Women's and girl's lives are turned around in a rural farming community following workshops with local pastors and their wives.

Dawaki and Amper are rural areas with subsistence farming and widespread poverty as well as many smaller churches spread across the area.

Grace & Light’s Jos team were invited back to Dawak by the local COCIN Regional Church Council following our Sexual and Gender-based Violence workshop for pastors and wives in 2024.

Working in small groups they explored the root causes of sexual and gender-based violence in their communities and how to safeguard women and children from harm.

This time 71 people joined our follow-up one day workshop evaluating their progress in the subsequent 12 months. What a difference a year makes.

“Last year they knew they were failing both women and girls in their congregations. Now they are focussed on putting their people before farming,” said international coordinator Tassie Ghata.

“They are making space for time with their children and encouraging other farmers in their congregations to do the same. They are focussed on gospel-based ministry and rooting out corruption.”

Amper is a very remote area and the 99 pastors and wives attending their first workshop had not heard of Grace & Light until recently. Leaders from the Pankshin COCIN Regional Church Council recommended our workshop to a church leader in Amper and the outcome was an invitation to run the workshop locally.

“We covered all four social righteousness topics – sexual and gender-based violence, poverty and wealth, work and corruption, politics of righteousness,” said Tassie Ghata.

Now these churches are partnering fully with Grace & Light and asking us to visit on Sundays to share the gospel, counsel and test for HIV.

“We need to develop a new team to serve Dawak and Amper and will run a new volunteer training programme as soon as we have the funds to do so,” said Tassie.

Prayer Requests

Please pray for:

• Church leaders in Dawak and Amper balancing subsistence farming with leading their congregations
• Their poor congregations having open hearts and spirits to being challenged to live gospel-centred lives
• Funding to deliver new volunteer training and set up a new team to support church leaders and congregations in this area.