Our Children are Letters for our ministry.....

“You are a letter from Christ showing the result of our ministry among you. This letter is not written with pen and ink but with the spirit of the living God , it is carved not on tablets of stone but on human hearts.” (2 Corinthians 3 v 3 )

Our children’s changed lives speak for themselves they are our letters that show in essence what Kings Kids ( an arm of City Ministries of EMS ) is all about. Currently we look after 250 children living with us in our care centres, Orphans and Vulnerable children from across Nigeria.

One such child is Emmanuella a 12 year old girl who

came to our ministry two and a half years ago. When she was brought to our centre at Gidan Bege she was in a bad state, our staff were moved to tears when they saw the extent of the maltreatment she had received at the hands of a local “prayer man “. She lost her mother and her father left her with her Grandmother, She was falsely accused by an aunt of being involved in the secret society as people living around were becoming sick and she was taken by her aunt to a local “prayer man “ for help. He proceeded to burn her with a heating iron in order to get a confession , on her arms, legs and back. She was branded like an animal with a hot tool ! !

She was in so much pain and so confessed and therefore her life was in danger from the community wanting to kill her, and so she was brought to our ministry.

When she first came she was traumatised and very afraid whenever prayer was mentioned , she was very difficult to draw close to physically and was angry and confused with her family for allowing this to happen to her. We found the family and counselled them as to the effect of the damage their actions had caused to Emmanuella, , they were repentant and came to see her and sought her forgiveness. She readily forgave them and they all cried together. Gradually over the last two years they have visited us and she has visited them, she has grown spiritually and is understanding the power of prayer to fight against the attacks of Satan in order to protect herself. She has learned to love again and has physically healed from her injuries and has become a happy, outgoing child. Now this summer she is going to be reconciled and go and live back with her family.

God has done this. He has brought healing physically, spiritually and emotionally. He has restored the relationships in this family amazingly and has turned a horrible situation into good.

She is a letter from Christ

going back into her

community showing the results of our ministry upon her life, a living testimony of why Kings Kids is needed and just one story among many.

Little lives growing..........

Its amazing to see how our girls are progressing and growing in the ministry. Those who have been following my blog for long will remember Favour who came to us in 08 after her mother died and Sandra earlier in the same year as a result of neglect...now look at them young ladies :)
It is amazing to see what a difference love and care makes in the lives of little ones.
Seeing them grow gives so much joy to us so how much more to our heavenly father who created them.

Who am I ?

I love the Casting Crowns song Who am I....?
The chorus of which goes..

Not because of who I am
But because of what you have done
Not because of what I have done
But because of who you are

I am a flower quickly fading
Here today and gone tomorrow
A wave tossed in the ocean
A vapour in the wind

Still you hear me when i am calling
You catch me when I am falling
You tell me who I am
I am Yours...I am Yours...

As I reflect on my life lately I am humbled by the way God guides and leads and brings new challenges along the way, not because of who I am but because of who HE is to bring Glory and Honour to HIM.
I am a vessel , a flower quickly fading...(sometime it feels like it !!) someone he is choosing to use here and now in Nigeria.

A few weeks ago I popped into a shop to buy some food and I saw a white lady i didn't know and her husband who is Nigerian. I overheard her accent and didn't think it was American !! and so when her husband left I asked her where she was from...
She replied London !!! and was so excited when i in turn said I was British too :)
She has been living here for a year now and has had no contact with a white person and lives on a totally Nigerian compound in Jos, she badly needed a friend who she could relate to and was so excited to talk. Her husband commented that she was obviously meant to come to the shop today to meet me !!! She had never met a missionary or knew much about ministry ( a suprise to me here )and was keen to be friends.
When we met later in the week it turns out she was a brand new Christian and was in need of someone to Disciple her. She has come through an awful lot in her life and God has brought her to Nigeria and got her attention....and then a few months later he introduced her to me :)
I felt God say to me that he wanted me to disciple her !!! wow.. I was already super busy and not looking for new challenges and I had not done one on one discipling before but I knew this was from God and he had a job for me to do :) Not quite what i was expecting to be doing here so far from home but God had a plan...

Well we have met a few times now and its so exciting to see someone grow in their faith, she is coming each week with loads of questions from the daily studies she is doing and we are having hours of discussion. She sadly has not ever had conversations about God with a British person before and God has designed it so well that she has come out of her country and yet connected with someone to help her understand her new faith .... and that is ME !!!

If you have never had the opportunity to disciple someone one on one I challenge you to look for those God opportunities he brings along your way. It is very challenging but so exciting and encouraging and really builds your own faith as you reflect on who God is and the changes in your own life.

When our life belongs to God and we let him be in control its amazing to see what he uses us for. We are flowers quickly fading , here today and gone tomorrow and we need not to miss the opportunities he gives us to bring Glory to him.

Life in Ministry...

Kings Kids ( the ministry I work for ) --- Vision Statement says...

We aim to HONOUR GOD by developing Young People who love and serve God and impact their society for Christ and mobilizing the local church to do the same.

As I have been reflecting on this vision recently i have been challenged to think about what that means and what my part is in the fulfilling of this vision, what it looks like to me...

There have been many challenges since I last wrote a lot of political, religious and tribal instability here in Jos and many people have lost their lives, and yet despite it all I am here continuing to carry out God's call to Honour Him by serving where He has called me to be, fully carrying out the ministry He has given me. I know that this is where God wants me to be serving Him by ministering to the many young people he is rescuing and bringing from darkness into light .
We recognise that this is God's ministry and Trust Him to provide for the needs of looking after 250 children on a daily basis, He brings individual lives to us through so many different ways each broken, rejected, abandoned child special to Him and He asks us to Honour him by the way we love them, respect them, care for them and teach them about their Saviour.
We aim to disciple these young people to teach them how to live a Godly life and see such amazing changes from when they arrive as they heal and blossom with new life, and are released from bondage, free to live a life that Christ intended for them.
Discipleship is an ongoing thing, its challenging and requires much patience and forgiveness and encouragement....as we "pour out our lives" into these young ones so that they can grow up to impact their society for good .
I am still amazed and and in awe of the changes God's love brings to a child's life and feel humbled and privileged to play my small part in the process.

Just this week we have received four new girls each with a story to tell. One new girl Fatima is a 14 year old beautiful girl. Her mother is a prostitute and drug addict she has never known her father. She has been a "hidden child" she has brought herself up her mother leaving her for days on end as she went about her business, she was taken to school but that is the only place she went as she had to keep out of sight. As she has got older there was a real danger she could be groomed for a similar life one she was trying to get her mother to stop doing . Her mother felt she was too much disturbing her life and so brought her to the ministry so she could carry on her lifestyle in peace. Fatima gave her life to Christ and came to live amongst the sixty other girls....quite a change for her...she had never had a friend before or so much company it was quite overwhelming at first. Then just a week later i saw her grinning from ear to ear fully integrated with her "Sisters"...she told me she has never been so happy she is bursting with happiness a real testimony to the ministry and a reason we need to be here for others like Fatima.