Malaria Meeting with Tony Blair

Did you know Malaria kills 800 Nigerian children every day?

Nigeria is home to Africa's heaviest Malaria burden, where Bishop Sunday Onuoha is now heading up the Nigerian Inter-Faith Action Association (NIFAA), a national effort to mobilize all faith communities against the disease.

In addition to his work with Vision Africa and the Nigerian Methodist Church, Bishop Sunday continues to spearhead this ground-breaking effort to bring Christians and Muslims together to end the scourge of Malaria in Africa’s most populous country.

Rt. Hon. Tony Blair, Bishop Dr. Sunday Onuoha and Ed Scott, founder of the Center for Interfaith Action

In February, Bishop Sunday hosted former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Tony Blair as he shared his support for the Bishop’s faith-based anti-malaria work. Mr. Blair heads his own foundation to encourage faith-based solutions to common problems and his participation brought a great deal of international news coverage of the event.

“It is fantastic to see the great training work being carried out by NIFAA. It is the work of Muslim and Christian faith leaders on the ground in Nigeria - multi-faith collaboration about shared goals - that is at the heart of the work of my Faith Foundation. When faith communities collaborate and work together for justice and human development there is a double pay off: things get done and respect and understanding between them grows. I hope that this work will be replicated in other parts of the developing world.”

-Rt. Hon. Tony Blair, founder and patron of the Tony Blair Faith Foundation

More recently, Bishop Sunday visited Akwa Ibom, an important oil producing southern state of Nigeria, to lead a very serious effort to educate faith leaders on malaria. With training, these Christian and Muslim faith leaders will become foot soldiers in the country's battle against the disease.

Armed with the latest information and tools for preventing and treating Malaria, these faith leaders will help to distribute life-saving bed nets and combat dangerous ignorance about the cause and treatment of the illness.

The faith-based strategy relies on the trusted relationships of religious leaders who can spur their communities and the grassroots into positive action.

Medical Center Update

Construction is Underway

Healing the sick was a central theme of the ministry of Jesus Christ on Earth, and Vision Africa has always focused on bringing medical care to those in need. This important means of sharing God’s love will be significantly amplified with the introduction of a community medical center in Vision Africa’s ministries.

For many years, Vision Africa’s leadership and supporters in the U.S. and Nigeria have worked to lay the plans and gather the necessary funds to begin the first phase of the Vision Africa Medical Center. The government of Abia State in Nigeria has even gotten into the act, donating a significant parcel of land for the project.

We are thrilled to report that works are under way to clear and prepare the land for construction of Phase 1, Part A: the Medical Residence, for visiting teams of doctors and nurses.

Since we first received capital funds for the Medical Residence, unexpected delays have occurred with this project. This can be common in developing nations, but there is cause for great optimism now that “ground breaking” has taken place. The current preparation works are carried out by local contractors and were made possible by considerable funds raised locally in Nigeria.

With good weather, the project should be complete and operational in a few short months. The good-faith cooperation between Vision Africa supporters in the U.S. and Nigeria sets a fine example for future endeavors of this kind.

Visit www.visionafrica.org to learn more about our medical center plans.

The Compass

Equipping Young Pastors with Bibles

In the bush of Africa, young pastors often have no books, no Internet, and sometimes, no Bible. Only their faith and relationship with Jesus Christ guide them.

Bishop Sunday Onuoha, founder of Vision Africa, experienced these challenges first-hand as a young minister in Nigeria and he recalls that his bible was his only resource through many long days and many quiet nights. He found the Word to be his library, his road map and his compass. That's why Vision Africa's ministries start in the smallest, simplest way: the Bible.

Through our Compass program, we invite young people who receive their first Bible to “turn and give” a bible to a pastor in the bush of Africa.

The Methodist Seminary in Nigeria will ordain 180 new pastors this summer, and for most of the young ministers this simple NIV study bible will be their only library and their only tool in the mission fields.

