Hello everyone.
It’s been too long since I last wrote and so much has happened that it’s a daunting task to have to write about it all haha.
I’ll start from where I left of last time…The Market day clinic. I have been making plans in the last months to go into the market place, based at a small medical centre, to offer free health advice and medicines, as well as really emphasizing the free HIV test. We had the first Clinic on the 24th of January, and a medical team that was working in a town nearby joined us. We had 3 doctors a small pharmacy set up and me and Asabe offering the HIV test. On that day we saw 89 people who all received free drugs. It was a really great day and so so so many people came. It was unfortunate that we could only see 89 I think if we’d have stayed for 3 days we wouldn’t have seen everyone who wanted to be seen! But it was a really great day and a good start for future market days.
Since that day we have been back 2 times to the market to offer the free clinic, and we hope to continue going back every 9 days. Both times we have gone we have been faced with crowds of 80 to 100 people. There is just so much medical need here. Everybody has a complaint of body pain or sickness. Its hard sending people away but Mel is the only doctor doing the clinic so we can only see around 30 people in 1 day. As of yet we have not had many people coming for the HIV test but I hope that in future weeks we can really get people in for the test.
Another really exciting thing that has been happening recently is outreaches to some remote villages. When the team came they brought out a film called ‘The Jesus Film’ in the tribal language here…Igala, which I ordered from Germany. It’s a really great way of telling people about the gospel. I went last Sunday to a small village called Okpudu, with my good friend Victor. We took the projector and set up a film show for a really small church in the village there. The village has apparently only had a church there for 3 or 4 years, and a lot of people are still practicing Traditional African Religion. We had a really great day there. We visited the church in the morning and there were only about 30 people. But when we came back on the afternoon there were around 90 people so it was a really great turn out. We showed the film and everyone seemed to really enjoy it. I also spoke afterwards and Victor interpreted for me. It was a really enjoyable day, we came back on the bike just as the sun was setting, and I had one of those “wow this is amazing” moments. Driving through the bush with the sun setting after coming from an outreach in a remote village. It was awesome!
Hopefully going back every other Friday to run some studies in the church there.
I’m hopefully going to a village called Eleje this Sunday to run the same programme, and then next Sunday I am taking it to a big crusade of maybe 150-200 people. So I’m really excited about everything to come.
I have finally gone into schools now as well to start the HIV awareness lessons. It has taken a long time in coming, because of exams then Christmas, then schools not resuming because of elections. But this week I have been teaching the first set of lessons. I am teaching in 3 schools at the moment with Mel, she is taking the girls whilst I take the boys but its Just 1 lesson a week. The first lesson on Monday went really well, and I have another tomorrow, which is exciting.
And then finally I just want to mention Saturday. I am in the process of arranging a big football tournement for all the surrounding UEC churches. A couple of weeks ago I went with a few others, to inform the churches. I also offered to come back to a couple and run a day programme of coaching, football theory, and other fun things. And I’m going this Saturday to a village called Ofante to run the programme with ‘The Coach’ who is helping run the competition. Should be a fun but tiring day J
Anyway sorry to talk so much, congratulations if you’ve read to the end. I probably would have given up after the first paragraph.
Hope everyone is doing well. As always would be lovely to hear any updates from home.
