HIV/AIDS Program (FOLCHAP)

The Fountain of Life Church (TFOLC) was established in 1992.  The Senior Pastor of the Church is Pastor Taiwo Odukoya, a graduate of Petroleum Engineering from the University of Ibadan with an impressive carrier spanning a 12-year period at the NNPC before obeying the call of God to start the Church. The Associate Senior Pastor is Pastor Bimbo Odukoya, a graduate of Archaeology with a vibrant charisma and passion for successful youth and married life.

The primary vision of The Fountain of Life Church is to ‘build the home and thus the nation and to equip the saints for life and ministry’. To this end, the church has actively embarked upon building and safeguarding the individual person, who is an integral unit of the home and nation. The church continues to involve strong arms of ministry in the response to the needs of people at every level of the community it serves. The Church has a board of trustees and a league of Pastors. The Fountain of Life Church has its headquarters at 12 Industrial Estate Road, Ilupeju within the
Lagos metropolis.

The Church in its role is increasingly being confronted with the realities of the devastation that HIV/AIDS represents to the individual, the home and the nation that it labors to build. The unique role of the church as a place of refuge for the distressed has made the issues of this scourge prominent in the area of church ministry.



The Church has a membership of between six to eight thousand congregants. The neighbouring catchments of the Church can be said to include Ilupeju, Palmgrove, Onipanu, Mafoluku, Oshodi, Mushin, Gbagada, Maryland, Ikeja with an outreach potential of 5 million people.
World Bank Statistics of 1999 show that the (15-49) year age group is the worst affected by the HIV/AIDS pandemic, with an estimated prevalence rate of 4.2% in this age group in Nigeria. The (15-24) year age group is reportedly the most vulnerable. This is the age group that qualifies to be called the prime of the nation, the community, and even the church. Startling figures from UNAIDS statistics indicates that 40 million are infected with HIV globally, out of which 28.5 million are in sub- Saharan Africa. There are reports in Nigeria claiming that the infection rate oubles
every two years.

NACA has published chilling reports that act as wake-up call to Nigerians. The unique role of the church as a place of refuge for the distressed, position the church strategically to be of immense influence on and assistance to people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHs) people affected by AIDS (PABAs). However, for every PLWHA that comes forward for counseling, there are the myriad that do not, and millions who are infected, but do not even know it.

It is in fulfilling her vision and roles that the Senior Pastor of the Church decided to commence an HIV/AIDS programme called the Fountain of Life Church HIV/AIDS Programme (FOLCHAP). This programme leverages the existing structures and outreaches of the church to address the spread of the HIV/AIDS pandemic and provide care and support to PLWHs and PABAs.

TFOLC has for very many years sought to reach out and fight against many scourges of the society not just from the pulpit but also through the many arms of ministry. In September 2003, a formal announcement was made from the pulpit, that the church was starting a programme on HIV/AIDS. Shortly after this, Healing Streams 2003 the first annual medical fair of the church was held between 19th and 20th October 2003. The medical fair was advertised through the electronic and print media and presented preventive health seminar on both days.

The first day was voted to HIV/AIDS ‘What you must know’. This was an interactive session with the speaker drawn from The Federal Ministry of Health, Adolescent and Reproductive Health Department, The National Youth AIDS programme (NYAP), Action Health, and a PLWHA who gave the angle of the infected person. The adviser to the Lagos State government on HIV/AIDS addressed the gathering. The youths, who were targeted by this programme, were drawn in the large numbers from secondary schools in the Ilupeju and Oshodi. Permission was sought from The Local Educational District with which the church has an ongoing Educational Project to assist some secondary schools in the area.

Also, the Youth Fellowship of TFOLC, and The community Life Project distributed educative materials on HIV/ AIDS and a team from Salvation Army was on hand for counseling.

