Pray For the Innocents

The Killing of the Innocents by Herod (detail), Leon Cogniet ca.1824.

Matthew 2:18

New International Version (NIV)

18 “A voice is heard in Ramah,

    weeping and great mourning,

Rachel weeping for her children

    and refusing to be comforted,

    because they are no more.”[a]

Romans 12:15

New International Version (NIV)

15 Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn.

Churchgoers pray for the release of secondary school girls abducted from in the remote village of Chibok, at an Evangelical Church of West Africa (ECWA) church in Abuja, Nigeria, May 11, 2014. REUTERS/Joe Penney

This paragraph from what I just read on the Voice of the Martyrs website about Nigeria gives us all reason to pray because the innocents are still dying.  More has to be done than just holding up a hash tag sign on Twitter saying bring back our girls, even if it is meant with all sincerity. We must pray and pray earnestly. 

Boko Haram, whose name means 'Western education is a sin', continues to pursue its goal of carving out a separate Islamic state from Nigeria's northern regions where it can establish its ultra-conservative interpretation of Sharia law. The insurgency often targets schools, government institutions and religious minorities – mostly Christians – as part of a broader strategy to create a purely Islamic society in northern Nigeria. In 2014 alone, it's estimated more than 2,500 innocents have been murdered by Boko Haram, many of whom are known Christians whose communities have been pillaged and churches set ablaze.


Sources: International Christian Concern, Sydney Morning Herald

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