Category: Worship

The founder and senior pastor of Grace to Grace International Ministries, Dagenham, UK, Pastor (Mrs.) Atinuke Adesanya, spoke with Sunday Oguntola on an humanitarian project of the church in Nigeria. Excerpts: 

Last year, the church launched the Grace and Mercy Project (GAMP) in Nigeria, what will be different this year?

We could not have done it without His enablement and our members back in the United Kingdom who were very supportive of this vision.

During GAMP 2014, we promised that it would be a yearly event and here we are again to do one of the things we do best – supporting our community.

GAMP2015 will run from 20th – 26th June 2015. As well as giving out free items throughout the week to members of the community that want and need them, we have quite a number of activities planned and packed for the day including live music by well-known musical artists, comedians, free food and many others.

The part that fills my heart with great joy is the fact that some of the students that we were able to train (for free) through our School of fashion set up immediately after GAMP2014 will be graduating on the day.

What is really the motivation behind all these humanitarian gestures? 

During the launching of GAMP last year, I shared in detail how over the years we have been actively supporting our local community and beyond in various aspects of life.

We have been known to assist the less privileged in the community. We provide support by giving out free food to the hungry via our Food Bank and we go into the community with medical professionals to conduct medical check-ups and many more other activities.

Through being actively involved in our community, we have also gained knowledge and a wealth of experience in helping people to discover their potentials and make a living by embracing the most fundamental education.

We have been blessed to have as our members, various professionals who are able and willing to give their time and share their skills and knowledge to provide assistant with our various outreach programmes.

What we are doing here in Ikorodu, Nigeria is a tangible extension of the work that we do in the United Kingdom. If we can help our community in the UK, it is only natural to want to do the same and by His grace more in our homeland, Nigeria.

We hope to do much more here as the Lord will continue to help us to show His kind of love to all.

What testimonies do some of the donors have to share? 

GGIC is a very peculiar body of Christ as we are givers and it is therefore not a surprise that most of our donors are members of our Church. Giving selflessly is a key component to many spiritual and religious beliefs and knowing that one has taken action in line with your spiritual beliefs by offering your resources to others in need can bring a sense of inner peace and contentment.

Many of our donors have commented that they gave towards GAMP out of spiritual and moral conviction. Having shared the vision with them, I believe they felt inner pull to become involved with the project by donating financially, materially, their time and skills as well.

Last year, we had people who are not medical professionals but they contributed in helping us provide health check-ups to people in Isawu by donating money to buy medical equipment.

Likewise, a number of our members would have loved to come last year but were not be able to take time off work but some of them helped by supporting someone else who is able to do so and in so doing, they were directly helping the people in Isawu.

Our members that travelled with me last year for GAMP2014 also testify about having the opportunity to build on their social knowledge and circles whilst reaping the physical, mental and spiritual benefits from the labour of love they contributed towards the success of GAMP2014.

We’ve had people testified of feeling better about themselves after helping to support the project, because they know very well that they have done something that may save lives or help others who are less fortunate.

You don’t have to be a millionaire to realise that helping others gives you a good feeling, whether you do it by donating your time or by donating money.

It’s hard to believe that all these gestures are not related to the establishment of a church in Nigeria. Is that true? 

The main reason we have been able to do what we do in supporting our community as a Christian organisation is because of the love Christ within us as a body. Naturally, human beings often find it almost difficult or have no flare to want to help others, especially strangers and without the intention of getting something back in return.

Of course, there are individuals that have the gift of giving and are always looking to help even strangers in need. However, the love of Christ makes it an impulsive thing for us to do.

Our Church is already established here in Ikorodu and like I mentioned earlier, one of the things our ministry is well known for is supporting our community.  We believe that as individuals, we all have something within us to give and impact our community, likewise as an organisation we cannot just exist in a community and not impact lives.

The Grace and Mercy Project (GAMP) is a platform to ensure we are able to achieve our set objectives of positively impacting the lives of people within our community.

What shape will GAMP 2015 take? 

