GADDAFI’S BIBLE

“The Bible we have now is not the one that was revealed to Issa [Jesus] and the Old Testament is not the one that was revealed to Musa [Moses]. Muhammad is mentioned in both (original versions), but the Tora and Bible we have now, there is no mention of him…It means that it [the Bible] has been forged. The Prophet Muhammad was sent to mankind. Allah wanted mankind to have one religion. The Koran that we have is the only book that was sent by Allah. We believe in the Bible as well as the Tora.”

You may have heard the things that Libya’s life president, Muamar Gaddafi had to say about the Bible. It is the stuff that worldwide unrests are made of, were the subject the Koran rather than the Bible!

He had gone to Uganda to commission a mosque named after him essentially because he bankrolled it. The mosque was said to be the vision of one of Africa’s most notorious tyrants, Idi Amin Dada, a former president of Uganda who was chased out in a coup in 1979, and died in exile in Saudi Arabia some years ago.

It had taken all of 30 years to build this mosque, now one the most prominent structures in the skyline of the Ugandan capital, Kampala. And although the original idea was to make it the largest in the world, it is said that it may now rank second. So, it was an important occasion for Islam, the religion of peace, with some "long live Gaddafi" chanting 15,000 worshippers, including a number of other African leaders attended the ceremony, among them, the presidents of Somalia, Zanzibar and Djibouti.

Savouring the euphoria of an historic moment, Gaddafi told his audience that the Bible, holy book of the Christian is forgery. His words, as reported in the East African newspaper: “The Bible we have now is not the one that was revealed to Issa [Jesus] and the Old Testament is not the one that was revealed to Musa [Moses]. Muhammad is mentioned in both (original versions), but the Tora and Bible we have now, there is no mention of him…It means that it [the Bible] has been forged. The Prophet Muhammad was sent to mankind. Allah wanted mankind to have one religion. The Koran that we have is the only book that was sent by Allah. We believe in the Bible as well as the Tora.”

Of course Church officials in Uganda reacted to the statement, describing it is as “inflammatory,” but typically urged their flock to ignore his sentiments. No “fatwa” has been issued against him and there have been no public protests, violent or peaceful.

Interestingly the words coming out from leaders of the Church in Uganda have been explanatory and forgiving. The Catholic Archbishop of Kampala, Cyprian Lwanga told an Easter mass congregation to forget Colonel Muammar al-Gaddafi's remarks. He reminded Gaddafi and those of his persuasion that the Bible was written before Muhammad was born. "How can we be blamed for not including what was not in existence?" he said, and asked “fellow Christians to forgive Gaddafi like Jesus forgave those people who crucified him on the cross."

Another cleric who spoke on the issue, Monsignor Paul Ssemwogerere of Kampala's Christ the King Church, said: "Since the Muslim community has already distanced itself from Colonel Gaddafi's sentiments, let's forgive him as Christians.,,We should pray for such people who don't know that in Uganda, we have an Inter-Religious Council that unites us regardless of our religious differences. Muslims and Christians live harmoniously without any problem."
Also seeking to defuse the row, President Yoweri Museveni assured his compatriots that he had a word with the Libyan leader about Christianity after the speech.

From the rest of the Christian world, especially Africa, mum has been the word. It seems to us at KINGDOMWatch as if Christians don’t care about the symbols of their faith or are too cowardly to express our opinions… as if peace in the world must be at the expense of Christianity.
No, we do not advocate violence, and categorically denounce violence as a means of resolving any issue. But Christians need to, at least, speak up more for the faith. Libyan Embassies across the major capital of the world should, by now, have had their phone lines, faxes and e-mails inundated with protest calls and mails. In-depth articles reacting to Gaddafi’s misinformation should have been all over the internet by now. But what do you have? Not a whimper from outside Kampala, as far as we know.

These things ought not to be so, dear brethren.

ONE YEAR AFTER, CHRISTIANA’S MURDERERS STILL AT LARGE!

“We will give ourselves no rest until justice is done. We will fan the flames of conscience back to life at all levels of governance in this country…The Gombe case should be considered the bullet head that will open the way for a revaluation of human worth in Nigeria.”


Good Friday 2008 marks the first anniversary of the gruesome murder in Gombe of Christiana Oluwasesin, in the premises of the secondary school where she was a teacher. And to date, her murderers are yet to be brought to book.

March 21 was the date and reports had it that her journey to cruel death began with accusation by a Moslem girl that Christiana ,32, had desecrated her copy of the Koran, by placing books and school bags collected from the pupils in front of the classroom just before commencing an examination she was invigilating. Immediately all the students began to shout “Allah Akbar!” meaning “God is great!” and with it a riot started.

Although some of her teacher colleagues came to her rescue by rushing her to the school principal’s office for protection, the number of rioting students had risen rapidly, became such a menacing mob that their demand that Christiana be released to them, could not be refused.

Recalling the event recently, J. Lee Grady, editor of Charisma magazine wrote that when she was released to them “…the teenagers hit her with an iron club, stripped her naked and beat her until a 12-year-old boy slit her throat with a knife. The students then soaked her body with gasoline and set her on fire.”

In his recent on-line column, “Fire in my Bones” Lee Grady continued: “Christiana was a Spirit-filled Christian who had been outspoken about her faith in Jesus. Her two young children—a 3-year-old girl and a 10-month-old boy—are now left in the care of her husband, Michael. His last memory of his wife was of her burnt remains, which had been taken to a morgue in Gombe.

