The Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) Apapa Family upped its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) penultimate Sunday with the renovation and equipment of the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of the Lagos State Teaching University Hospital (LASUTH).
The ward was donated in honour of general overseer of the church and his wife, Pastors Enoch and Folu Adeboye in ‘’appreciation of their humility and selfless services,’’ according to head of Apapa Family, Pastor Idowu Iluyomade.
The donation climaxed the annual Excel programme of the church with the theme ’’The pains and gains of change.’’
Welcoming thousands of participants, including guests to the spiritual-cum-humanitarian programme, Iluyomade gave a quick summary of achievements by the family in the last one year.
He stated that 190,753 souls have been saved in the programme in the last six years.
He further informed full pastors in the region has risen to 422 with 660 others as assistants. Average attendance, according to him, has grown to 140,631 in the region.
On the essence of the theme, Iluyomade said Nigeria was passing through transitions economically, politically and socially.
‘’There is no denying the fact that change is hard, tough and could take a long time before it has it full effect on any individual, institution or nation.
‘’Nigeria embraced change about two years ago to avert a perceived disaster and it is important to wait out the pains for the gains to fully materialise,’’ he explained.
Lagos State Governor Akinwunmi Ambode, who was special guest, hailed the giant strides achieved by Apapa Family.
According to him: ‘’The church has witnessed laudable initiatives, which are aimed at not only addressing the spiritual but also the physical needs of worshippers.’’
Praising the emphasis of the themes around change in recent years, Ambode, who was represented by former deputy governor, Femi Pedro, said:‘’The pains usually experienced with change is the necessary sacrifice that must be paid to achieve an enduring and fulfilling life.’’
He noted Nigeria was yet to arrive at the Promised Land but pointed out there were positive indications the nation was making steady progress.
Adeboye, who delivered a sermon on the theme of the programme, said change had already started in Nigeria.
He noted with pleasure the numerous divine interventions and policies of government, saying those who have not yet yielded fruit will soon crystalise with time.
The renowned preacher said change must begin with individual Nigerians, pointing out a nation is as developed as the quality of its citizens.
To get the desired change, Adeboye called on Nigerians to draw closer to God, commit to self-development and be law-abiding.
Few minutes after delivering the sermon at the Tafawa Balewa Square Lagos, he landed at LASUTH in Ikeja for the long-awaited commissioning.
The Chief Medical Director of LASUTH, Prof Wale Oke, who was represented by Director Hospital Administration and Human resources, Mrs. Olatokunbo Adio, thanked the church for the donation.
The church, he said, has been ensuring lives are saved and is ‘’passionate to give back to the society and touch the souls of the less privileged spiritually, physically and otherwise irrespective of religion, region or race.’’
He was full of thanks to Apapa Family for reaching out to the less privileged by renovating and equipping the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of the hospital.
He hailed Governor Ambode for transforming LASUTH but pointed out government alone cannot shoulder the responsibilities ‘’especially with the day to day increase in population of the citizens of Lagos State.’’
The CMD challenged other churches and denominations to emulate the charitable spirit of Apapa family.
He stressed: ‘’We are grateful to RCCG for reaching out to the less privileged and for the several lives that would be spiritually and physically saved by this great gesture.’’
Commissioning the newly renovated ICU, Adeboye offered prophetic prayers for the emergence of a dawn in the hospital.
Adeboye said: “This plaque is opened in the name of the father and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. My father and my God we pray that beginning from now in this place, there will be no more death.
‘’Anyone who is brought here will go back home smiling. We ask that your healing power will begin to operate here now.
‘’In the entire hospital, this day will mark a turning point for the better and for those who work here my father and my God let it be well with them.
‘’Take care of their families and let your healing power flow through them. I pray Lord God Almighty that this day will begin a new time of testimonies of signs and wonders, not only in this hospital but in all the hospitals in Lagos State and all those who are present here.
‘’If you have any form of ailment at all, heal them all in Jesus name. We unveil this plague in the name of the father and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, God bless you.”
Head of the ICU unit, Dr AdetinuweMajekundomi, was also full of thanks to the Apapa family for uplift of the centre.
“We take care of patients that are critically ill, patients that are more sick than normal; patients that have problems with breathing, patients that are very ill.
‘’We also receive patients of road accident victims, cases that are serious and need to be operated in operating room and recover in a monitor room.”
On the specific items donated by the church, Majekodunmi said: “They did renovation of the facility- all the doors, windows and toilet facilities with tiling of the floor.
‘’Then, the equipment they donated include four state-of-the-art monitors that can do critical monitoring.
‘’They also donated four state-of-the-art beds and mattresses. It will increase the level of care we are providing for the patients before now.”
She added: ‘’We can give our patients standard care better than we were doing before. And in view of the machines that were here, they can be moved to other areas that didn’t have monitoring.
‘’Now, we have four monitoring machines that can be used in other areas of the hospital.”
