Dear JYs Beauty can be described as something wonderful in the eyes of the beholder or so the saying goes. Not so when in the month of November 2002 towns like Abuja and Kaduna were rocked by Riots. And the target of the riots : Christians just like us. I wonder how come none of us (me included) ever mentioned about this in our Prayer Requests out here.
I didnt realise the gravity of the situation till the Saturday issue of Zenit.org really caught my eye. The writing was there. More than 200 people, mostly Christians, were killed; several others were maimed. As well, 15 churches were burned and pulled down, and more than 30,000 people have been displaced. What was that spark that ignited the lives of over 30,000 Christian. A Beauty Paegent - The ever famous Miss World. Yep. the same Miss World that is supposed to showcase 80 of the World's most beautiful women every year. Yep that same Miss World that added India to the Glamour world. Yep that same Miss World that gave the ever drooling India its Aishwarya Rais, its Lara Duttas etc. That same Miss World that had millions of viewers (including Christians) this Saturday glued to their Television Set. And yet as on today that same Miss World whcih was supposed to "declare" some fortunate woman as the most beautiful woman of the world has actually dug 200 graves for Christians and have blown the roof tops for over 30,000. That anytime trouble would be errupt was evident from the reaction from different Muslim circles months before the Paegant could commence in Nigeria. What actually fanned the flames was after a Kaduna newspaper, ThisDay, published an article alleging that the prophet Mohammed would have approved of the Miss World beauty pageant. According to Archbishop John Olorunfemi Onaiyekan of Abuja, the surprising thing was that Christians were singled out for attacks by Muslims enraged by the Miss World event, given that the beauty pageant was a "purely a secular project." Just like our Gujarat it is believed that the reason for inciting violence seems political as elections are scheduled to be held next year. None of those christians affected might have ever expected on that faithful day to find their lives suddenly uprooted. None of them must have ever expected that they were chosen to be one with Christ in experiencing sufferings and rejection. Like us they too were followers of Christ leading normal 'daily lives'. I wondered how many of them during those faithful hours must have questioned their faith. Sure like St, Peter there were some Christians who retaliated and attacked their Perpetrators. The report in Zenit.org further goes on to say that according to Archbishop Onaiyekan, Christians right now are terrified in the wake of the riots, and many are ready to flee their homes at the slightest sign of further violence. So dear JYs let us not forget to pray for our bretheren whom we cannot reach out to but who depend our Prayers as they face one more night of uncertainity. May the Lord give us all strength in the time of our trials. May the might of his strength be witnessed in the power he gives us to not only forgive but to love our enemies and may his peace be always with us. urs in faith Jason Mumbai **************************************************************** This mail is generated from JOYnet, a Jesus Youth mailing list. For more info on the list visit http://www.jesusyouth.org/joynet To unsubscribe from the list send a mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] To subscribe to the list visit http://www.jesusyouth.org/joynet/join To get a standard help message on the list services send a mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] In case of any issue related to the mailing list contact [EMAIL PROTECTED] ****************************************************************