“Eyewitnesses of the incident said the Muslim students actually tried to kill Christiana’s baby as well, but an unidentified woman smuggled the child off school property by concealing him under her clothes. No one ever found the copy of the Quran that was supposedly desecrated by Christiana.”

In the words of Lee Grady, “the incident sparked outrage in Nigeria, at least among believers in the southern region of the country where Christianity is dominant. People were appalled that 12- and 13-year-olds could commit such a heinous act of violence against their own teacher. It soon became obvious, after independent investigations, that Christiana’s murder was totally motivated by religious prejudice. She joined the growing list of Nigerian Christians who have been martyred in the last several years by radical Muslims.”

In the vanguard of the campaign for justice for Christiana’s murder is Pastor Ladi Thompson, of Living Waters Unlimited Ministries and Coordinator, The Macedonian Initiative, an organization that offers legal support and other types of aid to Christian victims of religious violence in northern Nigeria—where hundreds of churches have been burned by Muslim mobs. Many pastors and church members also have been killed or maimed by Muslim fanatics in the region. He is of the opinion that the Nigerian government “has not handled the incident with fairness”. He characterized the police protection offered the late Christiana while the incident lasted as “half-hearted” while government officials have not stepped in to arrest the perpetrators.

Thompson said to Lee Grady: “We will give ourselves no rest until justice is done. We will fan the flames of conscience back to life at all levels of governance in this country…The Gombe case should be considered the bullet head that will open the way for a revaluation of human worth in Nigeria.”

Lee Grady ended his piece by asking Christians all over the world to join forces with Pastor Thompson and others fighting for justice in this case not just by praying, which is important, but also to write to the Nigerian Ambassador to the USA to demand justice.

He declared: “I am linking arms with my Nigerian brothers, and I ask you to do the same this Friday. When one part of Christ’s body is suffering, we all suffer. If the radical Islamic agenda succeeds in Nigeria—where African Christianity is most vibrant—Islam could swallow a continent. We desperately need intervention from God.

“I am also asking that you contact Nigeria’s acting ambassador to the United States, Usman A. Baraya. One of our own African sisters has been martyred, yet the Nigerian government is ignoring the tragedy, hoping that the international community will eventually forget it. We cannot ignore Christiana’s senseless death. Please cry out for justice.

“If the radical Islamic agenda succeeds in Nigeria—where African Christianity is most vibrant—Islam could swallow a continent. We desperately need intervention from God.”

MBFC, FAITH OYEDEPO LAUNCH WEBSITES

Managing Business For Christ (MBFC), the non-denominational ministry established and chaired by Dr Christopher Kolade, former High Commissioner of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to Great Britain, now has a website. It came on stream in February.

With web address as www.mbfcnigeria.org, the website provides another avenue for the ministry to pursue its objective of bringing business people and business practice under the influence of the Lord Jesus Christ.

On its home page MBFC declares that God is keenly interested in business and He seeks to fulfil His purpose for mankind through our various businesses, corporations and ventures and introduces the ministry as having a mandate “to bring back businesses to God, advocating Godly business principles for good success.”

The Frequentlly Asked Questions page provides answers to such questions as: What has God to do with business? What kinds of businesses are supported by MBFC? Is MBFC only for Christians? What areas of business are covered at seminars? Is MBFC a counseling, consulting or mentoring organization?

There is also an article by ministry chairman, Kolade titled “Understanding the Times”. It’s a site to see.

Also newly introduced to Christian cyberspace is www.faithoyedepo.org, the website of Rev Mrs Faith Oyedepo, wife of and co-labourer with Dr David Oyedepo, Presiding Bishop of Living Faith Church well known as Winners Chapel.

Author and minister to women and on issues pertaining to marriages and children, Mrs Oyedepo is not new on the World Wide Web being a regular feature on the church website recently redesigned and renamed as davidoyedepoministries.org.

Hint of what the new website stands for can be gleaned from the home page where the welcome piece asks: "Is there a yearning in your heart for a deeper relationship with God? Do you inwardly crave for fulfillment in certain areas of your life? Are you desiring a change in your marriage? Do you long to experience God's touch in your family? Are you tired of facing challenges that seem to defy solution?"

The site also provides information about the activities of the NGO established and managed by this wonderful woman of God, the Faith Oyedepo Foundation.

IS THIS MAN A FAITH HEALER OR SADISTIC PRETENDER?

