In this post you will find:
How we might together DARE TO DREAM for change in Nigeria
Christmas miracle #1: Dr. Godfrey
Christmas miracle #2: Bobi Secondary School FUNDED!
Nigeria is the country with the largest population in Africa, and soon one of the largest in the WORLD! Open Doors says there are currently 5,000 deaths and 5,000 kidnappings in a year, up dramatically from one year ago. Nigeria is 6th on their List of Dangerous Nations in the WORLD for Christians, with "EXTREME LEVELS OF PERSECUTION".
Go HERE to read more about Christian persecution in Nigeria and the world. It is a shocking reality that we don't talk about enough.
Go HERE to read about a Christmas Eve attack in Nigeria, where 140 Christians were killed by Islamic extremists.
Could we, should we DARE TO DREAM?
YES WE SHOULD!
Psalm 117: Praise the Lord, all you nations; extol him, all you peoples.
For great is his love toward us, and the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever. Praise the Lord.
For God's glory, the work Schools For Africa is doing in Nigeria is making a clear change by providing schools, healthcare clinics, and rotational grazing. We are loving a people group long shunned and forgotten. The Fulani people may be forgotten by the world, but NOT BY THE LORD! HOW the Lord LOVES His beloved Fulani people!
YEAR END GIVING
We’re incredibly honored to be a part of what the Lord is doing as we work together in Nigeria. Thank you for being a part of what we’re doing. Your commitment to our community has made it all possible, praise God!
We see God moving in His POWERFUL way! His words are coming alive in the everyday lives of the Fulani people. We are seeing lives be transformed and renewed! The Great Commission is being fulfilled!
1. One-time Gift:
It's not too late to give your YEAR-END GIFT. Your one-time donation makes a way for the Lord to move, through the hands and feet of our Schools For Africa team in Nigeria.
2. Monthly Giving:
Your monthly gift to Schools For Africa supports our many teachers and nurses. As we continue to build schools and healthcare clinics, we need your monthly support to continue this life-changing work!
3. Buy books/DVDs:
The stories of what God has done in Nigeria are INCREDIBLE and exciting! Hear the testimony of Missionary Phyllis Sortor, it is SO important to share! She has written two GREAT books, and a film has been created about her kidnapping!
EMAIL US TO PURCHASE BOOKS/DVDS
4. Mail a check to:
Schools For Africa
c/o Don Standley, Treasurer
1010 Silver Springs Way
Stanwood, WA 98292-8102
Christmas miracle #1: Dr. Godfrey
Dr. Godfrey is one of our own, son of our beloved pastor, Rev. Sunday. Dr. Godfrey was an ICCM (International Child Care Ministries) student, who was then sponsored through medical school at Hope Africa, in Burundi. He is now working for SFA and for our government hospital in Imala!
Dr. Godfrey, having recently moved to Nigeria to work with us, found the very important need to acquire his medical license in Nigeria. How would he be able to afford it?? Upon careful research, Dr. Godfrey learned that it would be QUITE EXPENSIVE to complete the process! Phyllis promised to help. When Dr. Godfrey emailed the budgeting details of what he would need to do to acquire his medical license in Nigeria, it was OVER $1,000!
Phyllis emailed SFA Secretary Carisa, to see if we might find help to fund the need. Carisa emailed this request for Dr. Godfrey’s licensing expenses to the Butterfield Foundation to see if they would pre-approve it for grant funding… GUESS WHAT! They called the next morning to let us know that this would qualify for Butterfield’s discretionary funding, and they had a bit of money left over, and they were gonna squeeze it in THIS YEAR! They mailied the check for $1,000 THE SAME DAY!
BOOM! Thank you Jesus! Merry Christmas to Dr. Godfrey, tell him he can get to work. :)
From Dr. Godfrey: "Firstly, I thank you for everything you are doing for me. Through you, I am seeing the goodness of God in my life."
Christmas miracle #2: Bobi Secondary School FUNDED!
Have you heard?! In 2024, we get to build our first secondary school on Bobi Reserve! It is a HUGE project! GREAT NEWS - the Lord is IN IT AND THROUGH IT, and has provided the funding to see it completed! We even have a church willing to connect to Bobi Secondary School for monthly support! WOO HOO! We are so thrilled to see the Lord move on behalf of Bobi Grazing Reserve, and the families who live there! Phyllis has close relationships with the leaders and their families there. We have SEVEN primary schools on Bobi Grazing Reserve! If you want to hear some incredible stories about Bobi, there are many in Phyllis’s second book, Kidnapped Redemption.
