Understanding that the Christian life is about listening to God rather than following high profile leaders was eye-opening for people attending leadership workshops in Plateau State.

During the day-long workshops they were introduced to Grace & Light’s four focuses – work and corruption, wealth and poverty, sexual and gender-based violence, politics of righteousness.

For many these were topics they had not heard teaching on before and didn’t realise they were areas they should be challenging their congregations on.

One pastor said: “Your teaching has cleared my thinking about the Christian life. It is not about following people, but about listening to God and what he says in his word.”

Another said: “Christianity at this time seems difficult. I usually feel lost, heartbroken anxious. Now I see Christianity should be a way of life, therefore I will live my life in righteousness”

The first workshop was in May for 55 pastors and wives in COCIN RCC Hwol which is north west of Jos. The second was for 185 men’s fellowship leaders and their wives in COCIN RCC Panyam, east of Jos. The third was for 80 pastors, wives and church leaders in COCIN RCC Wokkos, south east of Jos.

Prayer Requests

Please pray for:

• Church leaders who recommitted to listening to God during the workshops, that they will remain motivated to seek God’s will for their lives and lead their congregations in righteous living
• These churches will open their doors to Grace & Light volunteer teams for Sunday service visits, counselling and establishing Voluntary Savings and Accountability Groups.

Aiming for excellence for their nation in life and at school is a commitment hundreds of secondary school students made during two rallies in Jos and Yola.

The Fellowship of Christian Students organised the rallies during June and invited students from all secondary schools in the two areas. More than 100 accepted the invite.

Grace & Light was the guest speaker at each rally. International coordinator Tassie Ghata shared our message of social righteousness in Jos and Yola.

She focused on two of our themes - work and corruption, plus sexual and gender-based violence, with the local volunteering teams then providing counselling for all students who wanted to talk.

“Most said they had never had an adult listen to them before, or one-to-one counselling. They were able to tell their stories, talk about issues in their lives and their ambitions for the future,” said Tassie.

“We encouraged them to aim for excellence in life and not copy the attitudes of adults who are poor role models. We encouraged them to work out what they can do differently to honour God and be positive role models themselves.”

Of the 135 students at both rallies, 66 chose to be tested for HIV, none was positive. Seventy rededicated their lives to Christ and 26 made a first commitment.

One School Visit

The Yola volunteer team also visited a secondary school during May, speaking with 282 pupils and testing 45 for HIV. Sixty students rededicated their lives to Christ and one made a first commitment.

Nigerian secondary schools were closed for several months earlier in the year by the government to stop kidnapping of pupils that had occurred at multiple schools. Subsequently, teachers were focused on catching up on lost learning time and not accepting from our volunteer teams.

Prayer Requests

Please pray for:

• There will be no kidnappings at the start of the school year in September, pupils will feel safe in their schools and there will be time in the school day for Grace & Light teams to visit and share the gospel with students and teachers
• Students who rededicated their lives or made first commitments will receive support to grow in their relationships with God and remain faithful in righteous living that honours him

Volunteer teams are successfully countering the insidious mindset that says it is okay to ignore scripture because everyone else is doing so.

During Sunday services thousands of people are hearing our call to righteousness: that cheating, lying, deceiving, bullying, extra-marital affairs, killing, brutality, are not okay. God does notice.

Afterwards, in counselling, they say they have never heard this message before and they now want to change their lives.

One such person is an 80 year old woman who was convicted by the need to forgive others. She’d built up lots of resentment against her in-laws, other family members and neighbours over the years. In counselling her resentments fell away and she was able to forgive them and also rededicate her life.

Six volunteer teams were active between May and July. They visited 29 churches, sharing the gospel of righteousness with 9,941 people and testing 860 for HIV/AIDS. Of those who tested, none were positive.

The majority (96%) 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 (1,159 people) or made a first commitment (141 people).

The active teams between January and April were Bauchi, Baruwa, Jos, Lafia, Mangu and Yola. The Mangu team is continuing to be active despite insurgency in their area.

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 a youth group who had killed their friend because he stole a mobile phone
• Husbands and wives committing to end extra-marital affairs
• The 80 year old woman rebuilding relationships with family and neighbours
• Safety and confidence for Mangu team members so they continue to visit local churches on Sundays.

Refresher training turned into a revival of faith for many participants, as well as reactivation for volunteer teams that have been quiet so far this year.

Seventy-two experienced volunteers joined the three day training in May at our Jos training centre. All recommitted to their teams for another three years.

They represent nearly all the volunteer teams currently active – Bauchi, Gombe, Jos, Jalingo, Lafia, Mangu, Yola and Zing – and are now encouraging their team members who weren’t able to join the refresher training.

Over three days they were reminded of best practices for testing, counselling, care and support; vision sharing; the change from life sharing to voluntary saving and accountability groups; building relationships with church leaders; and social righteousness.

Each person recommitted to Grace & Light for another two years. International coordinator Tassie Ghata, who led the training, said “We are looking forward to seeing vibrancy in their lives and teams.

“Many had their initial training quite some time ago. Some things they had forgotten, other things they didn’t understand. Over the days it became clear to them how to show respect to the people they are counselling and how to ensure they are treated with respect when counselling.

“They said they feel better equipped to serve and also clearer in their faith, who God is, how to listen to him and live according to scripture.”

Our aim is to have all volunteers attend refresher training every two years as this strengthens motivation and commitment not only to Grace & Light, but also to the churches in their local areas.

Prayer Requests

Please pray for:

• Participants now they are back with their teams that they will remain committed to volunteering each month
• Team members who weren’t able to join the training, that they will be encouraged by their colleagues to remain committed
• Finances to run refresher training every year so all volunteers can have refresher training at least every three years.