URGENT APPEAL

On 8 March, the BBC reports on their website that further violence near Jos, Nigeria, has claimed around 500 lives of Christians in three villages near Jos.



Mark Lipdo from Stefanos Foundation is quoted by the BBC as saying the village of Zot had been almost wiped out.
It appears this was a planned attack and most of the victims were those unable to run or defend themselves. Many elderly and children have been buried in mass graves. Please pray for Mark and Stefanos as they attempt to help those bereaved and suffering.

The latest bout of violence has been ongoing now for some months. In fact, only two days after AST Mission Directors, David and Gwenyth Carling returned from Nigeria, it once more erupted in Jos, capital city of Plateau State.


In July 2009 a violent Islamic group were responsible for hundreds of deaths, and destroyed 39 churches in Maiduguri, the State capital of Borno. The riots caused immense distress. Six pastors paid the ultimate price for refusing to convert from Christianity to Islam in Maiduguri.

Stefanos Foundation, a Nigerian Christian organisation created to assist Christians suffering persecution, is stretched to its limits. A text received on 27 January from Stefanos states: 'Now working hard to see how we can help in the overwhelming situation. We have done well with advocacy and hoping to address the needs of relief. I hope we have funds to meet them'