Volunteer Teams Strengthened
Zing has a new volunteer team following training in January. Teams have also been strengthened in Hong, Yola, Jalingo, Gembu and Jos.
All have been active with the teams since, visiting churches during Sunday services and counselling then testing people for HIV/AIDS and setting up voluntary savings and accountability groups.
More Churches Become Partners
Two more regional church councils have invited Grace & Light to begin partnerships with their congregations.
During March volunteer teams were invited to visit the offices and meet the leadership teams for COCIN RCC Kabong in Jos North and Christian Association of Nigeria, Adamawa State in Yola.
People Are Changing Their Lives
Church congregations continue to embrace voluntary savings and accountability groups that help them live lives honouring God.
Seventeen voluntary savings and accountability groups (VSAG) were established in seven churches during the first three months of 2024; they continue to flourish with committed members who meet together each week.
Support Strengthens Volunteer Teams
Grace & Light’s 23 volunteer teams are increasingly feeling valued and cared for as they minister in local churches.
This is as a result of our renewed focus on meeting with each of them at least once a year to check how they are doing.
Social Righteousness Resonates with Church Leaders
Pastors and their wives, other church leaders, couples, Sunday School teachers are embracing social righteousness during conferences and workshops.
Our international coordinator Tassie Ghata spoke at five events in the first quarter of 2024, sharing our message of social righteousness with 3,414 people.
Influx of Members Shows Credibility
New members joining Grace & Light highlights we are gaining credibility as a Nigerian charity people want to identify with.
Eight new members were welcomed into Grace & Light during this year’s annual general meeting, the greatest number of new members to join at any one time.
Bookfair Transforms Lives and Funds Ministry
Our March bookfair at TCNN was again successful with hundreds of enthusiastic people eager to buy.
Book fairs at the Theological College of Northern Nigeria (TCNN) each spring are always popular with students, lecturers and local people who come from across Jos to peruse the thousands of books Grace & Light has for sale.
Training Centre 70% Finished
Construction of our headquarters training centre is now at the fitting out stage.
This substantial building is now watertight, with roof, windows and external doors all installed. Internal floors are tiled and the walls and ceilings are plastered.
Stigmatisation Still an Issue
Stigma attached to HIV status is still an issue in Nigerian churches in both rural and urban areas.
In one particular church the Jos volunteer team visited in recent months seven people had been hiding their status from family and friends because they were afraid of being judged and rejected.
Schools Reopen Following Violence in Mangu
The Jos volunteer team is now able to visit schools recently reopened following violence in the Mangu area.
They are sharing the gospel of love and also providing trauma healing counselling for the many students who have lost their parents and are now living in internal displaced people camps.
