DIMAPUR, AUGUST 8 (MExN): Taking note of the prevailing situation in Manipur, the Nagaland Joint Christian Forum (NJCF), consisting of all the denominations in Nagaland, has called for a statewide prayer for peace in Manipur on August 13.
In a call for prayer for peace, NJCF president Dr Zelhou Keyho and vice president Rev Dr N Paphino urged all Christians and citizens in Nagaland to observe 10 minutes total dark and prayer all over Nagaland on August 13 (Sunday) from 7-7:10 PM.
It has also requested the Nagaland State Government to turn off the street lights except lights used for the essentials for 10 minutes. This is a symbolic act of solidarity with our brothers and sisters in Manipur and to pray that peace will hasten in the land, the NJCF stated.
Towards this, it encouraged all the Christians and the citizens in Nagaland regardless of religious affiliation to participate in these 10 minutes prayer for Manipur. It also requested all the local church to encourage the members to participate in the “Prayer for Manipur.”
The NJCF have also requested the churches to keep the church bell ringing from 7 PM-7:10 PM for 10 minutes as the lights are turned off. Members can choose a convenient place outside or inside the house to pray, it added.
The prayer points include pray for restoration peace in Manipur; for the authority in power to bring the situation under control, for leaders of the communities to come to the negotiating table for dialogue and amicable solution, for the bereaved families for continual comfort, for those who are under treatment in different hospitals in the region and outside, for the displaced people in makeshift camps.
It also called to pray for strength and confidence for Christian community whose worship places were destroyed and burnt down that God will provide the resources to rebuild, for school going children whose education is disrupted, for the innocents who have become victims of the clash, for the church, the Manipur Baptist Convention and other denominations as they continue to serve and witness during this difficult time in their history, for agencies within and outside catering to the needs and serving the community.
Meanwhile, the NJCF termed the destruction of churches in Manipur as an intentional act and said it took such action against the church seriously. It noted with much regret and put on record “the country and the Christian world has faced the worse persecution of its kind in recent history of the church in the region where peaceful co-existed for centuries over.”
It has also noted and put it on record, “there certainly is a hand behind what has happened to weakened the church and create fear psychosis in the mind of the believers.” Manipur is not a Christian majority state like Nagaland, Mizoram and Meghalaya. But 42% of the population belongs to Christian faith, it stated.
It further put on record that, “The church how small a percentage or big will never tolerate such an approach to eliminate other religious faith,” adding, we will continue to pray and offer ourselves for peaceful co-existence and strive to build a conducive and harmonious society.
.jpeg)
