ONE NATION, ONE LAW: NIGERIA MUST END SHARIA IN THE CONSTITUTION AND EMBRACE A MODERN SECURITY DOCTRINE

ONE NATION, ONE LAW: NIGERIA MUST END SHARIA IN THE CONSTITUTION AND EMBRACE A MODERN SECURITY DOCTRINE

By BENSON SNUDAY, Human Rights Activist & Nigerian Nationalist

---

Nigeria Needs Truth, Not Hypocrisy

Nigeria’s greatest threat is not only terrorism itself — but the contradictions, mixed messages, and religious politics that weaken our ability to confront it.
For years, Nigerians have watched influential voices speak in ways that blur moral clarity and confuse the national conversation on security.

Sheikh Ahmad Gumi Cannot Rewrite History with a Facebook Post
This week, Sheikh Ahmad Gumi released a Facebook message condemning “insecurity sponsors.”
Yet Nigerians cannot forget the long record of public comments in which he:

• Described armed bandits as “misunderstood”

• Criticized military operations more than the crimes of violent groups

• Advocated for amnesty at times when the nation was burying victims

• Shifted blame to vague “foreign powers” rather than confronting local realities

These positions were widely reported across mainstream Nigerian media.
So today, when he speaks as though he is leading the moral charge, Nigerians are right to demand consistency.

“A single Facebook prayer cannot erase years of damaging rhetoric.”

Accountability Applies to All — Including the Sultan of Sokoto
With great authority comes great responsibility.
Public expectations of clarity and moral leadership from the Sultan of Sokoto are legitimate.
When insecurity rages, religious and traditional leaders cannot remain ambiguous.

The nation is watching every voice that shapes the moral landscape.

⚖ End Dual Legal Systems — One Nigeria, One Law
Nigeria cannot thrive under a constitutional structure that preserves parallel legal systems.
Sharia courts in the constitution — no matter their intention — undermine national unity and equality under the law.

Religion belongs in the soul.
Law belongs to the nation.

We demand:

• END SHARIA IN THE NIGERIAN CONSTITUTION

• ONE NATION, ONE LAW

• A SECULAR LEGAL FRAMEWORK FOR ALL NIGERIANS

“A united country cannot have divided laws.”

The Israel Security Debate — A Missed Opportunity
Before the intervention of former U.S. President Donald Trump in Nigeria’s security dialogue,
the Nigerian government — through Deputy Foreign Minister Bianca Ojukwu — made a bold and forward-looking diplomatic move:

Opening strategic security cooperation with the State of Israel
A nation globally respected for its experience in intelligence, counter-terror operations,
hostage rescue, and advanced security technology.
This proposal represented a chance for Nigeria to modernize its security architecture.
But instead of national unity around the idea, the country witnessed public pushback from some clerics and Islamic groups like Shk Gumi, Muric, Islamic Supreme Council Among Others, who opposed the partnership.
This opposition delayed momentum, weakened political courage, and ultimately slowed reforms that could have saved lives.

Nigerians remember that moment.
They remember who stood with progress — and who resisted it.

“You cannot resist meaningful security reforms yesterday, and pretend to lead the fight against insecurity today.”

Mr. President — Nigeria Needs Transparency and Action
President Tinubu, the nation respects your commitment to unity and stability.
But Nigerians demand decisive steps:

1. Publish the full list of terror financiers and enablers.
Transparency is overdue. Accountability cannot be selective.
2. Revive and fast-track Nigeria’s security cooperation with Israel
in partnership with the United States and other capable allies.
This includes intelligence sharing, advanced training, defensive technology, and border security support.
3. Empower Nigeria’s security leadership
We welcome the return of General Christopher Musa to the top command structure.
Nigeria would benefit from full collaboration between Gen. Musa, Deputy Minister Bianca Ojukwu, and our international partners to build the strongest anti-terror network in West Africa.

“No President is endangered by telling the truth. The nation will defend any leader who chooses transparency over silence.”

⚠To All Who Undermine Nigeria’s Security — Directly or Indirectly
Those who use influence, ambiguity, or silence to weaken national unity
must understand that Nigeria is changing.

