Future pastors at COCIN Bible College in Dafo are now comfortable tackling controversial issues following Grace & Light’s social righteousness workshop in their college.

During the day-long workshop in March the 56 students and eight tutors uncovered  the issues they see in their rural village congregations and developed solutions together.

These issues included men dominating their partners, viewing women as inferior, not respecting children, cheating, hording and stealing.

“Most of the students are not yet married, but already the men are mimicking village hierarchies by bullying their girlfriends. During the workshop they realised they should be more respectful,” says international coordinator Tassie Ghata

Prayer Requests

Please pray for:

• These future pastors that they will continue to have courage and wisdom to tackle sexual and gender issues in their congregations, as well as work and poverty issues
• Bible college tutors and management will continue to share social righteousness with new cohorts of students.

Thank you to everyone who joined our UK fundraising walks in May and June, as well as everyone who supported them.

Our southern walk, on the May Bank Holiday Saturday, took us through historic Wimbledon Park, Wimbledon Common, Richmond Park, Syon Park and along the Thames to Brentford for afternoon tea.

Then two weeks later our northern walk was a very scenic riverside and woodland circular from Bolton Abbey that blended natural beauty and cultural heritage with woodland and rural landscapes. And of course afternoon tea in the abbey grounds afterwards.

If you haven’t yet done so, please do support our walkers.

You can support our southern walkers at  www.justgiving.com/campaign/solar-energy-for-training-centre

And our northern walkers at www.justgiving.com/campaign/solar-energy-for-training-centre-north

Money we raise will help fund a solar electric system for Grace & Light’s training centre in Jos.

This will give us a reliable and high quality energy and avoid the frequent and unpredictable cuts in grid electricity that Nigerians experience. Plus we will no longer need a polluting petrol generator for backup power.

We estimate this system will cost 22m Niara (£12,000). Being in the tropics with lots of sunshine, Nigeria has high solar generating capacity, reducing considerably the time it will take to recoup installation costs.

Prayer Requests

Please pray for:

• Further donations and grants so we can begin installation of the solar system.

Many new supporters in France and Britain heard about Grace & Light’s impact in Nigeria during our international coordinator’s visits this spring.

International coordinator Tassie Ghata spent a month in France and the United Kingdom this April, meeting supporters and raising new friends for Grace & Light.

Her tour started in London with a supporters tea and trustees meeting, followed by speaking at churches in Upper Beeding, Worthing, West Norwood, Chiswick, Orpington, Crofton park, Kirby Stephen, Sheffield and Birmingham.

Two weeks in London was followed by a week in France and time with churches in Steinseltz.

“This time I visited many new churches we haven’t been to before, as well as congregations that have been long time supporters of Grace & Light,” Tassie said. “I started coming to the UK 21 years ago and enjoy meeting people each time I visit.

“More people now identify with Grace & Light, have become supporters and want to be involved in our ministry, for which we thank God and look forward to what he is doing through us in Nigeria, France and the UK over the next 12 months.”

Prayer Requests

Please pray for:

• New supporters and volunteers in the UK and France, that they will remain committed and active in ministry with us
• Leaders of the congregations Tassie visited, that they will continue to encourage their members to support our work.

Thousands of COCIN women have deeper understanding of their roles as Christian wives and mothers and renewed desire to share responsibilities in their homes as partners with their husbands.

They are committed to be lights shining as Christian women who are working unto the Lord and working in businesses so poverty can leave their homes.

“Poverty is overwhelming the church in Nigeria and undermining families,” says international coordinator Tassie Ghata.

“We encouraged the women to be partners with their husbands, supporting them practically and sharing the decision making, as well as teaching their daughters and sons to respect each other.”

With Nigerian elections in 2027, the team also spoke on the politics of righteousness, reminding their audiences to vote for people with credibility and not to sell their votes.

In January the Jos volunteer team spoke at three COCIN conferences for women in Panshin, Dawaki and Kabwir; and one for youth in Dawaki, sharing our social righteousness message with 11,243 people.

Of these, 151 rededicated their lives to Christ and one person made a first commitment. Two hundred and 12 chose to be tested for HIV and one person tested positive.

Prayer Requests

Please pray for:

• The person who tested positive, that drugs will enable them to live well and they will receive the support they need from their family and pastor
• Women will remember the message they heard and live as Christian partners to their husbands and role models to their children, both female and male.

