The National President of Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor held a miracle crusade in Sapele in Delta State to mark the 40th anniversary of his conversion at the Sapele Stadium during a similar crusade organised by late Archbishop Benson Idahosa.

It was attended by a motley of gospel ministers from different parts of the globe and as usual there were spectacular testimonies of miracles. In this interview with SAM EYOBOKA after the event, an relive his salvation experience,  Oritsejafor relives his life before his conversion. EXCERPTS:

What is your assessment of the Sapele Crusade?

 I am overjoyed because I can now see why God impressed it on me. Forty is a very significant number in the calendar of God: it’s a number of liberation, an end of wilderness experience and so many other significances weaved around it. Jesus Christ fasted for 40 days and 40 nights; Moses spent 40 days on the Mount where he went to get the law.

I felt the urge for a while but I didn’t really plan for the celebration of  the 40th anniversary, but as the year 2011 was fading out, I felt the urge to mark the event. I can tell you that I have done many crusades in different parts of the world; but this very one stood out; it’s so different because it reminded me of my humble beginning and if you noticed on all the occasions that I preached I kept going back to that experience—It reminded of that day 40 years ago.

CAN President, Oritsejafor

You know the stadium wasn’t like this. I could still picture myself; a young man with no direction; all messed up and mixed up in life, totally hooked on drugs just having the urge and somebody said I should come to a crusade. I wasn’t caught out for that; but somehow I found myself in the midst of Christians in a crusade! And then after listening to the sermon and the man of God made an altar call, I found myself again taking a bold step, even in the face of all resistance and opposition from my friends and different people, and went out to give my life to Christ.

And then to look at 40 years after I had to go back there—do you know I have never been to that stadium since my conversion 40 years ago? I do not know how to describe the crusade; but I must say I am overwhelmed, overjoyed. It’s just an incredible feeling for me! To crown it all for me, was the sight of a mammoth crowd of people stepping out every night to give their lives to Christ. Before I finished talking, they were already running out to the field to make a decision for Christ. I think that crowned the whole thing, because I can see a repeat of what happened 40 years ago.

I can go on and on but I think God has done an incredible thing for me and it tells me that, not only that God called me, but that I still have a great work to do. I can see God giving me an opportunity to partner with Him. Apart from my salvation experience, my wife and children, I believe the Sapele Crusade is the best thing that has happened to me.

The crusade has come and gone, what should Sapele  residents expect?

 I have challenged the pastors. I didn’t go there—well Sapele is not far from Warri and people come from there to our church—but I didn’t go there to establish a branch of my church. No! No!! I have challenged the pastors there privately and publicly; if they don’t take advantage of the harvest I believe God will hold them responsible because I can’t more than I have done now.

It’s not left for then to follow up, because they have all the decisions cards with them and they need to now work and bring the new converts to their churches and nurture them. Apart from the harvest of souls, I am believing God that if it was God who inspired me to hold the crusade, there will be a remarkable change to that town.

I believe that within this one year we will begin to signs that God has started a new work in Sapele. I believe that this my visit will wake up a few people—you know most of our people in this area are nominal Christians. I believe God will jerk some people up to become vibrant for Him. I want to see the transformation and changes that will take place in the town will be tonic to wake people up to want to genuinely serve God.

No matter how hard people try to malign or fault the Church it remains the only institution that can effectively and adequately address moral decadence and revive our broken values in the Nigerian society. The Church is still the answer. No matter how much you look at the internal problems of the Church, there is no institution more capable, more equipped and more apt to do what God expect such an institution to do. I think this is an incredible time for the Church. Let us just wait for what God will do in that city.

Your church has only one branch and it is in Lagos because, according to you, it represents your roots. Since Sapele was where it all started, why won’t consider establishing a branch there also?    

 A little while after my conversion, God spoke to me; ‘you’ll go back to your roots’ and I actually thought it was Sapele but as time went by I realized that in the real sense my root was not Sapele but Lagos, because that’s where I was born. When we decided to finally set up a church in Lagos, interestingly the place where we got a space was just a stone throw from where I was born.