Titles will not shield bad decisions.
Institutions will not shield complacency.
History will not shield hypocrisy.

Justice is rising.
The people are awake.
The era of sacred cows is ending.

Nigeria Will Rise — But Only Through Truth and Unity
From Zamfara to Benue, Borno to Kaduna, the blood of innocent Nigerians cries not for charity —
but for justice, reform, and courage.
A nation divided by law cannot unite against terror.

One Nation. One Law.
End Sharia in the Constitution.
End hypocrisy.
End secrecy.
Embrace truth.
Embrace reform.

Nigeria deserves nothing less.
And Nigerians will demand nothing less.

Nastassja Kinski Can Play Mary Slessor

 

Nastassja Kinski Can Play Mary Slessor

Since 1988, I have completed my comprehensive research for the historical film on Mary Slessor, the famous Scottish missionary and heroine and saviour of twins among the Efik and Ibibio tribes in now Cross River and Akwa Ibom States of south-south region of Nigeria.

I met with the Mr. Lai Arasanmi of blessed memory, who was the Manager, Programmes, Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) , Ahmadu Bello Way, Victoria Island, Lagos whose resume included B.Sc. Broadcast Journalism, Bowling Green State University, Ohio, USA, 1975; M.A. Speech Communication; Cert. Public Entreprise Management, ASCON. Member: Nigerian Guild of Producers/Directors with several awards. But I abandoned the project and became an evangelist on the streets and public transport buses in Lagos.

There have been attempts of both film and TV productions of the dramatic life of Many Slessor. But none has been successful, because of poor research, poor characterization of her personality and erroneous art direction and production design. Jeta Amata's "Mary Slessor" was not well done in casting and storytelling as can be seen in the video on https://youtu.be/ospsnFdqsck?si=CQIjzAHamcCaFhA8.

Any "Mary Slessor" without her Scottish accent is wrong characterization and should not have been done.

In my research, I had access to copies of the letters of Mary Slessor, especially the personal letters to her sister.

Presently, no Nollywood actress can play Mary Slessor, because none of them has attained that standard of intellectual acumen and professionalism in acting historical figures of such magnitude.

Nastassja Kinski can play the leading role in the film adaptation of Mary Slessor.

I was convinced by her role as "Tess", the 1979 epic drama film by Roman Polanski, the film adaptation of Thomas Hardy's 1891 classic novel, "Tess of the d'Urbervilles". that was nominated for six Academy Awards, including Best Picture and won the Oscars for Best Cinematography, Best Art Direction and Best Costume Design.

Nastassja Kinski met Roman Polanski at a party in 1976.e He urged her to study method acting with Lee Strasberg in the United States and she was offered the title role of Tess. 

In 1978, Kinski underwent extensive preparation for the portrayal of the  English peasant girl and she had to learn and acquire a Dorset accent through elocution studies:

"I was given the book almost a year prior to read, I then had to transform myself and lose my German accent completely. I worked with a coach from the National Theatre in London, Kate Fleming. It was almost an intellectual voyage. I went to live in the countryside of the deep part of England, on a farm, did everything they did, and learned it. When the time came in Paris to do my test, it was with our director and our producers Claude Berri and Timothy Burrill, I had done a screen test with Roman prior to that, for Dino DeLaurentis, but now this was for Tess. Preparation is an amazing thing. It, somehow, after all the work, carries you if you are fully present, it carries you through like a bird, like big inner and outer wings."

Nastassja Kinski can undergo the same preparations for the role of Mary Slessor and I am convinced that even at the age of 64 years, she will bring out the great personality of the iconic Scottish missionary and also learn to speak the native languages of the Efik and Ibibio tribes she loved and lived with till her breath in their midst on earth.

The awesome life of Many Slessor would be most appreciated in the historical film based on the facts she documented in her dairies and letters.

Mary Slessor stands just outside Ikotobong court house, which can be seen with its thatched roof on the right side of the photograph. 

Mary Slessor with her adopted children.

