Tuesday, December 31, 2013
DARLENE ZSCHECH DIAGNOSED FOR BREAST CANCER...Will You Please Pray For Her?
Thursday, December 12, 2013
IS PAUL CROUCH A FAITHFUL SOUL WINNER OR CLOSET…Seated with Apostle Paul or Burning in Hell?
YES, A SOUL WINNER: “I would not doubt that by now Paul Crouch has met the Apostle Paul! They both helped to shape the world spiritually! What an impact! May my generation continue the legacy that you two left!” NO, A SINNER: This man was…a false prophet who was using the True Christian beliefs of many who walk among us to line his own pockets. As punishment for his life of dishonesty, wealth, greed, and lies, today he has first class accommodations in Hell…”
Tuesday, December 10, 2013
BILLY GRAHAM, 95, RECUPERATES FROM RESPIRATORY INFECTION…Son, Franklin requests Prayer
Tuesday, December 3, 2013
BILLY GRAHAM, BENNY HINN, T.D. JAKES, OTHERS PAY TRIBUTES TO TBN FOUNDER, PAUL CROUCH
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Thursday, March 11, 2010
CHRISTIAN MEN’S NETWORK HOSTS ‘IT’S NOT OVER’
The Ikeja Chapter of Christian Men’s Network Nigeria, a ministry to men by men, will on Saturday March 13 hold its first quarterly outreach for 2010. Theme is, IT’S NOT OVER, MAN!
Ministering will be Engr Tokunbo Ebenezer Oshokoya, Chairman/Chief Executive, Oshea Projects Limited and Associate Pastor, Christian Brethren Church, Lagos.
Venue for the event is Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) Liaison Office Hall at Methodist Street, Off Salvation Road, Opebi in the Lagos state capital city of Ikeja.
A statement by Dennis Onwuegbu on behalf of the Organising Committee explains that the programme is a successor to the widely acclaimed Real Men’s Luncheon which had played host to such Christian leaders as Dr Christopher Kolade, Elder Felix Ohiwerei, Deacon Gamaliel Onosode and Professor Pat Utomi.
Christian Men’s Network, an interdenominational ministry to men, is a vision of the late Dr Edwin Louis Cole and it was introduced into Nigeria over a decade ago through Rev Dr Tunde Joda through Christ Chapel International Churches which he founded and pastors. CMN propagates the truth that manhood and Christlikeness are synonymous.
All men are invited.
WHOSE BUSINESS IS IT ANYWAY?
MEN'S BREAKFAST ROUNDTABLE, the monthly talk-show organised by KINGDOM MEN, a Lagos-based men’s ministry, which last month feature celebrity couple,Patrick and Ireti Doyle, holds on Saturday March 20, 2010.
The theme of this fourth edition is “Whose Business Is It, Anyway? And it is expected to dispassionately x-ray the place, if any, of faith in business and the work place, generally.
Venue is CTEM Auditorium, Jeho-Shammah Plaza, Abiodun Jagun Street, by CMS Bus Park, at Ogba Bus Stop and will feature a three-man panel of speakers, including Dr David Abraham, Managing Director, Fees Limited and Managing Business for Christ.
Also on the panel is “Mr Motivator”, Pastor Joel Oni, CEO, Victory Banners and Mr Kunle Lagunju, CEO, Spick and Span Limited, and Coordinator of One Spirit Club, a church unity ministry. Remi Akano, chief vision steward, KINGDOM MEN will anchor the programme which opens at 8:00am with breaking of bread and continues till about noon.
A statement signed by Pastor Dan Nzekwue on behalf of the ministry said all men, irrespective of where they worship, are invited as the challenges that men face are denomination-blind, urging all to “come early and be blessed.”
CHRIS KOLADE TO SPEAK ON RESPONSIBLE LEADERSHIP IN NIGERIA
Dr Christopher Kolade, CON, Nigeria’s former High Commissioner to the United Kingdom will on Thursday (March 18) speak at a public seminar of Managing Business for Christ (MBFC).
First in a newly introduced series planned by MBFC, a ministry dedicated to bringing business persons and business practices to Jesus Christ, Kolade will be speaking on the theme, “Is Responsible Leadership achievable in 21st Century Nigeria?”
The seminar, which is open to all members of the public, is scheduled for at Golden Gate Restaurant, Kingsway Road, Ikoyi, Lagos at 4:30pm. It will last two hours.
MBFC, which Dr Kolade serves as Board Chairman, has for many years held monthly breakfast meetings and other events which have attracted managers and leaders in the private and public sectors in Nigeria and some other countries including the United Kingdom.
Kolade's tenure in the United Kingdom as High Commissioner has been widely acclaimed as visionary, and is the subject of a book, HE MADE THE DIFFERENCE, The Dynamic Story of Ambassador Christopher Kolade in Britain, written by a UK-based Nigerian journalist, Pamela Chinekwe and published by KP BOOKS. He brings into this Seminar assignment, years of leadership experience spanning several decades in teaching, broadcasting, broadcast management and in the organised private sector.
In broadcasting, he rose to become Director General of what is today known as the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria, and in the private sector he served at multinational food and beverage giants, Cadbury Plc, variously as Executive Director, Managing Director and Board Chairman.
Admission to the seminar, which is interactive and expected to draw high profile interest, is free, but it is strictly by registration, so that seats might be reserved. Interested members of the public have been requested to contact Remi or Moji on 01-7643572 or e-mail mbfchrist@btinternet.com for registration and further information.
Monday, March 1, 2010
CHAPELITES HONOUR THEIR FOUNDERS
The spiritual children of Rev Dr Tunde and Rev Mrs Ebun Joda came together on Sunday (February 28) to honour their parents at Founders' Day 2010. Venue was the auditorium of Christ Chapel International Churches, Joy Centre, in the Surulere area of Lagos.
On hand to celebrate the man they love to call "the coach," and his wife, forever fondly known as Sister Ebun, were many former members of CCIC who have since "graduated" from the Joda school to higher heights in ministry and various other callings. Conspicuous among them was Bishop John Osa-Oni, a Joda protege, who is General Overseer of Vineyard Christian Centre on Osolo way, Ajao Estate, Lagos. He joined in cutting the celebration cake.
Of course, all the centres of the church from across Nigeria, were fully represented at the dinner, with the overflow crowd running into hundreds. There were tributes galore verbally delivered at the dinner and many more published in the commemorative brochure. One thread that ran through the tributes was the pivotal role the teaching and mentoring by the man and woman of God played in moulding them into the godly and successful men and women they have become. It was also generally acknowledged that there are very few churches and ministries, if any, where you won't find a Chapelite in a key role.
Dr Joda, who returned to Nigeria from the United Kingdom, where he had been holidaying with the family, his first vacation in about 25 years, was all smiles throughout the three-hour event. He successfully resisted the urge to do what he's so widely acknowledged for, teach, choosing instead to thank his doting children (including this reporter) for the honour done him.
