Dealing with tragedy – Kingdom Exploits With Uche

I shouldn’t be worried but I am

Jesus knows the reality of this temptation, to worry and fret over life’s challenges. Yet, He simply commands us, “…Let not your heart be troubled…”

It’s just been one story after another here in Yei. Within the network of friends I’m discipling, I daily encounter seemingly endless reports of struggles and pain.

From a fresh rape case to other matters too disturbing to write in this limited space, I’m worried. And it worries me that I’m worried.

Maybe I should practice concern and stave off worry in cases like the aforementioned. After all should it be easy not to worry when this dear sister, a student, who has suffered with a bag load of unresolved personal issues, was raped last week and now needs the equivalent of $15 USD to finish bailing herself, her sister and her mother from jail after they beat up the culprit for his crime?

And it also shouldn’t worry me too much that the culprit – a student in a school 100 meters from my room – has already posted bail and been released by the police.

In his testimony, he confessed that he used witchcraft to access the girl’s room and ambushed her after everyone else had fallen asleep.

Am I just amplifying this matter unnecessarily? After all, it’s not an epidemic. Sadly though, as I write this, some brethren feel this sister is not sincere. “How is it possible for someone to enter your room, strip you naked, and start having sex with you without you even knowing it?” Some have dared to ask.

But would you feel differently if the victim was your child, your sister, your friend…or even your own mother?

In violent and volatile environments like this, how do you teach young girls and ladies to protect themselves against such damaging crimes?

What should be the appropriate response for a pastor, a leader, or a parent whose child or family member has been raped?

Most challenging of all, what if the culprit is your disciple, your son, your brother, your friend… or even your own father?

How do you teach young boys and men to conduct themselves, much less control themselves?

You may have simpler answers to these difficult questions, and if so, I’d love to know them.

I do know that at the core of this intensely painful situation is the need for vigorous discipleship. Our discipleship needs here are immense!

I’m worried. And the root of my worry is that we seem to be giving more attention to projects, programs and property than people. The apathy to matters like this here is worrisome.

Time is running out to lay proper foundations. Damage control is always more expense and arduous than preventative measures.

We continue to covet your prayers and welcome your counsels.

Why I mourn

When I heard the news of this Dana
Airline plane crash, I was so sure someone would survive. I was also sure
someone I knew closely would be on it. As the details came in, I was wrong and
right. No passenger or crew survived and people I knew were on that flight.

I’m not asking the usual questions
of why this person or why that…,
because why not this person or
that… is equally a valid question. My reflections
on this national tragedy are stirred by some overwhelming and recurrent issues.

Many years ago, a dear friend of mine Frank Ozoemena once
said, “I’ll gladly be in a plane crash anywhere outside the shores of
Nigeria because my chances of survival are far higher. I’m almost certain I
will be rescued if I had a few minutes to live.” You can’t argue with him.

I’m wondering how it is that this plane crashed in a
populated area and no one on board was rescued. Did it explode on impact? Were
the first people at the scene of the crash active sympathetic rescuers or
seekers of lost treasures? A commuter bus wreck, a burning house, a plane crash
site are all gold mines of some sort. Their diggers know themselves.

Dana Airlines until
this crash was one of the best airlines in Nigeria, if not the best. Did their
standards begin to drop, and their frequent fliers never noticed the abracadabra? Was this a one-off
error (equipment or human) that has claimed many souls? Or was it sabotage?

As I chew on these hard and very distasteful questions, I’m
reminded that the baggage collectors we see hanging on those waste disposal
trucks once use to abhor the stench from the trash they ride with. The way it becomes normal and acceptable to them is the same way poor services,
corruption, mediocrity and selfishness has become part of us.

It is the way we are now, isn’t it? Nigeria is a Country of
sub-standard products and services; where it is the fashion to cut corners at
the expense of human lives. It’s not in the Aviation industry alone. Even our
local road transport is sick. A commuter bus should not seat more than three
passengers in a row. But what do we have?

How often do we see a commercial bus on a one-way lane with
uniformed personnel in the front seat?

