URGENT CALL TO PRAYER

You are probably as shocked as I was to learn of the spate of attacks and deaths that greeted the New Year in Nigeria. Worshippers who had just had Crossover Service in their church in Omoku, Rivers State, were gruesomely murdered by heartless cultists. Over 15 people, including innocent women and children, were cut down in a hail of bullets. As if that was not enough, the following day, we heard how Fulani Herdsmen invaded villages in Guma and Logo Local Governments in Benue State and killed several people (some speculate over 50!) and destroyed houses and properties.

The government seems to be powerless and have been accused of being impervious to the sufferings of the people. The security agencies appear to be so desensitized that you wonder if they still have value for human lives. But we cannot fold our hands and let this continue, it’s time to rise as intercessors and pray.

On 13 October four Britons were snatched by gunmen in Nigeria’s southern Delta state. The region holds most of the country’s crude oil and is Nigeria’s economic mainstay. Kidnapping for ransom is common in parts of Nigeria, and several foreigners have been taken in the past few years. The abductors have not yet made contact. Those kidnapped are reported to be former GP David Donovan and his wife Shirley who run New Foundations, with their two sons. They have run Bible classes, a boat clinic and health care centre there for fourteen years. Four suspects have been arrested, and a joint task force will attempt to rescue the family . Travellers to Nigeria are currently warned to avoid going to areas of Delta state. See:

Pray: for the families’ safety and rescue, for God to give them peace of mind and exactly the right words to say to their captors. Pray for the government to overcome militancy in the area. (Job 36:3)

More: www.theguardian.com/world/2017/oct/18/four-british-missionaries-kidnapped-in-nigeria-delta

On 30 August, foreign secretary Boris Johnson and international development secretary Priti Patel visited Nigeria to assess British assistance in the fight against the Islamic terror group Boko Haram. A Nigerian special adviser on religious affairs, Canon Nenman Gowon, said, ‘While the attention of the British government and other international development agencies is turned to the devastation caused by Boko Haram in the northeast, very little or nothing is even mentioned about the hundreds of villages and people killed by the Islamic Fulani cattle herders who are still prowling Plateau, Adamawa, Taraba, and other states.’ The adviser blamed the president for turning a blind eye to the crises in Nigeria’s middle belt, ‘because it is a predominantly Christian region and the Fulani Muslims are of the president’s tribe’.

Pray: for God to open the eyes of the international community of diplomats to the devastation caused by tribal conflicts. Pray for broken Nigeria to experience greater stability. (Psalm 146:5)

More: www.globalchristiannews.org/article/uk-bolsters-assistance-to-fight-boko-haram-but-neglect-fulani-devastation/

Conservative Anglican church group GAFCON has said some Primates may walk out of the Anglican Communion Primates' meeting, over the issue of same-sex marriage. The Scottish Episcopal Church will be asked to repent for its decision to let clergy conduct same-sex weddings last June. The Archbishops of Nigeria, Rwanda and Uganda refused to attend a recent Anglican Primates' meeting over what they deem to be a weak stance in the Church on the issue of sexuality. Meanwhile on 5 October Justin Welby said that a ban on Scottish Anglicans taking part in some votes and holding certain offices ‘will be followed through’, after a meeting where anger and disappointment were expressed. The ban would involve exclusion from debate on doctrine and from chairing Anglican Communion committees. Archbishop Welby said that no vote was taken against the Scottish Anglicans by the Primates, but there was a ‘consensus’.

Pray: for the Church to believe and act in humble obedience to the truth of the Word of God. (Hebrews 4:12)

More: www.heraldscotland.com/news/15574992.Archbishop_of_Canterbury_to_ban_Scottish_Episcopal_Church_after_anger_over_same_sex_marriage/

In 1966 an Igbo leader, in south-east Nigeria, said that only one thing would prevent a civil war - ‘that Nigeria be split, with all southerners in the north repatriated to the south and northerners in the south repatriated to the north’. This demand was followed by the Biafra civil war. In June 2017, irked by renewed secessionist calls from the same Igbo ethnic group, a coalition of northern groups demanded that ‘all Igbo currently residing in northern Nigeria relocate within three months, and all northerners residing in the east are advised likewise’. Pray for peace. Meanwhile on 6 August, masked gunmen stormed into the early morning service at a church in the southeast and opened fire, killing 35 Christians. On Tuesday a woman suicide bomber blew herself up and killed 27 others at a market in the northeast. See http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/08/dead-nigeria-church-shooting-170806153758051.html and https://www.reuters.com/article/us-nigeria-security-idUSKCN1AV25K

Pray: for this cry for division to be silenced, and for the harmony that only God can bring. Pray for the church to be strong in the face of adversity. (Ephesians 4:3)

More: www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2017/07/nigeria-brink-civil-war-170712131405928.html

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