Nigerian Women in Clergy, an Association of leading women of God in Nigeria have added their voices to the ongoing crisis plummeting churches and men of God in Nigeria, by calling on God to take control of the several allegations flying around His servants. In a release issued on Monday and jointly signed by their President, Prophetess Nonnie Roberson and the Vice President, Pastor (Barr) RoseMary Archibong, the women also admonished Nigerians to tread the path of caution by allowing God to judge his own case instead of dragging the body of Christ in the mud.
The women who have been in the vanguard of peaceful and conservative campaign for a violent free- Nigeria have avowed that now was the time for deep reflection and prayer as against being distracted by events of scandals surrounding men and women of God. WIC specifically referred to the marriage ignominy of Pastor Chris Oyakhilome ; the $9.3m arms deal involving the private jet of CAN President, Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor; the Synagogue build ing collapse alongside the purported offer of N50,000 bribe to journalists by TB Joshua and many others. It added that Nigerians should concentrate on praying to God to heal the country, rather than allow this distractions consume them.
The statement reads in parts, “We have observed with great concern the manner in which Nigerians are overtly engrossed in various scandalous cases involving some prominent leaders in the body of Christ. While we do not condone or approve of any of the cases, we urge Christians to desist from judging these pastors as God will judge them eventually. ‘’This is the time for serious intercession for the country. Nigeria is at a crossroad, the power tussle is more spiritual than political. The body of Christ is under attack physically and Spiritually worldwide. We must focus on the issue at hand as in a few months,elections comes up .Those that will assume power will directly rule and decide on Nigerians faith for the next 4yrs.This is the time for the watchmen to arise and take the battle spiritually. it is time to seek the face of God,know his choice and back it up in Prayers,ensuring no wrong person takes the scepter. ‘’As for women in clergy, we do not owe our allegiance to men. We depend entirely on God, our creator. All we want to achieve is to ensure that his will be done and not the will of men, as men can fail us, but God will always be there for us as a nation. It shouldn’t always be about whether a man of God has committed this or that, it should rather be about the future of this country and what God wants for us. Speaking on the controversial 9.3M dollars scandal involving the CAN President,Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, the women had opined that the relevant authorities should be allowed to investigate the matter. It said politicising the matter would only drag the body of Christ far beyond God’s plan for the country. ‘’We must not allow the dust of the allegation stain our relationship with God as a nation. Pastor Ayo is a man of God. He knows God and God knows him. He will always know the position of God if he has erred, so let’s leave him, God and the authority to handle the matter, while we pray for the nation to come out of this turbulent time. These are trying times, and men of God are clearly not going to be spared.’’ WIC said. Referring also to TB Joshua and Oyakhilome, they said: “As provocative and disturbing as what they were said to have done may be, we cannot at this juncture draw conclusion, as our wisdom may fail us, but God will never fail us. Nigerians ought to leave the matter to God who will adequately attend to them at his appointed time and instead continue to table before God in prayers, the various challenges threatening the continued existence of the nation. People of Nigeria need not join issues as we have enough troubles on our hands already. When we, as Nigerians, focus more on judging these men of God, we would not be able to adequately seek the face of God regarding the challenges we are confronted with.” The group went on to charge that, ‘’those serving in the vineyard of God’ to be more mindful of their actions and inactions so that they would not bring the church of God ‘into disrepute’ stressing that they should put the interest of those who are still frail in the faith and those yet to be converted into consideration in whatever they do so that they would not give wrong impression of Christianity . They equally declared that as part of their service to the nation, they are embarking on a sensitization campaign to ensure that Christians all over the country pick up their voters’ card and do not leave the 2015 election in the hands of people who should not be allowed to decide the future of Nigeria. On the situation of things in the country, they said: ‘’We are not oblivious of the deterioration that has characterized our beloved country in almost every facet of our polity. Indeed, death is no longer entering through the normal cause but has entered even palaces through windows and cut off young men and children on the streets. The spate of wanton shedding of innocent blood is unprecedented, our women and girl children are raped indiscriminately. Kidnapping and child trafficking have taken notorious dimension. There is absolute moral decadence among our youth who have been brainwashed into depraved pawns for use by self seeking politicians, ritual wealth seekers, baby factory operators and so on. These and the satanic insurgency in the land are products of evil wind that cannot be stopped solely by conventional interventions. Winds are commanded to be still by divine mandate.
‘’As women preachers, wives of Nigerian preachers, Catholic Reverend Sisters and women who are in position of spiritual leadership in Nigeria, who have taken up the responsibilities as wailing women as posited in Jeremiah chapter 9, our mission is to always take a spiritual stand against injustice in the land. ‘’We must always engage and operate in spiritual warfare and advocacy, having been mandated to raise our voice for the voiceless woman; we will continue to advance against the wickedness in the land like Deborah, rebuilding the walls like Nehemiah and displacing the ungodly like Esther. ‘’Our voice is our weapon against all the ills that threaten the socio-economic development of Nigeria as a whole. Already, we are fanning a national consciousness for women emancipation and development. Our vision is that our organizational network stretches from a mono-national structure centre here in Abuja to a multi-zonal workforce which spreads generously across the six geo-political zones, thirty six states and seven hundred and seventy four (774) local government areas in our great Nation, and we will ensure we use our outreach to the service of God and humanity,’’ They said.
Prophetess Nonnnie Robertson
President, Nigerian Women in Clergy
&
Pastor (Barr) RoseMary Archibong
Vice-President, Nigerian Women in Clergy
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