Some pictures of my time visiting with some Partners member businesses

With Chris, the President of PCEN who has been taking me to visit the PCEN member businesses this month!

Mr. Edward Anieze at his printing business, Saniez Prnting

Employees at Saniez Printing

Employees at Yax-Mal Blocks industry - they make cement blocks

Mr. Yakubu Daniel Mallo, owner of Yax-Mal Blocks

Employee at Yax-Mal Blocks

Mr.Onigbinde, owner of Fabriteck Technical Workshop. They make many different products out of metal and aluminum

At another Metal Aluminum shop - Mr.Onigbinde trained the two guys at his shop so that they were able to start their own.

Mrs.Delight Atii in front of where she raises her poultry.

Mr.Sheni Shehu owner of Lohmak Pharmacy with two of his employees

With Mr. Shehu

More pictures!!

Janina Mobach in front of our house!

Janina and Anna (two of my housemates) at the one actual grocery store!

Anna from England - one of my housemates

The Taxi's and motorbikes make their own road

With Mr and Mrs Bulus Ali at their daughters wedding

At the wedding reception with Peggy

With my friend Agwom who showed me how to navigate the market!

With Peggy

With one of my housemates Linsey

Janina with her tailor!

With the tailor - she is making me a super cute outfit!

The trucks are very decorated!

I might become a farmer yet…

For the past two weeks and then for the rest of November I am learning from and working with Partners Worldwide in Jos. It is called PCEN (Partners for Christian Empowerment Network) in Nigeria because the name Partners Worldwide was already registered when the organization went to register their name. But other then that little name difference they are still Partners Worldwide!

Partners Worldwide tries to create groups (chapters) of Christian business people in a specific geographic area so that together they can encourage each other, learn Christian business principles, have access to loan opportunities and also when possible have opportunities to connect with Christian business people in North American.

Nigeria has a few different chapters spread around the country and I mentioned visits I had with those other chapters in a blog from October. So this month I have been able to spend time with the Jos Chapter.

It has been such a great experience and I have been able to see so much of Jos and really see first hand some of the challenges of running a business in Nigeria.
Each day the president of the Jos chapter, Chris, will pick me up and drive me to one of the member businesses and I spend the day with them, asking questions and just doing their work with them!

So far I have worked at a poultry and piggery farm, a printing business, a bookshop, a cement block and paint making business, an aluminum and metal working business and book publishing business. Yesterday I was at another smaller poultry farm. I am learning many new skills…at the cement block business they looked a little nervous when I tried to make a block or at the poultry farm they weren’t really convinced that the white girl in a skirt really could catch a chicken, at the metal aluminum place I think they thought I was joking when I wanted to try the jigsaw. Whether I did any of these things successfully is beside the point, at least it was entertaining for those watching!! haha

Yesterday in the morning the group had one of their breakfast meetings, which they try to have two times a month. The person that oversees Partners in Nigeria usually does trainings on Christian business practices, and just business skills in general like business planning, basic accounting, time management, leadership, sales and marketing and many other topics that will assist the members.

As I have met with the members I have been able to find out that they really, truly appreciate the training they receive, the Christian business advice and the mutual encouragement they receive by being a part of Partners.

When this group originally started about 10 years ago they collected a certain amount of money that was then matched by Partners. This money is circulated through the group as a loan and then paid back to the chapter in a certain amount of time and then the money can be loaned to another member. The different members have used the loan for different things but many have used it to buy piece of machinery that will help expand their business or in some cases it has been used to help an owner stay in business during a difficult time.
A couple of times this group has been able to connect with a Christian business person in North America who maybe does something similar to one of their business or who has a skill to share and that has been a really big blessing for them.

The members in this group are both men and women. Some have larger businesses but the majority are small shops or farms. They all have a story and they all have huge challenges they are trying to overcome. Together they are trying to support and encourage one another so that they can grow into better business people and stronger Christians.

I am excited to visit with more of the members in the week and a half I have left with them. I am so blessed whenever I visit cause they are so welcoming and very excited to show someone the work that they do and they really are very appreciative that someone is showing interest in what they are doing.

Although I am not skilled in the specific tasks that each business does or in running or owning a business I really think that God can and will still use the time I have with these people to help encourage them and just get them excited again for the work they are doing!

I think that maybe tomorrow I will be going to visit with a family who does fabric tie and dye to sell at the markets. Who knows maybe I will get to create a new fabric design or I will just permanently dye myself with color...I guess we will find out - I will let you know how it turns out!!

Comfort with love and compassion:

On Sunday November 1st I went again with Grace & Light to a church not just to observe and help in little ways but to actually do some pre-test and post-test counseling.

From Thursday – Saturday the previous week I was a part of the Grace & Light Volunteer Training. There were about 12 others who also went through the training program. Some of these people will add to the number of volunteers already serving in the teams in Jos while some of them came from outlying areas for the training and will go back to their communities to expand the work of Grace & Light.

