The Fruits of Apathy - South Africa

From Barnabas Fund:

CHRISTIAN SCHOOL TAKEN OVER BY MUSLIM PARENTS

The School Governing Body (SGB) of a Christian-majority high school in Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa, has been taken over by Muslim parents. By law meetings must be held to elect members of the SGB. Apathy among the Christian parents meant that hardly any Christians showed up at an electoral meeting, allowing the Muslim parents to seize control of the SBG by winning six of the seven elected positions. In South Africa the curriculum of the school is established by the government, however almost all other management issues relating to the school are decided upon by the SGB. This includes decisions on the headmaster, staff, sport, culture and ethos. This allowed the new SGB to instruct the long-serving principal to stop the traditional praise and worship at the morning assemblies and replace it with a minute of silence. The principal refused and was soon forced to resign. He was then replaced by a Muslim head who has stopped all Christian publications in the school. The Christian parents and pupils have demonstrated against the SGB and the new head and have even taken the matter to court. However, as the SGB was legally and constitutionally elected, the court found in favor of the Muslim SGB. The school has to abide by all SGB decisions.

• Pray that a new election can be held in which a Christian SGB can be elected. Pray for strength and courage for the parents, staff and pupils of this school during this very difficult time.

• Pray that this incident will serve as a reminder to Christians in other contexts that they need to take an active stand in their communities and be alert to Muslim strategies.