29 February 2024Financial Desperation as Economy Implodes in Nigeria
The economic meltdown in Nigeria is having a huge impact on people and intensifying ordinary moments of temptation as parents struggle to feed their families.
Again and again our volunteer groups are hearing cries of desperation from husbands who can’t find work and wives who want to leave husbands who are not earning enough to support their families. Family breakups are causing children to turn to crime to survive.
“We are hearing so many confessions from people trying to cut corners to survive financially,” says international coordinator Tassie Ghata. “So many confessions during our church visits.
“Wives and children turning to prostitution, people stealing from their workplaces, turning to witchcraft and fetish traditional religions. They want to live right and are asking God to give them grace to say no to things that are wrong.
‘We are challenging churches to support destitute people within their congregations and local communities, to see this as part of their ministry and calling in Jesus Christ.”
During 2023 ten Grace & Light volunteer teams were active, visiting 93 churches in total, sharing the gospel of righteousness with 27,116 people and testing 2,661 for HIV/AIDS. Of those who tested, 15 were positive.
The majority (96%) chose to be open about their status and join life sharing or voluntary savings and accountability groups. Significant numbers rededicated their lives to Christ (4,392 people) or made a first commitment (475 people).
The active teams during 2023 were Abuja, Gombe, Hong, Jalingo, Jos, Lafia, Mangu, Michika, Obudu and Yola.
Prayer Requests
Please pray for:
- Families facing destitution, that parents will find work and be able to provide for their children
- People to continue to depend on God to meet their financial and spiritual needs, to open their hearts to him and ask for his help
- Church leaders to reach out to support destitute people in their congregations and local communities.
29 February 2024Students Making Real Change Happen
Secondary school students are determined to change Nigerian society from one focused on small acts of corruption to one focused on social righteousness.
After hearing Grace & Light volunteer teams share the gospel of social righteousness the are thinking positively about how they can make Nigeria a better place in the next ten years.
“It is so encouraging for our volunteer teams to hear this,” says international coordinator Tassie Ghata. “It means real change will happen.
“These students are not looking at other generations and expecting them to bring change. They are taking responsibility themselves for making change happen. They want Nigeria to be a better place to live and work.”
As well as encountering this enthusiastic desire to bring change, the volunteer teams continue to encounter the negative outcomes of immorality in students lives.
They have been able to help many students, who live as home helps with urban relatives, go back to their families in rural areas and continue their educations there. Often these students are physically and sexually abused by their relatives.
During 2023 the Jos and Yola teams visited 21 secondary schools, sharing the gospel of social righteousness with 5,205 students and testing 1,664 for HIV/AIDS. Just one student was positive.
In total, 1,278 students rededicated their lives to God and another 281 made first commitments to him.
Prayer Requests
Please pray for:
- Students will stay committed to bringing ethical and moral change in Nigeria as they leave school and go into work or university
- Students will be able to share abuse and receive support in their schools and churches.
29 February 2024Miango Churches Open Their Doors
More churches in Miango are opening their doors to Grace & Light following a meeting with senior pastors from 27 local churches.
The pastors whole heartedly welcomed operations manager Pofi Josiah and monitoring officer Alfred Ebrahim, who shared how our volunteer teams work with local church leaders and congregations.
“The pastors were surprised they had not heard about Grace & Light and promised to invite us to speak during their Sunday services. Our Jos volunteer team has already begun visiting these churches," said Pofi.
Grace & Light was invited to meet the pastors after one person came to a book fair in our Jos office earlier in 2023.
Prayer Requests
Please pray for:
- Protection for church leaders and their congregations in Miango, where there is religious and ethnic tensions and frequent attacks on villages by armed gangs
- Protection for the Jos volunteer team when members travel to Miango to speak, counsel and test for HIV/AIDS during church services.
29 February 2024Overcoming Exam Malpractices
Nigerian teachers are surprised, and pleased, to hear they are supposed to take care of their students, during Grace & Light education workshops.
Many teachers say they didn’t realise they are supposed to safeguard and nurture students as parents do; or that students do badly when they see their teachers are corrupt.
“They are really happy to hear our call to take care of their students, and say sorry for their behaviours doing the opposite,” says international coordinator Tassie Ghata.
The teachers shared stories of asking students for money in exchange for exam answers and sexual favours, as well as children questioning their sexuality.
“Exam malpractices came up again and again,” said Tassie.
On 26 October 120 people attended the ERCC national education department seminar in Akwanga, Nasarawa State to hear Tassie explain how to be Christian teachers.
Then on 14 November Tassie spoke to 365 teachers and further education students at the International College of Education in Langtang, Plateau State.
And on 1 December she spoke with 1,564 women from 14 churches in RCC Ciyel Jos during their COCIN Women’s Fellowship annual meeting.
Prayer Requests
Please pray for:
- Christian teachers to understand their roles modelling love, respect, honour and Christian behaviours for their students
- Teachers encouraging students to honestly answer exam questions.
29 February 2024Celebrating 13 Years of Book Fairs
Book fairs are transforming people’s lives and Grace & Light’s ministry.
Grace & Light has been selling second hand books in Jos for 13 years to help fund ministry in Nigeria.
In the early years our book fairs were help outside during the dry season, with books laid out on the ground. Now the fairs are held inside our spacious offices and at TCNN, Theological College of Northern Nigeria, in Jos.
As stocks of books run low, the UK charity Book Aid sends another container from its London warehouse. The books are donated by Book Aid supporters, with Grace & Light paying shipping and import fees in Nigeria.
“Book fairs are not just about raising funds for our ministry,” says international coordinator Tassie Ghata. “They are also about providing local Christians with books that encourage them in their spiritual lives. These are books they would not otherwise be able to afford. The book fairs are also a ministry for us.”
Hundreds of people come each day to browse the books, once the word gets out that Grace & Light has another book fair. Many return each year for more books. As they browse they exclaim as they find books they’ve been looking for a while, often older Christian writers.
“They stop to talk with us and share how their lives have changed after reading books they bought in previous years,” said Tassie. “We are grateful to Book Aid for its generous support supplying books over the years.”
The next book fair is in March at TCNN.
Prayer Requests
Please pray for:
- People to read the books they buy and be transformed in their relationships with God
- Effective publicity for the March book fair so many people come, buy books and speak with Grace & Light counsellors.
