That Sunday, Pastor Victory took the sermon. He preached about giving to God and the church. Chidi noticed that he did not see anyone recording the message and decided to do so with his phone so that he could listen to it again. But something did not seem right about the message even though many people were shouting, clapping and laughing. He called Adebayo.
“I hope you enjoyed the service?” Adebayo asked.
“Not really. Pastor Francis was not the one that preached. It was another pastor. It felt as if he was coercing people to give and telling them that they were damned if they don't give. He even spoke against those who gave low notes like ₦20, ₦50 as an offering. I can't help but think that if Pastor Justice had said those things at the Seedtime programme, poor people, like we were, would have felt that the kingdom of God is not for people like us. Where is the widow's mite if we are only to celebrate those who give large offerings? More so, many scriptures were either not explained right or quoted right and the ones quoted right were so highlighted that he made them look like there were no other verses in the Bible. I was surprised that after the service, some people saw how good I looked and dressed and they walked up to me requesting for money, not for food or for a pressing need but to redeem a pledge they made to the church! Why pledge what you cannot fulfil? The Bible had said, we shall lend to Nations and not borrow and we are teaching our members how to be professional beggars in the name of looking for blessings. It doesn't sound right to me. You know what? I'll send you the recording of the service right now so that you’ll listen,” Chidi said.
On Thursday, Pastor Justice had his usual pastors' meeting and Chidi was now a part of it.
“Yesterday, my father, Pastor Justice called me and requested for videos of our services to be sent to him. I told him that we were yet to start video recording our services and he was not happy about that at all, especially in this digital age. So, we will have to record our next service on Sunday and send the video to him. The service has to be perfect because it is obvious that he wants to assess how we do things here, as a father. So, do you have any ideas? What sermon are we to preach? Who is going to preach? How will the service be ordered?” Pastor Francis asked.
“I believe a sermon on prosperity will be perfect. And it will be showered with so many congregational blessings just like Pastor Justice does each time he preaches,” Pastor Obinna said and most of the pastors concurred.
“And who better preaches prosperity than the associate pastor, Pastor James?” said Pastor Victory.
“Actually we don't just want it to be perfect, we want Pastor Justice to love it. So, even if we are to preach on prosperity, let us take one of his messages and listen to it over and over again and preach on it. You cannot make a mistake preaching his own message, can you?” Pastor James said and most of the pastors cheered.
“You do know that when Pastor Justice asked for the video, he did not expect that we pretend about everything, right?” Chidi asked.
“You should not speak until you are asked, Chidi!” warned Pastor James.
“Let him talk. Besides, he knows Pastor Justice well. So, Pastor Chidi, what do you suggest?” Pastor Francis asked.
“The time that I stayed with him, every time he asked things out of the blues, it meant he already knew and just wanted me to honestly confess. And each time, I chose to lie and ended up in serious problems. Daddy is not someone that invades people's privacy or inspects to see how you run your home or church unless there is something he knows, probably something wrong and you'll only end up in issues if you try to hide it. I'll advise that you call him and know what that is. Open up to him. He is your father. Even if he rebukes, it's for your good and the good of this ministry,” Chidi said.
“So you are saying that God has already shown him what we preach?” asked Pastor Kelechi.
“It is very possible. It always happened with me. But I doubt it is the case here,” Chidi replied.
“Pastor Chidi, did you tell him anything about our service?” Pastor Francis asked.
“No, not actually. I and his son, Bayo, are very close, like twins. We usually share things like this. I sent an audio recording of last Sunday's service to him. I think he must have given it to daddy to listen to,” Chidi said.
“Who gave you the right to record the service and send to Pastor Justice’s son?” Pastor Victory said.
“Young man, know your place!” said Pastor James.
Pastors Obinna, Victory and James kept scolding Chidi for sending the recording to Adebayo.
Chidi wondered, “What’s wrong with sending it? I always send Pastor Roberts' messages to Adebayo and nothing was wrong with that. I’ll heed whatever Pastor Francis says, nonetheless. And if he doesn't like the idea of sending out message recordings, so be it.”
“Pastors, please, let us not make a mountain out of a molehill. Pastor Chidi, since you are now an expert in recording messages and sending out, I don't think video recording Sunday's service will be difficult for you. So, you are to handle that. And please, don't ever take matters into your hands and do what you are not asked to do, understood?” Pastor Francis said.
“Yes sir. I am sorry, sir,” Chidi said.
