A couple of praise items.
1) For 3 years a teacher from John's former school (7 hours north of the Gilgal International School) has been asking him to come back to Nigeria for a visit. This is the site of the Church/clinic/school complex where John pastored and founded the school which he and Ester had to abandon in 1998 due to the muslim massacre of christians in that state. The last weekend of his Nigeria trip, he and the team who accompanied him traveled the 7 hours to his former church for Sunday service. After the service, this former teacher begged John to come 'see the clinic'. What he discovered as he rounded the corner of the building was that his former school has for 3 years been re-established and successfully educating 200 children. This teacher who was 18 years old when she taught for John is now the principal, carrying on his mission. A new state government is in place and the muslim unrest has significantly diminished.
2) John and his mission team travelled to Otada village (his 'father's village) to give gifts to the widows and underprivileged children. The elders of the village approached him with the request that he educate 100 of their village children who have no school to go to. John was unable to help them as the cost to bus the kids to Gilgal International school isn't feasible. The elders asked him what it would take for him to teach their students. John said "I need land for a permanent facility" THE VILLAGE DONATED and is transferring title to Gilgal of the eqivalent of about 3 quarters of land . . . we'll know for sure the size when the survey is done and the title transferred. When John described the 'very big, very big' parcel of land and I asked him to tell me how big, he told me from my house to where he and Ester lived before moving to Grande Cache and that same width. Their old house is 2 miles from my house!!! There is enough land for a huge compound AND excellent farmable land to raise food, chickens, etc to feed the children. AND if that isn't enough. . . John and Ester have Nigerian immigrant friends in Grande Prairie. The husband is an architect who is drawing up the plans for the facility FREE and will work with the Gilgal board in Canada to plan phases of development as money comes in. PRAISE THE LORD!!!
So John is planning to take a 1 week leave from his Church in Grande Cache to go back to Nigeria in January to complete paperwork etc. Building will begin this spring.Who wants to go on a mission trip this spring/summer to help build our own facility? Anyway it looks like first week of February we will have a board meeting here in Wetaskiwin (perhaps at the Gwynne Church).
About Me
- Gilgal Ministry
- Box 358 Grande Cache T0E 0Y0, Alberta, Canada
- An organization of ordinary people who want to be a blessing to the world.
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Saturday, November 29, 2008
Gilgal's November Update
Our team recently returned from Nigeria and this is what John has to say about what is happening over there.
The Building:
The building was previously a four bedroom house which has been transformed into a school and there is also a two bedroom building that is being used as the boys' quarters. The exterior is being used as a play ground, however without any kind of playground equiptment, it simply looks like a yard. Hopefully we will add equiptment soon. The present building was in rough shape when we took possession so we have done a complete renovation of the property. New windows were installed in each of the rooms. For added security new gates and doors were installed and some of the ones in better shape were fixed up. There were major repairs done on the ceiling and a large section of the roof. The interior and exterior of the building received some much needed TLC in the form of new paint (see the pictures, it looks great). There were some fixes and a replacement done to the toilets on site. An existing garage was remodeled into an extra classroom in order to accomodate more students.
Operations:
The school opened on the 29th of September, 2008! Each student has been blessed with three sets of their school uniforms and a pair of sandals. The staff is made up of local Nigerians and they are:
1. PASTOR BARTHOLOMEN ABBA ( PRINCIPAL )
2. MRS OGANYI EHAHI ( TEACHER )
3. MS ENDURANCE OGWUCHE ( TEACHER)
4. MRS GRACE ONUH ( TEACHER )
5. MR KENNETH ILEMUDA ( TEACHER SECTARY )
6. MS BLESSING MARK ( TEACHER NURSE)
7. MRS VICTORIA ODEH ( TEACHER NANNY)
8. GABRIEL ONDOKA ( SECURITY)
9. MRS ABBA ( COOK )
Currently in operation are nursery one and nursery two classes and primary one and primary two classes. In these classes there are a total of 61 children who are receiving an education and care and support from the school!
Needs:
The most immediate need right now is for funds to pay the salaries of the staff. Because we are still waiting on the federal government to recognize us a charitable organization, we are unable to give tax receipts at this time, however, this does not mean that the bills stop coming in. We currently need about $1600 Canadian to pay staff wages.
