Relief Network News (pdf ver.)

A project based outreach of

Relief Network Ministries, Inc.

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I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, ... I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me!" - Matthew 25:35-36.

S

From the President,
Dr. A. Sunny Okorie

Editorial

The year is almost coming to an end, with a backlog of completed activities and projects still not well publicized to our partners and friends, new events are happening fast each day, such as hurricane Katrina & Rita, the new academic year beginning, & tormoils, etc. So we are under some constraint to share some good news with these success stories and a few related challenges before summer is completely gone in Texas or Fall sets in with shorter day light time. So, please read on...

In this issue, we provide highlights from these activities - water well projects, medical outreach, and coming program plans. We encourage you to visit our website more often, especially the News & Events / Newsletter page and the Water Well Reports page.

For details & more on these, visit us at:

www.relief-networks.org.

RNM Welcomes a Host of Bishops

_We begin by recalling the wonderful visit of
Bishop Henry Ndukuba in February 2005
which coincided with the World Conference of the All Nations Church. Well, who is Bishop Henry Ndukuba? He is the Anglican Bishop of the Gombe Dioceses in North Eastern Nigeria where the church is still persecuted and believers martyred by Muslims living in the region. He is a prayer warrior who has a calling to these parts of Nigeria, and has had some brushes with deathly violent attacks from Islamic fanatics from which the Lord has delivered him miraculously at sundry times. He lives in Gombe with his wife and 5 children. He oversees some 23 churches in Northern Nigeria. He received his theological training at Princeton, NJ; ABU Zaria; and in London, England several years earlier before returning to Nigeria to serve in ministry under the Anglican Communion. We both come from Ogberuru. He was one of the many delegates from Africa at the World Apostolic Congress held at All Nations Church. He came after attending to some other business of the Anglican Communion / Church of Nigeria. We were privileged to have him as our guest for a few days.

After we learned about the work & ministry of Bishop Henry in Gombe State, and the difficult water challenges for his parishioners, dioceses, and nearby village dwellers, RNM decided to make a difference in that community.

By the end of 2006, RNM plans to erect a good community water well project at their diocesan head quarters church premises in Gongola.

Top:

Water shortage every where - Ikwuano well brings relief to villagers who queue up for a while for their turn to fetch clean sanitary water drilled by RNM & Living Water Int'l with the Otuwa family donating the overhead tank structures & providing electricity using a gen set that supply the submersible pump.

Contents

A host of Bishops

US$500 K medicines given away

Water Well Project Reports

Project Plans for 2006

Mission possible- Dr. Otuwa

Move to Dickinson

Profiles of Gombe, NE Nigeria

Meeting human needs with the love of Christ!

Email: info@relief-networks.org

Volume 6, Issue1

Another mighty man of God attending is Rev. Olu Lawrence from the Bethel World Outreach Ministries in Warri, Nigeria where he serves as overseer or Bishop to two churches, and a Bible Training Center.

This congregation and nearby community would have access to sanitary safe water when RNM delivers on a promise to help with a water well among this church group, hopefully by the end of 2006.

Bishop Eric Ntorinkansah also attended the conference. He comes from Ghana but lives in London, England where he Pastors the Living Flames Baptist Church. He oversees several other churches in Ghana, and another church in London. He was accompanied by his local associate Ghanaian minister _ Pastor-Evangelist Steve Yeboah, who lives in Houston, and also ministers extensively in the Puerto Rican Islands. He also attended the conference. Steve's ministry is called Christ First Healing Ministry, International.

On the last day of the conference, they all converged at our new residence for a great time of fellowship and prayer. We will always retain a fond memory of their visit and time together.

RNM Distributes $0.5M worth of pharmaceuticals in Q2 of 2005

_Diabetic medications were air
freighted into Nigeria and Sri
Lanka _ About 440 lbs of glyburide boxes donated with little delivery / handling fees were delivered. We paid only 50% of the air fright charges, with partners like Medical Missions Int'l & the airline helping with the other 50%.

Among the hospitals and clinics benefiting from these donations to assist the under privileged are: Dr. Stuart Quartemonte _ International Christian Hospital, Owerri; Dr. Ben Mbata _ Total Care Medical Clinic, Owerri; Dr. Charles Ikeji _ Divine Grace Medical Hospital, Aba; Dr. (Mrs.) Tessy Okere _ Federal Medical Center, Owerri; Dr. A. Barnabas Chukwuezi - Imo State University Teaching Hospital (Outpatient Care Unit), Owerri; Dr. E. Uzoma _ Cambria Hospital, Orlu; Dr. Ejiogu, Chisom Hospital & Maternity, Orlu; Dr. Charles Ibenye _ Angel Gabriel Hospital, Orlu; Prof. O. Obiora Cross River State University Teaching Hospital, Calabar; and Alexander Garza for the Sri Lankan tsunami refugees relief.