Mary Slessor stands with a number of villagers outside her house in Ekenge

Pots in which twin babies were exposed due to the superstitions of the natives (photo c. 1880)

In 1889 the British Government established a Protectorate in Calabar and, on account of her unique influence, she was invited to take up the office of Magistrate and Superintendent of the district court. It had already become customary for locals to refer their disputes to her for settlement.

During her forty-year ministry in Africa, Mary Slessor contracted malaria (which never left her), as well as other fevers and health-wracking illnesses. She ministered to head-hunters and cannibals.

She interceded in inter-tribal warfare and she saved countless babies who were left to die in the jungle due to the superstitions of the natives. The birth of twins among the Efiks had always resulted in infanticide because they believed it was the result of a great sin by the mother and evidence of a curse. They would be abandoned in the jungle to wild animals. Mary rescued a number of twins and raised them herself, saving numerous lives. On one occasion she nursed a chief back to health, to the great relief of his wives, all of whom would have been sacrificed if he had died. They gathered around her to ask about her wonderful powers and she replied:

“I have come to you because I love and worship Jesus Christ, the Great Physician and Saviour, the Son of the Father God who made all things. I want you to know this Father and to receive the eternal life which Jesus offers to all those with contrite and believing hearts. To know Jesus means to love Him, and with His love in our hearts we love everybody. Eternal life means peace and joy in this world and a wonderful home in the next world. My heart longs for you to believe in Jesus, to walk in His paths, and to know the blessings of eternal life through Him.”

The natives said Mma Mary Slessor was a mother, a teacher, a court President, and a Consul of the Southern Protectorate of Nigeria who traversed the area as far as Arochukwu in Abia State preaching the gospel.

“Mary Slessor came from Scotland to Calabar and then moved to Okoyong. She stayed at Calabar and even built a wooden storey building house there but now they are trying to renovate that place.

“After that, She left Okoyong to Use Ikot Oku. From Ikot Obong village where you have the district court sign board to Use Ikot Oku where you have the bridge, that bounds Ibiono Ibom and Itu local government areas, her tombstone is about half a kilometre from here. 

“I have had her oral history from one of our longest Chiefs, Chief Etim Udoudo who reigned over 30 years. That man even sang the song the woman sang before she died. I have gotten the history from my grand father’s second wife, Adiaha Akpan Usung (nee Adiaha Akpan Ekarika). She told me stories about her. I have also gotten oral evidence from one of the twins that she nurtured, late Elder Mrs Ceecee Akpaninyang who happened to be my aunt.

“The woman stayed here and worked. She built her house on that hill, that was her base. According to Chief Udoudo, she used to move and she was carried on what was called ‘amake’, a sort of swing, where young men would put her on their shoulders and travel across this bridge through Arochukwu. The bridge links Atan, Onoyom to Arochukwu to Ikpe Ikot Nkon; that was the route she used to travel,” he said.

According to Elder Usungurua, it was during one of such trips that Mma stumbled on the Long juju shrine where people were used for sacrifice. Mma Slessor was said to have informed the British government of the activity there which led to the destruction of the shrine.

Her advance into Ibibios territory was aided by the fact that the British government was building roads in that region. “Get a bicycle, Ma,” government officials said, pointing to the road, “and come as far as you can. We will soon have a motor car service for you.” At fifty-seven years of age Mary gamely learned to ride a bicycle after a government official presented her with a brand new model from England.

The early months of 1909 found Mary covered with painful boils from head to foot. “Only sleeping draughts keep me from going off my head,” she related. She later became severely ill from blood poisoning. She was taken to Duke Town near the coast where members of the mission attentively nursed her back to heal. But after five weeks of such care she was eager to resume her ministry responsibilities inland, and did so before some officials and doctors thought it fully advisable.

Eventually her health declined to the point that the Mission’s doctor forbad her to travel by bicycle. Hearing of her need for an alternative means of transportation, a group of ladies in Scotland sent her a Cape cart, a basket-chair on wheels capable of being maneuvered along quite easily by two boys or girls.

In the closing years of her life Mary established churches and schools in the villages of Ikpe, Odoro Ikpe and Nkanga further up Enyong Creek. She carried out ministry at those locations unaided by fellow missionaries. To her deep disappointment, the Mission had already concluded that health conditions were not safe enough in that region to place other missionaries there. To the end, however, she continued to be assisted by several African girls who lived with her as foster daughters.

