REPORT: SEPTEMBER 2020 MISSIONS STORYTELLING AND OUTREACH

BACKGROUND

Missions 1 is a missions support organization that uses storytelling tools to enlighten Christians about Missionaries and their efforts, as well as motivate Christians to give support (e.g. financial, material, spiritual) to missions work, in order to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of missions. Missions 1’s efforts directly improve the livelihoods of underprivileged and neglected communities where the missionaries work.

Andrew Osakwe Ministries International (AOMI) is a global ministry designed for spreading the message of the new covenant and God’s kingdom across Nigeria, Africa and around the globe, using every available media, and in every known language. It was founded with the aim of mobilizing the body of Christ to rise up to its full stature, take over the “kingdoms of this world” and prepare itself for the return of our Lord Jesus Christ.

From Monday 21st to Thursday 24th September, Andrew Osakwe Ministries International (AOMI) and Missions 1 embarked on a missions outreach and story telling effort to the Dukawa and Kambari people living in Niger State, Nigeria. 

• The Kambari people are one of the few primitive tribes in Nigeria; the people still practice nudity. 
• The Dukawa people are still unreached. The Dukawa people primarily practice ethnic religions. Islam is also a strong religion among the Dukawas. 

In line with the vision of both organisations, the objectives of the effort were as follows:

OBJECTIVES

1. Minister salvation, healing and deliverance to the people living in the communities visited.
2. Minister to the missionaries working among the Dukawa and Kambari people groups in these regions.
3. Provide financial and material support to some of these missionaries during the trip.
4. Tell compelling stories of these missionaries and their efforts among unreached people groups in Niger state. 
5. Deploy stories of the missionaries in video, photo, audio and written formats via media platforms, in order to create awareness and raise support for the missionaries and their efforts. 

OUTCOME AND IMPACT

1. Throughout the outreach period we ministered prayer, salvation, healing and deliverance to over 1000 people in total. 
2. The two missionaries were given financial aid worth N70,000 to support their efforts. Also, material support in the form of fertilizer (worth N75,000) was given to the members of the communities. We also distributed 366 clothes, 82 pairs of footwears, sanitary products and Christian literature to all the missionaries working in the region. 
3. Two compelling stories (video, photo, audio and written formats) of missionaries and their efforts among the Dukawa and Kambari people groups in these regions in Niger state were recorded. 
4. These stories will be deployed on media platforms after the videos and pictures have been edited to create awareness and support the missionaries and their efforts.
5. The missionaries in that region have reported an unprecedented increase in church worship attendance by 25% since our visit.

CHALLENGES

1. The road to one of the communities visited is very bad so the travel time took longer than we anticipated.
2. There was not enough support personnel for the teams.
3. There was no GSM network in the fields, so communicating with the rest of the world was impossible during the trip.
4. There is no school in one of the communities visited and the surrounding villages. This makes education difficult as children have to travel over 10 kilometres to reach the nearest school.
5. There is no source of clean water in one of the communities visited. The people are left with no choice but to drink dirty water that causes them to be sick and unhealthy.
6. There is a rising security issue in the region with several reports of the kidnapping of members of the community.

RECOMMENDATION

1. The collaboration between AOMI and Missions 1 was necessary for the level of success achieved during this outreach; going forward, collaborations like this are highly recommended.
2. Some people who wanted to donate clothes and footwear were unable to do so because the news got to them late. Subsequent trips will be announced early enough.
3. With time, we also recommend the building of a borehole water well for the community. This is one gift that can keep giving back to their society. We can draw partners’ attention to this need and trust God for provisions to meet them.