Church donates food items to needy Muslims for Ramadan

The Christ Evangelical and Life Intervention Ministry on Tuesday donated foodstuffs to Muslims in Rigasa, on the outskirts of Kaduna.

General Overseer of the church, Pastor Yohanna Buru, said the donation was to enable the needy to participate fully in the 30-day Ramadan fast, which began on Tuesday. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that it was the 7th year that the Ministry would be reaching out to needy Muslims during Ramadan, an exercise that had become an annual event.

Food items donated by the Ministry included millets, rice and maize.

Pastor Buru said the gesture was to strengthen the Christian-Muslim relationships, better understanding and love and to promote the spirit of togetherness.

The cleric said the Ministry hoped that the food items would strengthen the recipients in their commitment and devotion to pray for peace, prosperity and security.

“The church has started the food distribution today and it will continue to help the people, especially the poor.

“We are targeting feeding thousands of people during this Ramadan; and we shall also take part in breaking of the fast with some Muslim scholars.

“We must remember that we worship one God, and we are from the family of Adam and Eve; we all have our Holy Books from one God.

“We must join hands to support one another,’’ Buru said.

He stressed the need for people of goodwill, including the Church, to help the poor, regardless of religious affiliation, especially against the backdrop of COVID-19.

The pastor noted that security challenges and ever-rising cost of living had affected many people adversely, especially the vulnerable.

He urged Muslims to use the fasting period to pray for peace and stability of the country and for God to bring an end to security challenges.

Malam Muktari Saleh, while responding on behalf of the recipients of the food items thanked the Ministry for the kind gesture.

Saleh, Public Relations Officer of the Northern Blind Forum, expressed satisfaction over the gesture.

He also recalled that the Ministry donated food items to the disabled in Kaduna every year, calling on other religious bodies and people of goodwill to emulate the gesture.