By His Grace, I Am Saved

“Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat...” Matthew 7:13.

OGECHUKWU Onyemanze is my name and I worship at the Sari-Iganmu Parish of the Watchman Catholic Charismatic Renewal Movement, Lagos.

 I am glad to share with you the testimony of my salvation. Sometime in 2005, while I was living with my aunty whose husband is one of our pastors, God used him to pray for me and a great change occurred in my life.

My eyes were opened and the scriptural text that came to my mind was Ephesians 6:6: “Not with eye-service, as men-pleasers; but as the servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart.”

    Later, I went back to my parents and in no time, I lost everything I had gained spiritually at my aunt's place and it was as if I had not received any spiritual instructions at all.

 But God being so faithful that He would not want any of His children to perish beamed His searchlight on me and directed me to the Watchman Fellowship Centre, Sari-Iganmu, where I fully surrendered my life to Christ.

    Before my conversion, I dressed purely to suit the dictates of my mind, even when I was going to fellowship. I would dress the way I used to when leaving home for church but before I arrived at the fellowship centre, I would remove my earrings, clean up the make-ups and adjust my head-tie  so as to appear moderate and decent.

That was purely hypocritical, but it was my way of life. This continued until I had a dream one night and a voice said to me clearly that I was a hypocrite and that I could only hide my ungodly way of life from man and not God.

until I had a dream one night and a voice said to me clearly that I was a hypocrite and that I could only hide my ungodly way of life from man and not God.

    There was a particular favour I was asking God to grant me, but it soon dawned on me when I read Matthew 6:33 that what I needed first and foremost was to seek the kingdom of God.

   By June 2008, I noticed that God had really dealt with me by saving and redeeming me totally from the hands of the enemy. I began to drop the bad habits one after the other. I threw all my weave-ons and wigs away and told my unbelieving friends that it was all over.

They thought it was a joke initially but when they saw the seriousness with which I spoke, they saw it was no use dissuading me, because they realized that indeed, there had been a rebirth and spiritual reawakening in me.

   With my new found zeal and love for Christ, the Lord showed me a ministry (Music) to which I belong and God has since been helping me. I am glad that today, I am saved by His grace.

    Praise the Lord”.

No More Caesarean Section!

“Shall I bring to the birth, and not cause to bring forth? saith the Lord: shall I cause to bring forth, and shut the womb? saith thy God” Isaiah 66:9.

I am here today to glorify the name of the Almighty God for His goodness and mercy towards me. The Lord made it possible for me to have a normal delivery instead of the caesarean section the doctor had prescribed for me.

   My name is Comfort Felix and I worship at the Bariga Parish of the Watchman Catholic Charismatic Renewal Movement, Lagos.

   

 It happened that after I had had two babies by caesarean section, I was told by the doctor, after series of tests, that if I took in again, it would be impossible for me to have normal delivery.

This, of course, grieved my heart and caused me a lot of sorrow and sleepless nights, especially, when I considered the risks involved and the huge amount of money we would have to spend.

So, my husband and I went into prayers and rejected the caesarean option. Four years after the arrival of our second child, we resolved to have our third baby, which we hoped would be our last.

 As God would have it, I took in soon after and we continued praying to God ceaselessly for His intervention, to counter what medical results had said concerning my delivery.

    I registered at a hospital for my ante-natal care and when my Expected Delivery Date (EDD) was only a month away, the doctor told me I would have the baby through C/S. That statement did not go down well with me and I told him so.

At the end of the day, he concluded that if I was not ready for that option, then I would have to look for another hospital. I left, hoping to register at another hospital, but when I was interviewed at another hospital, they told me that it was rather too late to register me in other words, I should return to the first hospital that had been attending to me.  

   My pastor who was aware of my case called me out during one of the fellowship days to pray for me, but unfortunately, I wasn't in the fellowship that day. But, the information got to me and I decided to see him on the next fellowship day.

 While praying for me that afternoon, I heard him suddenly say:  'No cause for alarm!' He said it repeatedly. At last, he said to me: 'Sister, God says: No cause for alarm.' I went home happily that day and told my husband what the pastor had said and we believed God.

