(RNS) KAMPALA, Uganda — Recently, a group of Muslims visited Christian widows and orphans in northwestern Nigeria and donated food, clothing and school items as part of efforts to enhance peaceful coexistence among different faiths.

“I can’t believe they came and visited me,” said Judy Ugwu, a mother of four who lives in Kaduna state in northwestern Nigeria. “They have given me enough food and clothes. I want to forgive every Muslim who has wronged me in any way.”

Ugwu, 38, who is a Christian, lost her husband early this year when gunmen dressed in military uniforms and armed with AK47 rifles, machetes and sticks attacked her village of Kajuru and killed more than 60 people. She accused the majority Hausa-Fulani tribe, who are predominantly Muslim and herders of cattle, for brutally murdering her husband.

“I had vowed never to forgive them,” she said. “They wanted to finish us (non-Muslim) during elections so that their people can ascend to power, but God protected his people.”

There has been constant conflict in northern Nigeria for decades, pitting the majority Muslim population against the minority Christian population.

In Kaduna state, the Hausa-Fulani tribe makes up 60% of the population, and the non-Muslim minorities who are mainly farmers make up the remaining 40%.

The minority Christian populations have for decades accused…

In an effort to reach more people for Christ, a British church in Kent plans to implement a most unusual plan.

Although everyone is welcome at the 900-year-old Rochester Cathedral, the church wants to emphasize this point by facilitating several activities you wouldn’t often find in a church, including a mini-golf course, a fifty-foot tall helter-skelter, and a gin and prosecco festival in a neighboring city.

“We hope that when people come in, they will know that they’re welcome and they will have an enjoyable experience,” Reverend Rachel Phillips told Premier News. “So while people are here, having fun and playing crazy gold, they will take the opportunity to reflect on the wider theme of building bridges that they might find that they would like to pray, light a candle. Maybe talk to somebody.”

Paid for by a local charity, the carnival-type activities are intended to get the local community’s attention and introduce them to Christ. The Church of England, according to Kent Online, said it was “very supportive of any initiative which makes buildings more accessible,” especially in light of the 20 percent decline the Rochester Cathedral has experienced in the past decade.

“This is about welcoming everyone into the cathedral, letting people know that we’re here,” Phillip said. “We’re open. It’s free to come in and…

A California case that began with police raiding a private Christian boarding school could have major implications for religious education in the state, attorneys for the school are warning.

River View Christian Academy in rural Northern California was raided in January by 16-armed law enforcement officials who were accompanied by two canine units and 17 social workers. Internet rumors had surfaced accusing the school of housing illegal drugs and weapons prompting the search. Despite law enforcement finding nothing, the legal case continued, attorneys say.

The Pacific Justice Institute is representing the school, which is run by the non-profit Teen Rescue and assists troubled teens. The school receives no government money. 

At issue is the state’s contention that River View is not a private Christian school but instead an “unlicensed community care facility,” a category that would warrant further regulations. 

“Some of those regulations stand at odds with the mission and goals of a Christian school,” Kevin Snider of the Pacific Justice Institute said on The Dacus Report podcast, which is hosted by Pacific Justice president Brad Dacus.

River View has operated as a private Christian school for the past 25 years and files an annual affidavit with the state Department of Education. 

The state wants to bring River View under supervision of…

University of Alabama trustees voted Friday to return a $21.5 million gift to a donor after he called for a boycott due to a new state abortion law, although the disagreement between the two sides apparently preceded his comments.

Hugh Culverhouse Jr. was the largest donor to the university, which had named the law school after him. His name was removed from the School of Law’s outdoor sign Friday.

Culverhouse had urged companies not to do business in Alabama and had said out-of-state students should not attend the university until the abortion law was rescinded. That law would ban most abortions, as Christian Headlines previously reported.

“All foreign and U.S. international firms that do business in Alabama should boycott,” Culverhouse told AL.com in May. “It would get the law changed quickly.”

Trustees voted Friday to return the money and remove his name, but a spokesman told AL.com the controversy was “never about the abortion issue” but instead about the “continued outside interference” by Culverhouse. Emails showed he belittled the dean and wanted to control the hiring and firing of professors. He also wanted to observe classes.  

Culverhouse contended in a June 7 Washington Post op-ed the university’s action was due to his abortion comments. He also said he donated to the ACLU to fight the law.

“The ban on abortion…