Musical exclamations from the choir echoed all around the auditorium. Congregants from different nations of the world expressed their joy in ways beyond description. They exuded divine confidence as Evangelist Racine stepped in to nourish their minds with the Word of God in a message titled GOD’S AGENDA. According to him, “We have no control over what becomes of us the next day.” He contended that anyone can be a leader but only God chooses a leader with a difference. He also submitted that God’s agenda supersedes all others and is not defined by man’s level of skill or wisdom. It is only God’s will that guarantees success in life. “Wisdom in the practical sense of ability and skill cannot guarantee success in life. Many would think that men of great understanding who are masters in the field of management would certainly become people of substance,” he added, reminding congregants that no one can succeed without God.
Continuing, Evangelist Racine observed that, “To every man, God has assigned a purpose.” Quoting Prophet T.B. Joshua, he said, “What God Has designed you to achieve in His master plan determines your divine cause and course. The cause means what you are living for and are going to die for.” He added that Christians would only succeed when they include God in the affairs of their life, arguing that the brave do not always win the battle just as fast runners do not always win the race.
Concluding, he urged Christians to live a life of purpose because we serve a God of purpose. “It is the will of God for us to prosper in every area of our lives – spirit, soul and body,” he added. He left the following prayerful declaration for congregants to ponder over: “The time has come for me to enlarge my spiritual coasts because I serve a God of purpose.”
FROM DOUBTING THOMAS TO LIVING WITNESS WITH A PhD MADE IN HEAVEN
Having been brought up by her mother after the death of her father, she was able to obtain a bachelor’s degree in law. After obtaining the degree, everything she tried to do met with failure to the extent that she had to move from one church to another in search of a solution. Her efforts to secure a post-graduate admission in Nigerian and foreign universities hit the brick wall for the umpteenth time. For Queen Agbaji, there was no consolation unless God intervened. She often cried unto God and appealed for His divine direction, urging Him to remember that He is father to the fatherless.
One night, she had dreamt of visiting The SCOAN but on waking, she became confused, owing to her skeptical disposition towards Prophet T.B. Joshua and his ministry. However, the more she asked for divine direction, the more she dreamt of the man of God and his ministry. Her cynicism about Prophet T.B. Joshua was so intense that she would give up her meal in a restaurant just because she beheld a portrait of the man of God there.
Queen would however succumb to the prompting of the Holy Spirit after a concerned Muslim acquaintance had asked her why she didn’t want to visit The SCOAN in the face of all her struggles. At that juncture, it dawned on her that there was something deeper about the T.B. Joshua dream encounters than met the ordinary eyes. By the grace of God, a friend was able to pay her way down to The SCOAN. After receiving the Morning Water from The SCOAN, Queen’s life was overtaken by a windfall of favours. Even two universities in the USA which had turned down her post-graduate applications contacted her to reapply.
Against her expectations, her post-graduate application, though incomplete, was accepted by a university in the USA. That university eventually granted her a scholarship worth $20,000 USD (out of the total package of $26,000 USD) after she had visited The SCOAN where she received a prophetic word from the man of God. Prophet T.B. Joshua had told her, “There will be a meeting and in that meeting there will be a breakthrough.” She would later realise that the prophetic declaration actually captured the eventual decision of the school’s scholarship board to fund her studies. As she contemplated on how to fund the remaining six thousand dollars on her scholarship, God provided $15,000 USD through a case she handled. The money from that case was enough to cover the deficit and her accommodation.
At the embassy of the USA, it was another herculean task as her documents were incomplete. She had to change interview dates several times. But another dream encounter with Prophet T.B. Joshua would become the panacea for that precarious situation. The man of God had encouraged her to remain steadfast in that dream. The next day, Queen headed straight to the embassy. There, she was almost thrown off balance after fifteen applicants had been turned down in her very presence. She knew the battle was beyond her and so went to the restroom to minister the Morning Water. And the rest is history – she received her visa and jetted out.