Founders' Day is an annual event in CCIC, but Dr Joda's peripatetic apostolic calling had made it rare to have him and his UK-based wife in attendance over the years.
Thursday, April 2, 2009
BAMGBOLA TAKES OVER AS LAGOS PFN CHAIRMAN
He comes to the office with an acute awareness that his experiences in the secular world count for nothing in what he sees as a strictly spiritual assignment. I have no agenda of my own, he told reporters. “I shall depend completely on the Holy Spirit all through my tenure”, he said.
Apostle Alexander Bamgbola is the new Chairman, Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN), Lagos Chapter.. He succeeds Pastor Wale Adefarasin of Guiding Light Assembly, Ikoyi who has recently completed a single two-year term.
Bamgbola, an erstwhile top-flight banker who voluntarily retired as CEO of Victory Merchant Bank in 1993 after 20 years in the banking sector, he is the Overseer of Zion The City of The Lord's Ministries, Obalende, Lagos, a ministry he founded in 1999.
A widely travelled man, he comes to the office with an acute awareness that his experiences in the secular world count for nothing in what he sees as a strictly spiritual assignment. I have no agenda of my own, he told reporters. “I shall depend completely on the Holy Spirit all through my tenure”, he said.
In a congratulatory message to the new helmsman, Pastor Remi Akano, Editor-in-Chief, KINGDOMPeople magazine and this newsletter, who served with him on the Editorial Board of Nigeria Banking Annual (Incorporating Who’s who in Banking), recalled Bamgbola’s humble mien and godly comportment even during his days of great banking exploits, and wish him a successful tenure.
NIGERIAN WOMAN WITH THE ISSUE OF BLOOD HEALED
“One lady testified tonight that she had suffered with a constant issue of blood for the past 15 years. This would be a torment for anyone, but how much worse for someone who lives in the primitive and unsanitary conditions of the third-world..She had been to doctors and hospitals, but no one could help her. Then she heard that a Bonnke crusade had come to Bali.On the first night of the Crusade (Wednesday) at midnight the menstruation stopped flowing. From that moment on, she was healed..
Of course, you remember her, the woman with the issue of blood! Dr Luke, the apostle recorded her story in the Bible Book of Luke Chapter 8, verses 43-48. She had haemorrhaged continuously for 12 years before meeting the Saviour. But this is her twenty-first century sister and she’s in Nigeria!
According to a report on the weblog of Daniel Kolenda, one of Reinhardt Bonnke’s travelling partners, she received her healing at a recent Crusade of Christ for All Nations held in Bali
Kolenda’s report: “One lady testified tonight that she had suffered with a constant issue of blood for the past 15 years. This would be a torment for anyone, but how much worse for someone who lives in the primitive and unsanitary conditions of the third-world, where even running water is a luxury that none can afford. She had been to doctors and hospitals, but no one could help her.
"Then she heard that a Bonnke crusade had come to Bali. She said that her husband refused to go and even refused to give her any money to make the long journey. Determined to receive her healing, she persisted like the woman in the Bible who also had an issue of blood. She sold her skirt to pay for the transportation and travelled all the way alone. On the first night of the Crusade (Wednesday, March 11) at midnight the menstruation stopped flowing. From that moment on, she was healed and came tonight (two days later, Friday March 13) to testify of her healing”
AMACHREE, LONDON COUNCIL STAFF SUSPENDED FOR DISCUSSING HIS FAITH
Amachree recalled that the woman aged about 30, “was in a state of absolute despair. It was out of compassion that I said to her: 'Sometimes the doctors don't have all of the answers. I suggested she could put her faith in God. I said 'Sometimes we read in newspapers, or see on television, instances where doctors have declared a patient's condition incurable but they went on and recovered'."
A spirit of the anti-Christ has struck once again at a London, England, borough council, leaving 53-year-old Duke Amachree, a Nigerian by birth, jobless – at least for now.
Amachree, a Homelessness Prevention officer with Wandsworth Council, was suspended on January 28 for discussing his faith with a client. He had worked in the council for almost 18 years.
Agency reports say Amachree’s problem began on January 26 with a visit to his office by an unnamed woman described as having an “incurable bowel condition” who approached him for advice in his official capacity. For 50 minutes they discussed her concerns that she was going to have to move out of her privately-rented flat because her landlord was selling it. The woman, an artist, was hoping she could find alternative accommodation nearer a hospital, where she could be treated for her illness.
Amachree recalled that the woman aged about 30, “was in a state of absolute despair. It was out of compassion that I said to her: 'Sometimes the doctors don't have all of the answers. I suggested she could put her faith in God. I said 'Sometimes we read in newspapers, or see on television, instances where doctors have declared a patient's condition incurable but they went on and recovered'."
The woman was said to have replied that faith doesn’t seem to work for her and that she had accepted her condition and was willing to live with it. Amachree, who worships at the UK World Evangelism Church in London, remembered that “she then smiled, thanked him and left.”
But two days later Amachree was approached by his line manager who escorted him to see Roy Evans, the council's director of housing. In the presence of a personnel officer, Amachree says he was handed a two-page letter of suspension. He was accused of making “a long and aggressive religious rant” against the seriously-ill woman, in defiance of past warning not to raise his religious beliefs with members of the public.
Amachree recalled that moment on January 28: "I was stunned. I was speechless. It was a like a bad dream. I could not believe it. I was so stunned I could not even bring myself to tell my wife what had happened." Since then, the £30,000 per annum, married father of two young children has been out of work, in spite of two further meeting with his employers. "This is a worrying time for me," he said.
Michael Phillips, a solicitor working with the Christian Legal Centre CLC, which is representing Amachree, was present at the latest meeting on March 17. He told newsmen: “Mr Amachree's employers told him that 'God had to be kept out of the workplace'. He was accused of crossing boundaries. The issue of religion, according to the interviewer, should not be raised in a housing issue."
Mr Phillips said he queried this statement by asking if "God bless" would be an appropriate comment. He says he was told that it would not be appropriate and that any complaint would again lead to an investigation.
A spokesman for Wandsworth Council, run by the Conservative Party, said in a terse statement: "A serious allegation has been made against a member of staff by a member of the public, which is currently being investigated as a disciplinary matter. The allegation is that the member of staff gave wholly inappropriate and unprofessional advice to a very sick person who has an incurable illness, which caused great upset and distress. Until our investigation is concluded, the member of staff remains suspended."
Amachree's legal team is waiting to hear the outcome of the internal council inquiry before deciding on the next step in a legal action planned against the council decision, which he says effectively "privatises" Christian faith and is against his human rights.
Andrea Williams, the director of the CLC said: "We are supporting Mr Amachree in this case because it is absurd to think that any public body could be in a position to enforce a policy which means that you can't even say 'God Bless'.
"This would effectively mean that faith would become entirely privatised. A Christian cannot leave faith out of any aspect of his or her life including work."
