We’ve been back in Nigeria for a little over 3 months now so you’d probably like to know what we are up to. Well, we spent 5 weeks taking a Hausa language course and now we can greet like natives (well, almost). Now we are diving head first into ministry. Here is a summary of what we are working on:
Toby has been super busy meeting with guys on a regular basis for various things. He meets regularly with 2 pastors and a staff member who are part of the team working on opening the community center. He has been meeting with them to discuss strategy and encourage them in how to do relationship evangelism. The group meets on a regular basis with a Muslim convert who has been going into the park where the community center is to begin building relationships with the workers. The man is a vendor so he is meeting people through selling. They are waiting to see when the area is secure enough to open the building and to have the staff trained and ready to go.
A group of young men who grew up in Care Centers and have recently graduated meet at our home once a month for fellowship and encouragement. They hope to begin “giving back” to the ministry through assisting in projects at the Care Center.
Toby also meets weekly with a young man who used to be in our Care Centers. Many people have given up on this young man because he has been known to lie and steal. Toby is doing Bible study with him and mentoring him. We also have him doing some yard work and learning from our gardener. It is hard for even us to trust him but we are trying and praying that God will change his heart.
I (Alycia) lead a Bible Study on Tuesday morning for Nigerians who work on our compound. We are just beginning a study called, “Blessed are the Peacemakers,” about following God in times of conflict. This study will last about 6 months.
I am also beginning work on art education and crafts for City Ministries. Jesse Kaminski, a young woman who is a Jewelry Artist, is here for a few weeks to assist with the craft program. She will be leading training workshops and helping us to develop a Jewelry making curriculum to use with students at one of our Care Centers. In September, I will begin teaching an introductory Art class to these students in an after school enrichment program. I will also work with a City Ministries staff member to train young men how to make jewelry using cow horn.
Together, we are part of a committee that is working with churches who have been impacted by the crisis. City Ministries has teamed with EMS (the Evangelical Mission Society) to assist 10 churches that have been persecuted.
The goal is to help these churches heal mentally, spiritually and physically; then to encourage them to pray for their enemies; and ultimately to equip them to minister to their neighbors and enemies. We are both on the committee and I serve as the secretary. However, since the churches are in areas that have had problems, I will not go to any of the meetings or workshops, only Toby will, just to be extra cautious.
So far we have met with pastors from 2 churches and met with the leadership of one of the churches. We are working on a plan of action for that first church and will be determining how best we can assist them soon.
Last week we had the opportunity to see how our team works together by assisting a widow of an EMS missionary who was brutally murdered recently. We brought her and her sons to town and did some trauma healing counseling with all of them. It went really well and was greatly accepted. Toby and I are not involved in the counseling as we are not trained in it, rather we helped the committee to organize and set things up.