    On the day of delivery, we contacted the pastor on phone and he prayed for me again. He also told me that the Lord said I should not fear that He was in control. I held on to that in my heart and made it a point of prayer as I was being led into the labour ward.

Well, the testimony is that my baby came out safely that day, and I felt fulfilled that I had also experienced what it takes to be delivered of a baby the normal, natural way.

 Indeed, God set aside what medical science had pronounced and made what was thought impossible possible. Please, join me to glorify this God of Watchman.  Praise the Lord!”

Couple Blessed With Child After Seven Years

“Thou hast turned for me my mourning into dancing; Thou hast put off my sackcloth, and girded me with gladness; To the end that my glory may sing praise to Thee, and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give thanks unto Thee forever” Psalm 30:10-11.

MY name is Martins Ross Imienwanrin and my wife's name is Bunmi Ross. We worship at Ilaro Parish of the Watchman Catholic Charismatic Renewal Movement, Ogun State. We wish to testify to God's goodness and favour unto our family.

    We got married in 2003 and were anxiously expecting that God would bless us with the fruit of the womb immediately. When our expectations were not met after the first year, we decided to see our family doctor. The doctor suggested some laboratory tests and the result showed that my wife's womb was blocked; that had been the reason she had not been able to take in.

The doctor said the way forward was for her to undergo surgery to correct the anomaly.  We rejected the idea of going through any surgical operation so we went to God in prayers for His divine intervention. We informed some of our pastors of the situation on ground and they prayed for us, assuring us of their continued prayers on our behalf.

A year later, we went to see another doctor and did another test, and it was still the same result that we got. I was advised to also go for a test myself and when I did, the result revealed that my seed was too weak to father a child.

But all these put together, did not move me neither did my faith in God diminish, because God had revealed to me that my wife would carry her own baby and that was what I held on to.

REPORTER'S DIARY: In Cotonou, Fellowship Is A Delicious Experience

MIDNIGHT was already getting set to assert its hardly felt presence on the well-lit streets of Cotonou, the commercial city of the Republic of Benin, when we checked into our place of lodging. 

The day was Saturday, June 26, 2010, and Pastor Mike Iheanacho (the WCCRM National Director of Theatre and Performing Arts) and I were billed to worship the following Sunday (June 27, 2010),  at the Watchman Fellowship Centre, Opposite Benin Gulder, By Cinema Concord, Irede Akpakpa, Cotonou.

Pastor Jude Obiajulu

   We met a very lively church, a pleasant mix of Beninoise and Nigerians, all happy Watchmen, worshipping God with infectious joy and excitement. The choruses were first sung in English. After sometime, two young girls took over from the chorus leader to continue the chorus session in the indigenous language.

 And just like virtually everyone happily participated when the English songs held sway, the entire church became even more alive when songs in the indigenous language took over. The whole thing was so enthralling and overly edifying. Indeed, fellowship here is a delicious experience.

Devil's Attempt To Paralyze Me Defeated

“And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away”  Revelation 21:4

I am Comfort Eziagbor, a member of the Orile Coker Parish of the Watchman Catholic Charismatic Renewal Movement, Lagos. I want to testify to the glory of God of His divine healing upon me. Tuesday, July 20, 2010, has come and gone but the memories it left behind have remained indelible in my mind.

It was a Charismatic Hour day, and the minister who officiated that day told us that after he returned from the pastors' preparatory vigil; he decided to have some rest. As he slept, he had a dream in which he was called upon to raise somebody who was dead.

Few minutes after he woke up from the sleep, his phone rang and it was our district pastor calling to mandate him to handle the fellowship of that evening. He told us that as soon as that instruction was given to him, he immediately associated it with the dream and began to have the feeling that God wanted to do something spectacular in the lives of the people that day. Interestingly, the topic of the message for that day was, God, The Restorer.