An anti-Christ spirit has been on the rampage in public institutions in the UK lately. Last November, Caroline Petrie, a 45-year-old nurse from North Somerset, was suspended for offering to pray for an elderly patient's recovery from illness. Mrs Petrie, also a Christian, was accused of failing to demonstrate a "personal and professional commitment to equality and diversity", but she was later reinstated by her employers, the North Somerset Primary Care Trust.
Similarly, a primary school receptionist Jennie Cain remains under disciplinary investigation after the headmaster got hold of a copy of her private prayer email to friends. Mrs Cain had asked friends to pray about her five year old daughter Jasmine, who had been reprimanded by a teacher at the school for discussing her faith with another pupil. The headmaster informed Mrs Cain that she was under investigation for professional misconduct and could be subject to disciplinary action up to dismissal.
Also last year, a highly experienced Christian foster carer had her name struck off by a council carers’ list because she allowed a Muslim teenager in her care to convert to Christianity.
CHURCH UNITY GETS A BOOST
...It is already generating a lot of excitement as it will mark the official merger of the 75-million-strong WARC and the 12-million-strong REC after years of talks.
Church unity, described by many as one of the greatest items in God’s end-time agenda, got a boost recently as the two largest Reformed Church bodies in the world took a major step towards unification.
The World Alliance of Reformed Churches (WARC) and the Reformed Ecumenical Council (REC) on Wednesday launched a website (www.reformedchurches.org), which focuses on the schedule of activities that will happen before, during and after the creation of the World Communion of Reformed Churches (WCRC).
Although the meeting of the merger body, the Uniting General Council (UGC), is still more than a year away, it is already generating a lot of excitement as it will mark the official merger of the 75-million-strong WARC and the 12-million-strong REC after years of talks.
A Christian Post report recalled that the REC initiated the merger in July 2005 after seven years of bilateral talks with WARC. Things moved swiftly from then on with leaders of the two fellowships recommending ,less than six months later ,that the church bodies begin to take steps leading to the forming of a larger group to succeed both.
In March 2007, REC’s executive committee approved the idea of a new Reformed body, which will be the largest association of Reformed Churches in the world, later consolidating plans with WARC leaders in October 2008.
After the formalizing the merger at the upcoming gathering, June 18-28, 2010, the new Reformed body intends to invite movements, agencies and theological institutions of the Reformed movement to become affiliates of the group.
Aside from making the merger official, the joint gathering, titled "Unity of the Spirit in the Bond of Peace," will address a range of issues, including Reformed identity, theology and communion, Christian community and ecumenical engagement, justice in the economy and on earth, worship and spiritual renewal, leadership development, gender justice, and empowerment of youth.
At the moment, more than 1,000 delegates, guests, volunteers and staff are expected to attend the meeting at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA. Women and youth will hold additional events just prior to the meeting.
Friday, July 18, 2008
LILLIAN LADELE LAUGHS LAST
Lillian Ladele, remember her? She was that Nigerian Christian marriage registrar who was bullied for refusing to perform gay weddings. She won what has been widely acknowleged as a “landmark” legal battle Thursday (July 10). Ladele, 47, was threatened with the sack, bullied and 'thrown before the lions' after asking to be excused from conducting civil partnerships for same-sex couples because of her religious beliefs.
But a tribunal agreed that her faith had been ridden roughshod over by equalities-obsessed Islington Council, which had sought to 'trump one set of rights with another'.
The groundbreaking decision could lead to firms facing 'conscience claims' from staff who say their own beliefs prevent them carrying out part of their job.
Thursday's ruling found that Liberal Democrat-run Islington Council in
Speaking afterwards, Miss Ladele said: 'It is a victory for religious liberty, not just for myself but for others in a similar position to mine. 'Gay rights should not be used as an excuse to bully or harass people over their religious beliefs.'
Miss Ladele, who is single, said she was treated like a pariah by colleagues and left in an 'intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment'.
She had wept as she told the tribunal how her employers gave her an ultimatum to perform the ceremonies or face dismissal for gross misconduct. 'I was being picked on a daily basis,' she said. She said she felt like she was being 'thrown before the lions', explaining: 'I hold the orthodox Christian view that marriage is the union of one man and one woman for life and this is the God-ordained place for sexual relations.
'It creates a problem for any Christian if they are expected to do or condone something that they see as sinful.'
Her nightmare began in 2004, when she realised that legislation permitting civil partnerships at town halls between gays or lesbians would require her to preside over the ceremonies. Miss Ladele raised her concerns, but was ridiculed. Her boss, Helen Mendez-Child, said her stance was akin to a registrar refusing to marry a black person.
In 2006 Miss Ladele and another, unnamed, Christian colleague were accused of 'discriminating against the homosexual community'.
In May 2007, the council launched an internal disciplinary inquiry into Miss Ladele. Four months later, she was told if she did not co-operate she would be sacked. She took the council to an employment tribunal, claiming discrimination, harassment and victimisation on the grounds of religion or beliefs. The
In its ruling, which could have implications for the administration of the 18,000 same-sex ceremonies conducted every year, the tribunal said: 'This is a situation where there is a conflict between two rights or freedoms. It is an important case, which may have a wider impact than the dispute between the parties.
'The tribunal accepts that it would be wrong for one set of rights to trump another. The evidence before the tribunal was that Islington Council rightly considered the importance of the right of the gay community not to be discriminated against but did not consider the right of Miss Ladele as a member of a religious group.
'Islington Council decided that the service it provided was secular and that the rights of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transsexual community must be protected. In so acting, it took no notice of the rights of Miss Ladele by virtue of her orthodox Christian beliefs.'
Compensation will be decided in September. There is no limit to the amount that can be awarded for religious discrimination.
The Evangelical Alliance hailed the an employment tribunal’s ruling “a triumph for the place of conscience in public duties”.
Dr Don Horrocks, Head of Public Affairs at the Evangelical Alliance said, "This is an important landmark judgment because it conclusively confirms that where there are competing rights a balance has to be struck which treats the respective rights equally.
“The tribunal made it clear that it would be wrong for one set of rights to trump another This decision underlines that, despite some recent claims to the contrary, freedom of religious conscience must be protected by law in the same way as any other human right and that employers must take a person's religion and belief fully into account when considering policy and action.”
Dr Horrocks urged other local authorities to guarantee the same protection to employees of different faiths in light of Thursday’s ruling. "The demands of conscience and civil duties can and must co-exist,” he said. “We would call on local politicians to take note and live up to the challenge of this benchmark decision. …We commend Lillian Ladele for her bravery in standing up for her faith in such intimidating circumstances.”
In her own comment, an employment lawyer Lisa Mayhew, of Jones Day, said: 'It is a bit of a wake-up call for employers. 'They need to think about whether their instructions and the tasks expected of staff might cause people with religious beliefs more problems than others. It does not have to be religion – this could apply across the spectrum in terms of race, gender or sexual orientation.'
But Ben Summerskill, of gay rights campaign group Stonewall, said: 'Public servants are paid by taxpayers to deliver public services. They shouldn't be able to pick and choose who they deliver those services to.'