Merry Christmas To You and Your Family

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year 2025 

With all the thanksgivings to Almighty God for the best going forward to higher grounds of greater heights of triumph and Victory in the mighty name of our Lord JESUS Christ, the same yesterday, today and forever.

AMEN.

#God

#holidays

#Jesus

#christmas

#xmas 

#merrychristmas 

#newyear

#2025

Nigeria - Olympics Opening Ceremony 'Last Supper' Scene: Message from Most Rev Emmanuel Adetoyese Badejo, Bishop, Catholic Diocese of Oyo

 

PRESS RELEASE

Olympics opening ceremony 'Last Supper' scene: Message from Most Rev Emmanuel Adetoyese Badejo, Bishop, Catholic Diocese of Oyo

Christians should exercise their right of outrage and boycott

Access Multimedia Content

OYO, Nigeria, July 30, 2024/ -- The religious depictions of Leonardo da Vinci’s “The Last Supper” painting with contemporary ideological figures that are clearly offensive to Christianity at the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games 2024 in France is to say the least shocking and disrespectful. Sadly, it is a perpetration of deliberate ongoing attempts in Europe and America to repurpose and cheapen Christian themes without regard for peace loving Christians who practice and profess their religion in peace. That this decadent caricature of one of the most cherished events of Christianity is publicized in France, a country with a rich and old Christian heritage, and at the Olympic games detracts from the status of the Olympics and belies all claims to enduring civility and respect for freedom of religion in the West. Christians should exercise their right of outrage and boycott to the extent that the damage already caused can be mitigated and redressed and future occurrences prevented. Governing bodies and organizations should take full responsibility for accommodating such insulting, tasteless art and expressions that can potentially cause further hurt and division in our already hurting and fractured world. Huge thanks to all who correctly expressed outrage on the subject well ahead of this. Regardless of what we go through as African we must never disrespect or thrash religious symbols and sentiments which touch people at their deepest levels of their being. To do this is to throw our humanizing and spiritual values and ideals to the dogs. +Bishop Badejo Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Catholic Diocese of Oyo, Nigeria.  SOURCE Catholic Diocese of Oyo, Nigeria

The Realization of the Power of Christian Cinema and Islamic Cinema in Nigeria for National Orientation and Nation Building

 

Nigerian premiere of "The 7 Churches of Revelation" on Ascension Day, May 9, 2024.

Buy VIP Tickets on 
 https://selar.co/1wn1v4

https://tix.africa/buy/nigerian-premiere-of-the-7-churches-of-revelation

The Realization of the Power of Christian Cinema and Islamic Cinema in Nigeria for National Orientation and Nation Building

Anyone who is intelligent knows the immense powers of mass communication in the circulation of information for public enlightenment and entertainment which we have seen the impacts on the society through sociocultural, socioeconomic and sociopolitical developments in every nation. 

The power of religion or human civilization has been known since the book of Genesis in the Holy Bible, the foundation of the two greatest religions, Christianity and Islam in the history of the world. 

The two religions have the largest populations in Nigeria with the biggest and largest markets and economies in the most populous nation in Africa.

The symbiosis of the two religions is the basis for the initiatives of the Christian Cinema in Nigeria (CCN) and Islamic Cinema in Nigeria (ICN) I have started for the acceleration of the exploration and realization of the power of Christian and Islamic films for the education, mobilization and sensitization of the people for national orientation in the nation building of a New Nigeria in the leadership of Africa among the comity of nations in the world.

- Ekeyerengozi Michael Chima,

Founder/Executive Director,

Christian Cinema in Nigeria and Islamic Cinema in Nigeria.

Saturday, May 4, 2024.

Background of Christian Cinema

Catholic priest Athanasius Kircher promoted the magic lantern by publishing the book Ars Magna Lucis et Umbrae in 1680  Controversy soon followed as priests and masons used the lanterns "to persuade followers of their ability to control both the forces of darkness and enlightenment" and temperance groups used the lanterns to fight alcoholism. In the 1800s, missionaries such as David Livingstone used the lanterns to present the Gospel in Africa.