What of fake medications and fake spare parts that has
contributed to the death of millions of innocent people? Nigeria is probably
the most notorious market in the world where service providers tell you to
choose between a fake product and a genuine one.

What about building and house construction standards? What of
employment of staff? Experience is jettisoned for cheap inexperienced labour.

Nigeria is a dumping ground for all sorts of sub-standards
goods, and in terms of service delivery, the permissiveness of the environment
has encouraged persons and institutions to perform below the minimum, creating hegemony
of mediocrity. In China, South Africa and other Nations with very active trade links with Nigeria, the label, “For Nigerian Market” marks substandard goods.

So from sports to our universities, what we have is the
subversion of human dignity and the utter collapse of values and institutions.
This, in my view is the explainable why
to this tragedy, others before it and the ones to come.

If we fail to deliberately teach and model the truth to our children,
we hurt their innocent souls and mortgage their future, we shortchange ourselves and
ultimately disappoint our Creator.

Someone somewhere now knows their
name is not unique, as it appeared in that
manifest. But what if it was really you, yes, your name in that list? Would you
be ready?

The three days of National mourning
ends today and life as it were for many Nigerians will return to “normal“. In fact, some who should
care don’t, chiefly because someone very close to them wasn’t named in the
crash.

Our normal is the same mess from
yester years. The investigations have started, a few people will lose their
jobs, some airlines may sit up, security may be beefed up, our sense of safety
will hit new levels, some people may prefer road trips instead or suspends scheduled
trips altogether. Sadly, we soon forget and return to our woeful dispositions
to serious life issues.

We mourn with the mourners. But
none of us will continue to so do longer than the bereaved. We soon forget,
even when we say, “We’ll never forget…”

Every tragedy including this plane crash provides us
opportunities for learning some lessons about life but especially, the
afterlife. Remembering God just before takeoff in that aircraft with a silent
two minutes prayer said out of fear rather than genuine fellowship is
deception.

You need a truly personal relationship with Jesus Christ to
guarantee a happy landing at the destination on your ticket or on the other
side of eternity.

Responding to darkness

As I followed this sad story of how orphans in Son of God orphanage were being starved and sold, I recalled a recent [rather ironic] horrific story of how a man deliberately locked his pregnant wife and kids inside his container kiosk, poured fuel and set them on fire. Jesus answered the Father’s call for issues like these. He says, “…as the Father sent me, I now send you.” John 20:21

The interplay of affection, mercy and judgment demonstrated by God and Jesus illustrate the challenge posed by evil in this world as it is told in the scriptures from creation’s early days.

Just Google something like; “father kills children” or “mother kills her children” or “man kills wife” and you’ll discover such evils are not peculiar to a race or place.

Isaiah 60:2 declares that gross darkness is on the earth. Jesus foretold in Matthew 24:12 of this age. We are witnessing an avalanche of evil, few are reported and fewer still are resisted.

Children are being sacrificed on occult altars for money and power as you read this, some are being sold into slavery by people they once loved and trusted. Their new masters and madams may even be people we know. Orphans are being used as offering baskets to swindle many. Corruption sails smoothly with the good name of God.

But we can spend hours listing, listening and reading news of unspeakable things people do (some for God) and forget that our response to evil underscores our relevance as Kingdom people passing through a fallen world.

As I reflect on how Adventures In Missions (AIM) and six other Christian ministries dealt with the darkness that recently invaded their space via the despicable conduct of Son of God orphanage in Haiti, a ministry (rather business enterprise) they’d once pledged their support; I’m reminded of this text–

“Let me tell you why you are here. You’re here to be salt-seasoning that brings out the God-flavors of this earth. If you lose your saltiness, how will people taste godliness? You’ve lost your usefulness and will end up in the garbage.” (Matt 5:13 The Message)

Imagine if AIM and their allies did nothing. It gave me joy to read the report— Haiti closes orphanage for neglect following complaints from US missionaries. Christians, US missionaries, doing what is expected of them, seasoning a tasteless society and illuminating it with godliness. We live for this and more!!

Though what constitutes evil and wickedness continues to be redefined within evolving social structures, only our lives as representatives of the Kingdom of Christ will clearly expose sin in its true colours. Sadly though, we don’t respond quick enough or at all because ours are not involved.