Also protesting the ruling, gay rights campaigner Peter Tatchell said the ruling was a "dangerous subversion" and a "violation of human rights".
"Lillian Ladele”, he said “claims she has won a victory for religious liberty. No, she has not. She has won a victory for the right to discriminate…"Public servants like registrars have a duty to serve all members of the public without fear or favour. Once society lets some people opt out of upholding the law, where will it end?"
Condemning the "catastrophic judgment" the National Secular Society said: "This decision appears to show that religious rights trump gay rights and that should leave gay people quaking in their boots."
Thursday, May 22, 2008
LADELE, NIGERIAN CHRISTIAN REGISTRAR’S JOB THREATENED IN THE UK …FOR REFUSING TO MARRY GAYS
“I hold the orthodox Christian view that marriage is the union of one man and one woman for life and this is the God-ordained place for sexual relations. It creates a problem for any Christian if they are expected to do or condone something that they see as sinful.“I cannot reconcile my faith with taking an active part in enabling same-sex unions to be formed. I believe this is contrary to God’s instruction that sexual relations belong exclusively between a man and a woman within marriage.”A CHRISTIAN registrar was bullied and threatened with the sack when she refused to carry out “sinful” homosexual marriages, a tribunal heard in London Tuesday May 20.
Lillian Ladele, 47, told the tribunal that “as a matter of religious conscience” she could not perform civil partnerships for gay couples. She has accused Islington council, in North London, of religious discrimination and victimisation because it asked her to perform the ceremonies as part of her £31,000-a-year job.
Employment lawyers said that the case, which has angered gay rights groups, could affect councils throughout the country. It is expected to lead to a landmark ruling over whether employees can be required to act against their consciences.
Miss Ladele wept as she told the employment tribunal she was being forced to choose between her Christian beliefs and her £31,000-a-year job at Islington Council in north London which she has held for nearly 16 years.“I felt harassed and victimised,” she said. “I was being picked on on a daily basis. There was no respect whatsoever for my religious beliefs. Miss Ladele accused gay colleagues of “stirring up religious hatred”, adding: “I felt like I was being thrown before the lions.“I hold the orthodox Christian view that marriage is the union of one man and one woman for life and this is the God-ordained place for sexual relations. It creates a problem for any Christian if they are expected to do or condone something that they see as sinful.“I cannot reconcile my faith with taking an active part in enabling same-sex unions to be formed. I believe this is contrary to God’s instruction that sexual relations belong exclusively between a man and a woman within marriage.” Miss Ladele, who is claiming discrimination or victimisation on grounds of religion or belief, said 10 other registrars could conduct the ceremonies.
More than 18,000 same-sex ceremonies are performed each year under the Civil Partnership Act, which came into force in December 2005.
Clare Murray, of the employment specialists CM Murray LLP, told The Times that Ms Ladele’s case could affect the way that councils throughout Britain organise their civil ceremonies. “They are all governed by the same legislation,” she said. Even if Islington did lose, other councils might be able to argue that they were justified in requiring registrars to officiate for same-sex couples.
Ms Ladele said that Islington council was forcing her to choose between her beliefs and keeping her job by requiring her to undertake civil partnership duties. Giving evidence yesterday, she told the employment tribunal in Central London: “I hold the orthodox Christian view that marriage is the union of one man and one woman for life to the exclusion of all others and that this is the God-ordained place for sexual relations. It creates a problem for any Christian if they are expected to do or condone something that they see as sinful. I feel unable to facilitate directly the formation of a union that I sincerely believe is contrary to God’s law.”
More than 600 gay couples have had civil partnership ceremonies in Islington, making it Britain’s third-most popular borough for the service.
Ms Ladele, who has worked for the council for 16 years, alleged that she was accused of being homophobic by gay colleagues at Islington town hall and was shunned by staff after refusing to carry out civil partnerships. She claimed that she was “ridiculed” by her boss, the superintendent registrar Helen Mendez-Childs, when she raised her concerns about the new ceremonies in August 2004. Ms Ladele said that her superior had told her that her stance was akin to a registrar refusing to marry a black person.
For 15 months she swapped with colleagues to avoid the ceremonies. Formal complaints were made about her in 2006. Ms Ladele, who said that she was surprised that colleagues were offended, said that the council gave her an ultimatum to carry out the ceremonies or face being dismissed for gross misconduct.
She said that, to “punish” her for a principled stance, she was denied the chance to preside over lucrative weddings staged at special premises. “There was no respect whatsoever for my religious beliefs,” she said.
In 2006, Ms Ladele and another female registrar, who shared similar beliefs, were formally accused by two colleagues of “discriminating against the homosexual community”. An internal disciplinary investigation as to whether she was guilty of misconduct began in May 2007.
Ms Ladele said that staff started to act in a “different, hostile way towards me”. “I continued to be civil towards everyone. People would just blank me. It hurt so badly,” she said. She claimed that before the furore she had been conducting about fifty marriages a year but was then allocated as few eight per year.
Britain’s 1,700 registrars were effectively freelance and could opt out of ceremonies until last December, when they were brought under the control of town halls.
Ben Summerskill, of the gay rights group Stonewall, said that public servants were paid to “uphold the law of the land” and could not discriminate. “Doubtless there were those 40 years ago who claimed a moral objection to mixed marriages between those of different ethnic origin,” he said.
Mike Judge, a spokesman for the Christian Institute, said that the matter was “an important case for religious liberty”. He said: “Other occupations allow conscientious objections. No homosexual couple is being denied their right to marriage, because other registrars are performing them.”
Islington council denies religious discrimination or victimisation, and claims that Ms Ladele’s stance breaches both its dignity-for-all policy and its code of conduct for employees. From Reports By Nick Fagge (Christian Post) and Fiona Hamilton, (The Times)
Sunday, March 30, 2008
GADDAFI’S BIBLE
“The Bible we have now is not the one that was revealed to Issa [Jesus] and the Old Testament is not the one that was revealed to Musa [Moses]. Muhammad is mentioned in both (original versions), but the Tora and Bible we have now, there is no mention of him…It means that it [the Bible] has been forged. The Prophet Muhammad was sent to mankind. Allah wanted mankind to have one religion. The Koran that we have is the only book that was sent by Allah. We believe in the Bible as well as the Tora.” You may have heard the things that Libya’s life president, Muamar Gaddafi had to say about the Bible. It is the stuff that worldwide unrests are made of, were the subject the Koran rather than the Bible!
He had gone to Uganda to commission a mosque named after him essentially because he bankrolled it. The mosque was said to be the vision of one of Africa’s most notorious tyrants, Idi Amin Dada, a former president of Uganda who was chased out in a coup in 1979, and died in exile in Saudi Arabia some years ago.
