By Toyin Adeniyi
Founder of 180 Degree Rehabilitation Centre in Portharcourt, Rivers State, Reverend Christie Bature has recounted how obeying what she described as God’s instruction to relocate from Kaduna to Port Harcourt with no clear plans or support system eventually opened the door to miracles, ministry growth and life-changing opportunities.
Speaking in an interview shared online, the gospel minister recounted how she secretly left Kaduna carrying only two guitars, a small bag containing three sets of clothes to Porthacourt in obedience to God’s instruction.
She said what gave her the courage to take the step was a conviction that God had called her to hold concerts, visit the sick in hospitals and establish a music school.
According to Rev. Bature, she moved out of Kaduna without her father’s consent because she believed he would not approve of the decision.
“I actually just sneaked away because I knew I wouldn’t get his consent,” she said.
On arriving in Port Harcourt, she said she had no relatives, no income and no certainty about where the journey would lead. A pastor she knew eventually linked her with a couple in his church who offered her temporary accommodation in their home.
Despite her situation, Rev. Bature said she immediately began carrying out one of the assignments she believed God gave her, visiting hospitals to sing and pray for patients free of charge.
She recalled moving from one private hospital to another with her guitar, ministering to the sick about five times weekly.
During one of those visits, she encountered a young boy who had reportedly lost sight in one eye after sustaining an injury while playing in school.
According to her, complications from improper treatment had caused severe swelling around the child’s head, leaving family members very worried.
Rev. Bature said she sang and prayed in the hospital ward before leaving quietly, only to return days later to hear what she described as a miraculous testimony.
“I went back the next weekend. At the gate of the hospital was a woman standing. She jumped on me and said, hey, sister, you don come.”
According to her, nurses told her the swelling around the boy’s head began reducing shortly after her visit and that the child later regained sight in the affected eye.
The testimony, she said, became one of the moments that opened doors for her ministry in the city as several church leaders who met her during hospital visits began inviting her to minister in their congregations.
She identified St. Matthew’s Anglican Church as the first church to officially invite her.
Rev. Bature also narrated how a man identified as Francis Bruce later offered her access to a concert hall that had remained unused for years, alongside financial support for accommodation and transportation.
Reflecting on the experience, the gospel minister described the decision to relocate as the “most fearless thing” she had ever done, saying the act of obedience transformed her life and ministry.
“But all this started by that bold step,” she said. “That singular act of obeying God to go. For me, that’s how come I’m here today.”