German evangelist Reinhard Bonnke attracted about 2 million Christians and Muslims to a five-day evangelistic campaign in Jos (pop. 650,000). Christians who invited him to speak said the event has given a major boost to efforts at reconciliation in troubled Plateau state.
The mid-January campaign marked the first time since violence began in 2001 that Christians and Muslims in the central state of Plateau have freely met together on a large scale. Many Christians had fled their homes in areas where Muslims are in the majority, and vice versa.
By some estimates, religious and land-based conflicts in the region have claimed well over 84,000 lives since 2001. According to the World Evangelical Alliance, 173 churches have been destroyed in the state. Some observers believe militant Muslims are seeking to drive Christians from the state in order to impose Islamic law.
Governments in the northern cities of Kano and Ilorin canceled previous Bonnke outreaches over fears that Muslims would be converted. Not this time.
Alhaji Inuwa Ali, the leader of the Muslim community in Jos, led a delegation of Muslim leaders to welcome Bonnke. Ali told CT, “We Muslims welcomed [Bonnke] because he preached oneness of all people, irrespective of their religions. This is what we need in this country.”
Bonnke told CT why he decided to preach in Jos: “Because the blood of Jesus is the best medicine for the healing of a sick land.”
Yakubu Pam, state chairman of Christian Association of Nigeria, told CT that Christians asked Bonnke to preach about reconciliation.
“Today, God has decided to redirect our steps toward the path of good neighborliness, to remove the hatred and distrust that … was the hallmark of our existence.”
Both Christians and Muslims have been holding reconciliation meetings. A February 21 interfaith dialogue in nearby Yelwa—where 68 Christians were killed in February 2004—led to mutual expressions of forgiveness and promises to live together in peace.
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Related Elsewhere:
News elsewhere about the Reinhard Bonnke campaign and Christians in Nigeria includes:
Northern Christians seek freedom of practice | Christians, in the North Central zone of the country have called for total freedom in the practice of their religion in any part of the North as provided for in the constitution (March 10, 2005, Daily Champion, Nigeria)
Bonnke sets Jos on fire | World acclaimed German born evangelist, Reinhard Bonnke, now in the third day of his five day crusade in Jos, electrified Plateau State, with the record healing of five Muslim who were suffering from stroke, deafness and eyes related ailments as well as several Christians who before the crusade, who had suffered from different diseases (Jan. 24, 2005, Daily Champion, Lagos, Nigeria)
CT collected articles during the most recent spate of violence in the country.
More on Nigeria is available from AllAfrica.com and Yahoo’s world report.
Earlier Christianity Today articles on Nigeria include:
Human Sacrifice Redux | How the church battles deadly prophets in its midst. (Nov. 22, 2004)
Mutual Mayhem | A plea for peace and truth in the madness of Nigeria. (Nov. 03, 2004)
Back to the Basics | Christian-Muslim violence requires a ‘new’ missions strategy: Forgiveness and love. (Nov. 03, 2004)
Eye for an Eye for an Eye | Are Nigeria’s deadly religious riots really about religion? (June 22, 2004)
Pastor and Six Family Members Burned to Death in Nigeria | Christian leaders suspect Muslim fanatics of fatal arson attack. (May 07, 2003)
Sub-Saharan Powder Keg | What you can do to help persecuted Christians in Nigeria (Feb. 5, 2003)
Violence-Weary Muslims and Christians Talk Peace in Nigeria | Shari’ah law divides leaders. (Nov. 4, 2002)
‘A Blast of Hell’ | 500,000 people uprooted, thousands dead in violence. (Sept. 24, 2002)
Where Adultery Means Death | Political and religious leaders clash in Nigeria over the increased use of Islamic law (May 8, 2002)
Archbishop Proposes to Die in Place of Woman Sentenced to Stoning | Okogie’s offer is a protest against Nigeria’s Islamic Shari’ah law. (Feb. 25, 2002)
Chronic Violence Claims 2,000 Lives | The adoption of Islamic law in northern Nigeria has ignited conflict between Christians and Muslims. (Jan. 7, 2002)
Hundreds of Christians Take Shelter in Barracks After Riots in Nigeria | Some report that violence since mid-October has left more than 200 dead. (Nov. 1, 2001)
Religious Riots in Nigeria Leave Hundreds Dead | Leaders condemn the use of religion as a tool for violence. (Oct. 2, 2001)
Orphaned and Widowed | Christian families devastated since Shari’ah law adopted. (August 29, 2001)
Christians and Muslims at Odds Over Nigerian Constitution | Calls made to limit Shari’ah law in Northern states. (July 12, 2001)
Nigeria Officials Press Northern Governors to Scale Back Islamic Law | Churches harassed by Islamic youths purporting to enforce the law. (June 14, 2001)
Five Anglicans in Court After Rescuing Teenagers From Arranged Marriages | Priests claim Christian sisters are being forced into Islam. (June 5, 2001)
The Shari’ah Threat | Muslim Fundamentalist law troubles Christians and some Muslims. (Feb. 2, 2001)
‘Focused, Determined, Deliberate’ Destruction | Ecumenical leader calls on Nigeria to deal with religious violence between Muslims and Christians. (Oct. 30, 2000)