It had taken all of 30 years to build this mosque, now one the most prominent structures in the skyline of the Ugandan capital, Kampala. And although the original idea was to make it the largest in the world, it is said that it may now rank second. So, it was an important occasion for Islam, the religion of peace, with some "long live Gaddafi" chanting 15,000 worshippers, including a number of other African leaders attended the ceremony, among them, the presidents of Somalia, Zanzibar and Djibouti.
Savouring the euphoria of an historic moment, Gaddafi told his audience that the Bible, holy book of the Christian is forgery. His words, as reported in the East African newspaper: “The Bible we have now is not the one that was revealed to Issa [Jesus] and the Old Testament is not the one that was revealed to Musa [Moses]. Muhammad is mentioned in both (original versions), but the Tora and Bible we have now, there is no mention of him…It means that it [the Bible] has been forged. The Prophet Muhammad was sent to mankind. Allah wanted mankind to have one religion. The Koran that we have is the only book that was sent by Allah. We believe in the Bible as well as the Tora.”
Of course Church officials in Uganda reacted to the statement, describing it is as “inflammatory,” but typically urged their flock to ignore his sentiments. No “fatwa” has been issued against him and there have been no public protests, violent or peaceful.
Interestingly the words coming out from leaders of the Church in Uganda have been explanatory and forgiving. The Catholic Archbishop of Kampala, Cyprian Lwanga told an Easter mass congregation to forget Colonel Muammar al-Gaddafi's remarks. He reminded Gaddafi and those of his persuasion that the Bible was written before Muhammad was born. "How can we be blamed for not including what was not in existence?" he said, and asked “fellow Christians to forgive Gaddafi like Jesus forgave those people who crucified him on the cross."
Another cleric who spoke on the issue, Monsignor Paul Ssemwogerere of Kampala's Christ the King Church, said: "Since the Muslim community has already distanced itself from Colonel Gaddafi's sentiments, let's forgive him as Christians.,,We should pray for such people who don't know that in Uganda, we have an Inter-Religious Council that unites us regardless of our religious differences. Muslims and Christians live harmoniously without any problem."
Also seeking to defuse the row, President Yoweri Museveni assured his compatriots that he had a word with the Libyan leader about Christianity after the speech.
From the rest of the Christian world, especially Africa, mum has been the word. It seems to us at KINGDOMWatch as if Christians don’t care about the symbols of their faith or are too cowardly to express our opinions… as if peace in the world must be at the expense of Christianity.
No, we do not advocate violence, and categorically denounce violence as a means of resolving any issue. But Christians need to, at least, speak up more for the faith. Libyan Embassies across the major capital of the world should, by now, have had their phone lines, faxes and e-mails inundated with protest calls and mails. In-depth articles reacting to Gaddafi’s misinformation should have been all over the internet by now. But what do you have? Not a whimper from outside Kampala, as far as we know.
These things ought not to be so, dear brethren.
Saturday, March 22, 2008
ONE YEAR AFTER, CHRISTIANA’S MURDERERS STILL AT LARGE!
“We will give ourselves no rest until justice is done. We will fan the flames of conscience back to life at all levels of governance in this country…The Gombe case should be considered the bullet head that will open the way for a revaluation of human worth in Nigeria.”Good Friday 2008 marks the first anniversary of the gruesome murder in Gombe of Christiana Oluwasesin, in the premises of the secondary school where she was a teacher. And to date, her murderers are yet to be brought to book.
March 21 was the date and reports had it that her journey to cruel death began with accusation by a Moslem girl that Christiana ,32, had desecrated her copy of the Koran, by placing books and school bags collected from the pupils in front of the classroom just before commencing an examination she was invigilating. Immediately all the students began to shout “Allah Akbar!” meaning “God is great!” and with it a riot started.
Although some of her teacher colleagues came to her rescue by rushing her to the school principal’s office for protection, the number of rioting students had risen rapidly, became such a menacing mob that their demand that Christiana be released to them, could not be refused.
Recalling the event recently, J. Lee Grady, editor of Charisma magazine wrote that when she was released to them “…the teenagers hit her with an iron club, stripped her naked and beat her until a 12-year-old boy slit her throat with a knife. The students then soaked her body with gasoline and set her on fire.”
In his recent on-line column, “Fire in my Bones” Lee Grady continued: “Christiana was a Spirit-filled Christian who had been outspoken about her faith in Jesus. Her two young children—a 3-year-old girl and a 10-month-old boy—are now left in the care of her husband, Michael. His last memory of his wife was of her burnt remains, which had been taken to a morgue in Gombe.
“Eyewitnesses of the incident said the Muslim students actually tried to kill Christiana’s baby as well, but an unidentified woman smuggled the child off school property by concealing him under her clothes. No one ever found the copy of the Quran that was supposedly desecrated by Christiana.”
In the words of Lee Grady, “the incident sparked outrage in Nigeria, at least among believers in the southern region of the country where Christianity is dominant. People were appalled that 12- and 13-year-olds could commit such a heinous act of violence against their own teacher. It soon became obvious, after independent investigations, that Christiana’s murder was totally motivated by religious prejudice. She joined the growing list of Nigerian Christians who have been martyred in the last several years by radical Muslims.”
In the vanguard of the campaign for justice for Christiana’s murder is Pastor Ladi Thompson, of Living Waters Unlimited Ministries and Coordinator, The Macedonian Initiative, an organization that offers legal support and other types of aid to Christian victims of religious violence in northern Nigeria—where hundreds of churches have been burned by Muslim mobs. Many pastors and church members also have been killed or maimed by Muslim fanatics in the region. He is of the opinion that the Nigerian government “has not handled the incident with fairness”. He characterized the police protection offered the late Christiana while the incident lasted as “half-hearted” while government officials have not stepped in to arrest the perpetrators.
Thompson said to Lee Grady: “We will give ourselves no rest until justice is done. We will fan the flames of conscience back to life at all levels of governance in this country…The Gombe case should be considered the bullet head that will open the way for a revaluation of human worth in Nigeria.”
Lee Grady ended his piece by asking Christians all over the world to join forces with Pastor Thompson and others fighting for justice in this case not just by praying, which is important, but also to write to the Nigerian Ambassador to the USA to demand justice.
He declared: “I am linking arms with my Nigerian brothers, and I ask you to do the same this Friday. When one part of Christ’s body is suffering, we all suffer. If the radical Islamic agenda succeeds in Nigeria—where African Christianity is most vibrant—Islam could swallow a continent. We desperately need intervention from God.
“I am also asking that you contact Nigeria’s acting ambassador to the United States, Usman A. Baraya. One of our own African sisters has been martyred, yet the Nigerian government is ignoring the tragedy, hoping that the international community will eventually forget it. We cannot ignore Christiana’s senseless death. Please cry out for justice.
“If the radical Islamic agenda succeeds in Nigeria—where African Christianity is most vibrant—Islam could swallow a continent. We desperately need intervention from God.”
