Day 13: John Buchanan
John M. Buchanan
The Christian Century
104 S. Michigan Avenue, Suite #1100
Chicago, IL 60603
Dear Mr. Buchanan,
My name is Emmett Eldred. I am one of many youth and young adults who belong to an active, passionate movement within the Church of the Brethren to better reflect the love and teachings of Jesus in our everyday lives. I am writing to you as part of a series of over 1000 letters that I will be writing to public figures and media over the next year about the Ekklesiyar Yan’uwa a Nigeria (EYN), the Church of the Brethren in Nigeria.
I believe that the EYN’s story is important for you and your readers to hear, because it is both deeply inspiring and profoundly challenging. I’m sure you remember the 276 schoolgirls from northern Nigeria who were kidnapped by Boko Haram. Roughly three-fourths of those girls belong to the EYN. In fact, few groups have suffered from the violence in Nigeria more severely than the EYN, and their situation continues to worsen.
What makes their story particularly remarkable and essential to a Christian audience is not just their suffering, but also the way that have responded to their suffering. The Church of the Brethren, including the EYN is a historic peace church. The EYN continues to honor its commitment to peace, even as they experience tremendous violence and hardship.
In the face of great hatred, fear, and division, the EYN faithfully responds with even great love, courage, and community. The EYN understands that as the church they must be a beacon of Christ’s unconditional and powerful love in a climate darkened by violence. This means being leaders in working to restore community, dialogue, and the dignity of all Nigerians, though it involves great sacrifice.
These people fill me with hope, and I will never stop advocating for them.
Please learn more about the EYN and feature their story in your magazine. In their story is a pure, mature, and moving projection of Jesus’ love. I believe that your readers must know about the EYN in order to gain a deep understanding of the events in Nigeria, as well as insight into how Christ would use his subversive love and nonviolence to respond to these events and all tragedies like them. Their story comes with an important challenge to your readers that I’ve had to ask my self time and again: If I were in the EYN, could I be so faithful?
With thanks and the love of Christ,
Emmett Eldred
Carnegie Mellon University SMC# 2046
Pittsburgh, PA 15289
eeldred@andrew.cmu.edu
814-502-8349
Dunker Punks 