The free medicines were acquired through a donation from IDS _ International Distribution Systems in Oklahoma USA.

2005 Water Well Reports

RNM leadership continues to add value through it's ability to work remotely and globally by facilitating 4 water well projects between March and August, 2005 in Nigeria. While working together with our partnership LOC (Local Organizing Committee) in Aba, represented by Rev. Linus & Jude Ihetuge in Aba, we've now completed 4 major community / church site wells.

• The first well is located on the premises of Jesus Brethren Ministries, at 182B Aba-Owerri Road, Aba north local government. Aba, Abia State, Nigeria. The church that meets there is called Aba Worship Centre. The well will serve about 2000 people.

• The second well is located beside Odoemelam's Compound at Umuokohia in Ogbor Hill, Obingwa Local Government Area, Aba, in Abia State. It will serve about

Above:

The host of Bishops that visited us and attended the All Nation's Church World Missions Conference in Feb. 2005 to rekindle our Global vision. L-R: Eric Ntorikansah, Dr. Larry Garza (Host Pastor), Bishop Henry Ndukubah, Olu Lawrence, Talath Mohamed (World Class Evangelist - 60+ countries; Tulsa OK).

Below: Jude Ihetuge & friends at the new JBM (Jesus Brethren Ministries) Well source in Aba, Nigeria.

Make an Impact!

Donate to help fund our big Rig acquisition project - send in your check or money order today with address given on the front cover

Our Move to Dickinson

The Relocation of our Residence & Ministry Office to Dickinson in Oct. 2004.

We took a step of faith last year October by moving to our present house with a better ministry office space & storage building at 3720 Bayou Circle Dickinson, Texas. The location is great _ with less than 2 minutes access to the Interstate I-45 Freeway.

Our former house at 127 Hidden Lake did not sell until June this year. So we had to pay house mortgages in two places for over 8 months. Moving into an older home (though still nice and spacious) with lots of lawn to care for has its challenges. First, we soon discovered the old ceramic sewer lines were clogged by roots from plenty of nearby trees & had to replace the entire length of pipe in our back yard & side of home. (See photo on pg. 4).

Adding a new driveway almost became a nightmare as the crooked contractor that began the project eloped with over 60% of the cost before we found a brother who came in and nicely finished the abandoned work.

In addition, Ogechi (Florence) was hospitalized at UTMB for about 4 weeks between April and May, making the first half of the year a real big challenge. Through it all, God was faithful. He met our needs and saw to it that the house at Hidden Lake was sold at his own timing. We give Praise & Glory of God!

3200 people.

• The third well is sited at Wisdom Seminary secondary School Mgboko in Obingwa L.G.A., Aba, Abia State. It serves about 2800 people, made up of the students and the surrounding community.

• The fourth well is located on the premises of Assemblies of God church in Obehie, near Port Harcourt. It will serve the church and the nearby community - some 3500 people.

These wells will be dedicated during our 2005 mission trip in November. The dedication services give opportunities to follow up with more gospel out reach started when the well was being drilled and the people gather in excitement to watch the drilling process. It also provides opportunity for some sanitation & hygiene training.

For more details on each well, please visit the Relief Network Ministries website at www.relief-networks.org.

Editorial Team

Oge' F. Ochi-Okorie (Editor in Chief)

David L. Bernhard (Assoc. Editor)

Dr. A. Sunny Okorie (Editor)

Projected Work for 2005/2006

We anticipate drilling about 50 wells during 2006, granted that we are able to ship a high capacity rotary drilling rig of our own by November 2005 and are also able to renovate the LS 200 that is in the custody of the Bishop's foundation in Owerri Diocese, in Imo State, Nigeria.

Upcoming Mission Trips

We will be leaving for our next Mission Nov. 4-26, 2005. The first week will be spent in Ghana, while the last 2 weeks will be spent in Nigeria. Next two trips are billed for: Jan. 2006 (led by Dr. Otuwa) and April 2006 (Dr. Okorie).