Through the years, many Christians began to utilize motion picture for their own purposes. In 1899, Herbert Booth, as part of the Salvation Army, claimed to be the first user of film for the cause of Christianity

The Estimated Target Audience of Christian Cinema in Nigeria

The Estimated Target Audience of Christian Cinema in Nigeria

Christian Cinema is for evangelism, church planting and increasing the faith of believers as there is widespread decreasing passion for the gospel in Nigeria and we believe showing powerful facts of the Holy Bible can revive our faith in God and ignite the Pentecostal revival in Nigeria through Cinema Evangelism with the regular screenings of 

 Christian films in all the local government areas in the country with films dubbed in Arabic, Hausa, Igbo, Yoruba and other local languages.

Image credit:

https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-modern-african-studies/article/abs/changing-religious-composition-of-nigeria-causes-and-implications-of-demographic-divergence/C780E68F677B92253395051D3B1C8FA3

In 2023, Nigeria had the largest Christian population in Africa, with around 88.4 million people who identified as Christian. The "
https://www.statista.com/statistics/1368604/christian-population-in-africa-by-country/

Professed and practicing Christians in Nigeria are estimated to be 46. 8 percent of the over 201 million people in the country. And they are the largest populations in the southern states and in the middle belt states. 

The northern states are predominantly Muslims.

The estimated target audience of Christian Cinema in Nigeria will be 18, 576, 000 people annually in all the 774 local government areas in the country with more than 80 percent of them from the south and middle belt.

There will be screenings mostly in the churches, followed by screenings in town halls and village squares or centres.

Tickets will sell from N100 (one hundred naira) to N500 (five hundred naira) per person.

Special private screenings will be provided for Christian groups and others with the tickets selling from N2000 (two thousand naira).

CCN will generate an estimated N29, 288, 000, 000 (Twenty Nine Billion and Two Hundred and Eighty-Eight Million Naira) annually from the sales of tickets and from advertisements.

We have received the partnership support of Cinewav of Singapore for instant cinemas to support Nigerians to have solar powered cineplex in every village in Nigeria. 

View Cinewav cinemas on
 https://www.facebook.com/cinewavapp?mibextid=vPdvX0B5T65af74v

Patterns of Evidence of the United States of America has agreed to let us do screenings of their films in Nigeria in churches and public spaces.

Christian Cinema in Nigeria is open to partnership and sponsorship and for advertising of approved products and services.

Contact:

King of Kings Books International

Tel: +234 814 582 6448

On WhatsApp.

Email: kingofkingsbooks@hotmail.com kingofkingsbooks@gmail.com

Realistically Profiling President Muhammadu Buhari on National Security With Facts

Realistically Profiling President Muhammadu Buhari on National Security With Facts

Part 1

Political leaders all over the world prefer euphemisms to harsh  criticisms and don't often like political incorrectness in public. But flattery is the worst form of praise.

Saying the truth, whether bitter or sweet is the best in overcoming the challenges of the existential realities of life in the world.

Freedom of speech is fundamental to the establishment of true democracy and good governance in the political administraton of every federal government. But freedom of speech can be abused and misused. Freedom of speech must be based on facts and not falsehood. 

I have read some news reports on those who have been arrested and even convicted for the defamation of the personality of President Muhammadu Buhari. They insulted him and so they were arrested and jailed after being judged guilty.  But I have seen that those who have been prosecuted and convicted for the defamation of the personality of President Buhari were powerless poor people who could not afford the services of good human rights lawyers. Whereas, I have seen celebrated political activists and state governors of the opposition party lambasting the President with fury and vitriol in public and the law enforcement agents did not query or arrest them. Why?

The state governors have immunity? What of the political activists who insulted him and are still walking about freely from Lagos to Abuja.

Many have called him a criminal and a terrorist and other derogatory names on Nairaland and escaped prosecution and indictment.

The horrifying incidents of kidnappings and killings in different states have provoked the worst criticisms of President Buhari and blamed for the failures of the state governors in internal security.  And majority of the citizens have also blamed him in ignorance of the separation of powers of the government administraton of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. 

