*AS JUBILEE 2011 ENDS:God is poised to shake Nigeria

BY SAM EYOBOKA, who was in Warri
THOUSANDS of participants from different parts of the African continent, the Americas, Europe and indeed the world over, who attended the just concluded 24th Jubilee Word Festival, the biggest spiritual extravaganza of the Warri-based Word of Life Bible Church are leaving the oil city with one indelible realization that if one lives right with God, He can make him reign amidst of fiercest his/her enemies.

The 8-day spiritual programme that brought a lot of panache, spectacle and phenomenal business to Warri attracted spiritual giants from different parts of the globe including Dr. Uma Ukpai, Bishop Mike Okonkwo, Rev. Felix Omobude, Dr. Morris Cerullo, Dr. Mike Murdock, many of whom made profound prophetic pronouncements over the nation despite current socio-economic upheavals in the country.

It was a time when the large congregation yearned for extension of time as gospel crooners like Sammie Okposo, Linda Etukudoh and the scintillating Milk and Honey Choir supervised by the matriarch of the ministry, Pastor (Mrs.) Helen Oritsejafor better known as Mama Helen wanted to literarily bring the newly renovated auditorium down.

It was ecstatic moment throughout the duration of the programme and on the last day, Mama Helen kept her husband and the entire gathering frenzy with exhilarating dance steps as she kept on and on praising God.

Right from the opening day when, Evang. Terry Shuttles-word preached the first sermon with inspiration from Psalm 109:29-31 and Psalm 110:1-4, it was clear that participants were in for a great moment.

Shuttlesword declared: “If God has a word over your life, you would have enemies but the enemies cannot stop the word of God over your life. You will go through trials but you will out on the other side. Nigeria is God’s honour.

*Evang. Terry Shuttlesworth (l) with Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor at the opeining service of Jubilee 2011.

Nigeria is blessed of God and today you don’t have to take the back seat to anybody because God is using Nigerians to preach the gospel to the rest of the world. Every where I go God has Nigerians that are connected to Him. There is power that is coming out of Nigeria that I have not seen in other countries. God needs Nigeria and Nigeria needs God. He’s going to bring a revival to the land of Nigeria.”

For two days, renowned American teacher, Mike Murdock taught the mixed congregation on the basic spiritual principles of learning from one another, arguing that the Bible is not a book about destiny, one about decisions, stating “the difference between prosperity and poverty is whose voice we honour or respect. Decisions decide wealth. Your decisions decide your increase and can also decide your stress.”

The presiding bishop of TREM, Dr. Mike Okonkwo took a subtitle, ‘God of divine happenings’, encouraged the congregation that in spite of the devil is doing in this part of the world, God is relaxing because the devil has already been defeated.

To Omobude, true believers must not despair even when it appears that the enemy is ahead in a race, saying that “every believer’s life is always going through a process which the devil cannot stop. They may rage but the Lord God will crutch them all.”

Renowned travel evangelist, Dr. Uma Ukpai in a sermon that lasted about 15 minutes stated emphatically that service of God requires total obedience cum commitment to the Spirit and principles of God. According to him, that is what guarantees dominion as Christians.

While the chief host, Pastor Oritsejafor outlined ingredients for rulership, saying that a believer must be an ardent follower of Christ and must be willing to go to the mountain top despite all odds.

In an interview, Oritsejafor said this year’s event was the best in the 24-year history of the church, adding “we had people from 30 states of the federation. We had from Zambia, Togo, Ghana, Benin and several other places and quality of the Word of God preached had been very precise and on target which means that God had really being ministering to us. So, I can tell you that my excitement is that the seed for 2012 has been sown.”

The leader of the 20-man delegation from Ghana, Rev. John Neeman Quarshie who has attended the last three jubilees, corroborated the claim that this year’s fiesta was the best ever in terms of organization and the quality of messages.

