Powers Encountered on Life’s Journey

 For a great door and effectual is opened unto me, and there are many adversaries. (1 Corinthians 16:9)

Life's journey has not been without opposition as the Devil is not excited with the input my family and I make on a daily basis in enthroning the lordship of Jesus in the dark nations of the world and he does not hide it. On a regular basis, the Devil expresses his fury by attacking my family and I. He comes to kill, to steal and to destroy as documented in John 10:10. Once, a demon possessed girl confessed that she was delegated to kill me but since she could not, she targeted my wife but failed. Not giving up, she focused on my kids and succeeded in throwing my eldest son who was three years old at the time into a very deep well and covered him up in the well. According to her, their plan was for the boy to die in the well all in a bid to discourage us from continuing with our mission pursuits.

Unknown to Her, the God who called us assured us that He has given unto us power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt us. From under the well the angel of God held my little boy's head above the water and amplified his voice and my wife who was far away in the room heard his cry and traced it. It was then she discovered that he was crying from inside the well. She got confused and raised alarm. A man passing by whom I believe was God's angel asked why she was shouting and on hearing that my son was inside the well, he brought him out. 

Miraculously, Nehemiah was not injured neither did he sink. Nevertheless, he was rushed to the nearest pharmacy for checkup to be sure there was no internal injury. The Nurse and Pharmacist, on duty did not believe our story. As far as they were concerned, it was impossible for a boy of three to be thrown inside the well and not die either because of the water in the well nor suffocate because the well was covered nor sustain injury. It ordinarily would have been impossible to hear his cry from inside the well.  We were, and are persuaded that it was divine intervention as only God can do what seems impossible to man. When He commissioned us in Matthew 28:20, He also assured us: "...And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age". 

To the glory of God, Nehemiah is in his final year in the University and he will live to fulfill his destiny.

It however looks like there may be no final victory until our work on earth is over and we transit to heaven.  This is because, the Devil never gives up. Even for Jesus, the Devil never gave up on Him.   In Luke 4:13, the Bible confirms this: "...And when the devil had ended all the temptations, he departed from him for a season." It is therefore not surprising that the Devil has ceased to give up on me. The more the attack the more the victory.

Lucy's Cancer Encounter
Another assault from the Devil that cannot be easily forgotten was my wife's close shave with death. The Devil knocked her down with cancer, first on one of her breast. The Doctor sent for me and advised me strongly to consent to her surgery which implied the removal of the breast. The logic according to the Doctor was that it will prevent the cancer cell from spreading. That was not to be, as Few months later, despite the surgery the cancer had extended to the second breast and the armpit. 

At this point, one can sense the helplessness from the way the Doctor sounded. He referred us to another hospital for further test and then to the United Kingdom for further examination. The Doctor at the other Hospital was callous and crude at the same time going by the way he spoke to us. To him, we generated the cancer and were careless in seeking for medical help in time. We had no resources to travel abroad for further treatment but were convinced that the Helper of the helpless will see us through. 

We resolved to pray, and our friends across the nations were  committed to praying for us. A particular note was the involvement of a senior colleague, Pastor Joseph Egwuda who was at the time the Presiding Elder of Chapel of Goodnews, Kaduna, Nigeria. He assembled Pastors and other church leaders in the city to pray for us. Many others were doing same both at their family, congregation and individual level. 

The Lord was not silent either. At a point, I heard him clearly say to us what He said to Simon in Luke 22:31-32: "Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you as wheat. 32”But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers”.  If Jesus prayed for us so that our faith will not fail and He is the same person to answer the prayer, it then means that our faith will not fail. It is like an examiner writing the answers to the questions. It is absolutely impossible to fail the same exam. Secondly, it was obvious that God allowed the cancer assault for a post-experience ministry.

With His assuring words, we persevered in prayers until God opened our eyes to basic fruits and vegetables that had nutrients which could to tackle cancer cells. We had personal encounters with cancer survivals like Gloria Davies. We further took time to study books written by the founder of Hallelujah Diet and listen to her experiences on video. That further built up our faith. Lucy was optimistic that God would heal her as she constantly confessed that cancer was inclusive in the sickness Jesus' stripes took care of.  A family friend got several faith-building books for her and even amidst the pain, she managed to read some of the books.

One night she resolved not to eat cooked food for the next two months until God healed her. She then concentrated on eating fruits and vegetables which she juiced and others she blended. God breathed on these and trashed all the cancer cells in her body and regained her health. Another senior colleague of mine, Rev. Gerald Golbeck and his wife, Patricia then invited us to South Africa to one of the best Oncology Centre for a test which they paid for. The Centre conducted several tests and came to the conclusion that there was no cancer cell in her body any more.  Since then, she has visited the Centre from time to time for check-up and they have consistently congratulated her for staying cancer free.

