Our Work at City Ministries

Gidan Bege Care & Outreach Centers

“Gidan Bege” in the Nigerian language of Hausa means “House of Hope.”  Gidan Bege offers hope and a starting point for a better future for the most challenged communities of this nation. There are “Houses of Hope” in over ten locations throughout Nigeria, including Jos, Gyero, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Kagoro, Egbe, Lafia, Makurdi, Gusau, and Sokoto.

Gidan Bege's Medical & Evangelistic Outreach
Medical needs can easily overwhelm a family that is living on less than a dollar per day. Gidan Bege offers medical help with clinics within Jos and outreaches to orphans and widows and other members of the community, providing much needed food, water and care for those who would otherwise have to go without. Addtionally, Gidan Bege staff and volunteers in Jos each week visit two separate areas known as Blind Town, wherein inhabitants suffer from debilitating poverty, blindness, leprosy, sickness of all kinds, alcoholism and drug abuse.

Gidan Bege's Training & Education
There is a saying in Nigeria: “Knowledge is power.” Gidan Bege offers 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. Gidan Bege also provides prosthetics for those in need. At City Ministries, we are trying to help everyone become self-supporting through various kinds of practical skills and training.

King’s Kids

King’s Kids is a program designed to be the next building block in the lives of street kids who have “graduated” from Gidan Bege.

CARE Program
After spending time at Gidan Bege and agreeing to work with our staff and volunteers in a way to create a better future for themselves, some former street children and orphans are given the opportunity to receive an education through our CARE (Children At Risk Education) program. These children are then housed in our centers wherein they receive regular meals, a place to sleep, counseling, guidance and literacy, all designed to prepare them for school and help them further their academic careers.

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. EMS schools are located in Jos as well as two other locations within Nigeria.

Missions

Challenge Cinema
Each of our simple teams can show “Jesus films” to 100,000 people per year! City Ministries supports an evangelistic film ministry which began in 1998 and which has shown films of the gospel message to Nigerians living in remote areas without electricity and other basic needs. Six mobile units travel to cities and rural areas with generators, DVD equipment and screens, presenting Jesus Christ each year through film and Christian literature. Our films reach out to people of all ages and from all walks of life.

Our partnering Nigerian churches, missionaries, and District Church Councils (DCCs) help promote our visits and also follow-up with discpleship and church planting in areas with minimal Christian presence.

• Counselor Training Seminars: Prior to films, the Challenge Cinema staff trains local Christians in witnessing and discipleship methods.
• Bible Correspondence Courses: New believers are encouraged to enroll in a Bible correspondence course about the Gospel of John. This chapter-by-chapter Bible study helps them understand the Word of God and helps them grow spiritually.
• Mobile Bookshop: The cinevan is a mobile bookshop that makes Bibles and Christian literature readily available to those living in both cities and rural areas.

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—helping to equip them for a life in step with Christ.