“And every other person, there is no need to further discuss this with you now. So, we'll meet tomorrow or next and finalise everything, understood?” Pastor Francis asked.
“Yes sir,” all the pastors chorused.
After the meeting, Pastor Francis went into his office and called Pastor Justice. After he greeted Pastor Justice, Pastor Francis informed the former why he had to call.
“Since the video that we are to send to you is the first, I want it to be as close to perfect as it can be. So, I want to know what you think.”
“I asked you for the video so that I will see and hear honestly the kind of messages preached in your church. It’s not for you to try to pretend, Pastor Francis,” Pastor Justice said.
“I know, sir. I also know that you have listened to the audio recording of our Sunday service that Pastor Chidi sent. I don’t think it is right for a student to repeat the same error after being assessed by a teacher. So, I called for correction so that I won’t have to repeat the same mistake in the video that will be sent. So, what was wrong with the message?” Pastor Francis asked.
“You remember what you said ten years ago when I asked you if you taught your congregation about seedtime? What was your response?”
“I do not want a ministry that will seek to extort the people of the little that they have. Rather, I want to bless them so that they will be blessings to their generation, in accordance with the vision that God gave me. I want to help them in every area of their life and be their first point of call if they are to have any need,” Pastor Francis responded.
“That formed the bedrock of all the welfare programmes that you embarked on, which strained the ministry financially. When you accepted that I should come and preach the message to your congregation and community at large, it was because you understood that it will be a blessing to the people and many will have their lives changed. I mean, I keep hearing testimonies from people who practise the principle of giving taught at the programme. Many of them are prosperous in their fields of endeavour. Many used the principle in their offices, relationships, schools and etcetera and got profound results. In fact, if I had just donated to your ministry to help with your bills, welfare, logistics and others, I’d have spent much less than I did organising the programme. You weren’t sure if what the people would give would be enough to help your ministry but you were ready to sacrifice personal gain for the upliftment of the people.
“What I heard when I listened to the message preached in your church is the exact opposite. It now seems like you want to extort the people that God has put under you. You make them feel like God will punish them if they don’t give up to a certain level, even if they don’t have the means to yet. And you know very well that when they give out of compulsion, they will lose their reward. So, Pastor Francis, tell me, what changed?” Pastor Justice said.
Pastor Francis breathed deeply and loudly with remorse.
“Following that Seedtime programme and the other service that you and Pastor Chidi ministered in, the population in the church increased so much. Our church building couldn’t contain most of the people who came for our services. So, we had to embark on getting a larger church building to hold our services. The offerings we got were not enough for the project. And when we raised a different offering for the building project, it was not in any way near enough. My pastors and I decided then that we needed a way to encourage the members to give more than they did if we were going to complete the project. Since preaching on Seedtime had made the people give in the first place, we decided to adapt the teaching in such a way that it will make the congregation give more. Father, the projects keep coming and we need lots of finances for them; evangelical outreaches, welfare packages, village projects. Just yesterday, you scolded me for not streaming our services yet, at this age and time. And still, I need to pay our pastors and church workers. What other means can I get the money? I need to build my church,” Pastor Francis confessed.
“That’s where you got it all wrong. What business do you have building the church? Pastor Francis, you are Peter. And Christ has said that on this mountain, He will build His church. The church is His and He is the builder. All you need to do is to be Peter. Pastor, you have been in church leadership for over 15 years now. There are times you plan programmes and delegate duties. Take, for instance, you asked someone to stand at a spot, like our ushers and security. Don’t do anything, just stand. You might try to explain to the person why he has to stand there but you won’t expect that he grasps fully the significance because the plan is in your head and you are not expected to give out all information. You know what I mean. Nonetheless, you expect his complete obedience, don’t you? Or the plan will be defeated. The Lord gave you the vision. He has the plan. He knows how best to build and the gates of hell will not prevail against it. And he has told you as Peter, feed his lambs, tend his sheep and feed his sheep. Can you, please, act in obedience and do what he asked you to do and leave building to the Master Builder?! Every single time there is a need in my ministry, God himself provides because it is His Church to build. How long did you plan to deprive God’s flock of their blessings because of greed?” Pastor Justice asked.
“I am so sorry, father,” Pastor Francis apologized.
“Pastor Francis, this is what you will do now. For the next four weeks, don’t preach about giving. They’ve heard so much about that already. Preach about consecration, righteousness, purity, restitution and holiness, nothing else. And for those weeks, no other pastor is permitted to give the sermon. It has to be you, just you. Do you understand?” Pastor Justice asked.