Queen ministered the Morning Water regularly and watched Emmanuel TV incessantly till she completed her Master’s degree. Immediately after her Master’s, she applied for her PhD even without an assurance of where the funding would come from. She had the faith and only needed to activate it. Ministering the Morning Water and praying over her new aspiration, she received a full scholarship for her doctoral degree plus a job. She completed her residency in the USA and was left with the research aspect of the programme.
She returned to Nigeria and visited The SCOAN where she had a one-on-one encounter with Prophet T.B. Joshua who encouraged her to go and complete her research and come back with a copy of her thesis for him to see. But when she returned to the USA, the devil struck! Her scholarship was reduced by seventy-five percent while a huge debt profile hung around her neck. She was on the brink of dropping out of school and had even written a letter to the man of God concerning her frustrations but kept her faith intact. Three days before her scholarship status would be terminated, someone she didn’t know had offset her debts. That same day, her scholarship was fully restored!
After completing her thesis, Queen went ahead to defend it. The defence was more like a walk- over as the Holy Spirit guided her in everything she said and did that day. Queen eventually graduated with a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Law. Today, she is addressed as Barrister Dr Queen Agbaji. Thanking God during her testimony, she urged congregants to use their faith to put a demand on the anointin-g in the life of Prophet T.B. Joshua, stressing that every nation needs a prophet.
SUCCOUR FOR LIBYAN DEPORTEES
They had dared the odds to seek greener pastures abroad through what one can describe as the most tortuous and illegal of routes. Most of them even had to borrow money from loved ones in anticipation of a bright future overseas. Little did it occur to them that they were on a mission of near-death, torture and abuse. For the females among them, sexual molestation was one of the sad realities they had to live with in the hands of their helpers turned tormentors. It was disheartening to wake up to the horrible realisation that those in whom they had reposed the hope of crossing into Europe would turn out to be the greatest villains in this tragedy of their lives.
LIBYAN DEPORTEES
The experience of the Libyan deportees is perhaps one of the greatest testaments on the drama of existence, of survival and of the absurd. Girls, in their teens, deceived into abandoning their humble beginnings in Nigeria and left to face the grim side of life in a foreign land. For those who survived the long trek through the Sahara Desert, the joy of nearing Europe was always punctuated by the fear of having to float aboard plastic and wooden dinghies in which they were packed like sardines and left at the mercy of the ruthless waves that had no compassion in their trajectory. It was a tale of squalor in motion as they had to drink very dirty water, put up with faeces and dead bodies. Many regretted embarking on that journey of doom but it was late. Many prayed that the Libyan authorities should rescue them alive. They preferred to be arrested and sent to jail rather than die on the sea and be eaten by sharks.
According to Miss Tracy Stephen, one of the deportees, her experience was devastating psychologically and physically in the face of all the hardship she encountered on the ill-fated journey to Europe. According to her, many of her colleagues who embarked on that journey as excited teens have returned as hapless and broken mothers as well as expectant mothers that were raped. Their deportation to Nigeria was facilitated by the International Office for Migration.
Knowing that The SCOAN, Prophet T.B. Joshua and the Emmanuel TV Partners have always lent helping hands to those in dire need, the contingent decided to visit the ministry to seek for succour in order to start life anew. For one week, Prophet T.B. Joshua provided them medical care, accommodation and transportation to the tune of two million and four hundred thousand naira. They also received cash gifts of seven million and six hundred thousand naira in addition to the two bags of rice they each received. In total, they received the sum of ten million naira as support from Prophet T.B. Joshua and the Emmanuel TV Partners. Thanking God, the deportees were unanimous in their resolve to start a new life. They urged youths and parents alike not to be carried away by the flashy lifestyles of people who visit the country from overseas, especially during the yuletide season, stressing that appearance is deceptive.