The first day would be a variety day; mainly to celebrate great achievements since the launching of GAMP till date.

For example, some of the students we trained in our School of Fashion will be graduating and awarded for their commitment to turn their lives around and have a voice in the community. We aim to have live entertainments throughout the day with musician, comedians and other very important dignitaries in attendance. The remaining days of the week, we will be giving away some free items and carrying out free health checks. We have come again with a team of medical professionals from the United Kingdom to deliver this personalised care.

How many students are graduating and what are some of the incentives you are offering them? 

One of the primary aims of this initiative was that by implementing a positive educational initiative of this sort, we would be helping a group of people who, in the nearest future, can significantly contribute (in their own way) to the Nigerian economy through this local government and create a better future financial security for themselves, family and the masses by expansion.

When we set up the Grace School of Fashion, we had quite a number of people that enrolled to join. It was very clear for us then that the need to empower individuals to build and create the lifestyle they desire was there. Of course, some of the people dropped out for one reason or the other and quite few stayed on.

However, as we all have our individual style and pace of learning, we can confirm that up to five students will be graduating this year.

We are not planning to offer them incentives; the free training was the incentive we gave them to make a change in the lives. Nonetheless, each of the graduating students will be awarded some tools for their trades and some monetary gifts mainly for their commitment to learn and change their circumstances and to assist them in establishing their own enterprises.

 If we have more of these gestures, what do you imagine will happen in the society? 

It is a human nature to just go about their daily lives and simply pretend that everyone is living well and that problems don’t exist or convince ourselves that these are small, inconsequential problems that affect just a few.

The truth of the matter is that if destitutions are left unchecked, they are the kinds of issues that can dramatically affect the quality of life of not just individuals but the community at large. Sooner or later, it will become very difficult to sustain a community when too many people are living at the margins.

This is what the Grace and Mercy Project (GAMP) is all about; working at the edge of society, finding the places where the community is frayed and in our own capacity, repairing them to make the community as a whole stronger.

We all have an important role to play in helping to move people from the margins into the mainstream.  If we have more of these gestures coming from individuals, government officials, organisations or even co-operate bodies’ our society will experience a massive explosion in the quality of life of our people.

Our people need to realise that as they step out and help people to elevate hardship, they are in fact expanding the impact of their own work.

By improving the quality of life for others, we are ensuring individuals are spiritually and physically equipped to enable them become better Nigerian citizens.

Dr. Stella Adadevoh, who was reputed to have stopped further spread of the dreaded Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) in Nigeria, will receive with a posthumous special award during the annual couple’s dinner and integrity award ceremony of the Nigerian Association of Christian Journalists (NACJ).

Adadevoh will bag the professional integrity award of NACJ, according to its secretary general, Charles Okhai.

The event is scheduled to Sheraton Hotel, Ikeja.

He said: “This year’s award promises to be a high society celebration and a well deserved honor for the Nigeria’s illustrious sons and daughters who have demonstrated high sense of integrity in their place of duties.

“The main objective of the Award is to encourage Nigerians to be integrity conscious and thereby shy away from corruption.

“People like Dr Stella deserve to be honored and celebrated, dead or alive in appreciation of their bravery and patriotic acts.”

The general overseer of The Redeemed Christian Church OF God (RCCG), Pastor Enoch Adeboye, has advised parents to avoid amassing ill gotten wealth for their children but teach them the values of hard work, honesty, and integrity.

He gave the advice at the special monthly prayer and thanksgiving service by the church at its national headquarters in Ebute-Metta, Lagos.

Adeboye said parents must not encourage mediocrity among their children or ward but motivate and empower them to work.

He lamented the desire among youths to make wealth without hard work, attributing the mass unemployment among the young population to this menace.

According to him: “There are boundless opportunities and possibilities for young people willing to work and burn the midnight candles instead of cutting corners.”

Adeboye, who spoke through his Special Adviser on Personnel and Administration, Pastor Johnson Odesola, said there was no free launch even in Freetown.

He said whatever anyone was enjoying was the handiworks of those who have sweated things out for us to enjoy it today.

