Few things have wrenched my heart like the plight of the young
women and girls abducted from their Nigerian school by Boko Haram and violently
and repeatedly raped and impregnated by terrorists. I have not written about it
because the horror these girls have experienced leaves me wordless, stunned, grieving.
But, now many of those girls have returned, pregnant, and are once again facing
victimization by those who would use them to further the cause of abortion
rights.
Nigeria is one of the world’s countries where family and
children are still treasured and pregnancy is a cause for joy. These abductions
and rapes were clearly an act of war meant to strike at the heart of the
people—their ethnicity, social structure with family at its heart, and to take
their precious young women and ‘spoil’ them, break the hearts of their family
and steal the treasure of their virginity from their future husbands.
Some would ‘offer’ abortion as a solution or remedy to the
atrocity of repeated rapes that left these women devastated and pregnant. Yet, abortion
is no solution or remedy. To offer abortion to girls raised in a country that
values children as treasure is to steal the remnants of dignity and sense of
self that is left to girls suffering emotional and psychological trauma and
victimize them once again. To encourage them to abort the babies that God has
created—for surely in the midst of horror it is only God who brings life—will
not heal or restore. Out of a
devastating experience God has given her a child—someone she can love. Abortion
is no gift, but will further traumatize her, put her long term health at
greater risk, and deny her the ability to love the child. The good that God in
his love and grace has brought out of evil is replaced through the act by
rejection and hatred. Abortion adds
atrocity to atrocity by killing a tiny human being who is completely innocent.
The final degradation of the woman will not be accomplished from without but
from within as the loathing she feels for those who violated her is turned
against herself for acting against her natural instinct to protect and nurture
the life in her womb. I am particularly disturbed by “Christian leaders”* who propose that the church should fund abortions for the victims of Boko Haram. Such a suggestion reflects nothing of Christ or Christianity. Jesus came to bring life and bring it abundantly. Everything in nature teaches us that God brings life from death. The gospel teaching of Jesus is never to return evil for evil done to us. Jesus taught us to turn the other cheek and give the cloak to the stealer of our coat. We dishonor his name when we put the name of Christ on a violent, vengeful, act against innocent life. Who are we helping? Not the woman whose dreams of becoming a wife and mother in a family centered society have been torn asunder. She will find redemption through Christ only in forgiving as she has been forgiven by Christ. In raising that boy to be a man that treats women respectfully, handles disagreements peaceably, and rejects the violence of his biological father the mother will find a victory over her enemy that yields peace in the war of her own heart. In loving that girl conceived in violence to be a woman of dignity and grace, able to love and nurture children the victim will show the watching world the face of Christ and demonstrate his world-changing grace.
The Church should respond to the crisis of these dear girls
so loved by our Savior with the best emotional and medical support we can give
to them and the children they carry. Every effort should be made to provide a
secure, safe, and stable environment for her and her child. Education, employment,
housing, pre-natal care—these are ways the Church can reflect Christ and turn
what Satan meant for evil into a blessing. The Church, acting as the loving
arms of Christ, can bring far-reaching blessing to those broken and hurting
girls that will also bless their villages, their nation, and, like the
Abrahamic Covenant, bring blessing to all the nations of the world.
The Biblical story of Joseph is instructive. He too was
abducted and sold into slavery. Obviously being male the story is not a perfect
parallel, but can you not imagine the emotional turmoil of a young boy sold by
his own brothers and taken far away from his home. Thrown into prison on bogus
charges because of the betrayal of a deceitful woman, can you imagine the
anguish he felt as he experienced the crushing of all his childhood dreams for
who he was and who he would become. Yet God did not leave him alone, but
strengthened him, gave him incredible success and put him in a position of
power.
Can you imagine that God wants to do something similar for
these young women? God intends to take the horror of their experience and show
Himself to be present. God intends to strengthen them as women of dignity and
love and beauty. God intends for their children to be strong, filled with
integrity, dignity, and honor. God intends to give both mother and child good
success and raise them to positions beyond the imaginations of their childhood
dreams. Will we, the Christian family, lend our support to what God is
doing—bringing life and love from death and hate—or will we pay for abortions
that perpetuate the violence, the hate, the destruction of human life and
dignity? If you choose the latter—you will drag the name of Christ into another
act of war.
Epilogue: Moments after
I completed this article, Dr. Gideon Umukara, from Nigeria walked into the PPL
Booth at the PCA General Assembly. Dr. Umukara told me that the Nigerian
society’s view of the children born of rapes committed by Boko Haram is that
these children also will be Boko Haram. For that reason he views adoption as
perhaps the best answer. Dr. Umukara has space for an orphanage in Ondo State,
Nigeria and is looking for U.S. churches to partner with him to get it up and
running. You may contact Dr. Umukoro by email (Antioch1037@yahoo.co.uk).
*The Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice rcrc.org
(RCRC) organizations currently lobbying President Obama to provide abortions
for victims of rape in foreign conflicts has long had an agenda promoting
global “abortion rights” (they would call it “reproductive health”). RCRC is an
interfaith organization that includes mainline Christian denominations such as
The Presbyterian Church (USA) and the United Methodist Church and others.
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