JUST before Christmas, tucked away in all the bad news with which we were bombarded last year was the most cheering story I have read for some time.
It concerned a group of Kenyan Muslims travelling on a bus which was ambushed by Islamist gunmen. They protected Christian passengers by refusing to be split into groups.
A local governor told Kenyan media that the Muslims told the militants in northern Kenya ‘to kill them together or leave them alone.
The locals showed a sense of patriotism and belonging to each other’, he said, adding that the militants decided to leave after the passengers’ show of unity.
An employee of the bus company concerned who had spoken to the driver involved in the attack, confirmed that Muslims had refused to be separated from their fellow Christian passengers.
Jesus tells us to love our neighbours as ourselves and that is exactly what these Muslims did. My hope for this coming year is that we shall all be given the grace to reach out to our neighbours of whatever creed or nationality to care for them and protect them.
As the old saying goes: ‘For there, but for the grace of God, go we.’
Bishop John