This medical fair was held under the auspices of The Grace Spring Medical Ministry of the church. Mainly this was funded by the church, but donations were got from corporate bodies and church members. It was clear from the issues raised at the seminar and the response of the participants that the church had just opened up the avenues for preventive activities against HIV/AIDS. Healing Streams 2004 also focused on HIV/AIDS prevention with drama presentations, relevant film shows on HIV/AIDS and health talks by medical personnel as well as PLWHs. The entire congregation, the interdenominational singles
fellowship and the joint Marriage Men and Women’s fellowships were addressed. In July 2005, a talk on HIV/AIDS in society was given to the six junior and senior secondary schools under the auspices of the Educational Outreach Project of the church. This was followed up by one on one counseling with the students.   

Questionnaires will be distributed to church members and students through the onset of the project. These will gauge knowledge about and attitude to HIV/AIDS and PLWHAS. They will be instrument for modification, monitoring and evaluation of the project. There will be training for Pastors as HIV/AIDS counselors these also would include all head of department of the Fountain of Life Church.

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The support group of persons living with HIV/AIDS is fully involved with those infected and those affected by AIDS, to assist them to seek care and support. Activities will aim to win the confidence of PLWHA, so that they may come forward to avail themselves of the benefits of the counseling, care and support, Enlightenment directed towards this will include giving two dedicated 24 hour mobile telephone lines manned by the project staff for counseling.

Visits and home-based care will be available for hospice when necessary. (This would be fully organized by members of the support group fellowship).  Healing Streams is a health department of the church that educates the church in all health matters; it organizes an annual medical activity that mainly comes up October every year, a public enlightenment tool for disseminating information on HIV/AIDS. FOLCHAP was carved out from this department to reach out to those infected and affected by HIV/AIDS and to educate the church about the pandemic through the existing structure of the church.

The Educational Outreach of the church disseminating information to student of the junior and senior secondary schools adopted by The Fountain of Life Church. This will serve as an avenue to disseminate HIV/AIDS information to the youth, clubs against HIV/AIDS would be formed within each schools and this will hopefully provide a framework for information exchange and dissemination with participation of the
students themselves. The Campus Fellowships of the Lagos State University (LASU), University of Lagos (UNILAG) and Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago-Iwoye affiliated and supported by the church will also be an avenue for dissemination of information on HIV/AIDS prevention and empowerment.    The posture of the church is that emphasis will always be laid on abstinence and being faithful in marriage, comprehensive scientific information on barrier methods etc, will not be withheld.      
                                           

• Grace Springs Medical Centre is the hospital run by the church as part of its medical outreach. It is proposed that this six-bed facility {with two full-time doctors and locum doctors and a FOLCHAP counselor} will be made a treatment centre for treating PLWHA for ease of total management of the PLWHA in the church and its immediate community.
  
  
• The Dorcas ministry in response to poverty provides food, shelter financial, and other rehabilitative measure to alleviate the suffering of people. Thousands have been beneficiaries of his ministry, which provide s a means of livelihood while small-scale businesses are started after a period or through the Employment Agency of the church, jobs are found for the employable. 
  
  
• The Missions and Evangelism Departments: of the church have a programme to reach out to the street boys in the Oshodi and Onipanu catchments areas. They preach the gospel to them reintegrate them with their families where possible, and provide food shelter, education, rehabilitation etc and referring those who are ill to the medical ministry for treatment, some have been put back to schools through these programme and many taken off the streets.
  
  
• The Lord’s kitchen situated within Ilupeju and daily providing two free meals for the poor and indigent who drop by to eat. The kitchen has being the only source of subsistence for alot people in Oshodi and Onipanu; some of whom are entire families
  
• The Singles and Married Ministry of the church reaches far beyond the walls of the church, being largely interdenominational. The national and international television coverage of this programme by Pastor Bimbo Odukoya, Co-pastor stresses the importance of abstinence before marriage and faithfulness in marriage.
  
  
• The Business Fellowship is vibrant group of professional, business people, aspiring entrepreneurs and the unemployed who meet regularly to share experiences, skills and opportunities on enhancing income streams and doing business God’s Way. The fellowship has a TV programme anchored by the Chairman of the fellowship, Pastor Ibukun Awosika titled ‘Business His Way’.
  