Friday, March 21, 2008
MBFC, FAITH OYEDEPO LAUNCH WEBSITES
Managing Business For Christ (MBFC), the non-denominational ministry established and chaired by Dr Christopher Kolade, former High Commissioner of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to Great Britain, now has a website. It came on stream in February.With web address as www.mbfcnigeria.org, the website provides another avenue for the ministry to pursue its objective of bringing business people and business practice under the influence of the Lord Jesus Christ.
On its home page MBFC declares that God is keenly interested in business and He seeks to fulfil His purpose for mankind through our various businesses, corporations and ventures and introduces the ministry as having a mandate “to bring back businesses to God, advocating Godly business principles for good success.”
The Frequentlly Asked Questions page provides answers to such questions as: What has God to do with business? What kinds of businesses are supported by MBFC? Is MBFC only for Christians? What areas of business are covered at seminars? Is MBFC a counseling, consulting or mentoring organization?
There is also an article by ministry chairman, Kolade titled “Understanding the Times”. It’s a site to see.
Also newly introduced to Christian cyberspace is www.faithoyedepo.org, the website of Rev Mrs Faith Oyedepo, wife of and co-labourer with Dr David Oyedepo, Presiding Bishop of Living Faith Church well known as Winners Chapel.
Author and minister to women and on issues pertaining to marriages and children, Mrs Oyedepo is not new on the World Wide Web being a regular feature on the church website recently redesigned and renamed as davidoyedepoministries.org.
Hint of what the new website stands for can be gleaned from the home page where the welcome piece asks: "Is there a yearning in your heart for a deeper relationship with God? Do you inwardly crave for fulfillment in certain areas of your life? Are you desiring a change in your marriage? Do you long to experience God's touch in your family? Are you tired of facing challenges that seem to defy solution?"
The site also provides information about the activities of the NGO established and managed by this wonderful woman of God, the Faith Oyedepo Foundation.
IS THIS MAN A FAITH HEALER OR SADISTIC PRETENDER?
"I think his calling was from God, but along the line, I think he has allowed his own personal interest to clash with the work of God. Instead of doing the work for the glory of God, his desire and love for money has taken over…In the years that I was there, at least, there were people who were perfectly healed and later left the camp. When most of the people realized that they had been healed, they would want to leave. But he would not allow them to go. A few, however, managed to eventually escape. Among those who were healed, those that left couldn’t have been more than five”Is Pastor Ifeanyi Iheanacho a kind-hearted deliverance minister genuinely called by God to deliver psychiatric patients from the spirit of madness? Or is the man a pathological sadist who delights in subjecting mentally retarded patients to physical abuse and psychological trauma?These are the puzzles now agitating the minds of the inhabitants of Sabon Gidan Kanar, a community in Jos South Local Government area of Plateau State, even as men and officers of the Plateau State Police Command will be attempting to unravel the mysteries in the days and weeks ahead.In October, last year, Pastor Iheanacho, proprietor of the Holy Ghost Psychiatric Home at Sabon Gidan Kanar was arrested, docked and later released on bail after being accused of inhuman treatment of the mentally challenged patients in the home. The pastor, who allegedly tags himself, “Reverend Doctor,” was even alleged to have caused the deaths of several inmates, while claiming to be curing them of insanity.Following such complaints, the state government ordered the closure of the home, while the inmates were ordered to be moved to the Vom Christian Hospital for rehabilitation. Just before the end of last year, the state Commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Development, Mrs. Sarah Yusuf, handed a cheque for N3.3 million to the officials of the Vom Christian Hospital to facilitate the inmates’ rehabilitation. Many had thought that the government’s action would quieten the din on the psychiatric home activities in the last few months. Recent events are, however, giving a lie to that assumption.
The pastor’s supporters, mainly staff of the home, are debunking all allegations against Iheanacho. To them, peddlers of the accusations are merely envious of the minister’s achievements and are spreading patently fallacious tales to destroy the man of God.Officials of the facility are also miffed at the government’s alleged exhibition of total ingratitude for their humanitarian efforts. According to them, the least the government could have done for the pastor, who had been ridding the streets of lunatics and curing them of their malady without assistance from any quarters, was to have shown some appreciation.In the beginningDaily Sun investigations revealed that Prophet Ihenacho’s home has been operating in Plateau State for over a decade, having been founded by a certain Emmanuel Shokolo. The home has borne several names since its establishment, including Ekklisiyan Zababu, Deliverance Fellowship Intervention and Holy Ghost Psychiatric Home.Initially, the home was located on Tafawa Balewa Street, close to the Suzy Garden at the centre of the Tin City. When the facility was newly constructed, its founder regularly went round the streets of Jos to pick seemingly insane persons. He would then take such patients to his camp for treatment. Indeed, according to some people, some of those lunatics actually regained their senses. In those days, the pastor was said to have consistently informed everyone that the patients were cured by God through prayers. As the years went by, the mental home was becoming a nuisance in its neighbourhood, because it was attracting a horde of motorists and passersby. To curb the problem, the state government relocated the home to the outskirts of Jos. The former Leprosy Center at Sabon Gidan Kanar in Jos South Local Government area became the inmates’ new abode. AllegationsYears after its relocation, nothing was heard about the home, which has been severally re-christened by its operators until recently when the police announced that the prophet was under arrest. At the time of his arrest, Iheanacho was alleged to have kept no fewer than 60 persons in confinement, all of whom were allegedly forced to live in the home as captives. Whoever is caught while attempting to leave would be whipped mercilessly and made to undergo other forms of physical and mental abuse, according to the story.According to his accusers, the pastor and his aides perennially subjected the inmates to physical assault, while claiming to be forcing the spirit of lunacy out of them. He was also said to have hypnotized not just his patients, but also members of their families in a bid to enslave and extort money from them. It was further alleged that some of the inmates’ family members were forced to permanently relocate to the facility. But such individuals did not just move in, they were said to have sold off all their possessions and surrendered the proceeds to the home. In some instances, the pastor reportedly took over the inmates’ possessions just to stop them from running away from the camp. Children were also alleged to have been made to abandon their education. The pastor was said to have told the people that it was always better for little kids to be tutored first in evangelism. Other things, the pastor allegedly sermonized, would be added unto them.Petition The alleged activities of the prophet were brought to light when some people wrote to Governor Jonah Jang to complain that some members of their family were being held captives and were undergoing torture in the hands of the “Reverend Doctor”. According to the petitioners, members of the Mgbok family, comprising the husband, wife and children from Rechi village in Bachit District of Riyom Local Government area, had abandoned their homes and jobs to permanently live with the ‘Reverend Doctor’.Bizarre talesImmediately after the arrest, Daily Sun spoke to some of the victims who still remained in the home. What you immediately discovered at the place was the glaring poverty, even though the inmates still managed to survive in that apparently communal set-up. While the reporter was there, the patients were served meals. But many still begged the journalist for money. They said that since their leader was arrested, nobody has been catering for them. There was also no sign that they were planning to leave the facility. Those who were not in chains were not in a hurry to leave the place.
