By Monday Danladi
Not fewer than 10,000 people are to receive free medical treatment during a 3-day medical outreach organized by the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) in collaboration with the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN) and the Eternity Ministry in association with another Ministry from the United States of America (USA).
The outreach, which is taking place at the CAN Secretariat in Bauchi, is also teaching a few people on skills acquisition and Entrepreneurship after which the beneficiaries will be empowered with a token amount to start up small businesses.
Leader of the Team from the USA, Tobe Momah, who is an Associate Professor of Family Medicine at the University of Mississippi Medical Center, stated that, "I was told by God to come to Bauchi in 2025 for our annual mission trip."
According to him, "We normally spend three days in a community doing free medical care, free surgeries, and showing the love of Jesus to the population. And Bauchi came to our mind. We reached out to the Christian Association of Nigeria, the Pentecostal Association of Nigeria, and Eternity Ministries, and Christian Medical Doctors Association of Bauchi."
He added that, "In Bauchi, we were able to develop a relationship, including the Nurses and the Students. Right now, we have about 250-300 volunteers from Eternity Ministries, Christian Medical Doctors, Fellowship of Christian Nurses, and Christian Medical Doctors students. So, right now, we have dental surgery going on at a Hospital. We have orthopedic surgery. We have general surgery. We have hysterectomies, myomectomies. And here in the CAN centre area, we are seeing patients free of charge, giving them medication."
"They are seeing an eye doctor. They are getting hearing therapy for those with hearing issues. We are doing blood tests and giving them medications that they need free of charge. The goal for this is to see if we can share the love of Jesus with the people," he added.
Tobe Momah added that, "We hope to see 4,000 people at least, each day. So, every night, we are hoping that at least 3,000 to 5,000 will come out and then participate in the outreach. In the evening, we have a crusade where we preach and we give out food free of charge."
According to him, "We came with some clothes from the United States. Our partners have also given us clothes. So, we want to give people who need clothes free, and then we have food for the people who come in the evening as well. So, our goal is to make people happy."
He stressed that,"It's just not about numbers, it's about impact. How can we change one person's life? So, right now, we have about 300 to 400 children in a church next door. We have games. We play with toys. We have counselors for the children, educating kids on the things they need, especially because it's the holiday season, keeping them busy, giving them medications they need, like anti-worm medicine, anti-malaria medicine, vitamins. That's the goal."
He further stated that, "If you can change one person's life, that will be great. A man said once, an American businessman, he said, it's better to build a boy than mend a man. Because when a man grows up, it's hard to change. So, if we can catch them young, teach them the right things."
The Team Leader added that,"We even have skills acquisition here. So, we are training people who want to learn on how to have their own businesses. So, we have one of the members here who, I think, is bringing people, who are going to train people on graphic designing, on, I think, sewing, on pottery, skill acquisition so that people can get their own skill and function independent of, you know, government or parental or family support."
He assured me that, "They will get something to help them start. We gave the person running this workshop enough finances to show them how to do it, and then, of course, connect them with resources for additional future use."
According to him, "We told them to target 70% of them, maybe widows, or people who don't have any obvious source of income. And we said we wanted people from all religious backgrounds. We want Muslims, we want Christians, we want traditional worshippers. We want to impact the most needy people who need the help of Jesus Christ. That's our goal."
He disclosed that 300 people have been lined up for minor surgeries that can be done with the next 3 days of the outreach with the exception of eye surgery, assuring that the patients will get the best attention required after which they will be connected to medical personnel for out-patients attention.
Tobe Momah disclosed that, "So, apart from what I'm doing, I'm also a Minister of the Gospel, a philanthropist, a husband, a father, a son, a brother. And my goal is to show the love of Jesus Christ and the power of God to as many as can come up to us. We want to just be a blessing to the rest of the world with this thing that God has given us."
According to him,"In America, I'm an Associate Pastor of a Church, and I also work full-time in a University Medical Center. So, what we're doing here is sponsored by the partners of our Ministry. I mean, we've spent at least N15m to N20m, getting free medicine, free food, you know, transporting people. We came with some Americans that are arriving today. They're all Doctors and Nurses.
"But, the reason we're doing this is because our partners in America, partners of our Ministry, friends of our Ministry, showed us support. They sent us money. We put our own together, and God helped us. My wife is here. She's also a Public Health person. She's a Public Health policymaker. She's not a physician, but she makes health policies. So she's interested in HIV. So we're also doing free HIV screening. We have TB screening outside. We have hepatitis. We're screening for all that," he added.
On what impact the outreach is leaving behind, he said, "The impact is the theme of the programme. So, the theme of the programme is 'Flames of Fire' . So, we want to cause the people of Bauchi to be on fire for God. We want them to be better citizens, loyal members of the community. We want them to encourage healthy lifestyles. We want them to be blessed and be the best in everything they do."
He stressed that, "So if you're a student, excellent. If you're a Doctor, excellent. If you're a teacher, be excellent. If each of us can be excellent in our little part of our community, instead of looking to the Government, if we can do what we can where we are, we can change our world. One person at a time. So the goal is to see how many we can impact while we are here with the love of Jesus Christ. That's the goal."
In his remarks, Secretary of Bauchi State chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Rev Matthew Wakili Laslimbo, commended the collaborative effort which is aimed at bringing succor to the people in terms of free medical care and other support.
He assured that CAN will continue to collaborate with all relevant and willing organisations in order to make life easier for the people, which he said, is the primary objective of CAN.
Also speaking, the President of Bauchi State chapter of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN), Pastor Promise Yohanna, said that the PFN is facilitating the outreach in collaboration with the Eternity Ministry.
According to him, "As PFN, we cannot do it alone, we are an integral part of the CAN, that is the reason we are using the CAN Secretariat for the programme. It is for every Christian in Bauchi State, even non Christians are being attended to."
Promise Yohanna, who is the State Treasurer of CAN assured that the 3-day medical outreach will definitely impact positively on the lives of people of Bauchi State in the long run.
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