Prophet Anene Nwachukwu of Rhema Deliverance Mission International during the recent annual conference of the church spoke on the state of the nation; he also disclosed the secrets of staying away from scandals as a preacher. Excerpts by SEYI JOHN SALAU who was in attendance.
The church organises this conference annually; how can the conference impact your church membership and the society at large?
Well, by the special grace of God this conference has been an annual event and God has been showing himself mighty to his people through the men of God that have been part of this programme. That of last year was powerful; this year’s edition was super.So, the people who attended left with testimonies and with smiling faces. The kingdom of God needs to expand and by the special grace of God, we are still moving forward.
What is the significance of asking members to appear in white and come along with leaves to the conference?
White is a symbol of light and a celestial symbol. The Lord instructed that we appear in white and come with leaves. The significance of the leaf is that whatsoever the enemies have done against us will be cleansed because native doctors work with leaves. They cannot do anything against you without entering the bush to collect leaves, which is why our people say that ‘when you feed a native doctor well, he will go into the evil forest and bring out roots which he will use to work for you.’ So, we use leaves so that anything that anyone has done to us with leaves will be countered through prayers. There was no sword in the hands of David when he fought Goliath; David used the sword of Goliath to cut off his head, so we use our own leaves as we are praying that whatever they have done to us with their own leaves that their leaves will fight against them, which is the significance.
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How do you tackle challenges of the ministry, especially staying away from scandals?
One thing you must know about ministry is that ministry is ruled by integrity; I always tell people that anointing can make a way for you as a man of God but integrity will sustain you and keep you going. Of course, when you see a man, whatever he does, you look at his foundation; foundation is very important. I came out of a priestly family: my father is a Bishop; my father’s father is a Bishop and in my family, we grew up learning how to pray. We grew up learning how to sing, if you see me now though I’m a prophet, but I know how to sing because your foundation matters in whatever you. I have female members, I have male members and I know how I interact with every one of them, as a pastor, the bible says that you should flee from every appearance of evil, something that will make me to begin to pokenose or backbite, I avoid it. For example, as a pastor, if you see me every day with my female members coming out of my car, going here and there or maybe coming out of a hotel with my female members and I say that I’m on a visit, what kind of satanic visit is that? If you want to go to a hotel, go with your wife; if you want to eat in a hotel, go with your wife.
Is there an underlying factor to your generosity?
You see, one thing I know is the way we were brought up, I wasn’t born with a silver spoon, I know what it means to trek from Mile 2; I know what it means to trek from Iyana Iba to Ikeja. One thing I learnt from Jesus is that he cannot heal somebody without first having compassion on that person because Jesus is a compassionate man. The best gospel you will preach to people is the gospel according to yourself; when you are generous to people, you should also be very careful about it. The generosity I am talking about here is not expecting something in return from the person you give to; it is not the generosity to take advantage of anyone. I believe that any gift that you give to a man that doesn’t have an attachment will have the best reward.
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Anyone attending your service for the first time is not unlikely to be dazed by the prophecies and revelations; what is your secret?
Some of the people I was talking to during the conference came for the first time. You know why we do that is to showcase the supernatural power of God even to the doubting Thomases. A man was once present in the service and said in his heart that my power is in the ring I was wearing; I heard him in my spirit and gave the ring to him. Another man in the service also said in his heart that my power was in the ‘agbada’ I was wearing; I likewise heard him and chose to remove the ‘agbada’ and gave to him. He did not know why I did so, until I told him. That’s why I tell people to go for the mantle, don’t go for the title; the mantle is not for sale, it is the mantle that will give you the title, it is what you do that will announce you not the noise you make. We don’t make noise; ministry is not by making noise. As Jesus Christ humbled himself, we as ministers also need to humble ourselves so that God can continue to lift us up.
What is your stand on the now suspended RUGA settlement project of the Federal Government?
RUGA in my own definition is ‘ruling under gun attack’. I don’t believe in RUGA, if there should be RUGA, they should also give us our own land where we can build our church in a place like Sokoto. Handling herds is the private business of the herdsmen which should not obstruct other people’s businesses or activities. So, let’s not deceive ourselves because RUGA simply means ruling under gun attack.
State of nation: what is your message to Nigerians considering the level of insecurity?
Well, I want to encourage Nigerians that there is still a better tomorrow, we should not give up on our nation, Buhari appears to be slow, Buhari appears to be confused but we pray that the Lord will use the men around him to get him through. Why did I use that language confused? I thought that immediately after the inauguration in February or March, let’s assume he has spent almost four months to constitute his cabinet, I thought that immediately after the National Assembly has been inaugurated, the following day he will present his ministerial appointment. So, I think we need prayers in this nation because it appears that we are in a flight that has an auto-pilot. What I mean is that the pilot is flying by twisting the aircraft so we need to pray for the man because Nigerians are really suffering. Buhari said that by 2020 or thereabout he’s going to lift over 100 million Nigerians out of poverty; the journey of a 1000 miles begins with a step, if you are going to lift us out of poverty in the next two to five years, at least, you will begin from now. Let us see samples of what you have been doing, for example if Buhari can fix our roads, those who have their own cars and use it for transport can feed their families, for example you cannot go to Apapa and drive freely because of the bad roads and tankers.
