[size=14pt]I was so poor that I used loaf of bread as pillow - Oritsejafor, CAN President[/size]

SOLAADE AYO-ADERELE


The new President of the Christian Association of Nigeria, who also doubles as the President of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria as well as the Senior Pastor of the Word of Life Bible Church, Mr. Ayodele Oritsejafor, in this encounter with SOLAADE AYO-ADERELE, shares his vision for the church in Nigeria, and his motivation for going into the ministry


[img]http://odili.net/news/source/2010/nov/14/punch/images/pix20101114134246[1].jpg[/img]
Ayodele Oritsejafor



http://odili.net/news/source/2010/nov/14/828.html


You've been in the ministry for about four decades now, how has it been?

To start with, I appreciate God for His grace, without which no man can survive. If you want to genuinely preach the gospel, it's not going to be easy; and, really, it hasn't been easy being a preacher of distinction, with integrity and doing the right thing. There have been challenges, but I thank God who has brought me through all the challenges to get me to where I am now.

Warri, Delta State, which hosts the headquarters of your church, is a volatile place for many reasons. How have you been able to cope?

Really, there was a time when Warri was indeed a volatile place, and it was so bad and dangerous. But I don't think it is quite like that today. We still have challenges and difficulties, but I think that the greatest challenge that has always been is that of making sure that you understand the differences among the peoples. In Warri area, you have the Urhobos, Itsekiris, Ijaws and everybody else. Being able to understand this and also being able to maintain your love for God and His people are a major challenge, but we have been able to maintain our integrity in the way we relate to everybody, thus enabling us to carry everybody along.

We have been able to stand out as a ministry that accommodates everybody. If you are a sectional person in Warri, you may get along for a while, but it's not going to last. You need a big heart to accommodate everybody, and that's what our ministry has been doing.

Though things are generally calm now, once in a while, we do have some skirmishes occasioned by people's frustrations with the economy. Militancy has affected the economy of Warri especially, what with the exodus of multinational firms and even small scale businesses which relocated in order to be able to carry on their businesses unmolested. This has created massive unemployment. We help in whichever way we can, including helping members with their house rent, children's school fees and even creating employment opportunities for them.

Right now, the church attends to a group of former commercial sex workers whom we are trying to rehabilitate. We have trained them in some vocations, following which we also had to equip them with tools to work with.

Also, the ministry has a hospital that attends to members, with minimal charges on week days, while it is free on Sundays.

We also have a micro-finance bank that employs members, and some members have been able to access soft loans from the bank as start-up capital.

Again, the ministry has helped about 70 indigent students to pay their tuition, even to the university level, and some of them have graduated.

Moreover, every December 26th, the church gives out three brand new cars, usually balloted for, and which winners can use as taxi cabs to earn a living. This balloting is open to members of the community, irrespective of their faith. We also give out about 20 tricycles, 100 sewing machines, 100 grinding machines, etc. All these help in cushioning the negative effects of the economy on members, and, today, we have quite a number of members who are doing something remarkable with their lives.

Unlike today, when you went into full-time ministry, it wasn't a popular thing to do. What motivated you?

You are right. In fact, when I proposed to attend the Bible school, my widowed mother was distraught. She couldn't understand why her first son would want to be a pastor, despite the fact that she loved God, as she got converted the same day I was. She took the matter to my late dad's family. At the family meeting, which went on for hours, they were convinced that I had lost my mind and they were bent on stopping me from going into full-time ministry. However, God used one of my uncles to rally them round me on the long run. He told them, 'you never know what God has in mind for this young man; we are not God. Probably this is the direction where God is leading him. Allow him.' And that was how I was let go. My uncle is late now, but I will forever cherish his intervention.

Now, he is using naira and dollars as pillow.

Thinking; How many loaves of bread can support a big melon head, comfortable for a whole night? How long before they become like hard dough? There is a "good to eat" thing under such a head.

Thinking; How many loaves of bread can support a big melon head, comfortable for a whole night? How long before they become like hard dough? There is a "good to eat" thing under such a head.

5 loaves of Agege bread.

he didnt talk about the time he terrorised warri with his group of thugs (armed robbers\0 and how he used to smoke ganja at the back of the church.

yeah right, people that use stone nko? he even had bread to use as pillow, so is he saying he is rich by being a pastor, una don see wetin pastor dey carry people money do,

suwailad:

he didnt talk about the time he terrorised warri with his group of thugs (armed robbers\0 and how he used to smoke ganja at the back of the church.

When was that?