05/09/2021 Washington D.C. (International Christian Concern) – All around the world, mothers serve as the rock of their families. This is no different in the persecuted world.
Transcript:
Happy Mother’s Day to you! If I had to think of one word in association with moms, it would be “rock.” Moms are the rock of a family and that’s kind of true the world over. Think about motherhood in the context of persecution and I’m going to tell you a story that illustrates it.
This is a story about Jamai is a mom in Africa. She’s in the Middle Belt of Nigeria where the Christians have been decimated by radical Islamists, armed Islamist terrorists. They’ve pushed millions off their farms and killed tens and tens of thousands. They go in a village, shoot it up, kill a bunch of Christians, and drive the Christians off and steal the land.
You can guess with Jamai where this story is going. She’s from the area and one day her village was attacked. They killed off her husband and she was left widowed, which is terrible enough, but she also had six kids. You can imagine her devastation, but let’s take it another level because Jamai is blind.
I’m going to guess when I told you that story that your heart hurt and dropped. That’s the same thing that happened to us. We said, “we’ve got to help Jamai.” We got her and her kids to a new home that was safe where they wouldn’t be attacked. We put the kids in school and got them food, etc. Then we set her up with a sewing business. We gave her inventory and everything she needed for her and the kids to thrive and stay together as a family by sewing. A number of her older kids can participate in the business and have a good living from that.
Let me read you Jamai’s words. She said, “I’m so grateful to God for the support from ICC. God will bless you as you continue with the good works. This chance to live that you have given me and my children will forever be remembered.”
What did she say? She said thanks ICC, but ICC didn’t really give to her. The Christians in the West, the body in the West, gave. The body responded as it’s supposed to and cared for their hurting sister and that is a beautiful thing.
Think about this too: for how many generations is this story going to be told of what happened? For the next hundred years, generation after generation they are going to hear about great-great grandma Jamai who was blind and widowed with six kids and they came in and they cared for us and they rescued us. That’s why our family is together. That’s where we came from and we’ve been blessed of God.
That’s a beautiful thing, and I’m going to leave you with the words of Jamai to ring in your ears. She said, “This chance you gave me and my children will be forever remembered.”
God bless you.