"I think his calling was from God, but along the line, I think he has allowed his own personal interest to clash with the work of God. Instead of doing the work for the glory of God, his desire and love for money has taken over…In the years that I was there, at least, there were people who were perfectly healed and later left the camp. When most of the people realized that they had been healed, they would want to leave. But he would not allow them to go. A few, however, managed to eventually escape. Among those who were healed, those that left couldn’t have been more than five”

Is Pastor Ifeanyi Iheanacho a kind-hearted deliverance minister genuinely called by God to deliver psychiatric patients from the spirit of madness? Or is the man a pathological sadist who delights in subjecting mentally retarded patients to physical abuse and psychological trauma?These are the puzzles now agitating the minds of the inhabitants of Sabon Gidan Kanar, a community in Jos South Local Government area of Plateau State, even as men and officers of the Plateau State Police Command will be attempting to unravel the mysteries in the days and weeks ahead.In October, last year, Pastor Iheanacho, proprietor of the Holy Ghost Psychiatric Home at Sabon Gidan Kanar was arrested, docked and later released on bail after being accused of inhuman treatment of the mentally challenged patients in the home. The pastor, who allegedly tags himself, “Reverend Doctor,” was even alleged to have caused the deaths of several inmates, while claiming to be curing them of insanity.Following such complaints, the state government ordered the closure of the home, while the inmates were ordered to be moved to the Vom Christian Hospital for rehabilitation. Just before the end of last year, the state Commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Development, Mrs. Sarah Yusuf, handed a cheque for N3.3 million to the officials of the Vom Christian Hospital to facilitate the inmates’ rehabilitation. Many had thought that the government’s action would quieten the din on the psychiatric home activities in the last few months. Recent events are, however, giving a lie to that assumption.
The pastor’s supporters, mainly staff of the home, are debunking all allegations against Iheanacho. To them, peddlers of the accusations are merely envious of the minister’s achievements and are spreading patently fallacious tales to destroy the man of God.Officials of the facility are also miffed at the government’s alleged exhibition of total ingratitude for their humanitarian efforts. According to them, the least the government could have done for the pastor, who had been ridding the streets of lunatics and curing them of their malady without assistance from any quarters, was to have shown some appreciation.In the beginningDaily Sun investigations revealed that Prophet Ihenacho’s home has been operating in Plateau State for over a decade, having been founded by a certain Emmanuel Shokolo. The home has borne several names since its establishment, including Ekklisiyan Zababu, Deliverance Fellowship Intervention and Holy Ghost Psychiatric Home.Initially, the home was located on Tafawa Balewa Street, close to the Suzy Garden at the centre of the Tin City. When the facility was newly constructed, its founder regularly went round the streets of Jos to pick seemingly insane persons. He would then take such patients to his camp for treatment. Indeed, according to some people, some of those lunatics actually regained their senses. In those days, the pastor was said to have consistently informed everyone that the patients were cured by God through prayers. As the years went by, the mental home was becoming a nuisance in its neighbourhood, because it was attracting a horde of motorists and passersby. To curb the problem, the state government relocated the home to the outskirts of Jos. The former Leprosy Center at Sabon Gidan Kanar in Jos South Local Government area became the inmates’ new abode. AllegationsYears after its relocation, nothing was heard about the home, which has been severally re-christened by its operators until recently when the police announced that the prophet was under arrest. At the time of his arrest, Iheanacho was alleged to have kept no fewer than 60 persons in confinement, all of whom were allegedly forced to live in the home as captives. Whoever is caught while attempting to leave would be whipped mercilessly and made to undergo other forms of physical and mental abuse, according to the story.According to his accusers, the pastor and his aides perennially subjected the inmates to physical assault, while claiming to be forcing the spirit of lunacy out of them. He was also said to have hypnotized not just his patients, but also members of their families in a bid to enslave and extort money from them. It was further alleged that some of the inmates’ family members were forced to permanently relocate to the facility. But such individuals did not just move in, they were said to have sold off all their possessions and surrendered the proceeds to the home. In some instances, the pastor reportedly took over the inmates’ possessions just to stop them from running away from the camp. Children were also alleged to have been made to abandon their education. The pastor was said to have told the people that it was always better for little kids to be tutored first in evangelism. Other things, the pastor allegedly sermonized, would be added unto them.Petition The alleged activities of the prophet were brought to light when some people wrote to Governor Jonah Jang to complain that some members of their family were being held captives and were undergoing torture in the hands of the “Reverend Doctor”. According to the petitioners, members of the Mgbok family, comprising the husband, wife and children from Rechi village in Bachit District of Riyom Local Government area, had abandoned their homes and jobs to permanently live with the ‘Reverend Doctor’.Bizarre talesImmediately after the arrest, Daily Sun spoke to some of the victims who still remained in the home. What you immediately discovered at the place was the glaring poverty, even though the inmates still managed to survive in that apparently communal set-up. While the reporter was there, the patients were served meals. But many still begged the journalist for money. They said that since their leader was arrested, nobody has been catering for them. There was also no sign that they were planning to leave the facility. Those who were not in chains were not in a hurry to leave the place.
After the prophet was picked up, some people who claimed to be victims of his maltreatment spoke on their travails at the home. One of them, Lucy J. Datong is a member of the Mgbok family which had petitioned the state governor. According to Lucy, her elder brother, Iliya, had been taken to the home in 1999 after developing a mental problem. At the home, the pastor reportedly invited all members of the family to the camp. “On getting there, he advised us that since our elder brother has the problem, it shows that there is a problem in the whole family. So he expected all of us in the family to come and be fellowshipping there”, said Lucy.Lucy told Daily Sun that when they started attending fellowship at the centre, the pastor also demanded that they should start paying their tithes to the home. Lucy and other members of the family, however, told him that their tithes were being paid to their local churches. But he reportedly convinced them that his church was the only place where God dwelt in Plateau State. She continued: “He said God would not accept our tithes if we paid to other churches, and, so we began taking our tithes to the place. We believed that everything was being done according to the will of God and that Christ was the foundation of that place.”Fully convinced that Iheneacho’s home was God’s only abode, Lucy said in the year 2000, she relocated to the place alongside her parents and two of her sisters.Before her final relocation, Lucy said she had been teaching at a primary school under Riyom Local Government Council. She was at the same time schooling at the Federal College of Education, Pankshin. But in 2004, she allegedly quit both job and school for the camp, thinking she would be there as a full time minister of the gospel.It took some time for her to know that things at the camp were not as she had thought. It was after seeing some of those changes, she said, that she realized it was time for her to leave the camp.