Third graders who receive a bible from their church, teens who receive a bible at Confirmation, or Vacation Bible Schools with special mission projects can provide these 180 young pastors with Bibles as a resource and Compass for mission.

Again this year, Vision Africa can purchase and distribute a sturdy leather bible to a newly ordained pastor in Nigeria for $50.

Equipping a pastor with a quality bible as a Compass for guiding ministry to others can also be an evangelistic opportunity for adult Sunday school classes, Men’s and Women’s circles, or a congregational Communion offering. Vision Africa offers many opportunities for helping to build the Christian community.

Through these ministries and others, Vision Africa builds Nigeria's indigenous capacity for positive change. Through life-saving medical outreach in the field, inspirational messages of peace on Love 104.1 FM, and community-building leadership training, Vision Africa gives people hope.

You can visit www.visionafrica.org to learn more about the ministries that penetrate deep in the heart of Africa’s largest country.

Broadcasting to the Heart of Nigeria

Vision Africa Radio in Abia State, Nigeria, is an important tool for outreach and mission in Africa’s most populous country. Our model of community radio fills a number of roles for the community while “making God’s peace and mercy known to all”. In a country where most broadcast outlets are government controlled, LOVE 104.1 FM stands as a light in a place desperately in need of its message.

LOVE 104 has been such a success, in fact, that the government of Abia State has invited us to build our own radio tower!

Already on the air for more than 5 years, the station has an estimated population of 20 MILLION within signal reach. For several years, it has been the goal of Vision Africa’s leadership and supporters in the U.S. and Nigeria to aggressively upgrade the station and boost our radio signal to reach more of these people.

Current plans call for increasing output by 700% - from 7kw to 50kw. With the addition of a new tower, our stronger signal will reach more people within a larger broadcast footprint.

This is a costly endeavor, but it is important to touch as many lives as possible. To this end, we have been blessed over the past two years to receive $250,000 for equipment costs, shipping, duty and taxes from The Ginger Murchison Foundation of Texas.

Closer than ever to our goal of a major radio upgrade, Vision Africa is now gearing up to amplify all its efforts through an unprecedented opportunity to build an independent broadcast tower in the heart of Nigeria. This kind of break in a young democracy like Nigeria is rare and a potential game changer for the ministry and for the country itself.

A new tower will help Vision Africa Radio create a larger broadcast footprint and project its encouraging and educational outreach deeper into Nigerian communities most in need. With a tower of our own, Vision Africa can encourage more independent forms of media to enrich the civil society of Nigeria. A vibrant independent media, led by Vision Africa Radio, will be a spark of freedom and hope in a place that needs both.

With a new tower, stronger signal and highly-trained staff, Vision Africa will be able to reach more and more people in need, sharing love in places where hope is more important than ever.

For a video of radio testimonials you can visit www.visionafrica.org.

Nigeria News of Different Type

It is easy to focus on the struggles of a developing country when you follow only the news media. What if you follow alternative media like blogs and social networking sites?

Read this story from a young supporter of Vision Africa Radio and you'll see that real change and real development begins at the personal level - one person at a time.

That's why Vision Africa's ministries strive to reach people in so many different ways: Radio, Medical Outreach, Leadership Training, Church Planting. Vision Africa has found fertile ground in Nigeria because it is a great nation filled with loving people.

Nigerian President Jonathan Visits U.S.

You may have heard that Acting President of Nigeria Goodluck Jonathan recently made his first visit to the U.S. in his role as leader of Nigeria.



In Washington, D.C., for the Nuclear Security Summit, he was granted an audience with U.S. President Barack Obama where they discussed the issue of upcoming national elections.

Vision Africa supports free and fair elections, and we encourage people to stay involved in the democratic process. Vision Africa's leadership training has helped thousands of Nigerians learn how to solve community problems and voting can be a critical part of that process.

In addition to the upcoming elections, we hope that Jonathan and Obama found time to discuss the twin problems of HIV/AIDS and Malaria in Nigeria. Vision Africa is working to make a difference in all three areas.