Christians deepen their commitment to live lives that honour God when challenged about their lifestyles.

More than 3,300 people heard Grace & Light’s call to live lives of social righteousness at five very well attended events during January.

They made first commitments or recommitted their lives to Christ, promised to change the ways they behaved within their families and at work, and to vote for credible politicians.

Women’s Fellowship Convention, COCIN RCC Jing

Our international coordinator Tassie Ghata was the main speaker at this annual meeting for the COCIN churches in Jing at the beginning of January attended by 1,268 women.

 Over three days she covered our four social righteousness issues – poverty and wealth, work and corruption, sexual and gender-based violence and politics of righteousness.

We raised awareness that Christianity is not working well in their villages. We asked why people are very poor, why corruption is happening in their daily lives, why they are electing politicians they are acquainted with who they know are not godly people.

“Instead we challenged them to elect people with character, morals and policies that are good for their villages,” Tassie said.

“We spent lots of time on each of the four topics, exploring them in depth, with plenty of time for questions and discussions. We made the topics practical and relevant for their communities.”

Grace & Light’s message on sexual and gender-based violence was timely, as during the convention a woman was raped while fetching water from a local stream.

The women sent for their husbands to come and join us and Grace & Light provided their transport. Hundreds of men joined us as we shared the gospel perspective on family life that honours God.

Tassie, along with national administrator Dawuleng Jacob counselled more than 50 people during the conference, talking through issues in their spiritual lives, corruption at work and family dynamics.

Youth Fellowship Convention, COCIN RCC Jing

When the women who attended the annual convention arrived home they persuaded their children to attend, and 758 young people from 27 churches did so.

This time the speakers were Dawuleng Jacob and operations manager Pofi Josiah. They covered the four social righteousness topics – poverty and wealth, work and corruption, sexual and gender-based violence and politics – from the perspective of young people.

The youth were pleased to see them as Pofi and Dawuleng are local men who have made something of their lives,” said Tassie Ghata. “And they gave their presentations in the local dialects.”

Youth Fellowship Convention, COCIN RCC Mangun

In early January Pofi Josiah was also the guest speaker at the annual three day convention for young people in Mangun; 758 young people from 33 churches attended.

During counselling they shared lots of issues with sexual abuse, often from a young age, and substance abuse. Many recommitted their lives to Christ or made a first commitment.

“Young people were sharing that they believed following Christ was only supposed to happen in church. Now they know that following Christ should happen in all aspects of their lives,” said Tassie Ghata.

Pastors and Wives Workshop, Kerang

At the end of January 172 people attended this full day workshop for pastors, their wives and church secretaries in Kerang, which is part of COCIN RCC Mangun.

Tassie Ghata was the guest speaker, again covering Grace & Light’s four social righteousness topics with participants representing around 60 churches.

“This was a chance for church leaders to hear in detail about Grace & Light’s work and how we support local congregations,” said Tassie. “They were able to ask lots of questions and we could allay their fears about what happens when congregations are challenged about the way they live.

“We know from experience, that God uses our words to convict people to repent and change their lives.”

Church leaders were also convinced and since this workshop 40 churches have booked Grace & Light volunteer teams to speak  during their Sunday services, counsel and test their congregations for HIV/AIDS.

During personal counselling at the end of the workshop several couples shared they knew they were not doing very well in their home lives. Husbands recognised they were not helping their wives, wives were bearing too much of the family responsibilities, and they were not complimenting each other. They made commitments to each other to do better.

“They were also convicted by our message around the politics of righteousness and said they wished someone had come earlier to tell them that they should not elect politicians just because they were from the same tribe,” said Tassie.

Couples Workshop, Adamawa State

Eighty couples from Ekklesiyar Yan'uwa a Nigeria (EYN) Assembly of God and Baptist churches in Jimenta and Kofare attended a workshop for pastors and their wives led by Grace & Light’s Yola manager James Gisum and Pofi Josiah.

This time the focus was on God’s plan for marriage, harmony, love, affection, respect, honour and role modelling, for the next generation, how to become one in a way that honours God.

Plus they looked in detail at the opposite of God’s plan for marriage – resentment, frustration, anger, aggression, divorce.  This includes the consequences of sexual and gender-based violence and the root causes of violence in marriage – unbalanced power, inequalities and unrealistic expectations of relationship.

Much time was given to reconciliation, with couples sitting together and sharing deeply, facilitated by James from the front. This meant discussions could be personal and confidential.

Prayer Requests

Please pray for:

• Christian women and youth in the 26 villages in Jing, that they will serve their communities with Christ’s love and be witnesses for him
• Young people in Jing and Mangun will continue to live as followers of Christ in all aspects of their lives and relationships
• Pastors, their wives and church leaders in Kerang, Jimenta and Kofare as they seek to live out and role model God’s ideals for marriage.