Tanzanian pastors to Obama; please speak out

ZANZIBAR -- As President Barack Obama wraps up his outreach tour to Africa, Christians in Tanzania are hoping he will speak out against increased acts of persecution against them.

Obama visits Tanzania Monday where he will meet with President Jakaya Kikwete and the nation's business leaders.

The allure of beautiful beaches and tranquil ocean waters draw 100,000 tourists to the island of Zanzibar each year.

Visitors and their money are welcomed to the Tanzanian paradise, but this East African island is influenced by Islamic extremism has a dark past and a troubling present.

Several hundred years ago when Arab traders first arrived on the island, they were quick to enslave the local population.

Fast forward to 2013, there are no longer slaves, but today Christians are suffering. Churches have been attacked and Christians leaders threatened.

Last February, a Catholic priest was killed outside a church.

"I heard a crowd of people chanting 'Allahu Akbar,' 'Takbir' (Allah is greater), and 'destroy this church of infidels,'" Bishop Dickson Kaganga said.

In May 2012, Bishop Kaganga helped church members flee a Saturday evening prayer meeting as an angry mob approached. He remained behind in a church office.

"They were saying, 'This pastor comes here every Saturday, maybe he's here. Look for him, where is he?'" Kaganaga recalled. "They were saying, 'We don't want a church here, we don't want Christianity in Zanzibar.'"

The Muslim extremists never found Bishop Kaganga, but they destroyed his car and set fire to chairs and church equipment inside the building.

"I know they oppose the church, they oppose Christ, Jesus doing signs and wonders," he said. "Muslims are convinced to come to Christianity so, they attack because they don't want this."

It's not only happening in Zanzibar, church attacks have also spread to the Tanzanian mainland.

In the town of Arusha last May an attack left one person dead and 40 injured.

Author Raymond Ibrahim warned extremists are now waging jihad in African countries that have a high percentage of Christians.

"It's a resurgent Islamic mentality which is, it's just everywhere and now in Tanzania, of course, which earlier you never thought of being a radical nation," he said.

Church leaders say attacks and threats have actually strengthened the Tanzanian body of Christ.

As for Bishop Kaganga's church, services resumed after repairs were made. He encouraged Zanzibarian Christians to remain focused on God.

"He is faithful to us and we will endure and we will pass through this and we will become victorious and many good things will happen, so I don't want people to cry. Let's rejoice," he said.

HAPPY NEW MONTH

GOSPEL NEWS AND UPDATES. THIS IS OURSEASON OF SHINING.

Nigerians need to sit down and talk –PaPa Ayo ORritsejafor

Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, founder of the Word of Life Bible Church in Warri, Delta State, and president of the Christian Association of Nigeria, spoke with FRIDAY OLOKOR on the state of the nation and other issues
What is your feeling about the presidential proclamation of a state of emergency in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states, which were almost being taken over by Boko Haram terrorists?
I think this is probably one of the best moves President Goodluck Jonathan has ever made. He has made a move in a very proper and right direction to proclaim the state of emergency because the situation was getting worse before our eyes. It is either people who ought to know didn’t know or they knew and were pretending that they did not know. Two weeks before the proclamation of emergency, the situation had gone out of hand in Borno State, where I think there are about 27 local governments. Almost 24 of the councils were under the control of Boko Haram. As a journalist, you can go and carry out your independent investigation. In fact, in some local governments, Boko Haram members brought down the Nigerian flag, set them ablaze and raised their own flag. What they were gradually going to do was to proclaim an Islamic Republic just like what they did in northern Mali; that was where they were heading to. But thank God that Mr. President made the right move at the right time. I think the governor of that state was wise when he went to the President to inform him of certain things.

