OT Christians gift Muslims with mosque
By MIKE BAÑOS
ABS-CBN News
KAUSWAGAN, Lanao del Norte (ABS-CBN) - The quest for peace in Mindanao gained ground Tuesday after a Christian group in Northern Mindanao turned over a newly-constructed mosque to Muslim residents of Lanao del Norte, where hostilities between Moro rebels and government troops broke out last year.
The Christian Evangelical Churches in Northern Mindanao formally turned over to Muslim residents of Kauswagan the mosque a few weeks before the Muslim Holy Month of Ramadhan.
"This should be an example, a model, that we Christians really care for our Muslim brothers and we both love peace. But we need to work together to attain it," said Rev. Alex Eduave, senior pastor of the local Metro Pentecostal Church.
"This is the first time in history that Christians have built a mosque for Muslims," Kauswagan Mayor Moamar "Jackmar" Maruhom said. "It is really my great pleasure to note that godliness rests not only in our culture but in the hearts of the people."
Sultan Kamlon Moner, barangay Delabayen chief, praised the soldiers and the Christian workers who helped build the mosque.
Moner vowed to take the lead in maintaining the mosque, which he described as a symbol of trust and good relations between Christians and Muslims.
The mosque was built with materials donated by Catholic churches while labor and security were provided by the Philippine Army's 26th Infantry Battalion of the 401st Infantry Brigade.
Korean pastors
"Some of [the Christians] are even Baptist pastors from Korea," said Brig. Gen. Alfonso Dagudag, chief of the Army's 4th Infantry Division, who witnessed the turnover rites.
Rev. Nam Soo Lim, a pastor of the Calvary Association of the Southern Baptist Church of South Korea, was among volunteers who helped in the construction of the mosque.
"We had previously extended help to evacuees in Bukidnon, but this is our first time in Delabayen," Lim said.
Soldiers from the 402nd Infantry Brigade and 54th Engineering Battalion earlier joined 200 members of the local evangelical church in building 68 houses in Delabayen to replace those destroyed by last year's hostilities.
The estimated cost of materials donated for the houses reached P1.5 million.
The Army's reconstruction and rehabilitation efforts in the war-ravaged areas of Lanao are among the activities initiated by Maj. Gen. Roy Cimatu, now Southern Command chief.
From March 16 to June 12 last year, the 4th ID fought the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, capturing 15 major camps, 49 satellite camps, a training base and control towers.
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