A few short weeks ago we welcomed two friends from Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) - Steven in our morning service and Dave in our Global Prayer and Praise meeting.
Steven, Dave and I agreed to stay in touch so that we can forge stronger links between CSW and EBC and we’ve been doing just that. One of the people CSW is currently campaigning for is Leah Sharibu.
Leah was one of 110 girls abducted from their school in Dapchi, Nigeria by Boko Haram in February. The next month, following negotiations by the government, the girls were put into trucks to go home. But, as they were about to leave, the kidnappers told Leah she must first convert.
Leah refused. In a moment of extraordinary courage she decided that her faith was worth more than her freedom. She was forced to get out of the vehicle and watch her friends and classmates drive to safety.
The Nigerian government brokered a deal that left one child behind. We must pressure the authorities to secure her release also.
To add your voice to the campaign for Leah’s release, you may want to write to the Nigerian High Commissioner using the CSW link
here:
Dave writes to us –
I had a great time with the prayer group at the evening, it¹s actually quite humbling to meet people who¹ve been praying for our work for years, without us even being aware. I honestly believe that without that we probably wouldn¹t still be here.
Just a heads up that we¹re planning 24 hours of prayer for Leah in 3 weeks time (marking 150 days in captivity) with events going on for that.
Details can be found by clicking
here.
I was wondering if EBC might want to take part, either if you have home groups or other gatherings on a Wednesday, or as part of a Sunday service? Anyway I¹ll leave that with you. Blessings to you and the whole church and thanks again for having us.
Dave
Of course I have replied to say we would be supporting the campaign for Leah. On the back of our “Who Cares?” series, can I ask you to take a minute to add your details to the petitioning of the Commissioner and to make a note of the day of prayer?
Let’s show that we care.
Simon