SHE DOUBTED THE MORNING WATER BUT IT CHANGED THE STORY OF HER ENTIRE FAMILY
Mrs Lilian Rotimi had been a staunch critic of Prophet T.B. Joshua and The Synagogue, Church of All Nations. She had received the Morning Water from a neighbour and had destroyed it, thinking her neighbour was insane. As far as she was concerned, anything from The SCOAN was not to be associated with her. But all her misgivings would soon end after she had encountered the man of God giving a sermon about offence on Emmanuel TV in her sister’s room. It dawned on her how ignorantly she had unnecessarily maligned the man of God. She became sober and asked God for forgiveness. From there, younger sister encouraged her to make use of the Morning Water.
Around this time, Mrs Rotimi was preparing to attend a visa interview at the US embassy. She had a virgin passport that had not been used before and so, it would take a miracle for her to be granted the US visa. But her sister believed in the Morning Water as a medium of God’s power and had used it to activate so much blessings, including trips abroad. On the night preceding the visa interview, her sister ministered the Morning Water to her and prayed for her. At the embassy, in spite of the fact that many applicants were rejected, her anointed application was granted without stress.
Mrs Rotimi was overwhelmed with divine astonishment and collapsed. It took the embassy security to bring her up to her feet. After her miracle, she encouraged her husband to follow her example. Ministering the Morning Water on her husband, she encouraged him to apply for the US visa. And just as it was in her case, her husband’s visa application was granted. Having secured the US visa for herself and her husband, the next challenge was to secure their children’s. Ministering the Morning Water on her kid’s applications, Mrs Rotimi headed to the embassy, where after simple questions, the applications were granted with dispatch.
Within a short while, the entire family was granted visas to travel to the USA. And for that, Mrs Rotimi is repentant. She regretted her misgiving about the Morning Water and even asked for forgiveness from the friend who had given her the Morning Water which she destroyed. Thanking God, in company of her sister, for the uncommon miracles through the Morning Water, Mrs Rotimi advised people all over the world not to rush into criticizing things they are ignorant of.
A SPIRIT HUSBAND’S REIGN COMES TO AN END
She started drinking and smoking at the age of 15. That early descent into waywardness soon culminated in her becoming a mother at the age of 18. Her heavy dependence on alcohol and cigarette-smoking caused her to develop kidney stones – a life-threatening condition. In spite of that reality, she continued to live her life as though she had a duplicate hidden somewhere. She manipulated her beauty to her advantage. In her eyes was a hidden power which no man could resist. The high and mighty all fell into her trap. She also had a diabolic chain around her waist which infatuated men, especially those who beheld her nudeness.
The evil spirit tormenting her life controlled her psyche and made every other person look like a fool. Even her brother who had sincere intentions to help her find a solution was written off. She saw him as one pest trying to disturb her peace. Miss Sheri Bright Makoso destroyed the destinies of the men she slept with. Some lost their jobs, others had problems in their marriages while many had their businesses grounded.
Stranded in Nigeria and in dire need of money, her brother who was fed up with her irresponsible lifestyle, insisted that he would only financially assist her if she agreed to come to The SCOAN for deliverance. Visiting The SCOAN during a Sunday service, the Cameroonian came in contact with the Holy Spirit. While Prophet T.B. Joshua was praying for congregants, she became very uncomfortable and wanted to leave but the power of God arrested her. According to her, as the prayers progressed, she felt as though maggots were coming out of her body. She kept on scratching her body while the spiritual operation lasted. Coming under the bombardment of the Holy Spirit, the evil spirit spoke through her, saying it was a spirit husband which had tried to destroy her life but for the intervention of God through The SCOAN.
Miss Makoso was delivered by Jesus Christ through the prayer of Prophet T.B. Joshua. Since that day, she has found a breath of fresh air through Christ Jesus. All those unholy urges and desires of the flesh have left her life. Thanking God for her deliverance, in company of her brother, Miss Makoso also expressed gratitude to Prophet T.B. Joshua and The SCOAN for their charitable disposition towards her. According to her, she has received medical as well as financial support from them. Her brother who described her deliverance as the removal of a thorn from his flesh, advised people all over the world to be steadfast in the Lord, lest they fight the wrong battles.