Pastors Kwame Ampaw, Elisha Kete and Solomon Lomotey who were with him, kept nodding their heads in agreement as Pastor Quarshie said that Nigeria, despite internal social challenges, is still leading the rest of Africa and indeed the world in general in spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Also confirming the organizational excellence of this year’s programme, Dr. Solomon Oru who led other doctors and a motley of volunteer paramedics to render medical services at the event, averred that memb-ers of his medical ministry were on ground throughout the duration of the event in case of any emergency.

“The church procured more drugs this year than previous years and there were more volunteers who helped to attend to minor cases of catarrh and other complaints,” he stated. The Protocol Department head-ed by Pastor John Onojeharho and assisted by Pastor Sam Esume was at its best ensuring the comfort of delegates who stayed in different hotels in town while the security department did its utmost to ensure security of life and property in and around the church including the adjoining Eagle Heig-hts International Schools which provided other logistic support. Subsidised food was served at the Eagle Hand Multi-Purpose Centre’s Canteen and the Daughters of Sarah Canteen.

Continuing, the CAN president, said; “I will say it has been wonderful to the glory of God and we are alive to witness what the Lord is doing this year and we are preparing for the next one.”

On the history of jubilee, he said it was a revelation God gave to him shortly after Word of Life Bible Church started, explaining that “jubilee is biblical and it happens once in 50 years in Israel. It was God’s command and in the year of jubilee, those that in debt had their indebtedness forgiven. Slaves were set free. It’s a year of peace, joy and rest and so many things.

“The Spirit of God ministered to me, saying that people have annual conventions, but don’t call yours convention. You can call yours jubilee. Israel had it every 50 years but you can have yours every year and let people gather to celebrate the passing year and the coming one in advance. Let God’s Word be the central theme of what you do and use it to build people’s lives, set them free and encourage them and let them find rest, peace and all that. So, that was the foundation of jubilee,” he explained.

Asked how he came about this year’s theme, ‘Rule in the midst of your enemies,’ and how the theme would affect the nation, he says: “God deals with me in a very spectacular way. When we enter a new year, He begins to speak to me about the theme for the year.

It’s interesting; but that’s what usually happens to me, but this year, I didn’t hear from God until about June and He said; ‘Son, have you considered the number 12?’ So, I took a closer look and I discovered that the number 12 is a number of ruler-ship; because when you study the Bible you’ll find that it talks of 12 gates, 12 children of Ja-cob and the 12 disciples of Jesus Christ among others.

“The number 12 speaks of rule-rship, dominion, authority and being in charge. Like I was saying at the service, God is in charge of the affairs of Man, but He puts people in charge. The theme is ‘Rule in the midst of your enemies’. Nigeria definitely has enemies, but to me what makes this country peculiar is that her enemies are within. They are not far.

“They are not enemies that are outside the country. The people who don’t want Nigeria to survive are right here in Nigeria. It’s something that is baffling, but the Spirit of God is ministering to me that those who know their God will be strong and in the coming year, do exploits. We will take our place. The most important thing a ruler does is to make decrees and laws and that is our place. We will begin to use the Word and we will use it to overcome our enemies. We have the Word but the Word must be backed with power.

“That is why throughout this jubilee, I kept doing all kinds of anointing. It was symbolic of what is expected in the new year because it would be a time when our word will not be wasted. We should be able to say to Nigeria to wake up and make decrees about those who are destroying the country. Let the Spirit of God deal with them all. Let things begin to happen that will make wicked people to know that wickedness doesn’t pay.

“God will shake this country in a way that those who are doing all these things to Niger-ia…fear will grip them. They will have to make new decisions about their level of wickedness to Nigeria. We have never seen this kind of thing and I believe that power will change hands in the sense that those who have held Nigeria hostage will loose their grip over this nation.

He went on to narrate his experience as he accompanied  Dr. Morris Cerullo to the Osubi airport, saying “the old man was just lamenting. ‘Your country is so richly blessed with hu-man and material resources and yet people are hungry.’

“I have never seen a place that contradicts itself as much as this nation called Nigeria,” Oritse-jafor concluded.