{"id":47423,"date":"2023-07-18T14:19:14","date_gmt":"2023-07-18T05:19:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/?page_id=47423"},"modified":"2023-07-18T14:41:28","modified_gmt":"2023-07-18T05:41:28","slug":"nl-08-2023","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/nl-08-2023\/","title":{"rendered":"Leaving the Place of Hatred"},"content":{"rendered":"

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_empty_space height=”50px”][vc_custom_heading text=”Leaving the Place of Hatred” font_container=”tag:h2|text_align:center|line_height:2em” css=”.vc_custom_1689657687062{margin-top: 1em !important;margin-bottom: 0px !important;}”][vc_text_separator title=”” color=”custom” el_width=”60″ accent_color=”#333333″ el_class=”line-for-40″][vc_empty_space height=”50px”][vc_column_text]Forced to flee Nigeria after her husband\u2019s death, a Christian widow returned to neighboring Niger determined to raise her children according to God\u2019s Word.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

In December 2009, Rahila and her husband, Abdullahi, moved their family of eight nearly 500 miles to the south, from Niger to Nigeria. Abdullahi\u2019s father had lived in Kaduna state, Nigeria, until his recent death, and Abdullahi wanted to continue working his father\u2019s land.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cBecause I grew up [in Niger], moving from here to Nigeria was difficult,\u201d Rahila said. \u201cI did it because this man was my husband and we have children, so there is no problem.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

When Abdullahi\u2019s older brother, Umaru, learned of Abdullahi\u2019s return to Nigeria, he came to visit his brother. But their reunion was not a happy one; Umaru grew angry when he learned that Abdullahi and his family had become Christians. As a Muslim, Umaru couldn\u2019t tolerate his younger brother attending church five days a week.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cHis older brother would go out anytime we went [to church] and start insulting the whole family because we were going to Jesus,\u201d Rahila recalled.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Umaru\u2019s hatred toward his Christian brother continued to simmer over the next 10 years.[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space][vc_single_image image=”47424″ img_size=”500×400″ add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center” css=”.vc_custom_1689656300029{margin-bottom: 0.1px !important;}”][vc_custom_heading text=”When Rahila\u2019s husband, Abdullahi, became a Christian, his enraged brother, who practiced witchcraft, took action to stop him. ” font_container=”tag:h5|font_size:14px|text_align:center|line_height:1.4em” google_fonts=”font_family:Noto%20Sans%3Aregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:400%20regular%3A400%3Anormal” css=”.vc_custom_1689657899997{margin-top: 1em !important;margin-bottom: 0px !important;}”][vc_empty_space][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Living in Fear” font_container=”tag:h2|text_align:center|line_height:2em” css=”.vc_custom_1689657920293{margin-top: 1em !important;margin-bottom: 0px !important;}”][vc_text_separator title=”” color=”custom” el_width=”60″ accent_color=”#333333″ el_class=”line-for-40″][vc_column_text]Abdullahi and Rahila felt increasingly unsafe around Umaru, who visited the farm often. Rahila found his practice of folk Islam mixed with witchcraft especially unsettling \u2014 Umaru believed he could call on spirits to curse others with sickness or even death. \u201cI discovered this man had no fear of God in him,\u201d Rahila said, \u201cand somebody like that [might] do anything.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Abdullahi had once followed the same syncretic folk Islam practiced by his brother. But after leaving Nigeria to work in Niger, he heard the gospel and started going to church, where he met Rahila.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

As Abdullahi and his family continued to attend church in Nigeria, Umaru\u2019s insults and curses grew more troubling. One day, Umaru wrote down some verses from the Quran that called for Allah\u2019s judgment and then buried the pieces of paper in the ground, intending to curse the land that Abdullahi was farming.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

When nothing happened, Umaru challenged his brother\u2019s legal claim to their father\u2019s land because of Abdullahi\u2019s Christian faith. And when Umaru subsequently learned that Abdullahi had spoken with local authorities about his right to the land, he told his younger brother that he would kill him for trying to take what belonged to him.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

