Anglican Mainstream

Deaconess Susan Essam, Principal of Christian Institute, Anglican Diocese of Jos writes:

From where I live at the Diocesan office (on the edge of Jos) the sky over the city that day (November 28) was brown with rising clouds of thick smoke. Houses, shops, businesses, vicarages, churches were being destroyed and hundreds of innocent people brutally slaughtered.

The previous day had seen the Local Government Elections pass off peacefully despite much apprehension about the Jos North area. Then in the early hours, before the results were even released, evil struck. Cries of Jihad were heard. Buildings were set alight and citizens who could not escape were either burnt alive, shot or hacked to pieces. Plans had obviously been laid well in advance and Muslim mercenaries brought in from outside Nigeria, together with guns and other weapons. The non-Muslims were caught unprepared and had to defend themselves with whatever they could lay their hands on. This they did with remarkable effect. Anger brought retaliation, however, and Muslim property, businesses and mosques were also destroyed, but please note that contrary to some reports in the foreign media NO Muslim was killed in a mosque. The carnage continued on Saturday, but the government had by now brought in troops and a curfew was in force. One young pastor told me how he spent hours on the streets on Saturday carrying people on his back – either taking the wounded to whatever small clinic they could find, or moving corpses off the road. Safety was nowhere except in the Lord. Tension remained high all week, and is still tangible. Some areas remain no-go areas; in other places we are counting our losses and seeing what can be done to help the homeless and the injured. Nearly 30,000 are in camps for displaced persons, and hundreds more are being cared for by families and friends. The problem is: the markets (if they still exist) are running short of supplies, but in any case the banks have not operated for over a week, so from where do you find cash! Hunger is no respecter of persons!

Where do you go? Where can you find help? Who can you trust (many fake uniforms are in use)? Who will save you? Who will save the city? We have had to trust totally and absolutely in the Lord God. He does not fail; he does work miracles; he does go through the fire with you. But it’s a tough lesson. I pray the church does not forget it when the going gets easier.

Now, as people gingerly test the ground and wonder how to begin again, there is a huge job of reconstruction to be done, not just in terms of buildings, but above all in terms of lives, families and communities. What can continues does so; what cannot continue stops; much will change and Jos can never be the same again, but just as God brought totally out-of-season-rain on Friday to wash to blood off the streets, so we pray that he will wash out the corruption, sin, wickedness, cheating, malpractice, robbery and murder which had so dominated life here.

The Diocesan Ordination Service was held as planned on Sunday, but with a big security presence, and the service began with a minute’s silence for all who had died, before continuing with many prayers for the current situation. Schools have closed early. The Christian Institute has also closed: thank God the students, staff and school are all fine, but access to the Institute is not easy and in any case the students are needed to work in their churches at this time. Evening services and activities such as Choir Practices cannot hold at present as we still have curfew, but weddings (this is a prime season) and other services continue as they are able.

To everyone, we all say the biggest possible THANK YOU for your love and concern and especially for your prayers – but please, please do not stop praying as this is where our strength, our hope, and our life lie.

Please note that we now have our own web-site, so you can find out more about us (including the Christian institute) on www.anglicandioceseofjos.org.

God bless and keep you all. May the peace and joy of Christmas be yours. Happy New Year!!

For new pictures of the carnage view here 

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