When it came time for my wife, Jodi, and me to accept a new call because of our children’s educational needs, it was difficult. Malawi was our home. We wondered how we could move away from our relationship with the Church of Central Africa, Presbyterian (CCAP), which had supported and encouraged us for more than two decades.
Videos, recently broadcast on CNN, show the brutal torture of migrants from Sub-Saharan African nations. Men are whipped and burned, begging their families for ransom. With increasing political instability in Libya, forced labor and human trafficking are growing.
The Evangelical Church in the Republic of Niger welcomed mission co-workers Jim and Jodi McGill and their family to the country in July. The McGills have joined Claire Zuhosky, and Michael and Rachel Ludwig and their children, who have been in Niger since 2014. They have brought with them a wealth of experience, having served as mission co-workers in Malawi for 20 years.
The Community Health Evangelism initiative helps African communities take ownership and control over the projects and programs that affect them — with impressive results.
Niger has consistently ranked at the bottom of the United Nations Human Development Index. Indicators that
reflect that ranking include the following:
• Only 40 percent of men and 20 percent of women are literate.
• There is one doctor for every 50,000 people.
• One in seven women dies in childbirth.
• 40 percent of children under age five are malnourished.
• 20 percent of children die before their fifth birthday.
• Up to 90 percent of the population is involved in subsistence agriculture.
Niger has consistently ranked at the bottom of the United Nations Human Development Index. Indicators that
reflect that ranking include the following:
• Only 40 percent of men and 20 percent of women are literate.
• There is one doctor for every 50,000 people.
• One in seven women dies in childbirth.
• 40 percent of children under age five are malnourished.
• 20 percent of children die before their fifth birthday.
• Up to 90 percent of the population is involved in subsistence agriculture.
Muslims and Christians commit to living ‘together in peace’
At a time when Christian-Muslim relations are discussed daily in nearly every corner of the world, Niger in West Africa remains one of the best examples of mutual respect and peaceful coexistence between the two faiths.
While state and national government leaders debate on the acceptance of refugee families, Weisiger says it didn’t take long for her church and five others to begin work to resettle families in their community. Community connections were made as a result of peacemaker visits that have enabled the church to continue engaging in the work of peacemaking in their own backyard. The Peacemaking Program connected the church not just to the wider church, but to refugee resettlement agencies and interfaith organizations engaged in peacemaking in the heart of Philadelphia.
Muslims and Christians live together in peace by Kathy Melvin | Presbyterian News Service At a time when Christians-Muslim relations are discussed daily in nearly every corner of the world, Niger… Read more »
