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In developing countries, many Christians are faced with issues of corruption, war, hunger, oppression, killings and new forms of terrorism, said Rev. Dr Ibrahim Yusuf Wushishi, general secretary of the Christian Council of Nigeria (CCN), an ecumenical organization representing member churches of the World Council of Churches in Nigeria.
Wushishi shared these views at the German Protestant Kirchentag, encouraging churches to hold on to the “Christian hope,” while he addressed an international reception on 3 May in Hamburg.
Conflict and violence result, Wushishi said, in acute food shortages, poverty and hunger, which affect mostly children and women. “The church is aware of the fact that hunger makes people to be angry (a hungry person is an angry person), suffer defects, mental deficiency, blindness, and even death which contravene God’s creation,” he said.
In this situation, Wushishi stressed that “God charged the church to endeavor in fostering conditions that ensure sustainable access to sufficient, affordable and safe food.”
He explained the advocacy initiatives undertaken by the churches in Nigeria and West Africa, which focus on food security, corruption-free schools and churches, and peace-building.
“The church has to strive for human dignity, and remain in the frontline of a lively battle against hunger and injustice. Starvation is unacceptable and a complete violation of the covenant of economic, social and cultural rights and God’s divine purpose for humankind,” he noted.
Wushishi added that churches “cannot remain silent and indifferent in the midst of growing concerns of humanity.” He appreciates the partnerships among churches to respond to these challenges, especially mentioning support from the German churches and Bread for the World.
Speaking about the Nigerian situation, Wushishi noted that church leadership has taken proactive steps to comfort victims of violence. “I would like to state categorically here that the leadership of the church in Nigeria stands for peaceful co-existence, and warm and cordial Christian-Muslim relations,” he said.
Kirchentag is a church-wide event, which brought together around 117,000 international participants from 1 to 5 May in Hamburg, Germany.
Wushishi’s participation at the Kirchentag was sponsored by the Bread for the World, Germany.
Read full text of Ibrahim Yusuf Wushishi’s address at the Kirchentag
