Day 13: Noel Lateef
Noel V. Lateef
Foreign Policy Association
470 Park Avenue South
New York, NY 10016
Dear Mr. Lateef,
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 send to public figures over the next year about the Ekklesiyar Yan’uwa a Nigeria (EYN), the Church of the Brethren in Nigeria.
I am writing to you in hopes that the Foreign Policy Association will be moved to add the EYN’s story to their programing and decision making. 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.
However, it is not only the suffering of the EYN that makes their story important for foreign policy makers and consumers to hear, but the remarkable way that they have responded to their suffering. The Church of the Brethren, including the EYN, is a historic peace church. The EYN has embraced their theoretical love for peace by taking practical steps of nonviolence.
Though they face great hatred, fear, and division, the EYN continues to respond with even great love, courage, and community. They feel led to be a beacon of Christ’s love in a climate darkened by violence. They are leaders in working towards the restoration of community, dialogue, and the dignity of all Nigerians, though it often means great sacrifice.
These people fill me with hope, and I will never stop advocating for them.
I hope you will take the time to learn more about the EYN and include their story in you programs and decisions. I’m sure an expert in foreign affairs, you recognize the significance that stable faith leaders can play in developing communities and moving past violence and instability. As we continue as a nation to be embroiled in struggles against terror, it is important to consider the example of people who take a different, nonviolent approach, and to extend our help to their efforts.
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 
