Rikkos

Sitting on a concrete block in the ruins of the burned out church yesterday, listening to the members singing songs of praise and devotion in English and Hausa, I felt closer than I ever had to the events of the New Testament church. I have been reading the book of Hebrews for the past two months, noticing the emphasis on suffering in passages such as

Remember those earlier days after you had received the light, when you stood your ground in a great contest in the face of suffering. Sometimes you were publicly exposed to insult and persecution; at other times you stood side by side with those who were so treated. You sympathized with those in prison and joyfully accepted the confiscation of your property, because you knew that you yourselves had better and lasting possessions. So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. Heb. 10:32–36.

The church in Rikkos was one of the worst-hit during the religious violence at the end of November. The pastor was killed, the church and clinic burned, and the houses of many members burned as well. In just the ECWA denomination across Jos, two hundred homes were destroyed and at least twelve people killed.

The ceremony yesterday was to present 100 wrapper dresses to the women in some of the worst-affected families. SIM has been involved in relief efforts from the beginning, and one of the first projects was to fund this clothing for women who had little or nothing left. The dresses were sewn by widows working with the City Ministries arm of SIM/ECWA, which helps train and employ those in need. So the money was used twice: both to provide clothing for the victims and to provide income for the widows (whose husbands had died but not in the riots).

As I greeted the women on behalf of SIM, I read to them from the Hausa Bible the passage above. But it wasn't news to them: they had already been singing songs expressing the same ideas, such as "I will go with Jesus anywhere, no matter the roughness of the road."

So here, in this setting of destruction resulting from hatred and persecution, I felt I had been transported back to first century Ephesus or Rome. These women, who had lost so much, were still singing and rejoicing in the Lord, thanking him, and so grateful for the small gift of a single outfit of clothing. When there were not enough wrapper dresses for all, some of the women gave their new ones to women who were even worse off.

Six of the women told their stories of persecution. One told how her Muslim neighbors were weeping for her as the Muslim mob surrounded her house to burn it and kill her. She told them not to cry, because she was going to be with Jesus if she died. Eventually the neighbors helped persuade the attackers not to kill her, then they hid her in a Muslim compound during the next few days of violence, standing against the mob of people outside who were shouting for her to be handed over to them.

I thought about the fact that for Christians, a martyr is one who is a witness to the faith even at the cost of his or her life. A martyr (from the Greek word for "witness") is not one who dies in battle, or kills himself in a suicide attack designed to kill and terrorize others. A martyr is one who stands for the truth, following the example of his Lord who knew and accepted the hostility of the world against the truth. Yesterday, listening to the women sing for 15 minutes continuously "I bring you thanks, God, all I have to give you is my thanksgiving," I knew I was among the saints and martyrs.

The relief project is now focusing on providing children's school fees, reconstructing burned churches, and providing housing for the widow of the pastor who was killed. Donations to this project are welcome and can be sent or given online to any SIM office earmarked with project number NG96038.