Street Kids: Children in Major Risk The heart of our ministry centers around orphans. Our work began (see History page) as outreach to the street children of Jos, Nigeria. These children have typically lost one or both parents, or had been sent into the city to beg and fend for themselves in whatever way they could. The sad reality of this meant that they were subject to horrible abuse by adults, as these kids literally lived and slept on the street, under bridges, in abandoned cars, etc.--stealing and literally fighting to stay alive. But our grains/meals outreach and other programs began rescuing these kids, and over time our first orphanage began. We now help run some 20 Care Centers throughout Nigeria, serving nearly 400 kids, leading them to the Lord, getting them in a safe place and in school, and literally changing their life, by His grace. Medical & Evangelistic Outreach Medical needs can easily overwhelm the millions of Nigerians living on less than a dollar per day. We offer medical help with clinics within Jos and outreaches to orphans and widows and other members of the community, providing much needed care for those who would otherwise have to go without. Additionally, in our home-base city of Jos, Nigeria, our staff and volunteers each week visit two separate areas known as Blind Town, wherein inhabitants suffer from debilitating poverty, blindness, leprosy, illness of all kinds, alcoholism and drug abuse.
Training & Education We provide training and education in literacy, hygiene, AIDS awareness, nutrition, Bible lessons, discipleship and vocational skills. For example, a tailoring class teaches women to sew, giving them the ability to provide for themselves and their children. At City Ministries, we are trying to help everyone become self-supporting through various kinds of practical skills and training.
Challenge Cinema
Each of our traveling cinema teams can show “Jesus films” to 100,000 people per year! We travel to cities, towns and remote tribal areas with our generators, DVD equipment and screens, presenting Jesus Christ to people of all ages, backgrounds, and walks of life. We partner with Nigerian churches, missionaries, and District Church Councils (DCCs) to promote our visits and also follow-up with counseling, discipleship, literature and church planting.
Fulani Children
This ministry provides education, housing and care for the children of the Fulani people, some 20 million semi-nomadic cattle herders of western Africa who are 98% Muslim.
EMS Schools
The primary reason Nigerian missionaries leave their ministry is lack of available education for their children. In partnership with the Evangelical Missionary Society (EMS), City Ministries also helps house and educate children of indigenous missionaries while their parents are serving in remote areas where no schools are available.
Church Planting
City Ministries works with local leaders and District Church Councils throughout Nigeria to plant and build new churches, especially in the unreached north. To date, we have built some 18 churches and helped develope dozens more--all of which are true partnerships with Nigerian leaders and local communities.
City Sports This ministry reaches youth through the interaction of several teams that compete in a variety of sports, sharing the Gospel and promoting discipleship training in conjunction with local churches. In partnership with Sports Friends, we help hold clinics, organize tournaments and form sports leagues in order to reach out to youth and adults regarding their deeper, spiritual needs.
Prison Ministry Visiting those who literally cannot come to us, we minister to inmates at prisons throughout Nigeria. We are sometimes the first westerners who have ever visited various facilities, as we share the gospel and love of Christ with them.