   When he was through with the Charismatic Hour message that evening, he prayed diversely and extensively against the spirit of death.  Little did I know that an affliction was lurking at a corner to strike me.

I left for home that day fulfilled and satisfied. When it was time to go to bed, I prayed with my family asking God to give us a good night's rest and we all slept. When I woke up early in the morning to assign to my children some domestic chores they would undertake before going to school, I noticed some pains in my body but I did not allow it to bother me.

 I later went to the sitting room and lay down on a chair but when I wanted to reposition myself properly on the chair, I discovered that one part of my body had become stiff, and within some minutes, I couldn't raise my hand and feet again. I felt a terrible pain on my neck and it dawned on me that the enemy had struck.  

   I groaned in anguish and called the name of Jesus, which attracted the attention of my children who rushed to me wondering what had gone wrong. By the time they helped me to my room, I wasn't able to talk again and my heart was panting.

 Some of them started praying while others made contacts with some brethren living around. And when some brethren came, they prayed and after a while, I got some relief. They suggested I should be taken to the hospital but I declined, saying that I did not want to be placed on any injection or drip.

 At that juncture, my pastor who had also come asked the general choirmaster who was one of those that had come to see me and pray for me, and he started with one of our choruses: The changer of the laws of the Medes and Persians. By the time he was through with the prayers, I felt refreshed and my condition began to amend.

   The pain, however, was still so severe that I cried profusely unto God for His divine intervention. While still writhing in pains, another set of brethren came and when they heard what happened, they also prayed for me. God eventually answered the prayers of all the brethren.

Soon, I got enough strength as some sisters helped me to the bathroom to take my bath, massaged me, and applied some balm on my body, and by the time they were through with that, I came out of the bathroom without help. I walked into my bedroom, dressed up and came to the sitting room to join the brethren and that gave rise to another service of thanksgiving to God.

   I went to the hospital later in the day as I was advised because of the pain but today, I am totally healed. No more pains, no limping, no paralysis, no stroke.

    Praise the Lord!”

Delivered From Strange Ailment After Ten Years

“Behold, I will bring it health and cure, and I will cure them, and will reveal unto them the abundance of peace and truth” Jeremiah 33:6.

MY name is Rita Awam and I worship at Izziahngbo District of the Watchman Catholic Charismatic Renewal Movement, Abakaliki Diocese, Ebonyi State. I want to testify of the healing and deliverance of the Lord upon my life.

    For over ten years, the enemy afflicted me with a strange sickness that defied all medical treatments. I had noticed the sickness before my marriage in November 2008, and since then, we have run from pillar to post in search of cure.

   

I usually experienced a moving object around my tummy and whatever it was would continue to move until it gets to the lower part of my abdomen. The pain that accompanied it was so severe that it often made it difficult for me to walk or lie down.

There usually would be a sensation in the lower part of my abdomen and at such occasions, I would feel very uncomfortable to the extent of wondering whether life was worth living any more.

    It was always difficult for me to sleep. Whenever it starts in the night, I would find it difficult to sleep and so would keep awake till the following morning. This had been my ordeal for all these years.

In fact, passing urine or defecating even became a big problem because of the pains that usually went with them. It was such a harrowing experience that made life very boring and unpleasant. I would cry and lament so much that sometimes I would ask God to take away my life.

    My pastor counseled me and encouraged me to have faith in God and not to allow the devil to start jubilating that he had succeeded in tormenting me. I listened to his wise counsel and prayed to God in earnestly to forgive me whatever sin I had committed that might have attracted the sickness to me.

    Throughout this period, the church was praying for me and my husband and I never ceased also to pray about the problem. I went to some hospitals and spent a lot of money but the illness persisted. One night, I had an encounter with an occult man in my dream and he told me he was going to kill me.

I told him to repent or else he would not escape the wrath of God. This same person confronted me physically in the market place later on and after all that he did, the sickness became severe.

    However, there is a popular saying that whatever has a beginning would also have an end. After one of our Sunday Light fellowships, a brother, who had visited the village from Lagos saw me, and after a brief discussion with him about my health condition, he suggested that he would take me to Lagos to see some pastors who would pray for me. I told my husband about it and we went to see the brother.

