It was not long before Pastor Roberts of Love is Greatest church contacted Chidi to invite him to preach in one of their programmes. Chidi met Pastor Francis to ask for permission,
“Sir, Pastor Roberts asked me to preach in a programme in the USA. His church will handle every expense,” Chidi said.
“Um, what do you think about Pastor Roberts preaching here in Imo State. I hear that he has gone to so many countries with God’s word and planted churches there,” Pastor Francis.
“I can’t say for sure. He’s a very busy person,” Chidi said.
“Okay, get the information for me,” Pastor Francis said.
“Okay sir. So, do I have the permission?” Chidi asked.
“Get the information first,” Pastor Francis said.
Chidi called Pastor Roberts and asked, “Sir, please, can you come and minister in Nigeria some time? My pastor won’t permit me until I have that information.”
Pastor Roberts responded, “My secretary will check my appointments and get back to you.”
“Between pastoring a very large church with branches all over the world and engaging in foreign missions, Pastor Roberts can only afford to be to Nigeria for just two days and that is two weeks after the programme that you’re invited to,” the secretary informed Chidi.
Chidi communicated the information to Pastor Francis, still asking for permission but Pastor Francis said the decision would be made by all the pastors during their Thursday meeting. During the meeting, Pastor Francis explained that the main agenda would be to plan a week-long Crusade, the same week that Pastor Roberts could come to Nigeria.
“Ever since Pastor Justice preached ‘Seedtime’, the church has been holding yearly programmes at about that time. This year, a decade after the seedtime programme and a dozen years of pastoring Kingdom Sons Ministry, it is time for the harvest, hence the theme will be ‘The Harvest is Plenty’, from John 4:35 and Matthew 9:37,” Pastor Francis explained.
Other pastors cheered. They began to bring ideas about how to plan the programme. The major plan was that Pastor Roberts should be one of the guest ministers.
“Pastor Francis, his secretary said that he could come and not that he would. Besides, can the ministry afford to host him?” Chidi asked.
“Well, you are going to preach at his programme. The only reason I’ll give that permission is if you promise to talk to him about it. And for the finances, Pastor Justice sponsored the Seedtime programme. I was hoping that since Pastor Roberts is involved in international ministry, he will not expect a small local church to do all the work,” Pastor Francis responded.
“I promise to talk to him about it, but I can’t guarantee his acceptance,” Chidi said.
“Just do your best, Pastor Chidi,” Pastor Francis said. “And also, Pastor Obinna will give you a list of guest ministers. I want you to persuade all of them to minister at the crusade. Don’t bother about Pastor Justice. I have a personal relationship with him.”
As if on cue, several others invited Chidi for programmes. The youths of Life Renewing Word Church invited him to teach as a facilitator at the annual Youth Conference. Adebayo asked him to be his best man at his wedding. Prized Youths wanted him to minister at the international convention. His father also requested his presence at the dedication of their new house and business. And Pastor Godson Onyema invited Chidi to minister at his church’s programme.
“Sir, I made a list of everyone that invited me to one programme or the other and the programme dates. Here,” Chidi said the day after the meeting.
“Okay. Please, include Pastor Kevin George in the list given to you by Pastor Obinna. He’s a huge role model for young people. And Evangelist Atinuke has to be there, the powerful and anointed preacher. Besides, I suppose that their honeymoon would have ended by the time of the programme and Adebayo will be attending anyway. You have to let her know that she’s being invited independently and not just as Bayo’s wife. And your father, he has sown so much and reaped bountifully, what a message. Please, everyone in this list has to come, understood?”
“Yes sir,” Chidi said.
As Chidi left Pastor Francis’ office, he began to think that his biological parents were right.
“I should not have left everything just to become a pastor in a local church,” he thought.
“Pastor Chidi, please, come back. Sit down, please,” Pastor Francis called.
It was the first time Chidi was invited to sit down in Pastor Francis’ office.
“I know that by now, you would be wishing that you did not leave everything to come and serve here,” Pastor Francis said.
Chidi thought in his mind, “Oh, how did he know that?”
“The truth is before you were accepted to be a pastor in this church, the pastors felt that you should be accepted on the condition that you get Pastor Roberts to come and preach here.”
“Oh, I already figured that out from the way you people are trying to use me. But pastor, I thought you have changed. If you want me to go to the programmes or not, just say so. Let me know the answers to give. Why do you give me these conditions?” Chidi thought silently.
“But the reason that I’m asking you to do all these has nothing to do with that. Come to think of it, when you came here, we were all overwhelmed at what you had accomplished that we just accepted you as a pastor without explaining the vision of the church. If I started this church just because I had wanted to pastor a local church, I would have just stayed back serving under Pastor Justice in one of his branches and fared quite well without having to go through all the trials…”
Chidi thought “Yes sir, I keep thinking of that. You should have remained under Pastor Justice.”
