Our Staff
Right Steps, Inc. employs 30 Nigerian individuals on site at Susana Homes and Right Steps Christian School. We have two U.S. employees, as well as our Board of Directors and other vital volunteers.
Dr. Chi Ekwenye-Hendricks
Missionary / Director of Right Steps, Inc.
Dr. Chi Ekwenye Hendricks is Right Steps missionary to Nigeria and oversees the work that several Churches of Christ around the country helped establish in 1998. Having immigrated from Nigeria as a young adult, Chi is uniquely qualified to lead this ministry. The daughter of a minister of the Gospel, Chi grew up in the Church of Christ. Having received many years of formal education in the United States, Chi now divides her time between the US and Nigeria. She travels to Nigeria 2-3 times a year -- using her many years of education and spiritual development to spiritually, psychologically and developmentally influence the lives of many recipients of the services of Right Steps, Inc.
For the past eighteen years, Chi has worked together with the women of Eastern Nigeria organizing the Church of Christ Annual Ladies Bible Lectureship. This event attracts as as many as 1,000 women every year. In the last 3 years, the Christian Girls Summit has also run alongside the Ladies Lectureship in order to feed the growing number of younger women that attend this event every year.
Through Chi's hard work and leadership over the years, the Church of Christ at Susana Homes has been able to plant 3 other churches in the area. The Church of Christ at Susana Homes has also been able to support and shore up several other congregations of the Lord's church. The latest being the Campus Church which enables the boarding students of Right Steps Christian School to worship in English since they are from different tribes of Nigeria.
Chi's love for God and her desire to serve and uplift others, spill over to the orphanage, the school, and to the many outreach projects of this ministry. As a spiritual mentor, guardian, and mother figure to the children of the orphanage, her role in this ministry is invaluable -- albeit the fact that she wears many hats and travels quite a bit. In recognition of her services through this ministry, the Pepperdine University Bible Lectures awarded Chi with the Outstanding Christian Service Award in 2005. Since, then, Chi has been a permanent fixture at the Lectures -- where she and many other African church leaders have continued to bring religious and spiritual matters of the African people to global attention.
Elder Julius Nkwo Ekwenye -
Manager, Susana Homes of Right Steps, Inc.
Elder Julius Nkwo Ekwenye is the manager of the children's home and has been with the program since its inception in 1998. With his many years experience as a shepherd, he oversees the day to day running of the home as well as its agricultural, medical, and outreach projects.
He brings fatherly wisdom and knowledge of the Nigerian culture to enhance the overall Christian tone of the program.
Mrs. Ngozi Benson -
Principal, Right Steps Christian Schools
Evangelist Friday Adima -
Entrepreneurship & Skills Acquisition
Evangelist Adima - also a minister of the gospel of Christ - helps ensure that Right Steps efforts at raising the bar and making Christian living a real part of the lives of all that receive assistance in one form or another is a dream come true. Evangelist Adima does this by teaching the young boys and girls at the school needed life skills as well as what has come to be known as "Entrepreneurship Gods Way!" As one of Right Steps foremost missionaries, James Howard of North Georgia noted: Nigeria needs Christ! To offer this, Nigeria needs Christians in decision-making positions. So Right Steps educates our young to the point of action and we educate them to the point of influence!
Evangelist Michael Moka -
Outreach Minister
Evangelist Michael Moka, a minister of the gospel of Christ, and the Outreach Minister of the home and of the school. He and his family reside at Susana Homes and together with his wife oversee the spiritual welfare of the program.
He preaches for the newly established Campus Church which caters to the spiritual needs of the 150 boys and girls who attend Right Steps Christian Schools as boarding students.
Sarah Oats
U.S. Administrator
Sarah joined the staff in 2016, managing all U.S. operations under the direction of the Board of Directors. She is the contact for volunteers and donors and is also the liaison for fundraising events.