Jesus didn’t just call Himself the Light of the world (John 8:12), He also calls us light of the world (Matt 5:14), thus giving us an identity in Him and defining our responsibility to this evil world.

If men being evil know how to set lights and lamps on their proper stands to maximize their brightness, how much better will the Omniscient God do with you and I as lights lit by Him for a dark world?

You may be where you are now on account of God’s matchless wisdom and pleasure. I hope He’s getting His due.

Darkness and light are products of human activity. Let’s taste the pungency of your saltiness and let [allow] your light shine brightly enough before men… God has staked His glory at your location. Make Him proud!

Chaos at the contested grounds

Last week was filled with tales of survival and death. The Haiti story continued and then suddenly, our attention shifts as hell’s envoys visit the city of Jos, the capital of Plateau State in Nigeria. As usual, they leave behind their horrific signature of death and destruction.

This was no earthquake, but had all the trappings of one. It was humans versus humans, with all manner of deadly weapons deployed. Like in Haiti, it’s still uncertain how many were killed. But we know they are in their hundreds; the injured and the displaced, in their thousands.

The following letter was sent by a resident of Jos to his friends last week.

“Dear Friends, The past few days had been a miracle for some of us in Jos and for some a nightmare. The Jos crisis has changed the lives of many, we loss some of our friends and others made homeless, Over 370 people lost their lives, we were told of a Corp Member serving in Jos, who was on phone with the parents and screamed “They are coming” he tried to run for safety but he was killed, the parents tried reaching him on phone again, his killer answered their call saying “I don kill am” (I’ve killed Him). Many have survival stories to tell, life is indeed a miracle to many…”

I was reflecting on this blog yesterday when another email from a well-known Christian leader in Jos hit my in-box . It reads in part,

“Muslims have been harassing, tormenting and killing Christians; for how long will this be allowed to continue? The Muslims manipulate the media locally and now they are doing same internationally in order to discredit the Church when the Church is deeply hurting? The current General Officer Commanding the Nigerian Armoured Division based in Jos is a Muslim; the Officer Commanding the troops to quell the riots in Jos is a Muslim. This state of affairs would not be accepted in any of the core Northern states who are known to have rejected Christian Military and Police Commanders in the past. The evidence of premeditated attack is indisputable and says it all.”

As the blame game begins and difficult questions wait for sincere answers backed with action; the dead are being buried and mourned; while the survivors recount their ordeal and some count their blessings. Sadly, many Christians in Jos feel undone.

A look at this map of Nigeria here reveals a significant and dynamic partitioning showing the spread of the two dominant religions, Christianity and Islam.

The city of Jos and ma

ny other major cities lie along this “Contested Religious Ground”. These cities are like gateways to the interior. The belt is tagged “Contested” because Muslims and Christians live together in sizable proportions but with a history of forced Muslim pre-colonial rule that involved enslavement. The struggle for dominance has since continued to elicit tension in the socio-political structure of the region; such that the slightest and flimsiest of qualms from anywhere could provoke a killing spree. A stronger Christian foot hold in these gateway cities create a great sense of insecurity among Muslims. This is why the Christian witness is vehemently opposed in most cities in the North, from campuses to the corridors of power.

The Nigerian religious spread is a neat microcosm of the African religious partition and the challenges thereof. Is there a way to take advantage of our vast experience in religious upheavals to advance the Kingdom of Christ northward? Could this recurrent painful situations profit us in any way? I believe Vision 5015 provides a perspective worthy of pursuit. Check it out.

I’m certain that this “contested religious ground” will continue to widen northward as God by His Spirit propels the Church in Nigeria to corporately pursue the mission enterprise with unquenchable zeal.

God is not managing evil in the world. He has destroyed it using His Son Jesus and He is manifesting that victory through the Church today. It’s now an expansion project, one that CANNOT be stopped or even delayed; and as Apostle Paul said, “… we can do nothing against the truth but for the truth.” (2Cor 13:8)

At the crux of the struggle is the dominion of the promised eternal Kingdom, with Jesus as Lord of lords and King of kings. It’s all working for the good and growth of the glorious company we belong.