Bobi Grazing Reserve is 75,000 acres! Fulani herdsmen are working to improve the land and feed their animals successfully on these hundreds of acres allotted to them for rotational grazing. Schools For Africa has partnered with Clear Blue Global to drill FIVE boreholes there for fresh drinking water, and we’ve repaired two more that were in a state of disrepair. We have conducted several reading workshops there with teachers over the years. We are so blessed to have TWO healthcare clinics on Bobi Grazing Reserve! There is also a lovely church there, the First Free Methodist Church! Prince Saidu, who is an educated man who studied in the US, has overseen Bobi for years.
The Governor of Niger State has authorized SFA to build and run schools there. There are a total of SEVEN schools there, with over 700 children in total! Below are the schools/clinics (ALL OF WHOM REQUIRE MONTHLY SUPPORT!):
Bobi Healthcare Clinics: 2 nurses
School #1, Courtney Carleton Memorial Primary School, 6 teachers
School #2, Bailey Robinson Memorial Primary School, 2 teachers
School #3, Big Dam Primary School, 7 teachers
School #4, Dam Dutse Primary School, 2 teachers
School #5, River Of Life Nursery & Primary School, 4 teachers
School #6, Kango Bassa Primary School, 1 teacher
School #7, Yabawa Primary School, 4 teachers
Bobi Grazing Reserve has been a volatile place. Bandits have wreaked havoc so much in the area that the Nigerian Army finally came in last year and intervened. While the area is still very unstable, the area chiefs are absolutely thrilled to have schools for their children. One chief named Kiri Bauchi recently told Missionary Phyllis Sortor that they were going to hold on to Schools For Africa and our schools with BOTH HANDS! This volatility HAS affected student registration some, as families literally flee to safety, but we have seen increased stability in the area this year.
Kidnapping is on the rise across Nigeria, and especially in this area. Phyllis asks that we pray for security to continue to improve there in Niger State, but the work on Bobi will go forward whether she's there or not. Our plan these days, because of continued ambushes and kidnapping, is for Phyllis to stay at Peace Village in Ogun State, while our builders and manager do the work on Bobi according to the exact plan. Last year, SFA really tested and perfected our building teams, who are now able to go and do the work without Phyllis needing to be onsite to oversee. This is a major WIN for SFA and Phyllis, as the travel can be very dangerous for her. When the work on Bobi Secondary School is finished, SFA Assistant Director John Raji will go to Bobi to interview and hire teachers. Security needs will be properly addressed at Bobi Secondary School, with a wall built around the school, and security guards always present.
Bobi Secondary School will be joyously welcomed with both arms, and it will be registered with the appropriate government offices. Funds for this school will go through our Board Treasurer, Don Standley, directly to Phyllis in Nigeria. She and a couple of trusted employees then are able to distribute funds as needed. We are thrilled that the Lord is building this school at JUST the right time, as the students from the nearby SEVEN primary schools are needing to move on to secondary school! The thought of sending them to ‘just any’ other school, considering the low quality of education at other schools, was really disturbing Phyllis. We are praising God for this miracle!
ESTIMATED COSTS:
$50,000 - Initial cost to build the school, DONATED!
$6,000 - for teacher’s housing, on site, DONATED!
ONGOING COSTS:
$6,000 - yearly cost for 12 teachers’ salaries
$1,000 - yearly cost for utilities for the school
$1,000 - yearly cost for security for the school
$2,000 - yearly cost of books, paper, and writing tools (this would be a huge blessing that is not usually provided)
Other possible blessings could include:
$10,000 - for 2 buses, as children often walk a LONG way through the bush to school
We are looking for churches to support Bobi schools monthly. We LOVE to connect CHURCHES to our schools, for on-going connections, relationships, and support. We want churches to be praying for the pastors who oversee the schools, for the teachers, and the children, specifically that they would come to Christ! We will ask them to be praying for churches, in return! SFA will commit to sending your church quarterly updates from your school, but more contact would be acceptable. This connection helps congregations like yours know more about WHO they’re supporting, and our goal is to help you feel connected.
We are so excited to see the Lord moving, again and again. It never gets old. :)
James 3:18 Peacemakers who sow in peace reap a harvest of righteousness.
Join us in what God is doing in Nigeria! Your monthly gift goes directly to Nigeria, to support the salaries of our WONDERFUL teachers and nurses! One-time gifts are also welcome!
Prayer Requests:
DARE TO DREAM - Yes we do, our God is ABLE! We are daring to dream for monthly support of EVERY BOBI SCHOOL in 2024.
Pray for upcoming grazing reserve development, more info coming soon!
Pray for our beloved Fulani, that God would raise them up, and for their salvation!