“It is awful,” wrote Rebecca Dali, a leading member of Ekklesiyar Yan’uwa a Nigeria (EYN, the Church of the Brethren in Nigeria) in a text on Saturday. At the time she was in Chibok meeting with parents of the abducted schoolgirls, when the Boko Haram extremist insurgents began attacking nearby villages.
Tag: Global Missions
James Risser to Serve as Director of Brethren Disaster Ministries
James K. (Jamie) Risser of Sterling, Va., will begin on July 1 as director of Brethren Disaster Ministries, working with Roy Winter, associate executive director of Global Mission and Service. Risser will work out of offices located at the Brethren Service Center in New Windsor, Md.
Updates on Nigeria
Here are various updates on Nigeria and current events affecting Ekklesiyar Yan’uwa a Nigeria (EYN, the Church of the Brethren in Nigeria), as well as continuing expressions of support from Brethren in the United States and ecumenical partners:
Collections at Annual Conference Benefit YWCA Shelter, Express Concern for Nigeria
The Church of the Brethren Annual Conference partners this year with the YWCA/YMCA of Columbus, Ohio, for an annual Witness to the Host City. An offering of donations of items needed by the YWCA shelter for women will be received at the Thursday night worship service on July 3. In another collection at the Conference, cards expressing concern and prayerful encouragement for the Nigerian Brethren will be received on the afternoon of July 5.
Collections at Annual Conference Benefit YWCA Shelter, Express Concern for Nigeria
The Church of the Brethren Annual Conference partners this year with the YWCA/YMCA of Columbus, Ohio, for an annual Witness to the Host City. An offering of donations of items needed by the YWCA shelter for women will be received at the Thursday night worship service on July 3. In another collection at the Conference, cards expressing concern and prayerful encouragement for the Nigerian Brethren will be received on the afternoon of July 5.
‘Grief and Love in the Same Place’: A Communication from the Church of the Brethren General Secretary and the EYN President
“In my grief I saw myself being held…” This quote from Margaret J. Wheatley’s book, “Perseverance,” has been riding in my soul since I returned from Nigeria. The circumstances of the Nigerian conflicts happening around the gathering of the church at the Majalisa provide me with enough incongruence to feel grief and love in the same place.
A Round Up of Nigeria News
A gathering of news and updates from Nigeria, along with news of continuing prayer and support for Nigerian Brethren from US congregations and ecumenical partners:
A Heart for Bringing Christ: The Hills Speak About Their Time in Nigeria
Newsline interviewed Carl and Roxane Hill shortly after they returned to the United States from a term of service at Kulp Bible College of Ekklesiyar Yan’uwa a Nigeria (EYN–the Church of the Brethren in Nigeria). The Hills flew back to the US on May 14, in time to attend the church planting conference in Richmond, Ind., where Brethren videographer David Sollenberger taped a series of short interviews; find them at www.brethren.org/partners/nigeria/news.html .Following is the Newsline interview with the Hills:
Attack by Boko Haram Kills Nigerian Brethren, EYN President Requests Continued Prayer
Samuel Dali, president of the Church of the Brethren in Nigeria (Ekklesiyar Yan’uwa a Nigeria or EYN), sent news today by e-mail of a new attack by Boko Haram in which several EYN members were killed. Boko Haram is an extremist sect in northern Nigeria violently seeking a “pure” Islamic state, and is responsible for last month’s abduction of hundreds of schoolgirls from a school in Chibok, Nigeria.
EYN Church Leaders Meet with 58 Chibok Schoolgirls’ Parents
The president of EYN (Ekklesiyar Yan’uwa a Nigeria, the Church of the Brethren Nigeria) Samuel D. Dali, met with parents of the Chibok schoolgirls abducted on April 14. EYN, a world known peace church, operates largely in Adamawa, Borno, and Yobe States in Nigeria, where a state of emergency has been in place for over a year.