But a lot of critics have argued that the President goofed by refusing to replicate the example laid by ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo, who in his time allowed the sitting governors of Ekiti and Plateau states and other democratic structures to step aside for the military to take over.
Well, for me, what we see happening right now shows that the President’s decision was a right one because the sitting governors have not in any way hampered the movement of the military. The military men are doing what they are supposed to do. And by the way, because of how intense the situation was, nobody is moving about freely in those states right now because there is a curfew all over the place. Even the government is not functioning the way it would have functioned. Back to the constitution, does the law clearly state that when you declare a state of emergency, all political structures must be removed? Does it really say that? I don’t think so. My belief is that what the President has done is to continue to respect the political structures while at the same time getting their cooperation to make sure they do not disturb the military from achieving their mission. What we are looking for are results. If we get the results, we will be happy. From what we have observed and seen, we are getting the results.

A lot of people see the Boko Haram issue as a blend of religion and politics. What is your opinion?
Let me say it again that the issue of Boko Haram is fundamentally and basically religious. It is a jihadist and fundamentalist organisation, formed to propagate and promote a particular religion. Now, it has been like that from the beginning. We all know that there were politicians who said that if Jonathan won the 2011 presidential election, they would make Nigeria ungovernable. In my opinion, what they did was to find ways to give support to Boko Haram. In their calculation, if they give them the support, then obviously as Boko Haram is killing and destroying, it makes Nigeria ungovernable. We are seeing it happening but that does not make the Boko Haram menace a political issue.

 We have listened to the leader of Boko Haram again and again. He has never minced words and there is no ambiguity in all he has been saying. He has always been clear that their aim is to establish an Islamic state. So, what they actually want to do is what they did in northern Mali. That is the purpose and you see, for terrorists, any kind of support or assistance they can get from anywhere, they will gladly welcome it and use it to establish their purpose as long as it is coming from the Muslim community. It is not that there are no good Muslims. Nigeria has very good and wonderful men and women who are good Muslims and who believe in the unity of this country. Muslims have also been killed and I have said it many times that the primary target of Boko Haram is to kill government agents, including security agents, destroy schools because they believe it is a sin to go to school and churches because churches to them are also tied to western ideology. These are the people that they are primarily against.

What is your advice for Christians?
My advice for Christians is that they should believe in Jesus Christ. But believing in Christ does not exempt us from troubles; it does not necessarily separate us from hardships and persecution. So, what we are saying now is in the Bible. I will say to anyone who is a child of God and a Christian: Don’t give up your faith for any reason; hold on to what you believe in.
This will not last forever. Recently, the Secretary of CAN in Borno State (Rev. Faye Musa Pama), was killed in his own house before his own daughter who pleaded for his life. They refused to spare him. It is unbelievable but I said to Christians: that man of God is a martyr, a hero and heaven has received him. My prayer is that God will not allow more to go like that. I believe that there are two situations we must look at now critically in this country. The first one is what we call Fulani herdsmen who are operating freely across this nation today. No one is seriously looking at this situation. It is building; Fulani herdsmen are another version of Boko Haram.

We need to take this matter seriously and start doing something about it. When I was growing up, the best you can see Fulani herdsmen with is a dagger and their sticks. But today, they carry AK-47 rifles. Who taught them how to use AK-47? In fact, who bought AK-47 for them? These are questions begging for answers. Let me take you further. People in London, people across Europe, even in Indonesia, the largest Muslim nation in the world, don’t they eat cows? Do we see cows on the streets of London? Do we see people leading cows? For God’s sake, this is the 21st Century. We cannot continue like this. Government at every level, with a little help from the Federal Government, should go to where they came from and establish modern ranches. It is very possible, it can be done and they can be trained. The thing has to be handled

quickly because if it is not, I can tell you that the atrocities of the Fulani herdsmen will be more potent than those of Boko Haram. I say this with all seriousness without anything against any tribe. Let me also say that I believe Nigeria has reached a point where we must sit down and discuss. Call it anything, all the tribes that make up Nigeria. We must sit together and discuss.

