fr. Themi Adams, the former Australian rock star-turned-missionary who now runs the Mission, passed away.

Because Ebola has already claimed the lives of 2977 people in the West African nation, the staff at the mission wondered at first if Moses may have become yet another victim of the terrible virus.

But now, a contact has told the ASSIST News Service, "It is now understood that he died, not of Ebola, but of pneumonia.  However, nearly every sickness here is a death sentence because of the fear of Ebola."

Moses, who was also the personal driver for other staff members, including Mary Adams and Eleni McDermott, had been on leave for a month and had not interacted with Fr. Themi for that time, and so his untimely death came as a shock to the staff who, along with Fr. Themi, are courageously battling the Ebola virus.

A spokesperson for the Holy Orthodox Mission said, "He was, and his family still is, one of the poor that God has given us charge over; for whatever we did for (him) one of the least of these brothers and sisters of Jesus, we did for Jesus." (Matt 25:40)

Eleni McDermott, an Australian who is also Head of Department and Senior Lecturer at the Orthodox Christian College of West Africa, said that Moses was "far from perfect," but he "loved his family and felt the responsibility to provide for them."

She continued: "He dreamed of moving his wife and 3 children out of their little one bedroom rental, into their own 2 bedroom with a parlor home.  [He was] a man that showed such humility and appreciation when you gave him eggs to take home to his wife or a text book for one of his children.

"[He was also] a man that stubbornly refused to give permission to his wife to continue trading in the market for fear she would get Ebola. A man that never stopped telling me what a good son he had or admiring his daughter's love for learning, 'she is so clever Ms. Eleni.... and you know she was baptized and has your name too'.

"A man that openly cried when accusations related to his character were spitted at him in a confrontation. A man that was an excellent time keeper, always punctual and with a polite morning greeting for me and whoever else was in my office. A man who would bounce into work on Friday's, knowing I had breakfast in the college kitchen waiting for him. It was nothing special, just some bread and spread but he always got boyishly excited about it.

"And finally, a man I caught sitting at the back of the church head bowed in reverence, after a particular conversation we had. Yes there was so much more to this man."

She added, "I'm not sure of all the details leading to his death. Moses recently became sick and Fr. Themi gave him money for treatment. He was hospitalized a few days ago but like so many that arrive there – he never came out.

"In the meantime, health authorities wasted no time in burying him. Ebola or not- a hole was dug and he was put in the ground. No time to arrange a burial service, perhaps not even time for a grave site prayer. No 'goodbye Moses'.

"Whilst I take comfort in the fact that Rev. Fr. Themi will give him a memorial service as soon as possible, I feel we have been deprived (like so many Ebola victims and loved ones) the opportunity to honor him and pay our respects with a funeral.

"This afternoon, I am thinking about how Fr. Themi did not give up on Moses. He continued to give him a salary even when I left and he was no longer needed as a driver. Time and time again Fr. Themi forgave him for his transgressions despite popular opinion that he should be told leave the mission. Perhaps in his wisdom Fr. Themi was giving Moses chances to redeem himself.

"From my experience, every time Moses did the wrong thing, I watched him struggle with denial. But then a kind word or a deed of good to another in the days that followed, showed me that he, (like all of us) was a work in progress. After all, do we not all fall and get back up again, in the struggle to become better human beings? I believe in my heart those times of forgiveness gave Moses the opportunity to become a better man and gave time, for God's grace and mercy to intervene.

"I remember Moses' catch phrase whenever I asked him to drive me somewhere, deliver something or simply stay close by in case needed .... 'I am here for you Ms. Eleni anything you need.'"

She concluded, "Moses, I will not forget your friendship and your loyalty. I will not forget your promise to be there when needed and I hope I can do the same for your children, who I know will struggle now to get an education.

"I believe in the hope of life everlasting for you Moses, in a place where there is no pain or sorrow or grieving. May your memory be eternal and you rest in peace and in the knowledge that you were loved and will be missed so much by so many."

Note: Themi, now a Greek Orthodox Priest, was a member of Australian rock group, The Flies, and once shared the stage with the Rolling Stones and the Beatles, but after a dramatic conversion, became a missionary to West Africa, and is now facing the greatest challenge of his life - Ebola -- which is sweeping his adopted country and causing panic, death and destruction. Despite the great danger to himself, he refuses to leave his post and is continuing his battle against the virus.

January 11, 2015

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Spiritual Breakthrough in Burundi

Spiritual Breakthrough in Burundi  

This East African nation now enjoys political stability after a long history of internal conflict between the Hutu and Tutsi ethnic groups. Christian Aid Mission is working with an evangelistic ministry that holds open air crusades and operates a Bible school for the training of church leaders and missionaries. Its church-planting efforts have borne much fruit and even extend into neighboring Tanzania and the Democratic Republic of Congo. They have started 123 churches thus far and plan to establish more. The ministry also helps provide for the basic needs of some 400 orphans who are in the care of guardian families. Their goal is to eventually build an orphanage and school for the children. They need Bibles ($8) and bicycles ($150) for missionaries.