According to him, “Nigeria is shaking and to fix this country now, we need people who can speak the truth, People who will not be afraid of what will happen when they speak up. To play this role, ministers of God should take a stand that will damn the consequences.
Excerpts:
How did it all begin, especially how you come about the name of the ministry
My name is Bishop Omorodion Eguavoen, the Senior Pastor of the Sword of God Ministries incorporated international which was founded on February 3rd, 1996. I actually got this revelation while I was in the United States of America in the year 1995 in a city called Maryland, in Pensilvenier.
God arrested me because He wants to use me. The revelations came and keep coming for like seven days until It appeared to me like a dew and stretched its hand and wrote on the ground. The finger was what I saw. The finger was like a lightening of fire.
He wrote on the ground Isaiah 8: 18, “I and those that God has given to us are made for signs and wonders. I ask Him what the meaning is and He told me God want to use me to preach the gospel round the world.
I said, but I am not a preacher, will they believe me and He said He will give me signs and you will perform wonders through me. That was when I was there in the U.S and I have to voluntarily ask that I should come to Nigeria.
I came back home September 1985. I came by the name on the seventh day of His visitation. He gave it to me, the name given to me was called Sword of God Institute. I did not understand until after six months of the ministry He spoke back and told me this is the school I put in your hand to bring people out of darkness in to my everlasting light. That was how the name came about.
Before the encounter what were you doing?
I was just living my life like just any one who is trying to hustle into life. I actually travelled seven times round the world between 1989 and 1995. As a young boy, I came out of school when I was 19, worked in coca cola as casual worker, loading trucks , after my there was no job , but I got a job in Chief Bazuaye motors, where I worked for some time. I had my HND in Auchi and by the special grace of God I was supposed to be an Accountant. I chose to leave that and in 1984 the opportunity came to travel and I travelled like any other person to seek for greener pastures.
Your Journey so far
It has been God all the way. God has been faithful. We actually started from a buka, local restaurant, very local restaurant by the S and T in Benin here, built with wood, with 33 children and 11 adults. I know that the hand of God was upon my life because from the day we started the ministry there has been no regrets.
Though there has been turbulence, there has been accusations, a lot of name calling, a lot of issues arose, many things happened in the past 24 years, but God has been faithful. By the special grace of God there is no nation I have not preached, in Benin I will count myself as one of the most travelled pastor preaching the gospel, because of my good works.
What is the secret behind your success so far?
The secret of these successes is consistency. In prayers in doing good and helping people. My life is centered on charity. It is built on love and my giving life is what has been helping me and my prayer life has been sustaining me. God has brought men and women who are partners all over the world that are helping the church. We have people around the world that are financing our projects and programs because of what the lord has used me to do in their lives. The secret is prayers and my charity showing love.
Do you have branches of the church?
Yes we have branches in Benin and outside. We have seven branches in Benin and I am not intending to have anyone overseas because I cannot run them. It is not easy running a ministry. I want to remain in Nigeria and expand the ministry.
What are some of the hindrances in the growth of ministry?
For ministers as I keep saying, who want their church to grow must first of all have a stable administration. You cannot run it all. There should be departments. Secondly, you must centre your church on evangelism, winning souls, teaching the people on how to go out to fish. There is no secret about the growth of the church, you as a man of God must show a good example that the people must see and follow. Your character and life style is what will attract another. If you teach your life style to a member and a member is showing your good work outside what you have taught them, it is easy to win a soul to the house of God.
Right now, there are many churches that started with us twenty four years ago when we were very few, but today I know we have many churches but we are still maintaining our members. The scripture says by their fruits you shall know them. Before deciding which church to go discern every spirit.
When you go to a place you will know from the way they act and the way they behave, it is not hard to know if you are genuine or not. First is what do you preach, what is your life style and the kind of doctrine that is being administered in that place. If the doctrine is not in line with the Bible then you better walk away.
Today, there are churches doing all kind of things, working in God’s hand, they cannot work it in God’s hand. You hear some people say they go to river bath them, go to burial ground, that is not scriptural. God says my house shall be called a house of prayer, so if somebody is practicing anything outside prayer, that person is practicing witches craft. When you go to a church, watch out and you will know.