One of the things the Lord spoke to us when she was really sick was that after her healing, she will be instrumental to healing others. We have seen that happen over and over. One of the cancer patients we saw God deliver from death was a lady by name Dorothy, a relation of her listened to my wife testify of her healing in Kaduna and called her to get in touch with my wife. She did and as usual, my wife told her what to eat and drink and what not to eat. She said she wanted to come over to Jos, Plateau State, Nigeria where we lived because most of the fruit and vegetable were not common where she lived at Owerri, Imo State, Nigeria. We said it was alright if she had a relation to stay with but she had no one and pleaded to stay in our family house which we agreed with the assumption that she was going to be accompanied by a member of her family. One night, we saw her walk in alone. Looking at her was quite scary. Her case was cancer of the bone and she had already commenced radiotherapy and chemotherapy. Her eyeballs were deep down in her sockets and all her hair was gone because of the negative impact of the therapies. It was as if she was going to die the following week. Apparently, having given up on her must be the likely reason why no family member accompanied her to Jos.

We prayed and got the fruits and vegetables for her as she was determined and believed that God could heal her. God stepped in and in one month, her strength was restored. Her hair grew, her eyeballs fit in the socket and gradually she became fully healed. She was amazed herself at the speed and one evening went out to look for the King of the Igbos in Jos to come register her deepest appreciation on behalf of her family. She returned back to her family strong and healthy and we return all the glory to God for her healing.

We have scores of different manner of cancer patients from across the world that God has healed through counseling, direct supervision, phone calls, etc. Space and time will not permit us to give vivid testimonies here. We also have many who took time to read through Lucy's book: “How God Healed Me of Cancer and His Remedies for Terminal Diseases” and put into practice what they read and testimonies of God's healing abounds. God turned the table against the Devil as what he planned to use to bring down the ministry, God used and He is still using it to promote the work He has committed into our hands. People from different faith cutting across various classes in the society including Muslims have had reasons to visit us because of cancer related cases and they have all provided opportunity for us to show them the love of Christ. No consultancy fee is paid. Freely we receive and freely we give. " ...And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers."(Luke 22:32b)

Thunder, Armed Robbery, Attack and Accident, Etc.
The catalogue of power encounter is endless. In the words of Apostle Paul: "For a great door and effectual is opened unto me, and there are many adversaries".(1 Cor 16:9). I will like to share some more of the fury of the Devil directed at my family and I and how God fought our battles and handed over victory to us.

Early in ministry, my wife and I traveled to some of our mission fields in the North Central states of Nigeria. While we were away, thieves burgled our house and made away with many valuables from the house. It was natural to ignore it and continue as if nothing happened but a young girl under the influence of demons confessed that she arranged for the theft. According to her, she has being delegated to do anything possible to discourage us to discontinue our mission work. It was good to know that the Devil was not comfortable with our labour to advance God's kingdom. We prayed and instead of being discouraged, the Lord strengthened our hearts. We did not recover the items stolen but many persons brought gifts to us. Also, as a result of the theft, God paved way for us to buy a good car, Datsun Laurrel which added speed to our work. Again, the Devil was put to shame.

One evening we were driving from Ankpa, Kogi State of Nigeria after a very successful Mission Conference which brought together church leaders from different denominations to review the remaining task of reaching the Igala nation. The result of the conference was mind-blowing. We had many positive responses and action steps outlined to be taken to complete the task. The Devil again was very furious at such level of networking to unseat him and enthrone the Lordship of Jesus and on our way back we ran into the hands of some armed robbers. We prayed and God answered us and none of us was hurt.

Another night, we concluded a great meeting at the famous Baptist Seminary at Ogbomosho in the South West region of Nigeria. The responses were heartwarming. Many of the students training to go and serve as Pastors volunteered to go into the dark nations of the world where Jesus was not known and this made me glad as I could imagine the vast number of nations the volunteers of this four day meeting will cover. While thanking God, I took off that night via Ibadan to Lagos from where I was scheduled to take a flight to the United Arab Emirates. The Devil again was deeply furious. On our way between Ibadan to Lagos, there were many cows covering the road. The Driver did not seem to see them, he accelerated the vehicle while the passengers screamed "cow! cow!! cow!!!". The more they screamed the more he accelerated until he crashed into the cows. Many passengers were badly wounded. I knew the Devil hard targeted me but God rescued me unhurt. I trekked few kilometers that night to the nearest point where we got a taxi and still made my journey to United Arab Emirate.

Thunder Blast ~ Reaction from DRC
Few years ago, I was invited to Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo(DRC) to speak at the Missions Fest, a mission conference organised by the local churches in the city. One early morning after the conference, my friend and I drove to the hospital where we took time to pray for the sick and casted out demons from people that were possessed. At the same moment, thunder lightening struck in my house faraway in Jos, Nigeria heading straight to my wife with the children standing by her side ready to go to school. My wife shouted Jesus and immediately the thunder diverted into the electric cable and destroyed the thunder resistor, burnt the cables, meter and electronics connected to it.  We are thankful to God that they were not hurt. God remains the unbeatable champion.