Said Lucy: “One day in 2005, when other inhabitants were in fellowship, I packed my bags and wanted to leave without the pastor’s knowledge. I knew that nobody in that place would be allowed to leave. The pastor was always saying that whoever came there had been chosen to work for God and if you tried to leave, you would be chained or caned. So, as I had made up my mind to leave, I took my bag quietly and was sneaking out of the place when someone saw me and reported to the pastor. Then some of the people came after me, caught me and took me back. For the first time, I was chained in the camp.”
Lucy disclosed that she was flogged and chained for 12 days, following that attempt to escape. She narrated how she went through psychological trauma while in chains and was also having some strange dreams.That was not the only time she was chained. After that initial experience, Lucy said she was also manacled when her elder sister came to visit the family at the camp on a Sunday and the visitor brought some food along for them. The following day, all members of their family including their aged parents were reportedly flogged because “the pastor said we have polluted the place for receiving visitors on a wrong day. He said we were not supposed to receive visitors or talk to anyone at the camp on Sundays and that we shouldn’t eat food beside what was prepared for us at the camp”. For that ‘offence’, she said she was again chained for 16 days. There were other ‘offences’ that would earn inmates some punishment. For saying what was not agreeable to members, or for receiving visitors at the camp and eating food brought from outside, an inmate was likely to be caned, said Lucy. After the caning, further punishment, including chaining might be prescribed if they thought the punishment was inadequate.
She had more tales to share. “There was a day I had a dream concerning the pastor’s wife and I went to share it with her. She then took our discussion to the fellowship and said they should discuss about the dream I had. The conclusion was that, telling the woman the bad dream that I had about her showed that I did not like her. The woman even said maybe I was planning to kill her, so that I would marry her husband. She concluded that I was not normal, so I should be put in chains for two days. But do you know that they kept me in chains for almost nine months? “The way they chained us was either for the two hands to be chained together (and in that case, one would be unable to eat) or they would chain the legs together. My hands were chained for three days, and for those days, I did not eat and nobody came around to take care of me. I called the prophet after two days and asked him if I could be freed. He said ‘no’, because, according to him, I was not with my normal senses. I said I knew everything that I was doing. I told him that what was disturbing me was that I wanted to leave the camp but that I was being forced to stay. I was being flogged everyday. I received about 100 strokes of the cane at that time when I was chained for the third time. They later moved me to the bush, saying that my staying in the room was not helping me.I was in the bush for almost a month and some days. I stayed for almost three months without taking my bath. They said I wouldn’t be able to take my shower until I became normal. It was only God that freed me from that bondage on the 9th of May, 2007. That day, a boy by name Naiobe, who was put in charge of those of us that had been chained, forgot to lock the chains after he had loosened it for me to have my bath. I even heard when they were asking him if he had locked in those of us in chains and he said he had; not knowing that he didn’t lock me. I covered myself with a blanket because I did not want them to know that the boy didn’t lock the chain. At around 11 pm, after I was sure that everybody was asleep, I escaped from the camp and I ran to meet my sister.”Lucy said she was not sexually harassed at the camp. The reason for that, she said, was because she always spent her time praying. “I always prayed. I did not even get involved in all the activities going on there and so I couldn’t have been sexually harassed,” she said.
On the issue of marriage, Lucy said the prophet and his wife were always advising inmates to seek potential spouses from among the workers or the inmates with whom they could share the word of God. Such people could also end up marrying, they were told. “But I told the pastor that I am not a child and that it is God that gives husband. Moreover, I did not see anyone among them that I could get married to. I told them that I was there to do the work of God.” Lucy revealed that several of the inmates lost their lives, while she remained in that camp. Even though she could not recall the number, she said between 12 and 15 inmates died in her presence. She disclosed that at least, five members of her family were still in the camp. Her elder brother, Iliya, has, however, been taken back home, she said.The lady says she now feels normal after seven years in bondage. “My senses are now normal and, in fact, I feel better. Things are no longer the way they were with me when I was there. But I am normal now. I have gone back to my job and would continue my schooling again”, she said. How will she assess Pastor Iheanacho? “I think his calling was from God, but along the line, I think he has allowed his own personal interest to clash with the work of God. Instead of doing the work for the glory of God, his desire and love for money has taken over.”
She admitted, however, that there were people who got healed at the centre. “In the years that I was there, at least, there were people who were perfectly healed and later left the camp. When most of the people realized that they had been healed, they would want to leave. But he would not allow them to go. A few, however, managed to eventually escape. Among those who were healed, those that left couldn’t have been more than five,” she said.Lucy’s brother-in-law, Daniel Gemang, a Supervisory Councillor for Social Services in Riyom Local Government Council and now a headmaster in one of the primary schools in the local government, added another dimension to the story about Iheanacho. Gemang, who confirmed that his brother-in-law was taken to the prophet’s camp to get healed, disclosed that he had reservations about the pastor the first time he set eyes on him which was when he went to worship at the camp before the family members finally relocated there. He said his fear was confirmed when the pastor collected 10 bundles of zinc from his father-in-law. The bundles of zinc, he said, were actually bought to complete his father-in-law’s house. “But the pastor said that we should bring all the zinc to the camp, that God has told him that my father-in-law should not build his house at that time”.
Gemang also accused the pastor of collecting N57,000 from one of his sisters-in-law on the pretext that he would keep it for her. Asked how Iheanacho knew about the zinc and the money, the teacher explained that the pastor interrogated members of the family to know what their plans were. He said members of the family had severally asked for the money but regretted that the pastor was still holding on to it. He said throughout the time Lucy and some other members of the family were in the camp, their relations were unable to gain access to them. Even people who took their relations to the camp for treatment were denied access to them, he claimed, adding that Lucy had to be rushed to the hospital after her escape to ensure that she regained normalcy.
Gemang, who was one of those that wrote the petition, explained why the family decided to report the pastor to the authorities. “After Lucy left the camp, we sent one of her brothers schooling in Cuba to go and collect her stuff from the camp. But on getting there, he was arrested and chained after he was given 21 strokes of the cane. When we tried to find out why he was chained, we were told it was because the young man refused to go and pack his things and move to the camp. And when I went there, they said I would be chained. I was only allowed to leave after I told them that I was a government worker”. Gemang consequently wrote the governor through the Ministry of Social Welfare and gave a copy of the petition to the Commissioner of Police. He said the family members were able to collect enough information about the man from Lucy and from another boy named Davou Dajuma whose father was still in the camp. Gemang said he was so bitter about what Iheanacho had done to his family that he was prepared to kill himself if the man was released. He accused the man of using religion to get to the people of Plateau State since religion is a major way of hoodwinking people.

