Peace & War

Wukari is a partially destroyed city. It is a city at war with itself.

Wukari is the capital of the Jukun kingdom in Nigeria’s Middle Belt region. Its residents are Christian, Muslim, and Traditionalist. The majority are Christian, members of the Christian Reformed Church of Nigeria because of over a hundred years of South African and CRC evangelism, education, and health care missions. The long-serving traditional ruler is also Christian.

In light of recent racial violence in the United States, Rev. John Eigege has begun writing a series of letters about racial reconciliation to his calling church, New Life Christian Reformed Church. John is a community chaplain with Christian Reformed Home Missions in Houston’s Third Ward neighborhood. Do Justice will be sharing these letters with the wider CRC community over the coming weeks. 

Dear Friends,

In light of recent racial violence in the United States, Rev. John Eigege has begun writing a series of letters about racial reconciliation to his calling church, New Life Christian Reformed Church. John is a community chaplain with Christian Reformed Home Missions in Houston’s Third Ward neighborhood. Do Justice will be sharing these letters with the wider CRC community over the coming weeks. 

Dear New Life,

Over the last weeks with the news of the deaths of two more black men and five police officers in Dallas, my news feed has been filled with cries to God—cries for justice, cries for reconciliation, cries for peace.

This is an updated version to reflect recent events.

If you’re struggling to know what to say, and how to say it, when addressing the shootings of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile and the shootings of Dallas police officers (Lorne Ahrens, Michael Krol, Michael J. Smith, Brent Thompson and Patrick Zamarripa) in personal prayer or during Sunday worship, consider using this summary and prayer:

But the hospitality we were shown in Mangulile did not have requirements or qualifications. This was give-up-my-seat-for-you, give-up-my-job-for-you, give-you-the-brand-new-shirt-off-my-back kind of hospitality.

In late 2015 I had a chance to learn firsthand about this mass migration. I saw up close the forces pushing people to risk everything, the pull of Europe and the wealthy North, and the greed of those who profit from the migrant’s dangerous journey, taking desperate people’s money, their bodies, and sometimes, it seems, their souls in payment.

Have you seen the line-up for this year’s January Series from Calvin College yet? Every year, the college puts on a free series of talks on various issues of the day, presented at their campus in Grand Rapids and streamed online, as well as at remote sites across the continent. (Each address begins at 12:30 PM EST.) We commend Calvin for a diverse, high-quality line-up of speakers with important things to say, especially about justice and diversity. Here are our staff picks for this year.  

It’s been a great year for Do Justice. Thanks for reading and learning along with us, as we wrestled with faith with the Bible in one hand and the newspaper in the other (Karl Barth)!

What this pro-life series has taught me is that the CRCNA is deeply, unapologetically pro-life.