After some discussions, we agreed to come down to Lagos with him on an appointed day.

    In Lagos, I went to some Watchman Fellowship Centres. The pastors in all the locations we visited prayed for me and the Lord honoured their prayers.

As it is now, I am completely healed and all the ugly experiences have ceased; and they have ceased forever in Jesus' Name.  Amen.

   Praise the Lord!”

Five Years Incessant Seizures Ended

“The name of the Lord is a strong tower: the righteous runneth into it, and is safe” Proverbs 18:10

I am Millicent Donkoh and I worship at the Nyankumasi Parish of the Watchman Catholic Charismatic Renewal Movement in Ghana. I want to testify of the goodness of the Lord upon me.

About five years ago, I suddenly developed severe headache that continued for a very long period. I went to the hospital and they prescribed some drugs for me but the symptoms persisted.

When it got to its peak, I suddenly fell down one day and was jerking and twitching like an epileptic. That was just the beginning of such occurrences during which I would completely lose consciousness.

I went to another hospital and I was diagnosed as suffering from disorder as a result of those seizures. When all efforts made to cure me failed, I resolved to seek a spiritual solution to the problem.

I took my case to the Watchman parish pastor in Nyankumasi. After praying for me, he suggested that I should travel to Accra, Ghana, to see the national pastor.

I traveled with my father to see him and after about five hours of extensive and fervent prayers, I was delivered from the sickness and since April this year (2010), when the deliverance session was conducted till now, I have not experienced the sickness any more which is what has given occasion for this testimony. Praise the Lord!”

Millicent's father, who witnessed the deliverance session in Accra, gave this account to confirm the testimony hisdaughter had given: 

“I am Mr. Asamoah Donkoh and the testifier, Millicent, is my daughter. When she was afflicted with the sickness, little did I know that it was going to be solved spiritually.

As a father, I did all I could to attend to her medically but all my efforts did not yield any dividend. I took her to various hospitals and series of tests were conducted until later, the doctors said she had developed a disorder as a result of the incessant seizures.

Thank God I ran into one of the Watchman sisters who invited me to the church. We saw the pastor after one of the worship services and he prayed for us and led us to Christ.

 However, he advised that we should see the national pastor in Accra which we did and after a deliverance session that lasted about five hours, my daughter was delivered from the affliction and she is now healed of the sickness. Praise the Lord!”

'Akpeteshe' Addict Delivered In Ghana

“I am a wonder unto many; but thou art my refuge”  Psalm 71:7.

MY name is John Owusu and I worship at Nyankumasi Parish of the Watchman Catholic Charismatic Renewal Movement, Ghana. I am testifying to the glory of God of my salvation. I am indeed very grateful to God for what He has done in my life. Before now, I was addicted to the locally made gin popularly called Akpeteshe.

   In Akrampa, where I live, if you ask any person about me, you are likely to hear: 'Oh, that drunkard!' It was as bad as that because I had an insatiable appetite for the local gin and I became very popular in the vicinity because of the attendant vices that go with such an addiction.

However, the journey to my deliverance came one day while I was on a drinking spree. I went to a house very close to the Watchman Fellowship Centre to buy the drink as usual but then the church was in session. As I was about to gulp down the drink, the message that blared from the speaker was like a sword that was pointed directly at me.

 Meanwhile, I was holding a cup full of the local gin and I was in-between two opinions, whether to drink it or not. However, the devil behind it took the better part of me and without much ado, I gulped it down and left.

   The next time I went there for the same purpose, the message I heard during the previous visit echoed in my ears and pricked my conscience.

I returned home quietly without taking a shot that day and x-rayed my life over and over again until I concluded that I was going to worship at the church.  

 I attended the Sunday service thereafter and stayed behind after the fellowship to see the pastor who counseled me, prayed for me and led me to Christ.

I am now saved and attend church now with my family members. I don't have appetite for the gin or any other alcoholic drink for that matter any more. Praise the Lord!”