Do we call it a Sovereign National Conference?
Those are big words; I said let us meet and discuss. Sometimes you can use words that aggravate things and offend the people. But I’m not interested in words, I’m interested in results. I just want something to happen, we must talk. I plead with Mr. President, I plead with all those in the National Assembly to please consider this. This one we are saying goes beyond politics.

You have received commendation for being the best president ever produced by CAN. After Oritsejafor, what type of successor would you gladly welcome?
God has arranged it for me to be the leader of His church at this time; He has already planned for the person who will take over from me. I believe there are people who will do better than me. That has been my prayer and it will happen because the church has actively participated in the establishment and development of this nation called Nigeria.

Ahead of the 2015 general elections, what type of President and leader would you wish for Nigeria? 
I believe Nigeria needs a leader first and foremost, who believes in God because any man who does not fear God will not care about man. That is part of the problems of this nation. I believe Nigeria needs a leader who will not only fear God but will, out of the fear of God, consider the ordinary citizens of this nation; a leader who will realise that he is a servant while the people are actually the masters; a leader who will truly fight this thing called corruption and attack it with everything that he has. But a leader who is strong and at the same time compassionate is also necessary in Nigeria. We need a leader that can hold everybody together and do away with all forms of tribalism.

A TERRIFYING GRACE: Why God’s omniscience is good news for us.

My wife, Barbara, and I have been married for more than 30 years, and yet some corners of our inner lives remain dark to one another. We know a lot about each other—a lot. But we're still learning how to reveal secrets. It's still scary after all these years.

When we take a step back from marriage and think of other relationships, it becomes clear how much we hide from each other. Most of the time, we try to make a good impression: on the boss, the coworker, the neighbor, the stranger we hold the door for at the bank. We share various and sundry intimacies with friends, lovers, parents, children, and priests or pastors—but we do not tell everything to anyone. We hold back.

We hold back in wisdom. It's probably not a good idea to tell coworkers of the opposite sex about your temptations to lust. It's not wise for parents to tell their young children how they sometimes wish they hadn't had children.

But we also hold back in fear. What would he think if I told him how hateful I feel? Would she still speak to me if I admitted my addiction to pornography? Could I still work in the church if they knew how many doubts I have?

Would I be accepted if I told all? That's the question. We long to be accepted, to be in the company of someone who will not blink regardless of what we say. But long ago we came to believe that this isn't possible. At some point we have all chosen to share a vulnerable secret, only to later endure humiliation or shame. So now we live with a low-grade fear that somebody is going to find out something about us we do not wish to reveal. It's a fear that nags us for life.

Bringing God into the picture does not seem to help at first. But bring him in we must, because a key attribute of God is his omniscience (lit. "all knowledge")—that he knows everything, in particular everything about us. Jesus makes this clear time and again when he says things like, "Your Father knows what you need" (Matt. 6:8). He admitted that while his own knowledge was temporarily limited—for example, he does not know the "day or hour" of his own return—the Father does know (Mark 13:32). Jesus always frames God's complete knowledge as a point of comfort, but if we're honest with ourselves, we see that we aren't always comforted.

For example, we're rightly told over and over that God accepts us just as we are. But truth be told, we're skeptical. If there is anyone whom we're really anxious to make a good impression on, it's God.

Sure, we confess things to God that we confess to no one else. But many of our confessions are attempts to manage the relationship so that we are acceptable to God: I admit my greed or selfishness in a moment of contrition. I'm sincere, but I'm also looking for absolution, forgiveness, and acceptance. If I do my part, God will do his part, and all will be well.

I know I'm managing the relationship with God because while I'm willing to bring some areas of my life before him, I find it difficult to speak with him about other areas. Like an alcoholic in denial, I struggle to admit my various addictions. I'm hiding the truth from myself, and in that sense, I'm hiding it from God. Many times when circumstances or the loving rebuke of a friend force me to acknowledge some dark area of my life, I have to admit that I was aware of it for some time, like being aware of the low speaker hum while you're listening to a speech. You do not hear that hum if someone is chattering into the microphone, but when the person stops talking and you just listen, the hum is there.

