Partnership wins

When Elevation International Ministry (EIM) started in 2018, we had no concrete vision for what we would be doing as a ministry. My partner and I just had a passion and zeal to reach out to people beyond the four walls of the church. We wanted to minister to mostly women and children who are experiencing challenges but cannot walk into a church building. 

As a result, we started reaching out to homeless shelter for women and children, we would purchase hygiene items from our own finances and drop them off at these locations. We wanted to establish a relationship by providing weekly or monthly bible study meetings, however, there were challenges with regards to our personal schedule as well as finding a facility that would allow us to minister to them. 

We decided to just continue to pray about the direction that God wanted to take us. In the meantime, we had few more women join the ministry, we prayed together every morning at 6:30am. We also designated Tuesday evening as a day to pray specifically for the ministry. It was one of those Tuesday prayer sessions that the lord started laying on our hearts for medical missions. My partner and I are both in the health field. We started talking about traveling around the world for medical missions. 

Personally, the dream of going around the world for medical missions continued to grow steadily in my heart, I knew this is what God is calling me into in this season of my life when my kids become young adults and I still have my physical strength. Many of our team members remain very excited about this vision.

We remembered after 2019, every single year we would add a medical mission trip to our vision for the year, we asked God to open doors for us, but nothing happened until 2022. I remembered vividly during one of the Tuesday evening prayer sections, the Holy Spirit, impressed so strongly on my heart to take advantage of my planned trip to Nigeria and do a medical mission. 

Fortunately we have been sending support to Springs of Life Global Evangelistic Ministry (SOL) for over two years to help run their tuition free schools, especially their free boarding school in Ishoko. I called Henry Oise, the Lead missioner of SOL about the idea, he was overjoyed. “You need to come Isoken, the need here is great.”

Well, I shared the idea of combining my trip to Nigeria with a medical mission expedition with the EIM team and they all started to pray about it. We sent out vision letters to friends and family and we were able to raise part of the expense which was spent strictly for the medications. Our beloved sister, Patience Ehizogie, purchased her own ticket and came along with me. The rest of the team members could not participate due to other commitments.

Logistically, God worked out everything, he gave us favors all around, from purchasing tickets, shipping of medication, going through customs at the Nigeria airport, local transportation and lodging were all favored. Most especially, safety and protection. I was completely unafraid despite the security issues we hear in the news, I had no doubt, my faith was strong. 

Weeks before the trip, I avoided any news that would create a sense of fear in my heart. However, the night before our departure to the mission field, I had a sense of fear and anxiety. I was unable to sleep, the fear of death gripped my soul for the first time. I decided to listen to worship music and messages on facebook which helped me get through the night.

At the mission field, all fear was gone, seeing the joy and excitement in the eyes of the children in SOL schools in Owudekudu and Ishoko, was worth it all. Patience and I were assisted by a nurse called Mary Ochu, who happened to be a friend of the ministry. Mary was an angel, and a life saver. Her presence and assistance made our connection with the people smoother than expected. We wouldn’t have been successful without her contribution. 

After visiting both Owudekudu and Ishoko mission fields , we were overwhelmed by the health needs in these communities. In fact, on the night before we left the village, one of the villagers went into labor, we did not have the necessary medical supply to make assist with the delivery, unfortunately she made little progress throughout the night. I remember staying awake the entire night, hoping and praying someone would come to inform us that she was ready to deliver. The next morning, when we checked in with her, she had made little or no progress. We felt helpless because we didn’t have the time or resources to help her. 

During our trip back to town, I kept thinking about creative ways to help others like her- I thought about pregnancy and delivering kits. Although, I have never seen one of those, but I knew it will be something we can put together. When we shared this with our team upon arrival to the US, they thought it was a great idea.

The entire experience was beyond description, the fear, the anxiety, and challenges were all worth it. Our lives have been changed forever. In addition, it become necessary that there needed to be some form of continuity and follow ups. Most of the indigenous people were started on medications that needed ongoing administration and maintenance. 

Nurse Mary’s graciously agreed to visit the mission field once in 1-2 months to check on their symptoms and refill their medications from the stock we left behind. This system has been working smoothly. Our next huddle is to find a process of getting various medications to the site on a quarterly or bi-annual basis. The specific needs include pain medication- Acetaminophen, Ibuprofen, pregnancy and delivery kit, malaria medication and testing kit, BP medication, topical creams, antibiotics for common infections and skin infections, prenatal vitamin, and multi-multivitamins.

Written by: Isoken Aideyan-Ogbomo