  
• The Grace Springs Bible College of The Fountain of Life Church is already taking HIV/AIDS teaching in their classes. FOLCHAP Project Office has served as resource center for the college.
  
  
• The Fountain Magazine is a monthly magazine with wide-scoped content including motivational, spiritual, financial and health columns among others
  
  
• The Fountain of Life Church Website (www.tfolc.org) is a vibrant website with active content and interactive online community participation.

 The definite target groups are

• The youth in TFOLC youth fellowship and TFOLC teen church.
• The secondary schools in the Ilupeju/Oshodi area for which there is an ongoing educational project within the church.
• Three campus fellowships at the University of Lagos and the Lagos State  University
• The youth in the singles fellowship which of the church, which cut across denominations
  will also be targeted by the educational materials and lectures.
• The members of the married men and women’s fellowships and the larger Discovery for men and women’s fellowships which cut across churches and denomination.
• The entire church congregation
• The general public through the healing Stream public enlightenment programme.

• The beneficiaries will be the society at large with the efforts leveled against the spread of the virus. The information disseminated will help all who receive it to make better decision
  and adopt more positive attitudes to HIV/AIDS prevention.
• PLWHA and PABA will benefit from the care programme and support groups formed with
  effective and easily accessible services 

• Prevention of HIV/AIDS by increasing awareness about the virus in and outside the church, through fellowships and ministry structures of the church.
• Provision of care programmes through the Medical Centre
• Establishing effective support groups and programmes

• Health Education and Prevention programmes to impart relevant knowledge, encourage positive attitudes and behavioural change.
  
  
  • HIV/AIDS Awareness Day for the Church
  • Faith-based sex education for youths in the church, university campus fellowships and secondary schools around the church
  • HIV/AIDS/STI awareness programme through the Church’s adopted secondary schools in the Ilupeju and Oshodi Areas.
  • HIV/AIDS/STI awareness programme for young adults in the Singles ministry
  • Encourage young adults through the Singles and Married Ministry to undergo Voluntary HIV Counseling and Testing (VCT)
  • Encourage VCT as part of the church’s marriage counseling process
  • Developing church leaders as Counselors in HIV/AIDS
  • HIV/AIDS/STI monthly awareness sessions through the church’s outreach programmes to the Area Boys and indigent at Oshodi and Onipanu
  • Incorporate HIV/AIDS training into the curriculum of the Grace Springs Bible School
  • Provide VCT at the Grace Springs Medical Centre
  • Use the Fountain Magazine as an avenue to disseminate HIV/AIDS related information
  • Use the Church’s website as an outreach
    
    
• Equip the Grace Springs Medical Centre as an HIV/AIDS Care Centre
  • Equip the laboratory for screening, confirmatory and viral load assays
  • Train key medical personnel of the Grace Springs Medical Centre on up to date HIV/AIDS prevention, care and support protocols
  • Established a well-resourced Anti Retroviral Treatment (ART) programme as part of the hospital’s services
  • Establish a PMTCT programme at the ANC
  • Establish a Training of Trainers programme within the facility to help create a critical mass of counselors within church’s environment
    
    
• Establish holistic support programmes through the different fellowhip platforms,
  outreaches and the Medical Centre
  • Establish and maintain  an effective support programme for People Living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHs) and People Affected By Affected (PABAs) within the Church’s congregation
  • Establish and maintain effective support programmes for PLWHs and PABAs in the community through the Church’s community-based projects and outreaches
  • Establish and maintain an effective support programme within the Grace Springs Medical Centre
  • Empower PLWH and PABAs with income-generating skills through the Church’s Employment Agency and Business Fellowship group
  • Provide opportunities for micro-credit for PLWHs and PABAs with demonstrable income-earning opportunities
  • Support group meetings / sessions will be instituted regularly within the above highlighted programmes.
  • The Christ-centered faith-based approach will offer hope and succour as a key pillar of the support programmes