- Written by Chris Irekamba and Isaac Taiwo
Apostolic Faith Church head urges prayers over 2015 polls
GENERAL Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), Pastor Enoch Adejare Adeboye has counselled inmates to embrace truth that sets a man free, which according to him is Jesus Christ.
The cleric who addressed the inmates on Sunday during the 2014 Kirikiri Maximum Prison End of Year Service and Commissioning of Solar Lights held in the Liberty Chapel of the prison, stated that the truth is that there is no friend elsewhere other than Jesus Christ and the moment you have Him freedom comes.
According to Adeboye, “If you have Jesus Christ your spirit is free, oh, men can put you in imprison but they can’t imprison your spirit, they can say that you are not walking out of this place till you die but they can’t stop you from praising God.
Meanwhile, the District Superintendent, West and Central Africa of the Apostolic Faith Church, Reverend ‘Bayo Adeniran has called on Nigerians to pray for the peace of the nation, maintaining that it behooves every patriotic Nigerian to seek for the peace of the country before election, during election and after election.
Quoting copiously from the Bible the General Overseer told the prison inmates many of whom had spent over 10 years in detention to know that their help can only come from God and not from any governor, lawyer and not even himself, who is a pastor.
Moved by the testimony shared by one of the inmates, Segun Bright who had served three years without trial but after conviction he was sentenced to four years imprisonment, Adeboye said: “That is why if you have Jesus Christ as your friend, Lord and Saviour then you are free.”
He recalled that the first time he visited the prisons was in 1975 when he was a young pastor.
According to him, “I was a young pastor and an elderly pastor who was mentoring me brought me here. I cannot forget that day because there was a young man at the organ there and was dancing as he was playing the organ and I whispered to the old man who brought me ‘are they going to free him next week because he was full of joy, his face was bright’ and the old man whispered back to me and said ‘no he is in here for life’. So, the story was that this man had a quarrel with his friend and suddenly a fight ensued and he slapped the man and he fell and died. And so, he was arrested, brought here and sentenced to life. While he was here he said he received Jesus. What I’m is that Jesus is the only helper you have got; He is the only friend that you have and He is the one who will stand by you when father, mother and friends disappoint.”
Pastor Tunwashe Kabiru in his welcome speech expressed appreciation to Pastor E.A. Adeboye and his team from the City of David, RCCG, Victoria Island, Lagos and other members from different parishes.
While appreciating the contributions of the church and the impact of that in their lives, said the church through Pastor Adeboye renovated the National Opening University (NOUN) building and equipped same with computer sets in 2010 and that the building is serving its purposes.
“Baba started paying the school fees of 10 of our NOUN students since 2011. In 2012, Baba renovated and equally equipped the computer class. This also is still serving its purposes,” the Chapel Pastor, said.
Like Oliver Twist, they called on the church to renovate and equip the vocational workshops such as tailoring, shoe making and carpentry departments.
He said: “The needed equipment for each department will be presented to you by the Nigerian Prison Service through the DCP in charge of Maximum Prison. And sir, while playing, an inmate Ighalo Joel got fractured leg that would require a surgical operation and the cost is estimated at N300, 000. We need your help Baba to do this.”
They also begged Pastor Adeboye to take the case of the condemned convicts to the Southwest governors of Lagos, Ogun, Oyo, Osun, Ondo, Ekiti, and Edo, among others. And finally, they asked the General Overseer to make his visit to the prison a yearly affair instead of two years.
In his reply Pastor Adeboye promised to do something about their case, but said that everything depends on God.
Adeniran giving his Christmas message at the 2014 Christmas Concert of the Apostolic Faith Church, West and Central Africa (WECA) at the Campground Road, Anthony Village Sunday night, said the price of peace could not be compared with the cost of trouble and as every Nigerian believes and trusts in God, all shall be well for the nation.
“Nigerians should not be afraid but trust God and move into the New Year, believing that all will be well.
“The admonition is that Nigerians should move closer to God at this time and I have the assurance that if God removed Ebola virus from Nigeria, He can as well remove anything that can cause trouble in the nation” he said.
Adeniran also encouraged Nigerians to look unto God who alone has the capacity to choose the right leader for the country as long as people are not ready to cut corners, adding that prayers can change things beyond man’s imagination.
“With prayers, we are going to have peaceful election and God would reverse all the troubles of our economy” he said.
SOURCE: THE GUARDIANS NEWSPAPE
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