After the prophet was picked up, some people who claimed to be victims of his maltreatment spoke on their travails at the home. One of them, Lucy J. Datong is a member of the Mgbok family which had petitioned the state governor. According to Lucy, her elder brother, Iliya, had been taken to the home in 1999 after developing a mental problem. At the home, the pastor reportedly invited all members of the family to the camp. “On getting there, he advised us that since our elder brother has the problem, it shows that there is a problem in the whole family. So he expected all of us in the family to come and be fellowshipping there”, said Lucy.Lucy told Daily Sun that when they started attending fellowship at the centre, the pastor also demanded that they should start paying their tithes to the home. Lucy and other members of the family, however, told him that their tithes were being paid to their local churches. But he reportedly convinced them that his church was the only place where God dwelt in Plateau State. She continued: “He said God would not accept our tithes if we paid to other churches, and, so we began taking our tithes to the place. We believed that everything was being done according to the will of God and that Christ was the foundation of that place.”Fully convinced that Iheneacho’s home was God’s only abode, Lucy said in the year 2000, she relocated to the place alongside her parents and two of her sisters.Before her final relocation, Lucy said she had been teaching at a primary school under Riyom Local Government Council. She was at the same time schooling at the Federal College of Education, Pankshin. But in 2004, she allegedly quit both job and school for the camp, thinking she would be there as a full time minister of the gospel.It took some time for her to know that things at the camp were not as she had thought. It was after seeing some of those changes, she said, that she realized it was time for her to leave the camp.
Said Lucy: “One day in 2005, when other inhabitants were in fellowship, I packed my bags and wanted to leave without the pastor’s knowledge. I knew that nobody in that place would be allowed to leave. The pastor was always saying that whoever came there had been chosen to work for God and if you tried to leave, you would be chained or caned. So, as I had made up my mind to leave, I took my bag quietly and was sneaking out of the place when someone saw me and reported to the pastor. Then some of the people came after me, caught me and took me back. For the first time, I was chained in the camp.”
Lucy disclosed that she was flogged and chained for 12 days, following that attempt to escape. She narrated how she went through psychological trauma while in chains and was also having some strange dreams.That was not the only time she was chained. After that initial experience, Lucy said she was also manacled when her elder sister came to visit the family at the camp on a Sunday and the visitor brought some food along for them. The following day, all members of their family including their aged parents were reportedly flogged because “the pastor said we have polluted the place for receiving visitors on a wrong day. He said we were not supposed to receive visitors or talk to anyone at the camp on Sundays and that we shouldn’t eat food beside what was prepared for us at the camp”. For that ‘offence’, she said she was again chained for 16 days. There were other ‘offences’ that would earn inmates some punishment. For saying what was not agreeable to members, or for receiving visitors at the camp and eating food brought from outside, an inmate was likely to be caned, said Lucy. After the caning, further punishment, including chaining might be prescribed if they thought the punishment was inadequate.
She had more tales to share. “There was a day I had a dream concerning the pastor’s wife and I went to share it with her. She then took our discussion to the fellowship and said they should discuss about the dream I had. The conclusion was that, telling the woman the bad dream that I had about her showed that I did not like her. The woman even said maybe I was planning to kill her, so that I would marry her husband. She concluded that I was not normal, so I should be put in chains for two days. But do you know that they kept me in chains for almost nine months? “The way they chained us was either for the two hands to be chained together (and in that case, one would be unable to eat) or they would chain the legs together. My hands were chained for three days, and for those days, I did not eat and nobody came around to take care of me. I called the prophet after two days and asked him if I could be freed. He said ‘no’, because, according to him, I was not with my normal senses. I said I knew everything that I was doing. I told him that what was disturbing me was that I wanted to leave the camp but that I was being forced to stay. I was being flogged everyday. I received about 100 strokes of the cane at that time when I was chained for the third time. They later moved me to the bush, saying that my staying in the room was not helping me.I was in the bush for almost a month and some days. I stayed for almost three months without taking my bath. They said I wouldn’t be able to take my shower until I became normal. It was only God that freed me from that bondage on the 9th of May, 2007. That day, a boy by name Naiobe, who was put in charge of those of us that had been chained, forgot to lock the chains after he had loosened it for me to have my bath. I even heard when they were asking him if he had locked in those of us in chains and he said he had; not knowing that he didn’t lock me. I covered myself with a blanket because I did not want them to know that the boy didn’t lock the chain. At around 11 pm, after I was sure that everybody was asleep, I escaped from the camp and I ran to meet my sister.”Lucy said she was not sexually harassed at the camp. The reason for that, she said, was because she always spent her time praying. “I always prayed. I did not even get involved in all the activities going on there and so I couldn’t have been sexually harassed,” she said.
On the issue of marriage, Lucy said the prophet and his wife were always advising inmates to seek potential spouses from among the workers or the inmates with whom they could share the word of God. Such people could also end up marrying, they were told. “But I told the pastor that I am not a child and that it is God that gives husband. Moreover, I did not see anyone among them that I could get married to. I told them that I was there to do the work of God.” Lucy revealed that several of the inmates lost their lives, while she remained in that camp. Even though she could not recall the number, she said between 12 and 15 inmates died in her presence. She disclosed that at least, five members of her family were still in the camp. Her elder brother, Iliya, has, however, been taken back home, she said.The lady says she now feels normal after seven years in bondage. “My senses are now normal and, in fact, I feel better. Things are no longer the way they were with me when I was there. But I am normal now. I have gone back to my job and would continue my schooling again”, she said. How will she assess Pastor Iheanacho? “I think his calling was from God, but along the line, I think he has allowed his own personal interest to clash with the work of God. Instead of doing the work for the glory of God, his desire and love for money has taken over.”
She admitted, however, that there were people who got healed at the centre. “In the years that I was there, at least, there were people who were perfectly healed and later left the camp. When most of the people realized that they had been healed, they would want to leave. But he would not allow them to go. A few, however, managed to eventually escape. Among those who were healed, those that left couldn’t have been more than five,” she said.Lucy’s brother-in-law, Daniel Gemang, a Supervisory Councillor for Social Services in Riyom Local Government Council and now a headmaster in one of the primary schools in the local government, added another dimension to the story about Iheanacho. Gemang, who confirmed that his brother-in-law was taken to the prophet’s camp to get healed, disclosed that he had reservations about the pastor the first time he set eyes on him which was when he went to worship at the camp before the family members finally relocated there. He said his fear was confirmed when the pastor collected 10 bundles of zinc from his father-in-law. The bundles of zinc, he said, were actually bought to complete his father-in-law’s house. “But the pastor said that we should bring all the zinc to the camp, that God has told him that my father-in-law should not build his house at that time”.
