Recovery amid ruins

Nigeria | Waves of violence in northern Nigeria leave Christian communities devastated | Mindy Belz

Photo by John Teichroew

Nearly 100 pastors gathered inside an Evangelical Churches of West Africa (ECWA) church in 2008 in Malumfashi, a town in northern Nigeria's Katsina State. Three years later the same church is a ruin—torched by Muslim mobs in post-election rioting last spring. To fully appreciate the destruction, note the iron railing with crosses in the background of the "before" photo and in the foreground of the "after" photo in the E-zine or pdf version of this issue. The church, first built in 1936, held 500 for weekly worship services before it was destroyed.

"Though waves of violence against the [Christian] believers in northern Nigeria have repeatedly ravaged the region—Katsina state included—the ECWA churches in Malumfashi had previously been spared any effects from this scourge. This time, however, that was not to be," reported John Teichroew. The Minnesota resident supports area pastors and recently traveled to Katsina, where he documented the damage to churches and homes of Christian clergy following the April election of Goodluck Jonathan, a Christian and leader of the ruling People's Democratic Party.