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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.
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