Report By MARIAM ALESHINLOYE AGBOOLA, Jos (THE SUN, Monday, February 18, 2008)

IRAQI ARCHBISHOP SPENDS SEVENTH DAY WITH ABDUCTORS

...Pope Benedict, One Church Campaign,Others call for Prayer, Release.

Archbishop Paulos Faraj Rahho, 65, is today spending his seventh day in the custody of unknown abductors, who snatched him on the evening of Friday February 29 in Mosul, Iraq. His driver and two body guards were killed in the process. A spokesman for the Nineveh province police, Iraqi Brig. Gen. Khalid Abdul Sattar, confirmed both the killings and the abduction
Agency reports, quoting a local priest, Father Najeeb Mikhail, said his abductors had demanded an unspecified huge sum of money for his release and have refused to consider any reduction in the ransom.
Calls for his release, including two separate appeals, on Saturday and Sunday, by Pope Benedict XVI have so far gone unheeded, prompting a worldwide call for prayer to save the ailing cleric.
Reports said Rahho ran into an ambush by some armed men in four cars at about 5:30 p.m. on his way home shortly after leading the congregation in praying the Stations of the Cross at the Holy Spirit Parish in Mosul, 225 miles north of Baghdad. Mosul is the biblical Nineveh.
Eyewitnesses said the cars blocked Rahho's vehicle and the men shot and killed Faris Gorgis Khoder, his driver and the two guards simply identified as Ramy and Samir, before speeding off with Rahho.
Describing the brutal nature of the murder of the priest’s companions, one of the mourners at the funeral for the three men the following day in the village of Karamlis, 15 miles east of Mosul, said of the corpses: “All their faces were gone when we saw them. They were without eyes, without noses and without mouths." They each left behind a wife and three children, according to Father Bashar Warda, dean of St. Peter's Seminary in Erbil.
Father Warda who spoke to Compass Direct said that no one had been able to speak with the kidnapped archbishop since his abduction, making it difficult to know whether he remained alive. He expressed anxiety about the bishop’s health: “his health is one of the issues that concerns us because it is not good, and his medicine is not with him…Prayer is needed."
Pope Benedict XVIII had led the call for prayer in a Vatican statement which said the pope was saddened by what it described as “this new despicable act” and “a premeditated criminal act”. “The Holy Father” continued the statement “asks the universal Church to join in his fervent prayer so that reason and humanity prevails in the kidnappers and Monsignor Rahho is returned to his flock soon…The pope felt close to the Iraqi people, particularly the minority Christians, and was praying that the whole country could find the path to reconciliation and peace.”
Also calling for prayer, Archbishop Andreos Abouna, an aide to Iraq’s Cardinal Emmanuel III Delly, leader of the church, who said he did not know who was behind the kidnapping of the 65-year-old archbishop. “We pray for his release as soon as possible,” he said, noting that “this act of abduction against a Christian clergy member will increase our fears and worries about the situation of Christians in Iraq.”
Another call for prayer came from Bishop Rabban al-Qas of the nearby city of Irbil who described the abductors of his 65-year-old colleague, who was ordained archbishop of Mosul in 2001 as “terrorists”. He told AsiaNews, the Rome-based Catholic news service, “we don’t know what physical condition he is in…It’s a terrible time for our church - pray for us.”
Condemnation and calls for action have also not been in short supply.

