It has now been 100 days since more than 200 Nigerian schoolgirls were kidnapped by a group called Boko Haram. The occasion was marked by a meeting of the girls’ parents with Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan, arranged by girlpower activist Malala Yousafzai, and by Springfield church and community members meeting around a peace pole on Yale Boulevard. Nigerian security officials say they know where the girls are, but don’t want to endanger them by a violent rescue attempt. The Springfield group prayed for a peaceful solution and vowed not to forget. One of them sang, “Anytime I don’t know what to do, I cast all my cares upon you.” The gathering closed with a song, “Lord, listen to your children praying.” –Fletcher Farrar, editor and publisher
This article appears in Jul 24-30, 2014.
