The Church of Christ Evangelical and life Intercessory Ministry, Sabon Tasha, Kaduna, has donated bags of grains to over 1,000 Muslims as a gesture of support in the month of Ramadan.
The General overseer of the Church, Pastor Yohanna Buru, while distributing the items in Kaduna, said the gesture became necessary to support the needy in the Holy month of Ramadan.
Pastor Buru said the church could not forget the annual contributions by a Muslim woman, Hajiya Ramatu Tijjani, in the form of sharing bags of rice, cash and new clothes to the church’s widows and orphans, during Christmas, New Year and Easter celebrations.
According to him, Last year, the church doled out bags of rice, maize and other food items to poor Muslims in over five states, to enable them to participate fully in fasting and prayers in the month of Ramadan.
The General Overseer called the gesture a “tool for strengthening relationships, peaceful co-existence and religious tolerance” among the faiths, in order to attain peaceful and harmonious coexistence.
He called on the Muslim faithful to “intensify prayers” throughout the Holy month of Ramadan for lasting peace and development of the nation.
Pastor Buru also appealed to wealthy Nigerians to “indulge in humanitarian services” in order to ease the hardship faced by vulnerable persons in the society.
Marketers “must stop” taking advantage of the holy month of Ramadan to triple the prices of goods and services, he said, adding that the church was already making plans for the annual visits to markets in order to encourage them to offer Ramadan Bonanzas.
Receiving the food items, the leader of the association of persons with disabilities, Malam Hassan Lawal Mohammed Sarkin kutaren kaduna, expressed happiness over the kind gesture.
Malam Hassan said for the first 10 years, the church had been providing them with foodstuff and grains for free throughout the 30 days of Ramadan.
“It is only God that Can reward you for remembering us,” he prayed.
“Ramadan is about to start tomorrow (Thursday) and there is nothing to eat in our houses,” he said.
One of the recipients, who is also an Islamic cleric, Sheik Ibrahim Musa igabi, thanked the church for offering such humanitarian assistance to Muslims. (RN)
The distribution of the grains was carried out in different parts of the state