“Yes sir. Thank you very much, sir,” Pastor Francis responded.
Kingdom Sons Ministry usually held a youth fellowship every last Friday of the month from 4 pm to 5:30 pm. Chidi decided that he would meet with the technical unit members and inform them on the need to document the next Sunday’s service on video. However, after the post-service pastors’ prayer, Chidi discovered that everyone but the technical unit leader, Mr Benson Chibuike, had already gone home.
Chidi thought, “Should I ask Mr Benson to tell the members to come back to church immediately? No, this is a different church and especially not Prized Youths where all members are expected to portray absolute sacrifice and obedience. Pastor Francis has warned me of taking initiatives without permission. Mr Benson and I can work out something.”
“We don’t have the equipment for that, presently, but I can contact Iheanyi Arinze for that. He usually covers weddings and other programmes on video to pay his fees in the higher institution,” Mr Benson said.
“What about the equipment used to cover the Seedtime programme? I believe that Pastor Justice left everything for the church,” Chidi said.
“Yes but that was ten years ago. Almost everything has malfunctioned. The church sold out most of the equipment so that they could get the salvage value for them and they have not been replaced, I suppose, because there were other pressing church issues,” Mr Benson replied.
“Alright. Call Iheanyi to come so that we will discuss,” Chidi instructed.
Within a few minutes, Iheanyi was back to the church.
“Iheanyi, where are you coming from?” Chidi asked.
Iheanyi did not know who Chidi was and wondered why he would ask that.
“I am sorry, please, do I know you?” Iheanyi asked.
“My name is Chidi Ogbonna. I am a new pastor in this church. Now, please, answer my question,” Chidi replied.
“I was on my way to a friend’s house when Mr Benson called me to come back,” Iheanyi said.
“Well, thank God that you did not succeed in visiting her. You’d have died,” Chidi said. “Anyway, I asked him to call you because we need to video record Sunday’s service and I was told that you are the best man for the job,” Chidi said.
“Okay sir,” Iheanyi said.
“Anyway, I need the picture quality to be superb. Let me show you some videos of church services in my laptop so that you’ll see what I mean.”
Iheanyi followed Chidi to Chidi’s office to see the videos.
“Okay. No problem. I could use my laptop for the video editing but I sincerely think that the church should have a laptop for this purpose. And are we renting or buying the cameras, televisions and the rest?”
“You know what? Why don’t you do the research? What are all the items that we need? Which ones can we get immediately? How much do they cost, renting or buying? Please, get back to me as early as possible tomorrow morning, so that the money will be disbursed. Please, all the set up should be completed tomorrow, understood?” Chidi instructed.
“Yes sir. Anyway, what did you mean that I would have died? Is my friend planning to kill me?” Iheanyi asked.
“No but you have many enemies who want to see you dead. What has kept you alive is your service in the kingdom of God and the Grace of God on your life. If you went to see your friend, you would have committed fornication and that immediately after church service. And when that happened, you’d have broken the hedge for the serpent to bite. I saw you on your way back from her house as you had a terrible accident that claimed your life. To avoid the temptation of falling into sin and the risk of this happening, Iheanyi, you need to break off the relationship that you have with your friend, immediately,” Chidi said.
“You don’t understand. I love her so much. I can’t imagine how life would be without her,” Iheanyi complained.
“Do you seriously want to know how death would be? Iheanyi, think about it. And I will see you tomorrow. Remember to send the information to me as soon as possible. Bye,” Chidi said and Iheanyi left.
Very early on Saturday morning, about 5 am, Chidi went to church. For the next five hours, he prayed and interceded earnestly for the success of the next day’s service. When he was done, he sat on one of the chairs in the church. Members of the sanitation unit had begun to come to church to clean and decorate the church for the service. As he sat, he got a notification on his phone. Iheanyi had sent the information that he had asked him to.
“Wow, so fast and he is very detailed,” Chidi thought.
“Do not rent anything, buy them. Whatever you are getting, make sure they are of the highest quality as they are for long-term use,” Chidi heard the Holy Spirit say to him.
“Okay, Lord. I’ll just write out the alternatives we are going for and their prices so that the church will disburse money for their procurement,” Chidi said in his mind.
“Don’t do that. Use your money,” the Holy Spirit instructed.
