Apostle Chinyere: Port Harcourt Pastor who runs free schools, says “it is evil to use church funds to build schools that church members can’t afford”

General Overseer of Port Harcourt based Omega Power Ministry, Apostle Chibuzor Chinyere has taken a swipe on Churches that run schools their members can’t afford noting that they are running against the will of God and his purpose.

Chinyere who has the reputation of running free schools for indigent students in Portharcourt makes the assertion while commissioning one of the free schools recently.

He said, “The offering in the church is God’s money. We use the offering in the church to bless lives. By the grace of God about 9 years ago the church started running free school for indigent students. By free school we mean students in these schools don’t pay a dime. We even give them sandals, school bags, free lunch. The schools is meant basically for orphans and children from poor homes.”

He noted that “many prominent people in the church have come to plead with him that they want their children to attend the school because of the quality of education being offered and that they were ready to pay any amount. But I tell them the school is for indigent students and orphans. Apart from the schools, God has used us to build houses for people. We started the free school in one of the villages in Rivers and opened another one in Port Harcourt.

“The vision of OPM free school is to build such school in every poor city around the world. There is money in the church. As we get the offering and tithe we use it to bless lives.”

Apostle Chibuzor who once suffered deprivation said, “I slept under the bridge when I went to Lagos for the first time. That is why I can’t stand and watch people suffer accommodation problem. God has used us to bless people by building accommodation for them. When we saw that so many people that go to prison and are released still go back to the prison we had to think of what to do. We then decided to experiment with building a computer centre in the prison to help prisoners so that before they come  out of prison they would have learnt a skill that would make them useful to the outside world. That is what informed the computer centre we built in Elele Prison in Port Harcourt.”

Apart from that the ministry runs free skill acquisition centres, free driving school, bought an estate, furnished the estate and brought converted prostitutes to the place in a bid to reintegrate them back to good and stable life.”

He described OPM as a movement designed by God to reposition the church from running after money to running after souls. He said he once turned down gift of Rolls Royce from his members when he was celebrating his birthday but would rather use the money to open more schools.

A statement on the church website reads, “Omega Power Ministries (OPM) was founded on April 23 2006 and has become one of the largest and fast growing churches, in Nigeria. OPM has also become a rallying point for people with diverse problems, sicknesses and diseases as the healing, deliverance and emancipating power of God is manifested in every service day.

“Lives have been transformed, hopes restored, souls won, poor became rich, barren became mothers, joy restored in families, people regained good health, broken home re-united, unemployed became Managing Directors.”