Mission Possible

By Samson Otuwa, MD

It was December, 2004. I planned a one day

medical mission that actually lasted several
days into 2005. The village is typical of any Nigerian Village: bad roads, no electricity, no water. The water in the villages is colored because of the impurities. You can tell a village by the color of it's water. Pure, potable water is a commodity of the affluent.

My little village is privileged to have clean water from a well, financed partly by Relief Network Ministries (RNM) and Living Water International. I thank God always for the opportunity to be a part of that project in which my family and I helped provide the overhead tanks for water distribution, and the generator that powers the submersible pump.

The water well was the beginning of RNM's health ministry out reach to my people. My December 2004 trip was an outreach in health education and treatment to my people in the little village on the dirt road.

The announcement was made about the medical outreach, asking the villagers to bring their sick children and adults to the church mission grounds to be examined and treated by doctors from the big city and abroad.

The people were to show up at 10 O'clock in the morning. However, the announcer did not say that the treatment was free. The set up was simple. I engaged two local doctor friends of mine to help with the clinic. I had come with some drugs, and more were purchased locally. We set up the clinic in the foyer of the village church. We had help from local volunteers to get things going.

By 10 AM we were ready to see the first patient. She was the only patient at that time An elderly woman whose knees have been crippled by arthritis. She walked with both hands on a walking stick and she moved at a snail's pace. Her face was set, and her eyes were focused on the church building where her hope was for relief of her pain.

Tears welled up in my eyes when I saw her. What faith she had in us to stop her pain. It took her over one hour to walk the one mile from her home to the mission. I gripped her arms and helped her to a chair. She was our first and only patient so far.

I waited on her like royalty. Then they began to trickle in, one by one. Word was getting around that the foreign doctors were examining the patients without any charge and giving them free medications for their ailments. There were even rumors that the one from America gave some toys, candies, and cookies to some children. He was also taking pictures with his camera. To the villager, it was "Thy Kingdom Come" kind of news. The rumors were being confirmed by more and more people, and the rising dust from the roads warned of the immanent swarm of people heading our way. By noon, the mission was jammed. We were not ready for that kind of crowd. The idea was to treat the sick and share the love of Christ with them. We did not come to treat the whole village and the neighboring villages.

No! We were not ready for that. Everybody in these villages could not be that sick. We would need a whole week if we were to see all these people and we still would not see them all. There was tension in the air. People were fighting for positions to see the doctors. These patients could not be that sick.

Everyone wanted a touch from the doctors, but they were too many. The doctors could not possibly see all of them. Besides, we were running out of medications. These people came for the free medicines. If we couldn't give them anything, our "Christian" message would fall on angry ears. We were over whelmed by our lack of a contingency plan.

It was getting late in the evening, and the doctors and nurses were tired. We were out of most drugs.

They were fighting, screaming, and pushing the sick away from the line. It was sickening to see the people act this way. But the doctor's instruments picked out the real sick, and specific treatments were administered.

The doctors gave vitamins and pain-killers to those looking for something helpful.

Top: Ikwuano Village Medical outreach, people queue as nurse does the preps & pre-exam of patients

Did you know...

1. That Nigeria 1/6 th of every African lives in Nigeria, with population over 130 mill. UN 2005.

2. That 30,000 children die monthly from water borne & preventable diseases in Africa.

3. That American spends over $US20B on pet food annually.

4. That people in Gt. Britain guzzles about $US10B in alcoholic beverages yearly.

5. That the rest of the 3rd world only need less than US$3.5B to provide access to clean water for all.

6. That Ghana's gold attracted lst slave traders. Learn more: http://www.cafeafricana.com/Country%20Profiles.html.

Middle:

Sunny repairs pump at LWI Pump Camp w/ Albert & Paul looking on.

Jesus said - "I am the way, the truth, and the life" - John. 14:6

"I am the door, by me if any man enter, he shall be saved" John. 10:9

"I am the resurrection and the life..." Jn. 11:25

Water is life - we use it to bless the rural poor with a more priceless gift - the 'Living Water'

Below:

Sick children who were brought by either parents or relatives to seen by our the outreach doctors.

Relief News

I just had to send these people away. I had to choose my words lest I be stoned. I said to them: "The God we serve is good, and it was by His grace that we came today to treat your sick and to minister to you and your children in the name of Jesus. We can give you medicines, but only God can heal you. And you don't even need drugs to receive the healing power of God. All you have to do is open your heart to Him, and He will take your sickness away and clothe you with good health. We cannot cure all your diseases, but God can heal every sickness known to man and make you whole because His word said,"

By His stripes we were healed." We do not have enough drugs to give you, but, we release God's healing power on you. Receive it by faith. Your faith will make you whole. Believe God for your healing and receive it by faith. We have come to the end of our work today. I pray God to sustain you until next time.