“What? The total cost is on the high side and I still have responsibilities at home,” Chidi said.
Knowing that arguing with his Lord did not make sense, Chidi took up his phone and called Iheanyi.
“Iheanyi, thank you very much. I saw the information you sent. We will not be renting, buying is much better. Please, send your account number so that I will send the money to you immediately. I’ll send extra money for transportation and feeding. Please, account for everything to the last Kobo. I’m waiting,” Chidi said.
Chidi quickly made the transfer to Iheanyi and then looked at his balance. He had less than ₦1000 remaining, which he could not withdraw. When Chidi had come back to Nigeria, he had millions of Naira saved up. He gave his parents a huge amount of money to complete building a residential house and also to start up their own company, a food company that combined agriculture, processing and marketing. Nkechi was doing her youth service. Promise and Precious were studying at the university. Promise was on scholarship. So, Chidi’s parents had only Precious’ fees to pay and school books to buy. Chidi usually sent all his siblings pocket money for their upkeep. Chidi thought of asking his father for some money and remembered that his father had not been in support of his leaving Pastor Roberts’ ministry in the first place.
“We told you about our plans beforehand. You should have waited till everything stabilises and our company begins to generate revenue before taking the step. How much will you get from Pastor Francis as opposed to Pastor Roberts? Now, we have to pause the building of the house till we save up more money. Maybe, our company will start up many more years to come,” his father had complained.
Chidi assured his father that God would provide and immediately gave him money to complete the projects at hand. When Pastor Francis accepted him as a pastor, he opted to stay in an accommodation given by the church, a room self-contained apartment in Pastor Francis’ boys’ quarters, partly due to its proximity to the church as he explained to Pastor Francis and partly because he did not want his father to keep reminding him of a huge mistake that he had made.
“Having to leave my family at a young age left me with a sumptuous meal and was no sacrifice compared to giving all my money to the church, which will leave me cashless and no hope of eating,” Chidi thought.
That afternoon, Pastor Francis called a meeting of all the Pastors to inform them of the instructions given to him about the services and plan how the service would go. He instructed Pastor Kelechi to tailor his message in the children’s church to be in line with holiness.
“By the way, Pastor Chidi, how is the preparation going?” Pastor Francis asked.
“Fine sir. Members of the technical unit are currently doing the set-up inside the church auditorium in preparation for the service,” Chidi replied. “Um, just a suggestion, since we are going to be recording our programmes from now on, won’t it be nice to create a separate unit to be in charge of that, media and publicity unit?”
“Chidi, the young pastor and the wild suggestions again. Why don’t you understand no one wants to hear your suggestions unless you are asked?” said Pastor Obinna.
“Pastor Obinna, why do you attack him like that? Pastor Chidi made a nice suggestion. Many churches have a special unit for that,” Pastor Wisdom countered.
“Just for the sake of mutual respect, no pastor is permitted to call another by their name without adding Pastor. Pastor Chidi, your suggestion will be considered. Bring not less than four names of the proposed leaders of the new unit for consideration and prayers,” Pastor Francis said.
After the meeting, Chidi went out to see members of the technical unit as they worked and he encouraged them. Iheanyi had detailed every single expense he made.
“I have ₦5000 remaining and some loose change,” Iheanyi said.
“₦5000, huh. That should last me a couple of weeks,” Chidi thought.
“Some of them here that came out to make this a success have not had food to eat. This is the last day of this month but none of them or their benefactors have yet been paid salaries. That fair lady there does not have transportation fare back home. She used her last money to obey,” A thought dropped inside Chidi’s spirit.
“You know what, you’re so busy. Give the money to someone less busy to buy food and drinks for everybody. Then, share the remaining money amongst yourselves for transport,” Chidi said.
“Thank you very much, pastor,” Iheanyi said.
Iheanyi informed those working with him and they also thanked Chidi. Chidi’s three day fast was still his custom. He broke his fast on Friday evening as usual. In a twist of events, Chidi did not expect his account to be emptied in one day and so did not make sure that there were foodstuffs in his apartment.
Chidi thought of meeting Pastor Francis.
“If I ask Pastor Francis for food or money, what explanation will I give him that made me bankrupt overnight? Besides, when your right hand gives a gift, your left hand is not to know about it,” Chidi thought. “Well, Lord, You alone are my provider. If you provide for me, I’ll have to eat. And if you don’t, either way, I have no choice but to serve You.”