He noted that many well known businessmen, who have died in the last 20 years but failed to give a good legacy of hard work, honesty and forthrightness for their children have had their business edifices, empires and monumental achievements crumpled.

Although, the respected preacher asserted there were lots of distraction and discretion among modern youths, he urged parents to take out time to understudy the psyche and philosophical build up of their children so they could help them better.

He said: “Parents should take time to create or invest more time in bringing up their children in the manner they will be proud of.

“If you accumulate wealth for your children, they will squander it.”

He cautioned parents who spent all their lives amassing ill gotten wealth for their children, saying it was not necessary.

Adeboye stressed: “What you don’t work for, you don’t value it. What we can do is take care of ourselves and enjoy the little we have and give our children good moral and education.

“Every individual has what they need to make their lives comfortable. We will be destroying the lives f our children when we accumulate all gotten wealth for them.”

The Assistant Pastor in charge of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), Lagos Province 40, Pastor Goke Aniyeloye, has appealed to Nigerian to be optimistic and pray for the incoming administration of General Muhammadu Buhari.

He spoke with reporters ahead of the RCCG, Testimony Chapel, Akute, Ogun State seven Super Sundays service from May 9-June 27.

Aniyeloye stated that the success of the incoming administration would be dependent on optimism and faith in God, especially during testy times.

He said the challenges of insecurity and economy woes bedeviling the nation also indicate that Nigerians require redeem the nation.

Aniyeloye noted that God cannot be left out in finding solution to the challenges facing the nation.

He canvassed intense prayers so that the nation can surmount the myriads of problems plaguing it.

Aniyeloye, who also doubles as the Pastor in charge of the RCCG Testimony Chapel, Akute noted that that government was still “far” from Nigerians.

He stressed that those who are going to rule the nation must have the fear of God in them and believe in the oneness and indivisibility of the country.

He challenged the president- elect to focus on his campaign promises, assuring him of the church’s support in prayers.

He appealed to Buhari to be very careful and weary of the people around him.

football competition in honour of the late leader of the Cherubim and Seraphim Movement Ayo Ni O, Dr Gabriel Fakeye, will soon take off.

The competition, according to Primate Ayoola Omonigbehin, will aim to win souls and empower youths.

He said: “The competition will help to engage youths in productive ventures, while diverting their attention from gang life and irresponsible living.”

Omonigbehin added that a football club, Fakeye clubs, will also be floated to commemorate the exemplary efforts of the deceased church leader.

 

God is still in the business of answering prayers and rescues His people from known and unknown dangers, chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), South West region, Archbishop Magnus Atilade, has stated.

“The God of Daniel is still alive today. He delivers us and listens to our cries every day. He is a miracle worker and will never leave us stranded,” he stressed.

He urged Christians to put their faith in God and remain convinced that He will always fight their battles.

Atilade spoke during a thanksgiving service for the miraculous deliverance of the national vice president of the National Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Ag­riculture (NACCIMA), Chief Debo Omotoso, at the Chapel of Great Commission, Awe in Oyo State.

Omotoso, who is also the chairman, Bond Group of Companies was abducted in his residence in Awe in March by gunmen who disguised to be workers of a dry-cleaning firm.

He was later rescued by men of the Oyo Police Command in Ajia community in Egbeda area of Ibadan a week after his abduction.

Atilade, who gave the charge at the service, attributed the rescue of the Ashiwaju of Afijio land to the miraculous hands of God.

He said the entire Gospel Baptist Conference of Nigeria and Overseas fasted and prayed throughout the ordeal of Omotosho, who is a trustee of the church.

“God honoured our prayers and bought him back safely to us, showing he is with us and the same who rescued Daniel and the three Hebrews from the furnace of fire,” he explained.

Any other Christian, who dares to trust in God, Atilade assured will enjoy similar divine protection.

Omotosho, who was beaming with smiles, appreciate the church for staying in the gap for him during the abduction.

He said the incident has reinforced his faith in God and will bring him closer to his maker.