Christians Called to Pray Against Violence in Nigeria

ICC Note:
After the most violent week for Christians in Nigeria, local Christian leaders are calling on people to pray against further violence. According to reports, the Islamic terrorist network Boko Haram has killed hundreds of Christians in a series of attacks in northern Nigeria. Please, join our brothers and sisters in prayer for peace. 
2/22/2014 Nigeria (Daily Post) – Christians in Borno State have commenced a one-week fasting and prayer to seek God’s protection, blessings and preservation amidst religious hostilities.
Within the last few weeks, over 500 people have been killed in Konduga, Gwoza and other areas of the state by the Boko Haram insurgents.
Rev. Bitrus Bdliya, chairman of Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) in Maiduguri said, “upon the security challenges we face, we will not relent to emphasize the role of the Church as an agent of peace.
“I call on all Christians to acknowledge this responsibility and to pursue it vigorously. I admonish every Christian to re-examine his or her relationship with God and with his neighbour, knowing well that to be able to maintain peace, you have to be at peace with God and with your brother or sister.”
He added that, “unless we do this, we can’t claim to be instruments of love and forgiveness which are necessary ingredients that can promote and guarantee true peace in our families, communities, nation and the world at large.
“1 Peter 1:8 says, ‘Though you have not seen him, you love him, and even though you do not see him now you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy.’
“It is God’s desire to bless us and to give us peace and rest in this generation, but we must learn to dwell in his presence, for that is where all our needs are met.”
He said, “The history of persecution of early Christians by great powers lasted 312 years. When the right time came, God used a pagan Emperor to bring an end to such cruel treatment of the followers of Christ. This man was Constantine.
“By the grace of God, another Constantine would emerge in the Northern part of Nigeria where Christians are persecuted in Jesus’s name.”
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