Entrusting Trust with the Trustees

There is probably not any word that can be overstated in human relationships more than trust. Trust is what a marriage is built on without it a husband and wife cannot dwell in unity. Trust is what banks leave with their customers as their credibility rides on their handling of money. When a Muslim mother in Maiduguri left her son with us, she openly announced that she was handing him over to us as an “AMANA” (which in Hausa is “trust”). You can’t trust anybody and the circle of people that one builds around them must carry this single abiding factor of trust.

The board of the International Centre for Peace, Charities, and Human Development (INTERCEP) in Jos has been more than “trustees” to the Blake family for a long time. The Executive Director, Clement Iornongu, and I served on a television program for nearly 3 years discussing issues of faith. Clement’s wife, Onyinye Iornongu, is a humble serving in Jos running a primary for orphans and underprivileged children. Our best friend in all of Nigeria is Dr. Dimis Mai-Lafia who singlehandedly brought us back into Nigerian in August of 2004 and has seen to our long-term strategy for serve here ever since. The final member of this magnanimous team is Barrister Tinna Muhammad who is a powerful lawyer, gentle servant, and has a compassionate heart for the poor masses.

Last weekend, we held an INTERCEP trustee board meeting with Jen and me to clarify the developing relationship between Arewa Aid, INTERCEP, and the Wulari believers. It was a meeting that we had all been longing for because we had never had a full meeting with the entire trustees assembled and ourselves. The meeting actually arose because parameters in the interrelationship between all three parties needed to be clearly defined. The conclusion of the meeting allowed us to define the roadmap forward allowing decisions to be enacted with the consideration of all parties in view. We are hoping that this meeting will only prompt other meetings to be held on a consistent basis to keep all stakeholders in complete participation.

Today we conducted a meeting with the INTERCEP executive director, Barrister Clement, and the leadership among the Wulari disciples. It allowed the headquarters of INTERCEP in Jos to express some apprehension concerning demands of the Wulari followers. However, the Wulari believers were able to share their concerns with INTERCEP that continuity always be the focus. Before 2008, INTERCEP in Maiduguri was merely Brad and Comfort at the office addressed No. A9 Open Air Theatre. Now, INTERCEP has grown to a team of 7 members serving at the agricultural project and the office in Maiduguri town creating the infrastructure for continuity.

This trust created between INTERCEP and the Wulari disciples lays the groundwork for other partners like Arewa Aid and Healing Hands to strategically partner. With the local Nigerian NGO and local followers working in perfect harmony, our US stakeholders can share resources, manpower, and expertise to accomplish the goals of: 1) agricultural development; 2) rural health care; 3) skill acquisition for the unemployed; 4) educational development for the poorest children; 5) empowering proclaimers with compassionate tools. This allows us to consider other subsidiary development areas that we have to fully implement like food preservation, livestock production, and well drilling. Where there are other strategic partners, there will be additional wisdom to craft the long-term vision of serving the world’s poorest with compassionate proclamation. Nevertheless, this can only be accomplished through a partnership with truly, trustworthy trustees.