Majority of Nigerians are the underprivileged masses of poorly educated low income workers who are ruled by gullibility and the herd mentality of their religious beliefs of Christianity and Islam. And majority of them are also suffering from political amnesia, because they quickly forget the political history of Nigeria and the different political administrations and because they don't read, they often rely on hearsays, gossip and rumours for their assumptions and then jumping into ambiguous and erroneous conclusions on both the past and present current affairs in the country since the Independence of Nigeria on October 1, 1960 to date.

Whatever remarkable progress reports on the achievements and milestones in the administraton of President Buhari have been overlooked in the raging storms of insecurity ravaging the country. But the amnesia and ignorance of the majority of Nigerians would have been addressed by the Ministry of Information and Culture and not abandoned for Mr. Femi Adesina, the Senior Special Adviser on Media and Publicity and his colleague, Mallam Garba Shehu, Senior Special Assistant Adviser on Media and Publicity of President Buhari. 

I have read a lot about the Buhari Media Organisation (BMO) that recommended community policing to assist in complementing the efforts of the federal government in combating home grown terrorism which actually is the best recommendation, because community policing will be more effective in the identification of the causes of the grievances for communal clashes between herders and farmers, inter-tribal conflicts and banditry.

Community policing will end communal clashes, kidnappings and killings in different states. And the state governors should be responsible for that and not always crying wolf and calling for the head of President Buhari for their failures to secure lives and properties in the various communities in their states.

Cases studies in the peaceful community relations and conflict resolutions among herders and farmers in other countries in Africa will help to end the recurrent horrifying incidents of communal clashes, kidnappings and killings in Nigeria. 

- By Ekeyerengozi Michael China,

Publisher/Editor,

247 Nigeria (@247nigeria) / Twitter,

https://mobile.twitter.com/247nigeria

https://www.amazon.com/author/ekenyerengozimichaelchima

https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelchimaeyerengozi

The Princess and the Daughters of The Caliphate

What happens when the only daughter of the Sultan of Sokoto whose father has arranged to be married to Prince Hassan Suleiman, the first son of the Emir of Kano, but falls in love with a Christian Igbo Captain in the Nigerian Army?Will the "Daughters of The Caliphate" stand by her or against her?

This is a romantic drama of ethno religious conflict by Ekenyerengozi Michael Chima, author of "The Victory of Muhammadu Buhari and the Nigerian Dream", " The Prophet Lied", "Diary of the Memory Keeper", "Scarlet Tears of London", " In the House of Dogs" and other books.

 ©All rights reserved. EKENYERENGOZI Michael Chima. 2021.

Ekenyerengozi Michael Chima,

Publisher/Editor, 

NOLLYWOOD MIRROR®Series 

247 Nigeria (@247nigeria) / Twitter

https://mobile.twitter.com/247nigeria

https://www.amazon.com/author/ekenyerengozimichaelchima

https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelchimaeyerengozi

Religious Leaders Meet with President to Form 'Circle of Protection'

President Barack Obama recently met with His Holiness the XIV Dalai Lama in the Map Room of the White House. July 16, 2011.


21 Jul 2011 03:09 Africa/Lagos


Religious Leaders Meet with President and Ask Him to Form 'Circle of Protection' Around Programs for Those in Need

PR Newswire

WASHINGTON, July 20, 2011

WASHINGTON, July 20, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- In a meeting this afternoon with President Barack Obama and senior White House staff, national Christian leaders asked the president to protect funding for programs for hungry and poor people in the ongoing budget debate and in any deal concerning the default crisis.

All agreed that we can get our fiscal house in order without doing so on the backs of those who are most vulnerable. The shared concern was to cut the deficit in a way that protects the safety net, protects the vulnerable, and maintains our investments in the future.