FEATURE: Bringing Jacob Back At Hilltop Encounters 2010

WHAT readily comes to mind about Hilltop Encounters 2010; the 11th International Conference of the Watchman Catholic Charismatic Renewal Movement Campus Fellowships, which held at Logos International Secondary School (LOGISS), Awo-Omamma, Imo State, from August 19-22, 2010, is the very impressive crowd that thronged the event.

    The arrival of the General Superintendent of the Watchman Catholic Charismatic Renewal Movement, Pastor A.C. Ohanebo, whose two messages (the opening and closing messages) came out with spectacular insight and authority raised the tempo of the programme. The participants heralded his entrance with deafening appreciative cheers and clapping. “I pray that every one of you will indeed be a child of this ministry.

*Pastor A.C. Ohanebo Ministering At Hilltop Encounters 2010

You are the hope of this ministry, if Christ tarries,'' he told the students. Like a father to his beloved children, he urged the students to be focused, and not to be contented with merely acquiring certificates only, but to go after knowledge with determination and zeal, and ensure that they put God first in their lives, as that would guarantee their success and preservation in this world.

    Pastor Ohanebo's closing message was entitled, “He is the Rock”. In it, he urged the students to always see themselves as little rocks wherever they were. “For you to be a rock,” he said, “you must continually eat angels' food and the word you are hearing now is angels' food. I am the angel!” He advised them to always be conscious of who and what Christ has made them, as this awareness would help them remain steadfast and not be moved in the face of challenges.

Delivered From Ritual Killers

“For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds“ 2 Corinthians 10: 4.

WATCHMEN, praise the Lord! My name is Grace Ohiri and I worship at Bariga Parish of the Watchman Catholic Charismatic Renewal Movement, Lagos. I want to thank God for delivering me from the hands of some ritual killers.

 On that fateful day, August 21, 2010, I was returning home from a business seminar I had attended. I boarded a commercial bus from Ikeja hoping to come down at Palmgrove.

While the journey progressed, we encountered a traffic build-up as a result of an accident that had occurred along the way and so the driver diverted and followed another route to escape the hold-up. Or so we thought.

There was calm as the journey progressed until we noticed a signpost indicating the way to Sagamu and that gave rise to strong protests by the passengers who began to shout and scream. The driver shouted at us and asked everyone to keep quiet that we would soon get to our destinations.

 I had a ministration immediately that we were in danger so I started praying. My fear was confirmed when I saw the conductor spraying some powdery substance on us. By this time, I was reading the Bible. In no time, all the passengers, except me, fell asleep.

When the driver looked back and saw that I was still conscious and alert, he asked the conductor why I was not affected by the spell. The conductor looked at me and snatched the Bible from me. I started singing aloud and after a while, the other passengers who had slept off began to regain consciousness.

Despite our protests by shouting and crying, we were driven into a forest in one of the towns in the outskirts of Lagos and like a sheep about to be slaughtered, we were led to a shrine.

When we got there, we also saw many people, children and adults alike, who had equally fallen victim to these wicked people and were as it were, waiting for the hand of God to deliver and save them.

It was indeed a harrowing experience and as I was praying in my heart for God's intervention, one fat woman came out and said she could sense a strange spirit among us. She moved round and when she got to me, she asked one of her orderlies to take me away that she did not need me.

  The person looked at me and was reluctant to come near me. Now sensing the sudden change in the situation of things, I told them that I would not leave the place unless they also released all the other people in their custody.

My action provoked the woman to anger and she said I was joking and that because of my audacity, she would now slaughter all of us by nightfall.

She started mumbling some words which I suspected were incantation and so I also started my own “incantations” (that is, prayers to God). At a point, she stopped and demanded to know from me what gave me the audacity to challenge her, stressing that I was courting the wrath of her gods.

   It was an opportunity that offered itself on a platter of gold so I needed to make the maximum use of it. I told her that I served the God that created all things and that her god was a lesser god that had no power. She got infuriated the more and went into the shrine and reemerged with a stick that was burning with fire and pointed it at me.

