Church leaders in Gombe have greater understanding of Grace & Light’s work following a members’ workshop in March.

Thirty-one pastors, deacons and action committee members participated in the day-long workshop, during which they discussed HIV, social righteousness, gender and corruption issues from the perspective of the gospel.

The workshop ran the day after Pofi Josiah’s meeting with members of the Gombe volunteer team. Tassie Ghata and Alfred Mshelizah travelled from Jos to help him lead the workshop.

“We were pleased so many leaders joined us for the workshop, including six pastors. They developed greater understanding of Grace & Light’s work and also strengthened their personal commitment and that of their congregations to supporting us.

“The exercises and group work brought out many issues they said they want to address in their congregations. It helped them see clearly that our churches are full of people who are not into Christ really, and how to respond through sermons, small groups and pastoral care.

“They were able to see that gender roles are created by culture and not by God. We were able to bring this out into the open and help them see how to change perceptions of masculinity and femininity in their churches.

“Under corruption they were able to see the many issues in their churches they will now address including stealing, falsification of data and time keeping at work.”