The staff of Brethren Disaster Ministries have directed a large grant of $225,000 from the Church of the Brethren’s Emergency Disaster Fund (EDF) to extend the Nigeria Crisis Response for another year. The grant is given in conjunction with a plan to phase out the program over the next three years, created in collaboration with the Disaster Relief Management Team of Ekklesiyar Yan’uwa a Nigeria (EYN, the Church of the Brethren in Nigeria).
Six people were killed and a church of Ekklesiyar Yan’uwa a Nigeria (EYN, the Church of the Brethren in Nigeria), as well as houses and other properties were burnt at Zah community under the district of Garkida, Gombi Local Government area, Adamawa State, in northeast Nigeria.
Pastor Yakubu Shuaibu Kwala, who served a congregation of Ekklesiyar Yan’uwa a Nigeria (EYN, the Church of the Brethren in Nigeria) in the Biu area of Borno State in northeast Nigeria, was killed on April 4 in a night-time attack on his home by the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP). The attackers shot and wounded his pregnant wife, who was taken to hospital for treatment. The pastor also is survived by another child.
What a privilege to visit the IDP (internally displaced people) camp at Masaka, Luvu-Brethren Village, while we were in Nigeria for the centenary celebration of Ekklesiyar Yan’uwa a Nigeria (EYN, the Church of the Brethren in Nigeria).
Brethren Disaster Ministries has directed grants from the Church of the Brethren’s Emergency Disaster Fund (EDF) to continue the Nigeria Crisis Response through 2023 and to support a response to flooding and conflict in South Sudan.
“We solicit for your prayers. The wife of the pastor of EYN LCC [local church] Wachirakabi has been kidnapped last night. Let’s commit her to God in prayers for His miraculous intervention in the situation,” Anthony A. Ndamsai shared via WhatsApp. Cecilia John Anthony was reportedly kidnapped from a village in Askira/ Uba Local Government Area of Borno State.
Praise God for the return of four girls who were abducted from Kautikari, in the area of Chibok in northeast Nigeria, on Jan. 14, 2022. Kautikari village is located east and about 20 kilometers drive from Chibok town, predominantly occupied by Christians.
Brethren Disaster Ministries has received a report of another violent attack affecting Nigerian Brethren in northeastern Nigeria, reported by Zakariya Musa, head of Media for Ekklesiyar Yan’uwa a Nigeria (EYN, the Church of the Brethren in Nigeria).
In an ISWAP/Boko Haram attack on Kautikari town on Jan. 15, at least three people were killed and five people were abducted. Two churches of Ekklesiyar Yan’uwa a Nigeria (EYN, the Church of the Brethren in Nigeria) and more than 20 houses were burned. Kautikari is one of many communities devastated in Chibok and other local government areas in Borno State, Nigeria, where churches and Christians are targeted.
The Nigeria Crisis Response budget for 2022 has been set at $183,000 after careful deliberation. Five years ago, we expected the Nigerian government would restore order in northeast Nigeria and families could return to their homes while the response supported their recovery. This led to planning to end the crisis response in 2021, but these plans had to be revised due to ongoing violence.