August is your birth day month.
It has been for twenty four years of preaching the gospel and part of my impartation on the people, not only on my birth day, the church anniversary. I take time out to give gifts to bless people’s lives and raise the standard of people financially.
In my foundation, the Success foundation, the success charity home. This is what I do. The money come from me, we also have Success cooperative, which is registered by the government. I have never taken money from the government to run that cooperative. What we put in there is from me just to help the poor people in the church. The lowest we give in our cooperative is N50, 000 to people who want to start business. I have been doing that not only during my birthday. Yes I have given 13 cars to people in the church as the service is going on.
I can drive a car to the church and give it to you. All to raise people’s standard. All that is part of the life I am talking about, showing love. During my birthday it has become a tradition, people must be blessed. Last year, the star prize was N200, 000 and so many gifts such as fridges, grinding machines, TV sets.
This year we gave N5, 000 to about 22 people and somebody got a 42 inches plasma TV, a home theatre worth N150,000, which are brand new. We still believe God that the star prize for this year will be more than last year to raise somebody’s life.
Role of the church in Nation building
I am a controversial pastor, and most times when I am in the midst of other pastors in the PFN, they don’t want me to talk. Until the big pastors who are recognized and who feel they are already on top now know that they do not need to eat with the devil. We are to pray for the government. The scripture says the government should be on our shoulder, we are to carry them, they are not to carry the church, until they start speaking the truth, and forgetting to know what will be the consequence, ready to speak the truth and go in for it. It is better than dining with the devil.
The truth is that most big ministers of God are still eating with the devil. When I say the devil, I mean some people in the government, because our leadership is wrong. We have bad leadership; there is so much corruption from the top to the bottom.
Let us not deceive ourselves, Nigeria is shaking and to fix this country now we need people who can speak the truth, who will not be afraid of what will happen when they speak up. To play this role we have to take a stand that will damn the consequences what government will do to us. They cannot sanction the church, because it is a religious body. This is where the church should come in to always say the truth
When the government is wrong, do not take money and keep quiet. What we have now is that there is so much politics even amongst the religious ministers. We are not speaking with one voice, so we cannot take a stand. This is what the government has done to us; they separated us and divided our mind.
There is so much division amongst Christendom. They have succeeded in doing that in order to get what they want. Taking some people to their side and using them to speak to us. Sometime we receive general message form who?
How can you wake up in the morning and send messages to the senior pastors to pray for Nigeria. Are you not suppose to call a meeting, and all this are happening from Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN and Pentecostal fellowship of Nigeria PFN. They give you a job and sit down to eat the money and they cannot speak to the government when they are going the wrong way. In Nigeria today, there is so much killings, nobody is safe. If the church must take their stand, we have to start speaking the truth and stop taking anything from the government.
Churches with institutions that cannot be accessed by their members due to high fees
You cannot take from the members and not admit them into the schools free. Every church that has a school should admit the member’s children free and take school fees from outsiders because the school was built with an offering and tithe from the members. You task them and you tithe them, now you have built schools with their money and you are demanding that they should pay to attend that school, it is wrong.
By the special grace of God, we are sponsoring 53 children in schools that are not my children, that I pay school fees for up to University level. If I can do that and God blesses me and I have a school will ensure that the school is free because that money came from the church.
What I am using to sponsor people is from the church. I do not have a company or another job it is only from this love offering I am using to bless the people. If I can do that now If God blesses me and I have a school, it is going to be free. I am saying that to every church leaders
What is your relationship with the Grace of God?
I am graceful, I am full of grace. All that is working for me is grace. Everything I do is grace. The embassy open for me on a public holiday for my visa is grace. It is never done, they gave me a visa that was not okay for me and I said I cannot use it and when they asked when I will be able to come I said I can only be free on Monday which is a public holiday and they said I should come. It is grace. I have everything I have today is grace. That is why every month of August I call grace month because that is what has worked for me, no juju, no charm, no anointing oil.
My prayer life, grace and the love of God and my charity is what is sustaining me. God love me so much.
No comments:
Post a Comment