Keith, our Director of African Operations, and Shehu, General Manager of our Jos-based distribution center, recently traveled to a Christian refugee camp in Bukuru, Nigeria. They went to distribute 300 full Easy-to-Read Bibles (ERVs) and 140 hymnals to these brothers and sisters who are fleeing violence from Boko Haram in the north of the country. Below is a report from Keith concerning their visit.
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"Shehu and I went to the refugee camp today to deliver the Bibles and hymnals. The people there were most grateful! They had to flee from Boko Horam taking with them what they could carry and some could not even do that because they had to leave so quickly. Therefore, they did not have any Bibles or hymnals. The camp has only been open a little over a week and they have over 500 people and 180 families registered. It is a fully Christian camp because if they mix the Christians with the moderate muslims who are also fleeing, there will be disagreements between the two which can lead to real trouble. They fully expect even more refugees as time goes on.
The camp is a former hostel of a secondary school located in Bukuru, and more work is needed to make it livable. One block has about 44 cubicles, subdivided into a bedroom and a little sitting room that could serve a family each. At the moment, the cubicles open unto a hall way like a dormitory with little privacy. Some windows are blocked. The Stefanos Foundation, which oversees this camp, is hoping that this will serve a temporary arrangement for IDPs (internally displaced persons) coming into Plateau State until they are able to integrate into homes within host communities.
It was very sad and humbling to see the conditions and how little everyone had. Even the cleaned out old dormitory that the families are staying in provides little more than concrete cubicles with a towel or sheet strung up for privacy. Some have bunk beds, others sleep with mattresses on the floor, and some with no mattress at all.
They told us just a few stories of what these folks had been fleeing from and the terrible amount of killing that is going on in the North Eastern states of Nigeria. Please continue to pray for them and Nigeria!
May God bless the church workers and volunteers that are working to provide for these folks daily! What a blessing to give them the Word of God!"