I’m mindful of the immense sacrifice the followers of Jesus residing in these frequently troubled spots are making. God must have strategically located them there for His precious global purpose. These are prized and endangered creatures! The natural survival instincts will keep many of them at their post. But more than surviving, we pray for souls fully alive and abounding in the task set aside for them from the beginning of time.

In the past week, many believers dwelling in these “contested areas” in Nigeria have prayed more, drawn closer to God and even to their spouses and children. Though some have fled. There’s a curfew in Jos now and as long as it lasts, some husbands may feel stuck at home with their wives and may eventually resolve one or two quarrels (that will be nice:). Nine months from now, the maternity wards there may be teeming with pregnant women; you never know… good things can come out of some quarrels that meet solution in times of uncertainty like this.

Though many have lost loved ones, lost a body part and (or) property; there’s a song of victory for all God’s people who will stand fast at their post, waiting for His hour.

Our prayers are in God’s ears for you that stand for the Kingdom at the expense of your lives. We thank God for your faith and resolve to keep your focus northward until all is accomplished. We are in this together and it may last our lifetime.

May God prepare us all to deal with subsequent riots that will end with His approval. We know the weapons of our warfare are not of this world. Though sometimes I must confess, I wish they were inclusive of them.

The Lord is still saying, “…there’s still much more land to possess and occupy before He returns.”

If you were in Haiti now

Since January 12 when the earthquake hit Haiti, I’ve continued to wonder with some measure of grief, what I would do if I were somewhere around Port-au-Prince right this minute, as a survivor of the catastrophe or just arriving as a helper, a volunteer with much needed aid and a word of hope.

I was thinking of the various needs and challenges I’d identified while watching the news on Haiti when I received this report from my dear friend Seth Barnes.

We’re talking to Miguel Shaul now who just returned from Haiti. He described a school that was full of students at the time of the earthquake that completely collapsed.

They had turned the large cement slab in front of the school as a triage center for the living right next to that place of death because there was no more space for them. A pickup truck with four crushed but living people showed up. There was no room for them there. The man driving it said, “Where else can I take them?”

There was a woman crying beside the body of her sister who couldn’t get treatment and had just died. A mass of people are fleeing Port-au-Prince. It was hard to move. It is becoming like a war zone.

People are being triaged all along the way from the capital to the Dominican Republic border.

Miguel describes the situation as “on a knife’s edge.” But he added that this can push us to a complete dependence on God. The pastors are saying that people are turning to God in an unprecedented way.”

Can you take a moment to reflect on the pictures you’ve seen posted on the internet, video clips from the various news media and their reports on Haiti in the last one week; what do you think you’ll be doing now if you’ve lived through the last one week in Haiti? Yeah, you may never know, but just imagine it.

How would you lift yourself to be able to lift the people around you?

What would you say to someone that has not seen their loved one, who’s probably dead or still under the debris somewhere, praying to be discovered and rescued?

What encouragement would you give the fellow needing medical attention right beside you but not getting it?

The security crisis seems to be worsening as 4,000 convicts are on the loose. The main prison in Port-au-Prince holding them collapsed too. With your safety at sake, would you dare to go help save people that may die if you stayed back?

Based on what you’re seeing on TV or reading from other sources, what kind of help would you love to render in Haiti now?

The Great Commandment and the Great Commission will always blend perfectly, especially in catastrophic places like Haiti. But who will respond and how? It’s unfortunate that some Christ’s disciples are indifferent.

Can the rest of us that would love to be in Haiti now giving a helping hand but can’t make it, kindly express our desires for Haitians below? You can say a prayer here.

Click [here] if you want to go beyond just making a comment or praying and fund the efforts to save lives and restore hope in Haiti.

For updates on goings-on in Haiti, check [here].

“Faithful and True God, you’ve seen worse cases before, but please find for yourself in Haiti, a platform to manifest your greatness in the midst of the mess we see. Make room for yourself, be in the news today and let men celebrate you. In Jesus name! Amen!”