Pre-Test counseling is given to every person who is going to be tested for HIV. Some of the things we talk with a person about is their relationship with Christ, about the idea of being open or confidential with their HIV status, and about how to cope with the knowledge of the HIV test result. We also discuss with the person what their own risk of exposure could be and we provide accurate information about HIV/AIDS and hopefully answer any questions they may have and correct any misinformation the person might have.

Post-Test counseling is also given to everyone. This happens when we give the group of people who are being open with their status their test result and talk to them about supporting each other and discuss again some of the things talked about at Pre-Test counseling.

People with Positive test results would require information of referral services, where to obtain further support and assistance, how to avoid being re-infected with HIV and other sexually transmitted infections or transmitting the HIV virus to others. Those with Negative test result will need counseling on how to maintain their HIV Negative status.

The night before going to help with counseling I was incredibly nervous. I was worried I didn’t know enough or that I might say the wrong thing. As I lay in my bed I went over and over in my head the practice script we had during training just so I would remember all the points I would need to talk about. I also prayed and prayed that God would bring the knowledge I learned during training back to me when I needed it, and that he would help me say the right words to encourage and show each person Gods grace and love.

So Sunday morning came and we drove to the church were we would do the testing. We first attended the service and then conducted the testing.

We get everyone who is to be tested together to explain how the testing will go and talk to them as a whole group. Then the individual counseling begins! Usually all the volunteers need to wear a florescent smock so they stand out but because I am a Baturiya (White person) I stand out all on my own so people could tell I was there to volunteer!! There were about 5 of us doing the individual counseling and 2 people doing the testing. I ended up talking with about 15 people during pre-test counseling and about 6 people for individual post-test counseling and it went very well. I was still nervous each time a new person would sit down to talk because each discussion is so different but God really answered my prayers and helped me through each discussion.

Oh and there were no positive results at this church that day!!

This day really enforced the need for the prayer that I read in the Today devotional magazine that morning.

The prayer said:
Lord, of all time, you hold our lives in your hands and comfort us with your love and compassion. Help us to build each other up amid all the contrasts of life. In Jesus, Amen

Experiencing Grace

The last couple of days have been a time of incredible learning and growing days for me, more so then others.

The last couple of weeks I have been serving with and learning from an organization called Grace & Light. Grace & Light does HIV/AIDS awareness, care and testing by partnering with churches. Their big vision is that people would be open about their HIV status and realize that people living with HIV can still live productive, active, and healthy lives. They encourage people who are positive that through being open they allow others to come alongside them to encourage and take the journey with them. They also encourage those who test negative to join with those who are positive in accountability groups so that if someone is negative they will stay negative and that someone who is positive will have the care and support they need to make healthy choices for their life. They try to do this by sharing the gospel, teaching openness and showing love.

This organization does their testing on Sundays. They speak with the congregation during the service and then offer counseling and testing afterwards. On Sunday I was able to go along with them to help, this gave me a firsthand opportunity to see how they carried out the work. Out of 120 people tested we had one positive which is great but it was still very tough to witness when that person found out she is positive. The positive is a 15 year old girl named Linda. It is difficult for me to describe how I felt when I saw Linda find out her status. Inside I was thinking that I have no idea or frame of reference to even imagine how she must be feeling. I realized that all I could do was go and sit beside her and show her that she is not alone. As a group we all prayed for Linda and also thanked God for the others who were tested and were negative for HIV by God’s grace. As we prayed for Linda I was overwhelmed by so many feelings that sound really simplistic when written down but I will try – I felt scared for Linda, that so much in her life will change from this point on, I felt sad that she has HIV and I just cried because the issue of HIV was real for me in a way it never was before this experience.

As I have had some days to think about that day and to pray for Linda and the issue of HIV I realize more and more the blessings I have in my life. This experience was not only so I can look at my own life and be thankful but to see that there are people struggling with so many different things not just HIV and that the only way to defeat stigma, discrimination and isolation is to show others grace and love and the only way we can fully do that is through Christ Jesus.

The following Tuesday I went along with a Grace & Light staff member to meet Linda at the clinic so that we could wait with her as she and did the confirmation testing. After a long wait, her second test at the clinic did confirm her positive result. As we waited with Linda I was able to talk with her a little and I found out that she likes art and drawing. She drew me some pictures and she also attempted to teach me how to draw – which is not an easy task at all. She also taught me how to play a sort of Nigerian version of tic-tac-toe! I was glad that I could at least help Linda smile a little and I hope that God will use those couple of hours I spent with Linda to remind her that she is valued and that she has gifts and talents that she will still be able to use and most importantly that God loves her so much. Psalm 25:5 is what I hope for Linda and I pray that she will grow and learn more about God every day.– Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long.

Although I only served with and helped at Grace & Light for two weeks I was impacted by the reality of HIV and the work that is required year in and year out to educate and help those affected by HIV and AIDS. I have been shown a lot in the last couple weeks and I know God will continue to teach me so many things because of this experience.

For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.
Romans 3:23-24

Pictures!!