Rev. Peter Azuana, General Secretary of the Universal Reformed Christian Church in Nigeria, brought greetings to the Christian Reformed Church at Synod 2016.
The denomination, formerly known as the Church of Christ in the Sudan Among the Tiv, was founded by Dutch Reformed missionaries in 1911 and now includes over 250,000 members and extends from Nigeria into Chad, Azuana reported.
That region has suffered attacks from roving Fulani herdsmen since 2014. These herdsmen have destroyed about 70 of the denomination’s churches and have killed almost 1,000 people in the last two years, Azuana said.
“This has been a major setback to our church,” he told synod. “Our delivery of health services is also suffering drastically.” He requested prayer for families affected by the attacks, including widows and orphans. He also asked for prayer for the restoration of hospitals and health services, including a hospital that the denomination is raising funds to build.
“Pray that God will help us to live what we preach and that he will move through the politics of the region and the president of Nigeria to recognize the church there. We are mindful that both of our denominations are part of the body.”
Synod 2016 is meeting at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Mich., from June 10-17. For continuous Banner coverage, please follow The Banner Magazine on Facebook or @crcbanner on Twitter. You can find more tweeting by following hashtag #crcsynod. News stories will be posted at thebanner.org several times daily. For CRC Communications releases, webcast, and live blogging, please visit crcna.org/synod. Unless noted otherwise, all photographs are by Karen Huttenga.
About the Author
Roxanne VanFarowe is a freelance writer who claims both Canadian and American citizenship and grew up in the Christian Reformed Church. She is a member of Blacknall Presbyterian Church in Durham, North Carolina.