A new team formed in Bokkos following our latest volunteer training and new members have been added to teams in Panshin, Mangu, Bauchi and Jos.

Bokkos is a rural local government area south east of Jos, and consists of many dispersed farming villages surrounding the small administrative town of Bokkos.

The team was formed following new volunteer training at the end of January and early February. Twently-three participants took part in the training and all joined either the Bokkos team, or the existing teams afterwards.

During the training, they explored in depth the scriptural basis for social righteousness, which underpins all we do.

This includes our response to HIV/AIDS, medical and societal aspects of the disease, counselling, care and support, team work and relationships, how to contact churches, preaching,  and establishing voluntary savings and accountability groups and action committees that administer Grace & Light activities in each church.

They also learnt how to share Grace & Light’s four key social righteousness focuses – poverty and wealth, work and corruption, sexual and gender-based violence, and the politics of righteousness.

Volunteers were able to put what they learnt into practice on the final day during vision sharing, counselling and testing in a Jos church.

Teams in Mangu, Bauchi and Jos now have new members and the Mangu team has reactivated following a five month hiatus.

In Panshin the team has also been reactivated, after being inactive for a few years. It is a small team and is being supported by Jos volunteers as they rebuild relationships with local church leaders and congregations.

This was our 49^th volunteer training in Nigeria and the first time we have used our new Jos training centre to deliver training.

Prayer Requests

Please pray for:

• More people in Panshin and Bauchi to volunteer for training and strengthen these teams so they can continue to visit and minister to local churches
• The Bokkos team as they establish themselves and build relationships with churches in their local area; that members will remain committed to God and to Grace & Light as well as the congregations they visit
• Local church leaders will welcome volunteer teams into their churches to share the gospel with congregations, as well as counselling and testing for HIV and setting up voluntary savings and accountability groups.

Church congregations continue to be surprised when they hear our message that Sunday attendance is not enough. God expects living out of faith in their homes and work places.

Again and again our volunteer teams hear the refrain, ‘we never knew what it means to be a Christian, living according to gospel teaching and serving God from our hearts’.

Men have greater understanding of their responsibilities to their wives and children, what being head of the house in Christ means, and loving rather than bullying.

Wives have greater understanding of how to nurture their husbands and children and become equal partners in serving God in their families.

“After hearing us speak people have a change of heart. What we share impacts their lives. They want to please God and so rededicate their lives,” says international coordinator Tassie Ghata.

“Church leaders are happy we are speaking to their congregations because we are able to talk about challenges that directly affect people. Our sharing gives pastors permission to cover these sensitive topics in the future.”

Six volunteer teams were active in the first four months of 2026. They visited 34 churches, sharing the gospel of righteousness with 10,487 people and testing 997 for HIV/AIDS. Of those who tested, just four were positive.

The majority (95.5%) chose to be open about their status; many joined voluntary savings and accountability groups when these are available in their churches. Significant numbers rededicated their lives to Christ (1,078 people) or made a first commitment (110 people).

The active teams between January and April were Jalingo, Jos, Lafia, Mangu, Yola and Zing. Jalingo and Mangu teams are active despite insurgency in their areas.

Grace & Light now has a You Tube channel – Grace and Light International Ministries where you can watch talks in churches. Do subscribe to our channel.

Prayer Requests

Please pray for:

• Members of the Jalingo and Mangu teams, that God will keep them and their families safe and they will be able to continue ministering to churches in their areas.

Students are looking forward to their futures, they have discovered purpose and want to serve God rather than being swept around by the winds of social media.

Nigeria’s schools are full of talented young people who have no faith in their political leaders, church elders, or parents. They see no point in working hard and studying, and every advantage in cheating and stealing their way to worldly success.

 But when they hear our volunteer teams explain how God sees them and his expectations, their attitudes turn around 360 degrees.

“God awakens them and they give their lives to him. They say they are looking forward to graduating, living well and serving our nation when they graduate,” says international coordinator Tassie Ghata.

“When we revisit schools we find they are continuing to live by Gospel teaching and what they heard from us.”

The Yola volunteer team visited two schools during February and March, speaking with 224 pupils and testing 64 for HIV. Of these 179 students rededicated their lives to Christ and two made a first commitment.

Prayer Requests

Please pray for:

• Students to remain faithful to Christ in their school and home lives, to be supported by their teachers and families
• Teachers at these schools to also be faithful to Christ and to support and encourage pupils in their faith and lifestyles.