One evening in September 2019, on the night before the brothers were scheduled to hear a judgment on the land rights, Abdullahi and his family were gathered around a fire on the farm. At about 8 p.m., Umaru walked up to the fire and pulled a small pouch from his pocket. He then took a pinch of powder from the pouch, threw it into the fire and immediately backed away.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Still standing by the flames, Abdullahi inhaled a puff of smoke caused by the powder and suddenly collapsed to the ground. Then Umaru pulled out another pouch, thought to have been an antidote to the poisonous powder he had just used, and looked at his brother as he struggled to breathe.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cYou know what happened to you,\u201d Umaru told Abdullahi. \u201cI can raise you up.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Instead of requesting his brother\u2019s help, however, Abdullahi said, \u201cI forgive all that you have done.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Fearing for Abdullahi\u2019s life, Rahila and her children knelt beside him and prayed. Rahila then pleaded with Umaru to save her husband\u2019s life. But instead of helping his brother, Umaru challenged Rahila to heal him herself. \u201cIf you are able to raise him up, go and raise him up,\u201d he told her.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Rahila ran through the village, frantically asking people to help her take her husband to the hospital. When she returned, Umaru said, \u201cNobody should come; he is already dead. Nothing can help.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

As Rahila and her children stood near Abdullahi\u2019s body, crying and overcome by grief, Umaru made one last threat. \u201cYou see, the body of the tree has died,\u201d he said. \u201cNext, I will cut the branches one after one.\u201d[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space][vc_single_image image=”47425″ img_size=”500×400″ add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center” css=”.vc_custom_1689656754757{margin-bottom: 0.1px !important;}”][vc_custom_heading text=”The global body of Christ has supported Rahila and her children with living expenses, her children\u2019s school fees and vocational training to help her provide for her family.” font_container=”tag:h5|font_size:14px|text_align:center|line_height:1.4em” google_fonts=”font_family:Noto%20Sans%3Aregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:400%20regular%3A400%3Anormal” css=”.vc_custom_1689658061162{margin-top: 1em !important;margin-bottom: 0px !important;}”][vc_empty_space][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Returning Home” font_container=”tag:h2|text_align:center|line_height:2em” css=”.vc_custom_1689658079385{margin-top: 1em !important;margin-bottom: 0px !important;}”][vc_text_separator title=”” color=”custom” el_width=”60″ accent_color=”#333333″ el_class=”line-for-40″][vc_column_text]Fearing that Umaru would come after her children, Rahila sought a way to escape. After telling her story to a Christian woman from Niger who was in Nigeria on business, the woman paid to have a taxi take Rahila and her children back to Niger.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Umaru was never charged with murder, and no one in the village seemed to care that Abdullahi had died. In her suffering and loss, Rahila decided to turn everything over to God. \u201cI forgave [Umaru] before I left,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Rahila now lives with her father and his wife, whom he married after the death of Rahila\u2019s mother. Rahila and her children have received help not only from Rahila\u2019s father but also from neighbors and her local church family.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

In addition, front-line workers are helping Rahila with living expenses, her children\u2019s school fees and vocational training. \u201cIt is really by the grace of God,\u201d Rahila said of the support she has received.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Rahila remembers Abdullahi as a loving father who gave everything he had to his children. She said that whenever they faced challenges in life, he told them to take heart and trust that God was still in control.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cHe was somebody who believed in the Word of God and was always reading and encouraging the children and me to read more and to pray more,\u201d she recalled.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Today, Rahila continues to share her love for God\u2019s Word with her children. \u201cPeople should keep on praying for the faith of these children and myself,\u201d she said, \u201cso that we can keep on growing in the faith.\u201d[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=”100px”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"[vc_row][vc_column][vc_empty_space height=”50px”][vc_custom_heading text=”Leaving the Place of Hatred” font_container=”tag:h2|text_align:center|line_height:2em” css=”.vc_custom_1689657687062{margin-top: 1em !important;margin-bottom: 0px !important;}”][vc_text_separator title=”” color=”custom” el_width=”60″ accent_color=”#333333″ el_class=”line-for-40″][vc_empty_space height=”50px”][vc_column_text]Forced to flee Nigeria after her husband\u2019s death, a Christian widow returned …","protected":false},"author":903,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"give_campaign_id":0,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-47423","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"translation":{"provider":"WPGlobus","version":"3.0.2","language":"en","enabled_languages":["ko","en","zh","ru"],"languages":{"ko":{"title":true,"content":true,"excerpt":false},"en":{"title":true,"content":true,"excerpt":false},"zh":{"title":true,"content":true,"excerpt":false},"ru":{"title":false,"content":false,"excerpt":false}}},"campaignId":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/47423","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/903"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47423"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/47423\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":47431,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/47423\/revisions\/47431"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47423"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}