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When the soldiers came in, the gunshots became more frequent. The city of Jos was suddenly turned into a battleground.

Sunday morning, our streets were filled with burned houses, churches, mosques, cars, gas stations, business premises, and worst of all, human ashes. Many people were trapped and could not get to food and water.

We are now left with the question: Why such disregard for the value of human life in Nigeria? Christians claim to serve a God who asks, "Do I take any pleasure in the death of the wicked? … Rather, am I not pleased when they turn from their ways and live?" (Ezek. 18:23).

We also serve a Savior who says, "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God" (Matt. 5:9). You need to "Rid yourselves of all the offenses you have committed, and get a new heart and new spirit," says the Lord (Ezek. 18:31).

Why cannot Christian and Muslim youths control their anger? These questions led us at JETS to think of a better way of responding to the political violence that engulfed our city on Friday morning.

Our community responded by praying for peace for the city of Jos and its environs. Usually our chapel time ends on Thursdays. But because of what happened, we had two chapel prayer sessions on Friday, at noon and at 5 p.m.

In the first session, we prayed for God's deliverance of the vulnerable: children, women, and innocent travelers. We also prayed for the protection of both the Christian and non-Christian communities. We prayed that God would give the governor and his council the wisdom to handle the situation so that the killings and burnings would abate. We also prayed that God will forgive the youth of our churches for taking vengeance into their hands.

As soon as we finished praying, God answered. The governor of Plateau State, Jonah David Jang, imposed a dusk-to-dawn curfew.

Yet we woke up Saturday morning only to be greeted with another morning of gunshots.

One of our neighbors told me that in the night while people were sleeping, Muslim youth went on a rampage and burned several churches. God protected our seminary. From my study, I could hear the Muslim youth singing war tunes in a nearby neighborhood.

The second thing that happened to us Saturday was that seven of our students were arrested by soldiers who stormed one of our hostels in search of perpetrators. Provost Bulus Galadima and I went to the hostel and prayed with the wives of those arrested. Two of the arrested students were newlyweds. In the midst of the tension, God granted us favor before the soldiers, and we were able to find the students and get them released from the soldiers' custody.

I heard that Muslims planned on attacking our seminary community on Saturday night, but God thwarted their plans by using the governor to extend the curfew to all hours. God answered our prayers.

As of Monday morning, the situation was still tense. The main roads and intersections that used to be crowded were deserted. People are still trapped and missing. Our hospitals are filled with the wounded, and our mortuaries are filled with corpses of those killed in the crisis. Our homes are filled with those who are bereaved of their beloved ones.

On Sunday, during the worship service, we were told of how Muslims murdered one of our pastors — the only son of his parents — as well as one of our elders. One of my relatives was also killed on Friday.

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December (Web-only) 2008, Vol. 53