Fom the Coordinator’s Desk – Professor Mrs. Ngozika Mbajiorgu
I am delighted to be writing in this edition of our Brochure. We have come a long way and scaled over many hurdles as well as overcome many challenges. Some of these were tough and by the grace of God we surmounted them. That has left us with invaluable experiences, which can only come from practical experience. There is now a stronger resolve on our part to pursue the vision we started out, with greater vigor and passion. We have seen lives transformed and the LORD working in miraculous ways. Indeed our experience and walk with God has proven His existence and continuous presence true. God has indeed been our Ebenezer.
How have we fared over the years? Emeralds was established in Enugu, the capital of Enugu State, a state in eastern Nigeria. This came out of the vision given to me in 2005 when I was away in the UK on my sabbatical leave. God had impressed it on me to attend Destiny Church, 1120 Pollokshaws Road, Shawlands, Glasgow, Scotland before I left the shores of Nigeria. On my first Sunday in Glasgow, the city where I was, I had asked the good lady I stayed with for the first three weeks before I got my own apartment how to get to the church. To my surprise and greatest delight, she said that was the church she attended. It was very far from her residence and I could not have gotten there on my own, but God ordered my steps. It was in this church that God opened my eyes to see what He wanted me to do when I got back to Nigeria and He used Peter Pretorius of South Africa to confirm this as he ministered in the church in April of that year.
Emeralds was established primarily to cater for the spiritual needs of the professional woman, especially, female chief executives. It offers such women the opportunity to interact with others of like minds and similar circumstances. In so doing they encourage each other and excel for God at their respective spheres of influence. The members of Emeralds also help the less privileged women through financial empowerment. Unlike other philanthropic organizations or NGOs, our goal is to reach the soul of such women through social work.
In order to accomplish the above, we aggregate professional women in an interactive fellowship that stimulates intellectualism, fulfillment, empowerment, impact, elegance and panache. This takes place once every month. Secondly, we give financial aids to widows and the less privileged women. Twice a year, we organize workshops, seminars and con£ erences for these groups of women where we expect them to be empowered spiritually first, then mentally, psychologically and emotionally. They are also taught how to start and sustain small scale businesses. Some are selected after such programmes to receive financial aids of different sorts to set them and their families on the path of financial selfsustenance.
Below is the growth of Emeralds from 2007 to the present.
2007
Emeralds is founded and begins her monthly meeting for professional women
2008
Emeralds starts the empowerment (spiritual, financial and psychological) of widows and the less privileged
2009
Emeralds engage an administrator on a part-time basis and partners with the Small and Medium Enterprises Nigeria in the training of the widows and the less privileged. Emeralds also embark on leadership training for some widows. Pastomemberr Mrs. Mojibade Ekumah joins the Executive of Emeralds to champion the unit for widows and the less privileged.
2010
Emeralds starts the Feminine Moments, a special programme for female executives and continues in its empowerment of the less privileged. The monthly meeting for its members also continues.
2011
Emeralds partners with the National Directorate of Employment (NDE) in the training and empowerment of widows. Other programmes continue and Rev. Dr. Pauline Orekie-Oti joins the Executive of Emeralds.
2012
Emeralds concentrate on establishing some of the widows trained in 2011. Eighteen women were also registered for network marketing as a form of empowerment. By far the most gratifying feature in Emeralds is the building up of a crop of workers who are committed and dedicated to the vision God gave us as a Ministry. These work with three female pastors, Pst. Prof. Ngozika Mbajiorgu, Pastor Mrs. Moji Ekumah and Rev. Dr. Pauline Orekie-Oti to fulfill the mandate of God for Emeralds. We feel our work has just begun!!
PRAISE GOD!!!