Mourning a Daughter's Suicide: How family and faith sustained Frank Page as he grieved the loss of his sweet, but troubled, Melissa.

Distress and Melissa," writes Frank Page, "were rarely very far away from each other." Some sources of that distress, like cancer, were beyond her control, but sinful habits and destructive life choices also played a pivotal role.

 Distress and Melissa would remain entwined until Page's daughter, one of three, committed suicide at age 32. After years of grief, Page, a longtime pastor and former Southern Baptist Convention president, has decided to tell his family's story in Melissa: A Father's Lessons from a Daughter's Suicide (B&H). CT associate editor Matt Reynolds spoke with Page about Melissa's turbulent life, the aftermath of her suicide, and the challenge of shepherding other fragile families through seasons of darkness.

How would you describe your daughter?

Melissa is little in stature, about 98 pounds of pure fire. She is a vivacious young lady who lit up the room with her smile and endeared herself to others. But she is also a young lady who, from early on, struggled in many areas of her life. The struggles never stopped. They changed in nature sometimes, and in their severity, but she struggled her whole life.

You certainly don't present an airbrushed portrait of Melissa. How were you able to be so candid about the chronic patterns of sin and disobedience in her life?

I felt that if this book was really going to touch a lot of lives, it was going to have to be transparent. For over two years after Melissa's death, I was not transparent about her. I didn't lie, and if someone wanted to talk about her, I certainly did. But I really began realizing that if this book was going to make a true impact—and hopefully among people considering suicide themselves—I needed to be honest. In the Christian community, sometimes, there's a lack of transparency and a lack of honesty, and it just would have been false if I had tried to pull a curtain over the reality of her life.

Why go to the effort of writing the book, if it involved such painful memories?

At the outset, I thought it might be cathartic, and therapeutic for me. And so I began writing, thinking it might help me deal with the loss of a daughter. But then I quickly began to realize that there's a huge epidemic of suicide, and so many people are dealing with this. And so I decided to put my pride aside, my love for privacy, and even a protective spirit toward my daughter. And I decided that the best way to honor her memory was by helping people in the name of the Lord.

How have you and your family dealt with the aftermath of Melissa's suicide?

From early on, we resolved that we would not blame each other. We all recognize we could have done things better. I could have been a better father. My daughters perhaps could have done something different to help their sister. We all know that, and we're honest about that. But we also realize that usually, honestly, we did the best we knew at the time.

We're open with one another. We talk about Melissa. We miss her, and at holidays and birthdays, we talk about how there's a place at the table missing, a big place. And so we hold onto each other and support each other. We pray through it. We realize that God's grace really is sufficient. At some point, when something like this happens, of this magnitude, you have to ask: Do we believe what we've taught, preached, read, and said all these years? Does God really come through in the dark times? And the answer is he does, and he did. And he has for all of us.

FRESH FIRE 2013

COUNTDOWN  -10 DAYS TO GO

World's most expensive motor home goes on sale for £2million

The world's most expensive motorhome has gone on sale in Dubai, covered in gold & worth £2m.

The space-age eleMMent Palazzo comes complete with a colossal master bedroom, 40-inch TV, on-board bar, fireplace and even its own rooftop terrace. But the most impressive piece of luxury is the 'Sky Lounge' - at the press of a button the 40ft home transforms into a personal retreat with pop up cocktail bar, underfloor heating and extravagant marble lighting. Continue...

 The luxury motor home comes in gold and white

At the press of a button the 40ft home transforms into a personal retreat with pop up cocktail bar, underfloor heating and extravagant marble lighting

The private jet on wheels is designed to cater for businessmen on the road, wealthy families on their travels or global superstars on tour

 

The master bedroom has a 40 inch TV, with warm water floor heating system & full air conditioning

Culled from UK Daily Mail

Removing the Stigma: Mental Illness in the Church

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Suicide kills more people in the United States every year than homicide, hypertension or motor vehicle crashes, yet it's seldom discussed in the Church. 