God bless you all."

I slept that night dreaming of the faces of despair that we could not help. These are my people, my suffering people. The children… I picked them up, swung them around, and I hugged them. I gave them toys and stuff that kids like to eat. Their laughter diffused through the sordid ambience like a frankincense fragrance. The children were oblivious to the needs of their parents. I did not sleep well that night. There was a knock on my door in the morning. As I opened the door, I was greeted by a message that people had been waiting for me for about two hours. As I came down the stairs, I saw many faces looking up at me. They came because they were not feeling good and they could not be seen at the mission outreach the day before. They were hoping I would not turn them away a second time. They have no place to go. And worse still, they have no money to go anywhere to get any treatment. I thought the mission was over.

Wrong. They just changed the venue. And it was not over the next day or the next or the next until I fled the village. I thanked God for the opportunity to minister to my people, and I pledged to return every year for their benefit. Part of that was fulfilled in Jan., 2005, when I returned for different purposes but was still able to meet the needs of so many, yet there still remains a significant gap to be bridged with your partnership. Consider joining forces with RNM as a medical or relief volunteer today!

Profiles of Gombe State

- North East Nigeria

Gombe emirate was founded in 1804 by Buba Yero (Abubakar), a follower of the Muslim Fulani leader Usman dan Fodio.

Lying in the wooded savanna lands of the Gongola River basin, the area is mainly inhabited by the Fulani, Bolewa, Tera (Terawa), Tangale, Hausa, Kanuri, Waja (Wajawa), and Tula peoples.

Gombe town is a major collecting point, especially since the opening of the railroad in 1963, for peanuts (groundnuts) and cotton and is a local trade centre in sorghum, millet, cowpeas, cassava, beans, onions, and tobacco. Its people keep cattle, goats, sheep, horses, and donkeys and practice the traditional crafts of weaving and dying cotton.

Above / Credits:

• Drillers - Brotheers Ben & Dele - our colaborers in Port Harcourt, rejoice with local Pastor and some women & children.

• This project was co-ordinated by Dr. Linus Ihetuge, JBM, Aba - our LOC partner ministry in Abia State.

• Well funding provided by Living Water Int'l & RNM.

• Dr. Keith Rolle's ministry co-sponsored the overhead tanks. Rev. Adiele Chukwuemeka is the beneficiary Church overseer.

Top Left:

Replacing the old sewer line in our 3/4 acrea yard (back of home) in Dickinson, Texas (see short story on page 2)

Top Right: At Assemblies of God's Church community well in Obehie, River State, near Port Harcourt, Nigeria.High capacity Well Project features 4 faucets / public spigots.

Below in Ghana: Pastor Albert W. Yeboah (LF Baptist Church) distributes RNM supplied relief materials - shoes, clothes, etc. to villagers in Egyam, near Tarkoradi, Western Region. RNM plans to help put in a new water well or repair existing well pump at this location by end of 2006.

The presence of limestone deposits led to the building of a cement factory at nearby Ashaka in the early 1970s. Modern textile manufacture in Gombe town also began in the early '70s, and a cotton seed-oil mill has been built. The town is served by a national technical teacher-training college and an Arabic teacher-training college. Gombe is located just south of the railway from Bauchi to Maiduguri and on the secondary highway between Bauchi and Kumo. Pop. town (1991 est.) 95,170. (Encyclopedia Britannica 2003)

Be a Relief Ambassador...

Donate, or volunteer and make a big difference in the lives of needy young children around the world.

Do you know that thousands of children will not attend school tomorrow because of malaria & water borne diseases in the tropics? You can be a part of the solution today. Contact us by mail, email, or phone at the side bar on this page.

Above: Drillers work to install the submersible pump on completion of water well ~ 165 feet deep.

RELIEF

NETWORK

MINISTRIES

Relief Network Ministries, Inc.

www.relief-networks.org

P.O. Box 1307,
League City, Texas,
77574-1307, USA.

Phone: 281-337-0067 Fax: 281-535-3553

Email: info@relief-networks.org

Above: A teacher & the students of the Seminary celebrate the new fresh well water gushing out from deep below the school ground.

Coworkers together in the faith...

We care to help

...and we love to network - that's co-laboring - Phil. 2:25!