BY Chika Abanobi
Preachers, including Rosemary Chukwu, a popular female gospel music artiste among the Igbo of South East, and in the Diaspora, especially Lagos, Ibadan, Kano, Abuja and beyond, have shared the most effective way to tap from the spiritual flow of Christ’s resurrection power: deal with a revealed vice before it deals with you.
Chukwu who was a guest artiste at the Voice of the Spirit Revival programme organised by Honesty Missions International and held, Easter Monday, April 21, 2025, at the Prude’s Place, 25 Ikorodu Road, Wasimi, Maryland, Lagos, said that the Lord made this bitter truth known to her, some time ago, while she was charging her mobile phone, at home.
After some minutes, she noticed that the phone she plugged into a power source was not charging at all. A closer check would later reveal that the end-part of her phone’s power cable did not latch properly with the wall socket.
And, from that little, seemingly insignificant incident, Chukwu, described in many quarters as the “queen of Igbo gospel music” on account of dominance, by her music, of the airwaves in the South East, learnt a timeless lesson.
She drove it home when she said: “If the Holy Spirit reveals any vice that has crept into your life, unknowingly, over time, say anger, unforgiving spirit, greed, envy, jealousy, lying and you don’t do anything about it but shrugs it off and continue to live your normal life, it shows that you are not properly connected.
If you are, you will pray and pray until the Lord takes away whatever vice He has revealed to you. So, if you are a disciple/believer, the big question is: is there any vice the Holy Spirit is pointing out or has pointed out in your life? If He has, what are you doing or what have you done about it? Or, are you still living with it, despite His gracious detection of the existence of such a vice in your life?”
Divine connection through song ministration
But as she mounted the stage and began to dish out old and new tunes, well- known to many in the audience, from her many record albums, it became apparent to everyone present that there are many ways to get spiritually connected to God. One of them is through the gospel music! She practically set the hall ablaze with her fast-tempo, energetic renditions. In fact, the impact was such that non-speakers who did not understand a word of her Igbo songs borne, on a strong projection of her voice, were swept off their feet. Soon, they joined those who understand Igbo to dig it out, amid the spiritual frenzy that enveloped the hall.
Mr. Matthew Oyekola, a retired banker, confessed that though he did not understand the language, Chukwu’s song ministration made a great impact in the innermost part of his soul. Mrs. Sheila Bamidele, a public relations consultant, said she had an Igbo friend seated nearby and interpreting the meanings of the songs to her while Mr. John Akinnibosun, a surveyor, told Church Times that he was able to connect because he had his university education and national youth service in the South East and could understand a bit of Igbo language.
But for Mr. Hilary Nwoye, a businessman, and an unnamed lady crying somewhere in the hall, Rosemary Chukwu’s ministration brought back memories. While it reminded Nwoye of pleasant memories of old Igbo gospel music tunes from his music albums archive, for the unnamed lady, it reminded her of painful memories of missed opportunity at becoming a popular gospel music star like Chukwu.
According to Mrs. Georgina Frederick, proprietress of Lily Brite Schools, Egbeda, Lagos, who shared the story with Church Times, while talking about the impact the programme made on her soul, the young lady who sat close to her was simply heart-broken and inconsolable because of what she thought was missing from her life. It was such that even when Mrs. Frederick asked her to dry her eyes, assuring her that all will be well if only she can get properly connected as the music artiste had earlier advised it took her a while to calm down.
More messages through songs and drama
Songs rendered by Honesty Creed, the three-man in-house music group of Honesty Missions International, a drama piece by the Holy Ghost School Youth Ambassadors and a sermon by Mr. Tony Umeh, Founder/President/Chief Executive Officer of Honesty Missions International as well as the organiser of the Easter Monday get-together streamed live on social media like Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), TikTok, Instagram, etc, show that all hope is not lost for people like the young weeping lady.
The message they left with their various ministrations was loud and clear: if you are travelling on the wrong route of life, God allows a U-turn!
Honesty Creed which performed at the same venue, the other time, alongside gospel music oldies like Buchi and Frank Edwards, underscored the above fact when they serenaded the audience, with praise-and-worship songs, in two separate sessions.
It included some of their songs in Yoruba, Igbo and English and heart-stirring hymns like Thomas Chisholm’s “Great Is Thy Faithfulness” (composed in 1923) and Edward Perronet’s “All Hail the Power of Jesus Name” (composed in 1779).
The drama piece directed by Mr. Paul Chigaemezu, a graduate of Dramatic Arts but at present, a school administrator, had the audience reeling with laughter when a Ghananian guest preacher, aptly played by Bro.
Precious Chukwuemeka, invited to help raise some money for a population-dwindling gospel church, announced the title of his sermon: “Pepper Soup and Suya For God.” It turned out that the “pepper soup” he was talking about is the meal that Abraham prepared for the three personalities heading to Sodom and Gomorrah while the Suya referred to the 1,000 cows or rams Solomon slaughtered as burnt offering to God.
But the N20 million he was able to raise for the cash-strapped church later became a subject of acrimony and bitter fight between a certain Elder Thomas and his church’s General Overseer.
This is because the Elder refused to collect the 12 per cent cut offered to him by his GO and wife. It took the audible but unseen Voice of the Spirit who rebuked them of greed, asking them to go back to the intimate fellowship/relationship and selfless service they used to have with Him, to whip them back into the spiritual line of repentance and obedience.
A deliverance message and gains from the programme
Umeh’s sermon titled “Delivered To Reign With Christ” came as the icing of the cake. Drawing reference from Bible passages like Luke 4:17, 18 and John 4:19-26, he noted that there are things that God has written concerning us but which He cannot reveal until we have come into intimate relationship with Him.
He added that the inability to discover or rediscover what God, the Maker and Author of times and seasons, has in store for us, has made many to continue to wander and struggle through life. He assured that the moment we become aware of our true identity through Christ, nobody, no matter how deeply involved with occult and dark powers can stop from coming to pass that which the Lord has written concerning us.
He bemoaned the situation whereby some believers, having gone into mental slavery, have begun to doubt the efficacy/all-sufficiency of the Blood of Jesus. Hence, they continue to add non-essentials like sand, ash, anointing oil, urine, menses, etc. as requirements for their deliverance. In conclusion, he said: “There are certain levels you cannot get to until you are free from mental slavery. I don’t know what God has written concerning you.
But if you are focused on the gift or talent He has given you, He will always make a way for you. And, by the time He is through with you, even those who used to know you before will no longer recognise you.”
In a short remark before the programme was brought to an end, Mr. Fidelis Yadi, the General Coordinator of the Holy Ghost School programme in Lagos, explained that God has two programmes: one for nations or the world and the other for individuals.
But he added that it is only those who were able to key into the personal programme that God has for them through intimate walk with Him that will be able to take part in the one He has for the nations/world.
Many guests who graced the occasion from different walks of life confessed to being revived through activities featured at the programme. While Oyekola, in a chat with Church Times, claimed to have learnt the need to maintain a clear-cut believer’s identity that goes beyond singing Sinach’s popular song “I Know Who I Am”, Ms Oluchi Onyema, a caterer, reported that God used every aspect of the programme – drama, music, sermon – to ignite spiritual revival in her.
Mrs. Bamidele who spoke glowingly about feeling God’s presence, in a unique way, said: “It was as if all the angels in heaven filled the place, with Jesus seated on His throne and watching and smiling and shaking His head, in approval of all that was going on in the hall. I see the place not being spacious enough to accommodate people if and when such programme is held again in future.”
1 comment
You are doing a great job. There is hope in your future.