Hours after the abduction, The Assyrian Universal Alliance, in a statement condemned “in the strongest terms possible the vicious and cowardly act of terrorism perpetrated against innocent civilians of Nineveh plains-Northern Iraq, in which many innocent people were victimized. This act of genocidal barbarism is inexcusable. Our sympathies and prayers are with the victims, their families and friends. We call for the immediate release of the Father Faraj Raho”

In his own statement, the United Nations envoy to Iraq Staffan de Mistura said it was “appalling that these attacks on communities that have lived peacefully together in north Iraq for centuries are continuing,” and called on the government to do more to protect minorities. Recalling that “the archbishop of Mosul is the latest in a long line of members of the Christian and other communities in Iraq to be killed or abducted,” he urged the government “redouble its efforts to protect religious minorities.”
The European Union has also lent its voice to the spate of condemnation of the Chaldean Archbishop Faraj Rahho’s abduction. Its Slovenian presidency, in a statement, condemned the kidnapping and called for his immediate and unconditional release. The Presidency expressed its solidarity with all Iraqis mainly Chaldeans. And urged Iraqi authorities to do their utmost in order to secure the bishop’s release..
On his part, Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has not only expressed concern over the abduction, he has ordered the interior ministry and security forces of the northern Nineveh province to intensify efforts to release the kidnapped Catholic archbishop. In a letter to the Chaldean patriarch of Baghdad and spiritual leader of Iraq’s Roman Catholics, Cardinal Emmanuel III Delly, he expressed “deep sadness and grief” over Archbishop Rahho’s kidnapping.
In a statement on Tuesday, Maliki’s office said, “The prime minister has issued an order to the interior minister and all security officials of Nineveh province to follow the case and work very hard to release (Rahho) as soon as possible.”
The statement added, “The Christian sect in Iraq is one of the basic components of Iraqi society and can never be parted from its people and civilisation. Any assault on its sons represents an assault on all Iraqis.”
Security forces have since fanned out across the northern Iraqi city of Mosul searching for the archbishop. A senior police officer who did not want his identity revealed said, “a special police team has tightened security especially around the Al-Nur district.”

At press time, it was not clear how much closer to rescuing the archbishop’ release the police were, nor had there been much known contact with either the archbishop or his abductors.

Meanwhile, a Nigerian church unity group, The One Church Campaign has called on Nigerian Christians to join in praying for the safety and speedy release of Archbishop Rahho, stating that the church is one body and whatever touches one part affects the whole.

GOD'S CALL TO YOU: "CONSIDER ME FIRST"

God is about to initiate a shaking throughout the earth, says Chuck Pierce, one of the Church's most consistent voices in the prophetic and founder of Glory of Zion Ministries. He has therefore called for intercession from all believers. In a recent prophecy published by Charismaonline, Pierce also said God Almighty is calling on all believers to seek Him first so that his will may be done continually in the earth in every situation. He also has
something to say about a new kind of communism. His words:

“Come back to your [divine] Source, for the sources on the earth are beginning to shake. Come back to your Source! Consider Me now.

“Consider Me first when you are facing disease. It was I who created your body. Consider Me and how I want to rearrange the cell structure that is moving toward decay. Consider Me first when [there’s a need] to purify your blood.

“I created the land, so consider Me first when I begin to rearrange the land. It is not your political opinion that will change the course of the earth, but My will being acted on first.

“I am striking the earth with the sound of heaven. … I am extending a new call for intercession to My people. I must have a people who rise up and seek Me and consider Me first even in their praying.

“The religious structures of the past cannot contain the revelation that I am striking the earth with now. My striking hand has been released.

“I will strike into China and it will shake. You will see Japan shake. There is a deep shaking going on. This is not a surface shaking beginning at this time, but a deep shaking.

“Only those who can stand will [survive the shaking]! The land will shake like a wave. Alaska will shake. I must shake and rearrange Central America or there will be a path of communism that connects the earth.

“It is not the communism that you have known in the past but a new, political wave of destruction that now is forming and aligning from territory to territory. I must rearrange paths. Consider Me first. I rule the heavens. I name the stars. I direct the sun.”

12 PROPHETIC SIGNPOSTS FOR 2008

Matt Sorger of Matt Sorger Ministries in the USA waited on the Lord for the entire month of January. As he did, the Holy Spirit spoke to him about the things we can be expecting and looking for in the coming days. Here are the 12 signposts God gave him. They are of universal application.

1. God is about to invade His church. Jesus is inspecting His Father’s temple. Some tables are going to be overturned this year. Don’t be dismayed when you see this happen. It is the hand of the Lord. God is refining the inward motives of the heart. Any work done with a selfish, self-seeking motive will not survive the refining fire Key Scriptures: Matt. 21:12; 1 Cor. 3:13, 4:5

2. God is calling the church to return to and restrengthen the foundations of our faith and personal walk with Him and our ministries. A refining fire is coming, and anything not built on a foundation of love will not stand the testing. God is inspecting our works. He wants work to be motivated by love and not to be empty activity. Some lamp stands will be removed this year. Anything not built on love will be shaken. Key Scripture: Rev. 2:4-5