Christian leaders at today's meeting included representatives from the National Association of Evangelicals, the National Council of Churches, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Bread for the World, Sojourners, the Alliance to End Hunger, the Salvation Army, the National African American Clergy Network, the National Baptist Convention of America, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, and the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference. They are part of the "Circle of Protection," a nonpartisan movement that insists budgets are moral documents and that poor and vulnerable people should be protected--not targeted--in efforts to reduce long-term deficits. White House staff in the meeting included Senior Advisor Valerie Jarrett, Director of Domestic Policy Council Melody Barnes and Director of the Office of Faith Based and Neighborhood Partnerships Joshua DuBois.

Leaders have been urging policy makers to recognize that a commitment to protect vulnerable people is a moral--not partisan--concern. They will continue to talk with policy makers as well as educate other Christians and voters about the moral issues at stake in the budget.

"As Christian leaders, we are committed to fiscal responsibility and shared sacrifice. We are also committed to resist budget cuts that undermine the lives, dignity, and rights of poor and vulnerable people," the leaders wrote in a joint statement. "Therefore, we join with others to form a circle of protection around programs that meet the essential needs of hungry and poor people at home and abroad."

The Circle of Protection statement has been signed by more than 60 heads of Christian denominations and religious organizations, and endorsed by 45 heads of development agencies as well as leaders of other faiths. The Circle of Protection movement has worked to uphold the bipartisan consensus that has long prevailed in deficit-reduction agreements--that programs serving poor and hungry people should be protected and exempted from any automatic cuts.

"We applaud the president for acknowledging that any budget deal must protect programs vital for hungry and poor people," said Rev. David Beckmann, president of Bread for the World. "The best way to reduce federal deficits is to negotiate a responsible budget that includes cuts in spending as well as increases in revenues."

The Circle of Protection leaders have met with both Democratic and Republican leaders of Congress, and they have requested meetings with House Speaker John Boehner and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.

Circle of Protection leaders will host a teleconference tomorrow, July 21, at 11:30 a.m. ET. Media are invited to dial 888-296-4205 to participate. Speakers during the press call will include most of those who were at the White House meeting. For more information on the Circle of Protection and to view the full list of signatories, visit http://www.bread.org/hunger/budget/circle-of-protection/.

Bread for the World ( www.bread.org ) is a collective Christian voice urging our nation’s decision makers to end hunger at home and abroad.

SOURCE Bread for the World

CONTACT: Racine Hamilton, +1-202-688-1138 office; +1-301-922-8417 cell, rhamilton@bread.org; or Kristen Youngblood , +1-202-688-1118 office; +1-202-423-7379 cell, kyoungblood@bread.org

Web Site: http://www.bread.org

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The Muslim Woman Who Saw Jesus!

The Muslim Woman Who Saw Jesus!

Millions of people are still perishing in ignorance of the Truth of Jesus Christ, because of their unbelief and being misled by false doctrine and false religion. That is why I have to remind them of the awesome testimony of Gulshan Esther, a Muslim girl, imprisoned by her religion and severe disability, but was healed and set free by Jesus Christ HIMSELF!



You should also read the book of her unforgettable testimony The Torn Veil: The Best-Selling Story of Gulshan Esther



A true story of freedom and miraculous healing as a Muslim girl finds faith in Christ

When Gulshan Esther, a devout Muslim girl, was six months old, typhoid left her a cripple. Her loving father took her from Pakistan to England to find a cure, but the only hope the British specialist could offer was prayer. Gulshan and her father made pilgrimage to Mecca and begged Allah for healing, but it was not until her father’s untimely death that Gulshan began to receive an answer. In her grief she wanted to die, but as she called out to God, for the first time in her life she sensed she was being heard. She heard a low, gentle voice say, "I won’t let you die. I will keep you aliveÖI am Jesus, son of Mary."

As Gulshan began reading the Quran, her interest in Jesus grew, until one amazing night he appeared to her in her bedroom in a blaze of light. He restored her crippled arm and leg and taught her The Lord’s Prayer. He told her to go to his people—now her people—and tell them what he had done. Since that time, and to this day, she has been a joyous, obedient disciple of Christ. The Torn Veil is an amazing story of faith and determination.

This moving autobiography was first published in 1984 and has sold over 200,000 copies worldwide.

Click on the Amazon image of the book cover below to order for this book of the extraordinary testimony of this Muslim woman who saw Jesus our Lord!