Mrs Bright Ukachi Ndibunwa aka Bright the Seer is the Pastor of Lord of Hosts Miracle Chapel, a Bible-based ministry in Lagos. She spoke with Ngumah Isaac
How did you come about doing God’s work?
I have been in ministry for 14 years. I started with my husband Mr Evarist Ndibunwa. But the church started officially on June 8, 2011.
I have always loved the Lord from my childhood through the influence of my late grandfather who was an apostolic prophet. God gave me the grace of being able to pray a lot and also to hear from Him. I also had encounters with Jesus that shaped my life.
I remember a particular night in 2008, I heard a voice say to me, “Bright get up” When I looked in the direction the voice was coming from, I discovered where I was staying was cloudy and I was wondering what was going on. The Lord revealed many things to me in that encounter.
There were other encounters like that. I remember God telling me, that he called just like he called Jeremiah from the womb. He told me he has chosen me to be a watchman just as he called Ezekiel.
What has been the impact of your ministry since you began?
Apart from people being saved, the Lord has used us to bless couples with the fruit of the womb. There have been cases of people that are under curses that God has used us to break. There were many other miraculous interventions in the lives of people through our ministry.
But what is your main focus in ministry?
My focus is soul-winning. God told me the world is filled with people who don’t know Jesus. Our mandate is to tell people that God is real. Jesus is real. We also tell them no matter what they have done in the past that God is ready to forgive them as long as they are ready to repent.
What have been the challenges that you have faced in ministry?
just like Jesus encountered during his early ministry. I am sometimes surprised that the people that you pray with, the people you sacrifice for are the ones that want to scatter the household of faith. But in the midst of it, God has been faithful. I don’t count them as challenges I count them as those things that God has allowed to make sure that we are focused.
What is your position on the prosperity message? Some pastors are against it.?
I don’t think any normal person will be against prosperity. But then, my focus in ministry is salvation. Unfortunately, there are so many distractions today in the household of faith.
Our message should be Jesus came here to die for the sinful world. So whatever it is you are doing in the name of the Lord you must first of all present the raw gospel which is Jesus to the people.
Many are not doing that. Some churches don’t care as long as the money keeps flowing in. That should not be.
But then I don’t think people have issues with teaching people how to be prosperous. Jesus in fact encouraged us to seek God’s kingdom first and other things will be added to us.
Jesus was once faced with the question of what will be the gain for the disciples who have left everything to follow him. And he said they will be rewarded here on earth and in heaven. So I am not against prosperity preachers. The emphasis of our messages should be Jesus. So when you are now teaching them to make money it won’t be something strange.
Will you say prosperity messages have really had a great impact on the church?
To me, I don’t call it impact. One of the disadvantages is that it is attracting a lot of abuses to the name of God because people in the secular world will tell you that these churches are only interested in the tithe they can bring. They say we are only interested in the money people are bringing. That kind of mindset prevents people from knowing God.
Will you subscribe to pastors using private jet?
Some pastors who use private jets claim they use them for evangelism. But the scene around me will not make me support pastors using jets. In my church sometimes we have to give people transport money after service. So it will be difficult for me to support pastors who use private jets. The needs around us are enormous. We still have to feed many hungry people. I hear the voice of the holy spirit after the Sunday services telling me to pay people’s school fees and also feed them. God will not approve it if I do not take care of the sheep that He put under my care by using the money meant for them for my own personal pleasure.
I don’t think it is right for men of God who have access to such wealth to engage in bogus spending while members are languishing in poverty. It is not acceptable because I know that God does not want it that way.
There are concerns that some men of God are also into the occult. What do you have to say about this?
A layman knows no child of God, not to talk of ministers of the gospel should have anything to do with the cult. If God calls you, he will give you a job description of what to do if you wait on him. There is so much pressure on people. That is what is making them embrace the occult and want to be rich. That is why pastors should not play up the prosperity gospel. It pushes people to do what they should not be doing in the name of trying to become rich.
People who indulge in things like that should remember that life is a process. Even God, while creating the world followed a process. Anybody that is indulging in ritual killings should stop it because we shall give an account of the life we live while on this side of eternity.
Ministers of the gospel should project Jesus alone. They should also focus on the specific assignment they have been called to do.
From your experience how best should believers be involved in politics?
It depends on the context. If God says I want you to go into politics as my servant, you should go there and redefine politics. That man or woman of God will go there and begin to bring discipline, bring truthfulness, and fairness to governance. But if God did not ask you to go into politics you don’t have business there. The church’s interest in politics is to tell politicians to do the right thing and not to support one politician against the other
Do you believe modernization has affected the gospel grossly?
I will say yes and I will say no. Yes because most times social media which is a consequence of modernisation has helped in the spread of the gospel. I say No because some ministers that don’t know their left from their right use these modern tools to compete with one another and not to promote Christ. Some are also using modern tools like social media for the wrong reason. Rather than concentrate on using it for evangelism, I think we should also think more of reaching people in rural areas that are yet to be exposed to the modern world. They too need the gospel.
The last 15 years have been quite volatile in Nigeria with all kinds of violence and insurgency. What do you think the Church can do to stop this trend?
As a church we pray, we preach to people and we also encourage dialogue. That will be my three-point suggestion to end the insurgency in the country. We have been praying and preaching. We should also go into advocacy calling on the forces to stop the killings.
What is your take on the just concluded election?
God told me Asiwaju Tinubu would emerge as the winner. It came to pass. But the opposition parties are saying that the election was rigged and their mandate was stolen. I think that the government and INEC should work more in the future to make elections in this country to be fair so that after the election there won’t be issues even though you cannot take away this kind of situation from politicians.
Politics is a business that is best known and understood by politicians. I think government and INEC should do better next time.
Your husband is with you in the ministry. How will you describe him?
He is one of the best things that happened to me apart from God. He has been a great encouragement to the ministry and has been ever-supportive. We have been married for 20 years. He is a man of God and in fact, apart from my parents who mentored me, he is the one that has encouraged me to continue with the work.