3. There will be many ‘love tests’ this year. People will be given opportunities to grow in true Christ-like love. God will allow moments of difficulty and challenge to teach us to walk and live in love. He is taking us deeper into the gospel of the kingdom, which is to love God with all our hearts and to love people. God is really bringing a revival of true heartfelt love. God wants to invade whole cities and regions. The key that will unlock cities and bring a move of God like the Welsh Revival of 1904 will be the revelation and reality of kingdom love. Key Scriptures: 1 Pet. 4:12-13; Matt. 22:36-40

4. New ministries will be birthed this year. There will be another wave of launching ministries. God has been laying foundations, and now is the time to take action and step out into the fullness of the call of God. Some ‘good things’ will have to be let go of in order to lay hold of God’s best. It truly will be a season of ‘new beginnings’ for many. Key Scripture: Gen. 12:1

5. The apostolic mandate will continue to mature and come into greater manifestation this year as the church is ‘sent by God’ into the marketplace, highways and byways to see the gospel of the kingdom advance forward. There will be a fresh emphasis on souls, church planting and discipling new believers. We will see a new wave of evangelism released through apostolic order. God is stirring the body to aggressively pursue creative miracles and deliverance. Look for opportunities for God to move outside church meetings. If you make yourself available He will move in the most unexpected places. Key Scriptures: Luke 14:23; John 1:6-8

6. God will reveal to the church the true prosperity of the Lord. Any prosperity preached with a motive of greed and selfishness will be shaken down so the true prosperity of the Lord can shine forth. Only God knows the motives and intents of the heart. We must be careful not to prematurely judge people or ministries. Let God be the judge. God is refocusing our understanding of biblical prosperity with the truth that we are blessed so we can be a blessing to others and advance the kingdom of God in the earth. (Remember, prosperity is more than just finances. It also includes divine health, healing, protection, forgiveness, grace, joy, peace and much more.) God will continue to anoint people with creative business ideas for supernatural wealth to help fund the end-time harvest. Key Scriptures: 2 Cor. 9:6-11; Is. 60:11.”

7. Foundational truths will be emphasized by the Holy Spirit, including the blood of Christ, the cross of Christ and salvation through repentance of sin. Key Scriptures: Eph. 1:7; Col. 1:14; Gal. 6:14

8. God is causing us to inspect and re-strengthen our foundation so He can bring multiplication and increase. Anything done with a pure motive and built on a foundation of selfless love will see a wonderful multiplication and increase this year. That which has a solid foundation will be multiplied in 2008.

9. God is teaching His people how to operate with authority from a position of rest. We must know how to use governmental kingdom authority from a place of resting in Christ’s finished work. Both dominion and rest are being highlighted by the Holy Spirit. This dominion will cause the enemy to be displaced out of the land of our inheritance so that we can not only possess it but also be multiplied in that land. Key Scriptures: Col. 1:13; Josh. 6:1-2, 15-16.

10. An apostolic shift of focus is coming in how we view the ‘church.’ God will continue to give us understanding into the practical functions of the apostolic. He is shifting the vision of leaders [so that they see] beyond their own kingdom to His kingdom. A baptism of love will cause leaders to understand that ‘the church’ is not just their local congregations; it is the corporate body within that city, nation and world! Greater expressions will be given to the corporate church. God wants leaders and churches to have a heart for one another.

11. “God wants to invade, awaken and transform whole regions and cities. Apostolic leaders will be raised up to transform local churches into holy habitations of God’s glory that release the body of Christ into greater fullness. Pastors and other five-fold ministries called to the apostolic will continue to shift this year in their vision and function. Some churches will make the transition from ‘local church’ to ‘regional apostolic centers.’ Through the apostolic we will see a greater merging together of the prayer movement, evangelism and church planting. The prayer movement and power movement will come together in a greater way. This will be a year of understanding God’s great grace on many levels. We will hear a lot about grace, faith and love. Key Scriptures: Gal. 5:6; 1 Tim. 1:14

12. Those given media mantles in 2007 will see an increase and expansion in the media in 2008. [Evidence of] God’s current-day move will be seen on both Christian and secular television. God is invading the airwaves with His glory. We will also see the ‘face’ of Christian TV changing. (Charisma online)

HOW I DESTROYED A FLOURISHING MINISTRY TO GET RECOGNITION IN OUR COVEN – EX_OCCULTIST

I don’t know if somebody may call this a confession. What I only try to do is to let people know that there are lots of things happening under the sky and to let them be wary of how they spend their life. I think people, especially Christians should always bear in mind the Bible passage that says: “…he that thinks he stands should take heed not to fall.” It is a serious counsel from the holy book but only we don’t take it that serious most of the time.

Today I struggle to redeem time. I try as much as possible to lead people to God because I know the great havoc I have caused in the kingdom of God regarding those men of God that have fallen as a result of the satanic ministry I took to early in life. Those who have fallen victim of my sex trap are numerous; too many to be counted. I won’t bother about the number but I will only tell of those two or three pastors that fell off balance as a result of my deed.

I had a commission to attack men of God and not because I wanted to do it for pleasure. We had a target in our coven and that was to pull down homes of men of God, destroy their ministries and do all manners of things to discourage them.
I was never a Christian from birth or whatever. I did not know the way to church until the time was ripe for me to carry out my evil assignment. The major advantage I used was to introduce myself to the pastor as a new convert because I have been told from the coven that those Pentecostal pastors love such people and will always want to show love to them in all ways. That was my number one tool and that was where I always started my duties from.