“…The reason I didn’t stay was the vision God gave me which is very distinct. In the vision, there was a very large crowd gathered to hear God’s word. The number of people was in thousands upon thousands, just like the number of people that gather for sports. I had a lighted candle in my hand. The candle never reduced in size no matter how long I held it. A group of people, serving under me had many boxes of candles. They wore a uniform with the inscription ‘Kingdom Sons’, hence the name of this ministry.
“They handed candles to every person in the crowd. They lighted their candles with the light in mine and shared the lights among the crowd. People gave the light to his neighbour. In a short while, everyone had their candles lighted. They also went to deep forests and interior villages, every nook and cranny of Imo State to give people the light. And when I looked, everyone had candles above their heads. There was a synergy that combined the little lights till it seemed everyone was on fire like a burning bush that did not consume. I did not see people anymore. I saw fire and that fire spread everywhere, even beyond the state. And I heard a voice, “It is time to bless Imo State and I am sending you.”
“I told Pastor Justice and he confirmed that God was asking me to start up my own ministry and he prayed for me. Pastor Wisdom was also a pastor at Pastor Justice’s church and he said that God told him to assist me. So, in two years, we did all to help and proclaim God’s blessings on the people. We targeted the poor and needy and had many welfare packages for them. But we soon got burned out. Not much people attended and those that attended did so because of what they got from the church.
“When I told my father the situation of things, I was ready to give up. And he came, not just to teach everyone the secrets of success and prosperity, but to prophetically declare the season that my ministry was in, ‘seedtime’. If only I would maximise the sowing season, I’d reap a bountiful harvest. Those days, he exhorted me not to get weary in well-doing. He let me understand that I made a huge mistake in thinking that I’ll succeed by sowing all the seed but that the members of my church were as much partakers of the prophetic agenda as I was. So, both those in my ministry and those looking for a change of story in other churches sowed to God’s work. Following Father’s advice, I did not touch the offering for anything personal, though I was going through personal financial issues. Then it was still just I and Pastor Wisdom and we made that choice and communicated the same to our deacons. All those seeds were used immediately to bring the church out of the financial hole it was in, all apart from one, you.
“You were different, the greatest gift given that day but you were not ready. You were like a blank cheque post-dated to ten years. And within those ten years, God deposited great and amazing gifts inside of you, such that the demand that I make of you would be the only limitation there’ll be. There isn’t any demand that I’ll ever think of making that will match in any way the great treasures that have been deposited in you. And so, in those ten years that I waited, I have to confess that I got overwhelmed by the present issues like getting a new building and executing projects that I strayed from the path God had ordained for me. I forgot that it’s still God who put the desire in me that would bring it to pass.
“When we urgently needed help with the many children that joined the church after the seedtime programme, God told me not to worry that he has already prepared someone to help me. Pastor Kelechi at that time had Masters in Divinity and in Education and was more than eager to join in what God was doing. God told me that He called Pastor Obinna and Pastor Victory to be pastors. I was to train them in ministry. But I began to fail since I taught them greed rather than the undiluted Word of God.
“God did not give me any instructions about Mr James but he was ordained because I was blinded by greed, something that I was warned against. Mr James started up as a dedicated prayer unit and follow up unit member. He was among the earliest members and joined the very month that the church started. This must have been for the welfare packages. I found out that he had an in-depth knowledge of God’s word and I loved the way he prayed with all fervency. I promoted him to head the follow-up unit, making him the first person new converts and first-timers had contact with. Every one of them, during his time, stayed back.
“So, I promoted him to a deacon. I got so distracted by the works he was doing, or more appropriately, God was doing that I did not bother to ask God what He felt about it. But I went on to promote him to a pastor. And as a pastor, he always came up with the best pieces of advice about getting members to stay, give large offerings and perform the tasks we wanted and so on. At that time, Pastor Wisdom warned me against not putting God first and the needs of God’s people but I didn’t listen. I created the associate pastor’s position to promote Mr James without demoting Pastor Wisdom and handed over the task of training other pastors in ministry to Mr James.
“Your arrival to the church at this time signals a different season of the church. While men slept, the enemy sowed weeds and it is at harvest time that weeds are gathered together and burned without harming the good seed. At your coming, wrong doctrine and immorality were stopped, complacent attitude to the things of God became a thing of the past and the counsel of Ahithophel was brought to nought.
“And even without knowing the vision of this ministry, you’ve fulfilled most of them. You’ve led the youths to two interior villages now. The members of the church, especially the youths and the workers have been consecrated and trained to carry the fire from the altar to people around them. And the welfare aspect of this ministry has not only revived but is now beyond what I ever imagined. Yet, the ministry has not been strained financially. In fact, you quickly use your money for church expenses. I’ve wondered several times where you get the money from. Others are following suit. People don’t give now expecting a blessing in return but because they see themselves as a living sacrifice, ‘seed of love’ as Pastor Justice calls it. So, the church now gets in more revenue without being a burden to its members. I feel like we are now at the centre of God’s will. Nothing is stopping us.