But now, mental health is moving to the forefront following suicides that rocked two prominent evangelical families.

Pastor Rick Warren, who leads Saddleback Church in Southern California, lost his 27-year-old son Matthew in April.

Also, Dr. Frank Page, president of the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee, just released a new book Melissa: A Father's Lesson's from a Daughter's Suicide about his daughter's death.  

The Day Melissa Died    
Page was alone at home when he received the call that would change his life. It was the day after Thanksgiving 2009 and his oldest daughter, 32-year-old Melissa, had just ended her life. Although she had struggled for years, Page knew something had changed that week. 

During an interview with CBN News in his Nashville home he explained, "Two days before she died I said, 'Melissa, no one loves you like your Daddy and nobody knows you like your Daddy and I know something's wrong, bad wrong baby. Please...' -- and she was getting ready to go talk to her mental health professional -- 'You tell him that your Daddy thinks you need to be hospitalized.'"
    
As the top leader for the Southern Baptists, Page sets the direction for the denomination's 15.9 million members.  He's also served as a successful mega-church pastor. 

But Page calls parenting Melissa one of his most daunting challenges.  It's why he wrote the book -- to encourage others on a similar journey and challenge the Church to reach out. 
    
Page and his wife, Dayle, explained that although Melissa accepted Christ as a child, her life was not easy.

"We worried about her constantly, wanted to be able to help her," Dayle told CBN News.

Frank explained, "She struggled with addictive issues, behavioral issues, rebellion issues. She struggled in many ways relationally. She was gifted beyond words and struggled beyond words." 
    
In her 20s, Melissa reached a period of stability. She married and seemed headed on a smoother path. But then a bout with cancer led to a prescription pill addiction and she spiraled downward once again. The Pages say she never mentioned suicide, leaving them in shock the day she died. 

For the first year, they remember feeling numb. 

"People say, 'She committed suicide in November, what was it like that first Christmas?'  I don't remember," Frank told CBN News. "Now the second Christmas I well remember. Then the grief was even worse for me."

After more than three years, the Pages describe their grief like waves, continually rolling in but varying in frequency and intensity. 

Suicide and Salvation

Their great comfort now is in knowing that Melissa is at peace in heaven. It's a biblical truth they say our culture has undermined. 

"You've got some people who say 'If you commit suicide you're going to hell,'" Frank explained. It's a belief the Pages want the Church to challenge. 

"I think you have to get to the point where if you belong to Christ you are His child and nothing can separate you," Dayle said. 

Frank added, "It's a family thing and family never changes. Sometimes we act like we're not a part of the family, but the truth is when you're born and you're born again-it's forever."

Raising Awareness
    
Moving forward, the Pages hope to build on the growing national awareness of mental health issues.  It started with last December's Sandy Hook Elementary shootings in Newtown, Conn., and continued in April with the suicide of Pastor Warren's son. 

"I think the timing is fascinating," Frank said, "that indeed all these things have happened in a very short period of time and I think God is going to use all these bad things to bring forth a movement among God's people."
   
At the Southern Baptist annual convention in Houston this week, the denomination will work to promote awareness of mental health issues.  Page is hoping to begin to remove some of the stigma and encourage churches to more pro-actively minister to those who are suffering. 

"These are legitimate, serious issues that people struggle with," he said. "And the church needs to be the place where we say 'we understand.'" 

Page says the local Church can help through support groups, counseling or simply awareness of what the community has to offer. It's an enormous challenge but with more than 36,000 people taking their own lives each year it could meet an enormous need.

Wedding photos: Njideka Odili weds Uzoma Iheme Nwosu

Njideka Odili, the third daughter of former Rivers State governor, Peter Odili, married Uzoma Nwosu Iheme, the son of Court of Appeals Judge, Justice Chioma Nwosu Iheme on Saturday June 8th in Abuja. And President Jonathan was there...! Oh, and check out the cake!