EYN Church Among Those Attacked near Chibok on Sunday, as Annual Conference Prepares to Welcome Nigerian Guests

As the Church of the Brethren Annual Conference prepares to welcome members of Ekklesiyar Yan’uwa a Nigeria (EYN, the Church of the Brethren in Nigeria), a Nigerian Brethren church is among those suffering fresh attacks near Chibok, in news from Nigeria on Sunday.

Rebecca Dali, a leading member of EYN and wife of EYN president Samuel Dante Dali, will be attending Annual Conference in Columbus, Ohio, July 2-6, along with members of BEST, an EYN organization of business people.

“Suspected Islamic extremists sprayed gunfire at worshippers and torched four churches Sunday,” said a report from the Associated Press and ABC. The attacks on Kwada and Kautikari villages were just a few kilometers from Chibok, the place where Boko Haram abducted more than 200 schoolgirls in mid-April. Scores of people were killed and survivors are hiding in the bush, the report said. In addition to the EYN church, other churches that were destroyed included the Church of Christ in Nigeria and the Deeper Life Bible Church. The attackers also burned houses. See http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/gunmen-torch-churches-kill-scores-nigeria-24354330 .

A news report posted on AllAfrica.com said that other attacks in recent days have occurred in Kaduna and Taraba areas, and there was a bombing in Bauchi. At least 52 people were killed and scores injured in these other incidents. “The executive secretary of the Kaduna State Emergency Management Agency…lamented that the tense situation in the area was making distribution of relief materials to about 50,000 displaced persons almost impossible,” the report said. Read it at http://allafrica.com/stories/201406290009.html .

A list of speaking engagements by Rebecca Dali and by Carl and Roxane Hill, who recently completed a term of service at EYN’s Kulp Bible College, was included in last week’s Newsline. Find it at www.brethren.org/news/2014/rebecca-dali-to-visit-in-us.html .

In addition to these engagements, Dali and the Hills will be at an insight session at Annual Conference in Columbus, Ohio, on Friday, July 4, at 12:30 p.m. in Room C213-215 of the Columbus Convention Center. Dali will be at the single adults’ lunch group on July 5. The evening of July 5, she is to host a station at the intergenerational activities.

Financial support for the work of the Church of the Brethren in Nigeria and for EYN is being received. Donate to the work of Global Mission and Service in Nigeria at www.brethren.org/givegms . Donate to the EYN Compassion Fund at www.brethren.org/eyncompassion . Donate to the Emergency Disaster Fund to support disaster relief work in Nigeria at www.brethren.org/edf .

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