Other important, but less immediate, needs include:
1. PLAY EQUIPTMENT FOR OUT-DOORS
2. INDOOR TOYS.
3. WATER TANKER NEED TO BE INSTALLED RIGHT AWAY.
4. WE HAVE BEEN OFFERED A LAND WE NEED TO FOLLOW IT UP RIGHT AWAY, BY PAYING FOR THE PAPER WORK AND CLEARING OF THE SITE.
5. THE PRINCIPLE’S OFFICE NEEDS TABLE AND CHAIR.
6.THERE IS AN $80/MONTH WATER COST, WHICH WILL GIVE US TWO TANK FILL UPS PER MONTH.
7.WE ALSO NEED MONEY FOR CHILDREN CHRISTMAS BANQUET.
8. WE NEED $500 DOLLARS MONTHLY TO FEED THE CHILDREN ONE MEAL A DAY.
9. ANOTHER $500 DOLLARS FOR MAINTAINING THE FACILITY AND THE DAY TO DAY RUNNING OF THE PROJECTS.
John is putting together receipts from all these costs right now for the government. The school will be tring to do exams early in December and then be putting out report cards.We are looking at a rough total of about $2700/month for our operating costs. Hopefully the charitable organization registration process will be sped along over the next month or so.
May the Lord bless you richly for your involvement with Gilgal, and may his kingdom be established in the lives of our students.
-Gilgal
The Building:
The building was previously a four bedroom house which has been transformed into a school and there is also a two bedroom building that is being used as the boys' quarters. The exterior is being used as a play ground, however without any kind of playground equiptment, it simply looks like a yard. Hopefully we will add equiptment soon. The present building was in rough shape when we took possession so we have done a complete renovation of the property. New windows were installed in each of the rooms. For added security new gates and doors were installed and some of the ones in better shape were fixed up. There were major repairs done on the ceiling and a large section of the roof. The interior and exterior of the building received some much needed TLC in the form of new paint (see the pictures, it looks great). There were some fixes and a replacement done to the toilets on site. An existing garage was remodeled into an extra classroom in order to accomodate more students.
Operations:
The school opened on the 29th of September, 2008! Each student has been blessed with three sets of their school uniforms and a pair of sandals. The staff is made up of local Nigerians and they are:
1. PASTOR BARTHOLOMEN ABBA ( PRINCIPAL )
2. MRS OGANYI EHAHI ( TEACHER )
3. MS ENDURANCE OGWUCHE ( TEACHER)
4. MRS GRACE ONUH ( TEACHER )
5. MR KENNETH ILEMUDA ( TEACHER SECTARY )
6. MS BLESSING MARK ( TEACHER NURSE)
7. MRS VICTORIA ODEH ( TEACHER NANNY)
8. GABRIEL ONDOKA ( SECURITY)
9. MRS ABBA ( COOK )
Currently in operation are nursery one and nursery two classes and primary one and primary two classes. In these classes there are a total of 61 children who are receiving an education and care and support from the school!
Needs:
The most immediate need right now is for funds to pay the salaries of the staff. Because we are still waiting on the federal government to recognize us a charitable organization, we are unable to give tax receipts at this time, however, this does not mean that the bills stop coming in. We currently need about $1600 Canadian to pay staff wages.
Other important, but less immediate, needs include:
1. PLAY EQUIPTMENT FOR OUT-DOORS
2. INDOOR TOYS.
3. WATER TANKER NEED TO BE INSTALLED RIGHT AWAY.
4. WE HAVE BEEN OFFERED A LAND WE NEED TO FOLLOW IT UP RIGHT AWAY, BY PAYING FOR THE PAPER WORK AND CLEARING OF THE SITE.
5. THE PRINCIPLE’S OFFICE NEEDS TABLE AND CHAIR.
6.THERE IS AN $80/MONTH WATER COST, WHICH WILL GIVE US TWO TANK FILL UPS PER MONTH.
7.WE ALSO NEED MONEY FOR CHILDREN CHRISTMAS BANQUET.
8. WE NEED $500 DOLLARS MONTHLY TO FEED THE CHILDREN ONE MEAL A DAY.
9. ANOTHER $500 DOLLARS FOR MAINTAINING THE FACILITY AND THE DAY TO DAY RUNNING OF THE PROJECTS.
John is putting together receipts from all these costs right now for the government. The school will be tring to do exams early in December and then be putting out report cards.We are looking at a rough total of about $2700/month for our operating costs. Hopefully the charitable organization registration process will be sped along over the next month or so.
May the Lord bless you richly for your involvement with Gilgal, and may his kingdom be established in the lives of our students.
-Gilgal
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