 Brethren, I marveled at what happened next.  Almost immediately, there was a sound of thunder which struck her, and before our very eyes, she fell down and died instantly. There was sudden commotion and panic, and when her assistants examined her and found out that she was dead, they all took to their heels.

 Without wasting time, we ran after them and by the time we all came out from the bush, we found ourselves in Ikorodu.  Jubilating over our regained freedom from the hands of the ritual killers, we got a bus that conveyed us to Palmgrove and it was the subject of discussion throughout the journey.

By the time I got home, it was past 11.00pm and that was how God saved me and the others from what could have been premature death. Praise the Lord!”

Diabetes Sacked

“The living, the living, he shall praise thee, as I do this day: the father to the children shall make known thy truth” Isaiah38:19.

MY name is Cyril Obinugwu from Iba Parish of the Watchman Catholic Charismatic Renewal Movement, Lagos. I want to share the testimony of God's faithfulness in my life.

 Sometime in 2008, I took ill and went to the hospital where they said I had malaria and all that. It was not until I told the doctor that I had noticed that my throat was always dry, causing me to want to drink water too often, and pass urine frequently, that he recommended that my blood sugar level should be determined through a medical test.

When the result came out, it showed that my sugar level was 457, and the doctor pronounced that I was diabetic.

To be sure I heard him correctly; I asked him to repeat what he had just said and he said it again that I was diabetic. He then added that I was even lucky to have reported at the hospital on time, otherwise I would have experienced what he called diabetic coma.

   The pronouncement sort of put me off, but I managed to assure the doctor that I would certainly get my healing. He gave me some drugs after which I left and began to take those drugs. He recommended that I should be eating boiled unripe plantain and beans.

It was not a pleasant experience, but I was encouraged when I remembered a testimony shared by the man of God, our General Superintendent, during one of the IGMC programmes in the Eastern part of the country. He had told us about a minister of God in one of the foreign countries who was sick and was written off by doctors who were of the opinion that he would not survive the sickness.

But the man told the doctors that he would register and participate in a marathon that was holding in his country that period. Although, the doctors warned him of the consequences of such course of action, he was determined to participate in the race. 

According to our GS, the minister in question took his Bible and copied out from Genesis to Revelation all the promises of God concerning healing. These, he read unto the Lord continually during his prayers until all the problems he had were removed by the hand of the Lord. And then, he went on to participate in the marathon and eventually presented his certificate of participation to his doctor to prove that God had healed him and enabled him to do the long race.

   So, because of this testimony, I also went and copied out some of the promises of God on healing and blessings of healing in the lives of many people in the Bible and used them as my prayer arguments unto the Lord. One of the days, I came to see our pastor here and told him my problem, and he prayed for me and I left.

And during one of our Charismatic Hour fellowships not long ago  we all were here (at Iba Fellowship) that day and witnessed what happened; the Spirit of God was really operational that day, and He made the pastor to spot my case and he called me out. The pastor said that the Spirit of God had moved him to call me out, although he did not know why.

 As he was still speaking, he then said that he had a spiritual syringe in his hand to remove all the filthy blood from my body. While this was going on, the power God had touched me, and I had fallen and lying on the floor.

   Again, on January 15, last year (2009), the Lord told me expressly in my sleep that I was His servant and that He will not disappoint me. After the Charismatic Hour fellowship of that day, I left and brethren, all those food items which the doctors had told me not to eat, I began to eat them.

 Not long after that, I went to check my blood sugar level again and it was still high. I did not allow that result to disturb me because I was sure that God was in full control.

 Then came another Charismatic Hour day and our pastor while ministering declared that all the people in the church who had been placed on special diets should discard them and start eating whatever they had not been eating. I threw away my drugs and began to eat whatever food that appealed to me.

 Some months later, I went to check my blood sugar level and behold, it had come down to 95. I went again after about two month's interval and it was still 95.

The Lord is so great and I can assure you that there is no trace of diabetes in me any longer, praise the Lord!”