You can’t call that a coincidence. I didn’t plan it. I was here in Warri and told people to get and when they finally got a place, it was Moloney Street. And that’s where my parents were leaving when I was born. Don’t tell me that was coincident. So, I discovered that that was actually my root and that’s what God told me to do. To be honest with you, I’ve had this battle for years; if I wanted to, I would have had over 1,000 branches by now.

I’ve been so tempted, in Abuja especially because we would have a programme and I’ll be pleading with people to come and I asked myself if I have my own church here, I’ll just close down the church and move everybody to the venue. So, I’ve been tempted, but through the years I have made one decision: I will not do anything because everyone else does it. I will only do things because I feel the leading of God to do so.

So, to answer your question directly, I don’t feel the leading of God to start a church in Sapele. That is my big challenge right now and that is why I challenged the pastors there to take it from there.

If I felt like starting a full fledged church in Sapele, I would not have invited other pastors to be part of the crusade, because to me, that will amount to dishonesty. It would be very wrong.

There are people who do it, but I tell you it is very wrong in the sight of God. It is deception. Yes, we’re Christians and we are aiming for heaven; unless I sat the pastors down and let them know I want to set my church here but I need you to help me to package the crusade. But for me to beckon on them to partner with me for a crusade and at the end of it I start a church; to me, it’s the height of dishonesty and I will never be counted to do such a thing.

Not me! So even if I was going to fall for the temptation of starting a church there, for the simple reason that I asked the local pastors to partner with, I cannot do it, because how I will face them. You heard when I announced that I was going to come back and have dinner with them. How do I face them if I start my church there? In life you may meet people today you will never know what they would be tomorrow. I don’t look down on anybody.

Every human being is important, because you can never tell what anybody will be tomorrow. I don’t want it recorded in heaven that this is what I have done. Some do it, but it follows them because wrong is wrong no matter who is involved in it.

You were so passionate about that your salvation experience that you talked about everyday of the crusade, describing  every minute details of how it happened. What was it for you? 

I went to Sapele to relive the experience and I did. How could I have relived the experience without telling the people every detail of what happened?

As I was preparing myself for the crusade the Lord whispered something to me, saying ‘Son, every time you take up that microphone you must go back to that experience’ and He added ‘every time you do that you will change somebody’s life because you are standing at the same ground where you had that experience and when you do that you will change somebody’s life’.

And it is true. If I am narrating my salvation experience here in Warri or anywhere else, it makes sense but it would not have been captivating enough and the nostalgic feeling would not be adequately captured.

As I was talking and pointing to the exact position where I was seating and how I had to move from that seat to the field area to give my life to Christ, everybody could see my heart and it would not sound like a fairytale. My prayer is that, most of those people who gave their lives to Christ during that crusade, God would give them their own story.

If one person has a true transformational story to tell, he/she doesn’t have to be a pastor, it will gladden my heart to hear a testimony that when this man came to this place and I gave my life to Christ and today I have become a doctor, a governor or what have you. I have discovered that great things happen in very ordinary circumstances. Residents of Sapele don’t even value the place.

What a shame? Jacob said; God was in this place and I didn’t know it. Any city that can produce a man like me cannot be an ordinary place. I wish the residents and indigenes of Sapele would understand that, because God doesn’t do anything bad. It was not by accident that my spiritual voyage started in Sapele.

 What was your target?

My target was the ordinary people. I want to touch ordinary people. My heart goes out to the ordinary people of the society. God is interested in ordinary people. You see I like the late legal luminary, Chief Gani Fawehinmi. There were some things I admired about him.

For example, when he dedicated his house or so he went out to invite beggars from the streets to feast. Some times, it’s good to behave that way. Those things that man did were right and a reflection of God’s heart. He was not a Christian but he was a good human being, he had good heart for people. For him, it didn’t matter whether you were poor or rich. He didn’t put value on you based on what you had or what you are.

Many times I try to look at life that way. My emphasis at this crusade was on the ordinary people that you see every day because when I got saved I was as ordinary as ordinary can be. So, that was my target and I am happy I was able to do that. Jesus cared for such people like you saw on the grounds of the Sapele stadium. God’s heart is for the ordinary people. My heart goes out to the ordinary people in the society.