When asked how the people were feeling this Christmas, he paused for a long while before responding, “When we were in our ancestral homesteads, everyone was living relatively in [peace and prosperity]. We communally contribute money weekly in order to have sufficient funds for purchases of children’s clothes, cows, sheep, goats, fowls, turkeys, rice, beans, and other assorted items to make the yuletide very precious and pleasurable for everyone. We even had a moonlight concert usually organized by each community/church for all to attend and share with visitors and relatives the blessings of the season.”
He paused again with a sigh before continuing, “Today, we have been forcefully made to sing the Lord’s songs in IDP camps, lands that don’t belong to us, not because we have committed any wrong, but because we are Christians.”
In reaction to how children in the camps are going to cope with Christmas, Mr. Irmiya Magit dishearteningly expressed his personal experience. He said, “I am a man with a wife and six children who have never missed Christmas clothes and other precious items. Now, I cannot help out due to what happened to the church of God in this part of the world. The children have been insisting that we should all return home so that they can then enjoy the yuletide as previously observed.
He continued, “It is on the basis of such pleas and pressures that some of the IDPs decided to return to commence settlement in some dilapidated structures pending when they fix up the destroyed building through self-effort, but were coercively sent back by new occupants of that area. That incident halted those who had intentions of going back to celebrate Christmas in their homesteads. Sincerely speaking, we are not finding it easy from our children on one side and Fulani on the other side. We don’t know what to do now.”
He added, “We will keep on appealing to the children to understand that life and health are more precious than clothes, and that it would not continue like this, for it shall one day be over and our previous pleasurable lifestyle revived.”
Aside from the challenges during the holiday season, these camps have many prayer requests. When asked what they would like other believers to pray for, Mr. Magit said that they need better protection from the government, prosecution of those involved in the attacks, help getting essential items such as food, medicine, and clothing, schooling for the children, and assistance getting back to farming. Please join us in praying for these persecuted believers this Christmas season.
For interviews, please contact Olivia Miller, Communications Coordinator: [email protected]