Prophetess Onyinyechukwu Pricilla Edward is General Overseer Wind of Glory Ministry, Lagos. Sister, as she is popularly called, spoke with Ibrahim Adam on how she started the ministry, which celebrates its 10th in August. Excerpts:
How do you feel having nurtured this ministry for 10 years?
I thank God for everything. I thank God because it has not been easy. So many people started such project but didn’t go far. I thank God for bringing me this far despite the challenges.
How did this journey of serving in the vineyard of God start for you?
It all started when I was about seven or eight years old. My parents then used to say that they don’t know what was wrong with me. When the Spirit of God comes upon me then, I will not know that it is the Spirit of God and I will have a message to go to certain villages, maybe in Imo State, Anambra or Enugu State. The Spirit of God will give me the address, the name of the family and the direction.
I will go there, locate the place and the people the way that I was directed and I will give them the message. Sometimes I will spend between three to four days or even one week on such missions.
When I come back, my mother will say ‘leave Onyinyechukwu alone’ that she don’t know the type of child she gave birth to but my father will say, ‘leave her for me. What she is doing is something that in our family’.
My grandmother- my father’s mother- was a native doctor. My father used to remind us how his mother used to cure people with herbs and natural things.
My father wanted to be a priest but unfortunately he could not make it. It was only my father that understood what was happening to me in those early days. From that period I entered into the Charismatic group in the church.
When I got married, I started the work again at Palm Groove area in Lagos. When I had my first baby in 2005, I continued the work. But at some point I said I don’t want to do the work again because the burden and stress were so much on me.
I will be going up and down. When people come to the Ministry, I will tell them to go and look for another place that I don’t want to do the prayer ministry work again. When I stopped doing the work, I had serious headache which affected my eyes and I lost my sight.
At that point when I became blind, I didn’t know what to do. Some people said it was because I stopped the work of God. My parents and others told me that if I start the work I will regain my sight.
But I told them that I don’t want to work again because I thought that the work is anytime I feel like, I do it. I was taken to Ikeja General Hospital for surgery. After the surgery, I didn’t regain my sight. We went to Ikoyi Hospital for another surgery but all to no avail.
The blindness lasted for one and half years. After a year and six months, in October 6, 2007 to be precise, I had a dream where a man gave me water to use and that whatever I want God to do for me, I should use the water.
I later used the water and washed my eyes and my eyes opened. When my eyes opened, I gave God glory. With that stubbornness, I still said that I don’t want to do again; somebody will be sitting down seeing something that will happen tomorrow or next month.
I said let other people go and do the work because my three sisters are doing the same work too. I concluded they should continue that I don’t want to do it again.
At a time, I started business. My husband refused but I said I can’t stay indoors because I like moving out. One day as I was walking along the road, my two legs broke. I asked myself, what was going on. People came and told my husband to send me away that the suffering was too much.
They said since he married me, he never enjoyed peace even for one day. My husband told them that if he sends me away, he may not be doing the right thing.
The time I became blind, my people rejected me- my husband side and father’s side. It was only my father, my elder sister and my mother in-law that stood with me. Others said that the suffering was too much and that they can’t take it any longer.
When I met a mad woman at Ojota Bus Stop, she said ‘’my friend, I love you come let me tell you something’’. She said “I am the one doing all these to you, before you can be free, go and do my work”.
I asked the mad woman, which your work? The mad woman said I should go and buy chair, thank God that I was with some money. I bought the chair, Bible, bell and lantern. The mad woman said ‘because of the love I have for you, I am giving these things to go and start the work of God, use these chairs and sit down. As this bell is ringing, your ears will open like the bell. As I am putting light in this lantern, your eyes will be like this light.”
She added: “This Bible, use it and preach the word of God, use it and go to war, you will go and come back.” I asked the mad woman how I can start again because I had stopped the work for long.
She said “go home and leave the remaining one for me”. So when I finished with that mad woman, I carried all of those things and came back. On entering my house, what I heard was a knock on my door. The person said she was looking for prophetess and I asked which prophetess.
From there, the number of people started increasing and I don’t know how God is doing it up till now.
What year did you meet the mad woman?
I met the mad woman in April 2010.
Have you had instances where people are delivered or you cast out demons and the problem which you resolved for the person comes back to haunt you?
As human beings we have challenges because at times when some things will happen or people were delivered from one problem or one attack or the other, some people will say how manage? Is it this small girl that is doing all these?
Let’s check whether she belong somewhere. Most times they will send somebody from the back to come and when the person comes, he or she will see a different thing from what was told.
This healing which I put in the ministry started right from when I was in secondary school. Sometimes I will be taken inside the bush and I will hear a voice “Onyinyechukwu, if you listen to me you will do many wonders” and I will say “who are you? I want to know the person that is speaking to me.”
I will hear “I am virgin Mary, mother Mary.” At times, I will hear “I am Jesus Christ of Nazareth, if you can obey my word, I will use you to cure so many sicknesses.”
I will be shown different leaves that will cure different diseases and sicknesses. The voice will say: “I am going to bless you with so many things, the things I am going to give you is for the world, don’t collect money from people. If I want to bless you, I will send people to bless you.” Since then, I have been trying my best because it is not easy as a human being.
How do you combine this prayer ministry work with your family as a married woman?
It is not easy but I thank God for the kind of man that I married. Most times he will behave like a man he is but most times he will say “I don’t want problems with God. Go, God has taken over my wife.” He takes care of the children anytime I travel for programmes. Most times, I will be away for four to five days. It will be just himself and the children.
What is your attitude to material acquisition?
People do give me gifts and I will I put it back into the ministry because of the message I got when I was in secondary school. God said He is going to give me everything but is not for me.
That anytime He is going to bless me, He will send people that will bless me. I have to obey because I don’t know the one I will do and I will offend God. I borrowed money from the bank to buy this property we are using, even the one we just acquired.
Is this ministry strictly Catholic or inter-denominational?
I am under Catholic Church but I am having problem with the Priests and some Reverend Fathers. They said I am too small to do this work, that I should look for any Parish of my choice here in Lagos to start this work.
I told them that I can’t do that because there are certain things I am doing that they might not allow me to do. They do not know when I started this work. I can remember when one Reverend Father came and I said no.
I gave him my father’s home address to go and verify where I come from. Any Parish I like, I go and worship and come back because I don’t know what is going on. There was a day I went to one Catholic Church in Ikorodu here, they refused to give me Holy Communion before the congregation because they said I am stubborn that I don’t want to listen to them and I said no problem and left.
This is just a ministry and not a church. So anybody is free to come and fellowship, pray and go back to his or her church. We are all in the race of trying to make heaven and to seek God’s anointing in resolving some problems. The devil and bad people are everywhere and we Christians must remain very prayerful.
You said there are some things you do which the Catholic Priest will not like, what are those things?
Like the healing work that I am doing, sometimes I will bring some leaves and some workers will help me to pound it for the work. There are some things I do here which they will not allow me to do.
So why are you combining prayer with herbs?
I am combining prayers with herbs because that was what God told me and He gives me the kind of herbs to use. Even women that carry pregnancy for more than their due dates when they come to me, God will tell me the type of herbs to cook and the dosage.
With faith, God will answer the person. The same thing with those looking for the fruit of the womb or some serious sicknesses and wounds including, rotten legs. God uses me to heal them.
How much do you charge people for healing?
I don’t collect a dime from people. Come and pray and let God heal you. Your thanksgiving is to God and not to Sister Onyinyechi or Wind of Glory Ministry.