As a native, My heart has been very heavy as i continually follow the devastating news of what is happening in my home country, Nigeria, and in my town of birth, Jos.

The Muslims and Christians have been at war in the past decade but recently, things have escalated to a shocking point. In March this year, hundreds of lives and millions-worth of properties were destroyed, in an episode where a whole village was attacked, with over 400 people, mostly women and children killed in a single incident. Now this is not some easy killing, as people are set ablaze or hacked brutally to death, with some instances where a pregnant woman was cut open (both mother and child died). I have seen horrific photos, I cannot wrap my head around such barbaric acts happening in today’s day and age.

 

One difficult thing being a missionary away from home is that I struggle to really identify or fully participate in the grieve and reality of what is happening.  Some times I sit with a feeling of paralysis, with an inability to even utter a word in prayer to God about the situation. I feel numb and/or overwhelmed most of the time.

Would it have been a lot easier to diagnose if the situation was purely religious? The truth is that there are political and economic undertones, as well as tribal turf wars all in the mix.

I have a million questions i am grappling with at the moment. How can a nation pick up itself from such disaster? Can there be healing and restoration in the place of hate? What appropriate measures should be in place? How can we find God in this mess?