“But there is a part of the vision yet to be accomplished, the gathering of multitudes. I saw something like that during the seedtime programme and the yearly programmes we’ve hosted ever since. Right now, God is saying that it is time. It’s time for the fulfilment of prophecy and of the harvest. The greatest resource we have for a time as this is you. God gave you to our ministry. And as I said, we are limited by the demands that we make of you. It’s not just your unique ability to coordinate, or your amazing anointing, or your strength and youthfulness, but also your connections. You know so many people personally. You’re so young yet you’ve ministered several places and met several people. Think of what happens when we gather all those people in a weeklong programme. Imo state will literarily be on fire and the effect will be evident for many years to come. Pastor Chidi, I know that you’re going to obey me no matter what, still, I don’t want you to see this as you’re being forced to do this. I want you to give it your best. In the end, much work needs to be done to gather in the harvest, train the converts to be useful in God’s service and also share the light. It is time Pastor Chidi.”
“Thank you, sir, for taking the time to explain all these to me. I’m very grateful. The work will be much easier now and I promise to do my best,” Chidi said and left the office.
Since Chidi converted the monthly youth meetings to village outreaches, he mandated youth leaders, unit leaders and deacons to come to church every Friday and plan for the outreaches. Other youths could volunteer, among which was Treasure who never missed the meetings.
“You’re late. You’ve never been late before,” Iheanyi said as Chidi joined the youths in church.
“I had a meeting with Pastor Francis. That’s why,” Chidi responded. “We discussed an upcoming programme.”
“Yeah, there is this annual programme the church hosts and invites different guest ministers. It’s always very huge,” one of the youth leaders said.
“Yes but this one is beyond anything we can think of. It’s a crusade themed ‘The harvest is plenty’. We are considering inviting Pastor Roberts and other internationally acclaimed ministers for it. We also hope that thousands upon thousands will attend. This crusade will take great faith. Please, I want you to put in your best. Besides, I have six programmes and events that I’ll be going to, starting from the next two weeks to close to the date of the programme, so, you won’t see me around much. I don’t think that I’ll have to worry much because I have you and you are ‘strong and have defeated the evil one’. You should also understand this season we are in. The harvest season is also a time of consecration and judgement. A son that sleeps in harvest causes shame to his father. Proverbs 10:5. It’s during harvest that tares are separated from the wheat. Everyone needs to decide to pay the price of holiness or else we cannot be recruited in God’s workforce and if so, we’ll lose our reward. Judgement will begin in the church,” Chidi said.
“If it’s as huge as you speak, our church might not contain the population,” another youth leader noted.
“Yes, I know. It’s a crusade. So, I’m thinking of the stadium as a venue. More information will be given to this regard tomorrow or next after the pastors have made their decisions. I just want to be assured that when they do, you’ll be ready to give your best in any duty that you will be assigned. Iheanyi, we’ll need the best publicity to get people to come and we also need to collaborate with different ministries,” Chidi said.
“I’ll do my best,” Iheanyi answered.
“I can also call Adebayo to assist,” Chidi said.
He thought for a while and then continued, “To help in the advertisement, I think we should produce a harvest song. I’m thinking, the lyrics will be ‘the harvest is plenty, the labourers are few…’ Then, we will pray to God in the song to send labourers to his harvest. Also, just like in Ezekiel, we’ll sing about God’s search for a man and like Isaiah, we’ll ask God to send us to the harvest field – we are available. Then the chorus will be something like, ‘where you send me, I will go; where you lead me, I’ll follow’. I just thought of it now. I’ll try and work on it soon so that it will be recorded before I travel. Treasure, why don’t you sing with me?”
“Why me? There are great singers in our choir that can do a better job.”
“I’m assuming that you’ve not heard yourself sing before. Treasure, you are a great singer, alright?” Chidi said. “Anyway, I’m counting on you guys. You might have to sacrifice much more than you have ever sacrificed. But all is for the glory of God.”
Afterwards, the youths discussed the upcoming village outreach and welfare visitations and how best to get the funds ready. Normally, the youths set aside some of their salaries and monthly allowances for the outreaches and then, the church supplemented the youths’ contributions. The upcoming crusade needed huge financial resources too. They trusted God’s provision.
Early on Saturday morning, Chidi received a call from Treasure. She had written and recorded the song. She sent it to him via WhatsApp to know his thoughts and the needed edit.
“Wow. The song is very beautiful. So, song-writing is one of your very many virtues. I’m thinking, I’ll take the first part of the solo and you, the second, an octave higher. Then, for the chorus, I think it’s nice if little children, 7 to 12 years, from our church and other churches sing the chorus in a cappella once, after which, they are joined by choir members, of all ages and with musical instruments. For the second stanza, you’ll begin and then I’ll join, harmonizing you. We ought to have bridge too, something like ‘I’m ready to be consecrated for holiness and utmost obedience so that I’ll be fit for my Master’s use’, probably as an adlib to the penultimate chorus,” Chidi said excitedly. “I’ll ask Prized Youths, NCCF Imo State – my sister can help with the connection as she is her state’s Music Director, SU, choirs of some churches, maybe Love is Greatest Church and Life Renewing Word Church too; I’ll ask them to join in the chorus. They can sing from wherever they are in a virtual choir sort of thing. It will be fun.”