It got to the extent that when I was in year three in the campus, a certain ministry took over my education; paying my school fees and taking good care of me until I broke the home of the pastor and the church scattered. I would weep sometimes when I remember all satan has made use of me to disrupt the programmme of God in the life of his people especially His servants.

The story I will share was that of the last pastor that fell before I met with the Lord. It was after my youth service in the east when I had come back to Lagos. I started to fellowship with a ministry and introduced myself as a new convert. I cooked a pathetic story that would make any man consider me. The pastor immediately recommended me to the church elders and told them he wanted me to be his secretary. The former secretary of the church was a school certificate holder and had got admission into the university and she had lost quit the job at the time I got to the church.

I resumed duty with the full support of the church elders. The pastor was a real man of God. He loved everyone and that was why the ministry was booming because he made sure he ministered to the people in every area of their needs. His was not like those that emphasise money in the church. He gave and encouraged his members to also give and not just to the pastor alone but to anyone that needs help.

His wife also was a nice woman, she took me for a sister and it was like their home was open to me even at midnight. There was a time the woman even suggested that I joined them in the house to live with the family but I did not like that. They loved me also because I worked with every zest.
Just about six months later, I started my operation. The first implementation was on a vigil programme with the church choir which I was a member. I didn’t know the pastor had come to the church before I did. I opened the office and met him lying on the floor.

I went back to the door and locked my office door because my office was linked to his. I locked the door and quietly went to sleep beside him. I couldn’t sleep, I was just using my hand to caress his body and sometimes he would change his position but he did not wake up. He later woke up and saw me beside him. I pretended I was still asleep to see what he would do. He was shocked to see me beside him. He just got up and said: “see this girl”.

He sat on his chair and started reading his Bible. In another few minutes he called me from where he was seated.
But I refused to respond, and pretended I was deep in sleep. He came to me and tapped me to awake. I got up sluggishly as if I was truly asleep.
“Go and sleep in your office,” he said.
I was no longer at ease. I knew he did not take it for anything because our relationship was like that of a brother and the sister. I know he would have chided me but because he saw me like a sister and would never think of what I had in mind. But I was not at rest, I wanted him to do it. I wanted to add more feathers to my cap in the evil world. I wanted a party to be thrown for me in our coven. I wanted to stir up celebration in the coven. I was just going into his office and out several times. When I looked at the time and it was past eleven, I went to him and stood beside him where he was seated. He was surprised and said:

“You this girl what is happening to you this night?”
I just changed my face as if all was not well and pointed to my stomach.
“ Daddy it is my stomach, it has been paining for the past three days…”
He got up from where he was seated and called.
Come here’

He moved to the middle of the office to pray. Just like many deliverance ministers, he believed nothing happens on its own without spiritual undertone. He prayed for me, anointed my head and laid his hand on my stomach. I went back to my office and I was still restless because I wanted him to do it that night. I went back to him in his office and pulled up my dress for him to touch the stomach flesh for flesh.

“Daddy just see how hot the stomach is”, I said as I raised his hand to touch.
That was what sparked up the show. In a nutshell both of us were already rolling on his office rug. He didn’t even bother to ask if the entrance door was locked. We did it that night and I got fulfilled. I was happy that night seeing him ministering with guilt. I could see that guilt written all over him. I know many of the church members would suspect something was wrong with him that night because of the coldness of the ministration. And that was our first goal. We wanted to make those vibrant ones cold and even when they minister we want them to minister in flesh only without any spiritual power.
It later became our habit. Pastor began to date me. Even sometimes we did it in his house. Later when nobody caught us in the act and it was still a secret to the wife, our leader in the coven asked that I reported it myself. She said the people in the church will definitely see me more righteous than the pastor himself.

One early Sunday morning, I went to the house of one of the elders. I narrated all that had been happening between me and pastor. The man was surprised though but he told me he did not believe me until pastor confirms it. After the service that day, I observed the elders had a meeting with the pastor.
They later called me into one of their meetings to confront the pastor but by then I had resigned my appointment, I only went to church during worship time.

The man wept profusely that night they called us together. I pray God will forever forgive me, it was a gross iniquity against the servant of God and God that sent him. In a short while many of the members had heard the news. I thought the wife would fight her husband for the misconduct but I was surprised, the woman stood by her husband. I now understand she might be fighting him within the four corners of the house but when there was a meeting then, she would stand to speak for her husband. I pity the family.

Just two weeks later, one of his sons had an accident on the way from school and died. At our meeting in the coven, we rejoiced over the situation because we knew it was one of the repercussions. That was what made the woman to lose her patience. She began to fight her husband even in the church premises. Before we knew it the church was torn apart and that was the beginning of the end of the church. When the problem became too much for him, he ran out of Lagos, and left the church for those elders that were still with him. His wife went back to Kwara State where they came from while the man went to Ibadan.

When I became a true Christian indeed, I went back to the church to see if I would see anyone to confess and make restitution but a bank has bought the land and has occupied the place. I searched to see the pastor but all my effort were in vain. Till today I have not been able to see him. So let every man of God be wary of those devil-sent sisters in the church so they don’t fall victim. They should always remember; ‘let those who think they stand take heed.’ (Reported By BOLANIRAN OMOKOREDE in SATURDAY SUN, NIGERIA, Saturday, February 23, 2008)