Gemang also accused the pastor of collecting N57,000 from one of his sisters-in-law on the pretext that he would keep it for her. Asked how Iheanacho knew about the zinc and the money, the teacher explained that the pastor interrogated members of the family to know what their plans were. He said members of the family had severally asked for the money but regretted that the pastor was still holding on to it. He said throughout the time Lucy and some other members of the family were in the camp, their relations were unable to gain access to them. Even people who took their relations to the camp for treatment were denied access to them, he claimed, adding that Lucy had to be rushed to the hospital after her escape to ensure that she regained normalcy.
Gemang, who was one of those that wrote the petition, explained why the family decided to report the pastor to the authorities. “After Lucy left the camp, we sent one of her brothers schooling in Cuba to go and collect her stuff from the camp. But on getting there, he was arrested and chained after he was given 21 strokes of the cane. When we tried to find out why he was chained, we were told it was because the young man refused to go and pack his things and move to the camp. And when I went there, they said I would be chained. I was only allowed to leave after I told them that I was a government worker”. Gemang consequently wrote the governor through the Ministry of Social Welfare and gave a copy of the petition to the Commissioner of Police. He said the family members were able to collect enough information about the man from Lucy and from another boy named Davou Dajuma whose father was still in the camp. Gemang said he was so bitter about what Iheanacho had done to his family that he was prepared to kill himself if the man was released. He accused the man of using religion to get to the people of Plateau State since religion is a major way of hoodwinking people.
Report By MARIAM ALESHINLOYE AGBOOLA, Jos (THE SUN, Monday, February 18, 2008)
Thursday, March 6, 2008
IRAQI ARCHBISHOP SPENDS SEVENTH DAY WITH ABDUCTORS
...Pope Benedict, One Church Campaign,Others call for Prayer, Release.
Archbishop Paulos Faraj Rahho, 65, is today spending his seventh day in the custody of unknown abductors, who snatched him on the evening of Friday February 29 in Mosul, Iraq. His driver and two body guards were killed in the process. A spokesman for the Nineveh province police, Iraqi Brig. Gen. Khalid Abdul Sattar, confirmed both the killings and the abduction
Agency reports, quoting a local priest, Father Najeeb Mikhail, said his abductors had demanded an unspecified huge sum of money for his release and have refused to consider any reduction in the ransom.
Calls for his release, including two separate appeals, on Saturday and Sunday, by Pope Benedict XVI have so far gone unheeded, prompting a worldwide call for prayer to save the ailing cleric.
Reports said Rahho ran into an ambush by some armed men in four cars at about 5:30 p.m. on his way home shortly after leading the congregation in praying the Stations of the Cross at the Holy Spirit Parish in Mosul, 225 miles north of Baghdad. Mosul is the biblical Nineveh.
Eyewitnesses said the cars blocked Rahho's vehicle and the men shot and killed Faris Gorgis Khoder, his driver and the two guards simply identified as Ramy and Samir, before speeding off with Rahho.
Describing the brutal nature of the murder of the priest’s companions, one of the mourners at the funeral for the three men the following day in the village of Karamlis, 15 miles east of Mosul, said of the corpses: “All their faces were gone when we saw them. They were without eyes, without noses and without mouths." They each left behind a wife and three children, according to Father Bashar Warda, dean of St. Peter's Seminary in Erbil.
Father Warda who spoke to Compass Direct said that no one had been able to speak with the kidnapped archbishop since his abduction, making it difficult to know whether he remained alive. He expressed anxiety about the bishop’s health: “his health is one of the issues that concerns us because it is not good, and his medicine is not with him…Prayer is needed."
Pope Benedict XVIII had led the call for prayer in a Vatican statement which said the pope was saddened by what it described as “this new despicable act” and “a premeditated criminal act”. “The Holy Father” continued the statement “asks the universal Church to join in his fervent prayer so that reason and humanity prevails in the kidnappers and Monsignor Rahho is returned to his flock soon…The pope felt close to the Iraqi people, particularly the minority Christians, and was praying that the whole country could find the path to reconciliation and peace.”
Also calling for prayer, Archbishop Andreos Abouna, an aide to Iraq’s Cardinal Emmanuel III Delly, leader of the church, who said he did not know who was behind the kidnapping of the 65-year-old archbishop. “We pray for his release as soon as possible,” he said, noting that “this act of abduction against a Christian clergy member will increase our fears and worries about the situation of Christians in Iraq.”
Another call for prayer came from Bishop Rabban al-Qas of the nearby city of Irbil who described the abductors of his 65-year-old colleague, who was ordained archbishop of Mosul in 2001 as “terrorists”. He told AsiaNews, the Rome-based Catholic news service, “we don’t know what physical condition he is in…It’s a terrible time for our church - pray for us.”
Condemnation and calls for action have also not been in short supply.
Hours after the abduction, The Assyrian Universal Alliance, in a statement condemned “in the strongest terms possible the vicious and cowardly act of terrorism perpetrated against innocent civilians of Nineveh plains-Northern Iraq, in which many innocent people were victimized. This act of genocidal barbarism is inexcusable. Our sympathies and prayers are with the victims, their families and friends. We call for the immediate release of the Father Faraj Raho”
In his own statement, the United Nations envoy to Iraq Staffan de Mistura said it was “appalling that these attacks on communities that have lived peacefully together in north Iraq for centuries are continuing,” and called on the government to do more to protect minorities. Recalling that “the archbishop of Mosul is the latest in a long line of members of the Christian and other communities in Iraq to be killed or abducted,” he urged the government “redouble its efforts to protect religious minorities.”
The European Union has also lent its voice to the spate of condemnation of the Chaldean Archbishop Faraj Rahho’s abduction. Its Slovenian presidency, in a statement, condemned the kidnapping and called for his immediate and unconditional release. The Presidency expressed its solidarity with all Iraqis mainly Chaldeans. And urged Iraqi authorities to do their utmost in order to secure the bishop’s release..
On his part, Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has not only expressed concern over the abduction, he has ordered the interior ministry and security forces of the northern Nineveh province to intensify efforts to release the kidnapped Catholic archbishop. In a letter to the Chaldean patriarch of Baghdad and spiritual leader of Iraq’s Roman Catholics, Cardinal Emmanuel III Delly, he expressed “deep sadness and grief” over Archbishop Rahho’s kidnapping.
In a statement on Tuesday, Maliki’s office said, “The prime minister has issued an order to the interior minister and all security officials of Nineveh province to follow the case and work very hard to release (Rahho) as soon as possible.”
The statement added, “The Christian sect in Iraq is one of the basic components of Iraqi society and can never be parted from its people and civilisation. Any assault on its sons represents an assault on all Iraqis.”
Security forces have since fanned out across the northern Iraqi city of Mosul searching for the archbishop. A senior police officer who did not want his identity revealed said, “a special police team has tightened security especially around the Al-Nur district.”
At press time, it was not clear how much closer to rescuing the archbishop’ release the police were, nor had there been much known contact with either the archbishop or his abductors.
Meanwhile, a Nigerian church unity group, The One Church Campaign has called on Nigerian Christians to join in praying for the safety and speedy release of Archbishop Rahho, stating that the church is one body and whatever touches one part affects the whole.
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