My beloved, happy happy new year 2012!
“And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How
beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring
glad tidings of good things!” Rom. 10:15.
I am so excited to bring you this GOOD REPORT the eight day of January
2012. Why am I so excited? You may ask. I should be. Is that not why we
greet HAPPY NEW YEAR? It is supposed to be happy all the way. This is in
spite of all the killings of Christians by the terrorist group called Boko
Haram. They shall soon disappear from our country in Jesus name. Amen. My
joy is also in spite of the removal of fuel subsidy that has increased the
cost of petroleum products above one hundred percent. It is tough but we
are still more than a conqueror. We can go through any situation and still
be joyful. No wonder Emperor Nero of Rome was so miserable in the early
century of Christianity. He was the one killing the Christians, yet he was
the one miserable from doing what he did. The major reason was that at
inspection of the bodies of the dead saints, he noticed that they were all
happy. Why would someone be happy when they are eaten up by lions? It is
what I know as the joy of salvation. Glory to God!
My greatest joy is springing from the IJAW DAY OF PRAYER, PRAISE AND
THANKSGIVING service we had yesterday (Saturday 7 January 2012) here in
Warri where I have been since Friday. It was a great service as hundreds
of Ijaw men and women gathered together from different churches and
backgrounds. Major Ijaw traditional rulers were present to celebrate, pray
and hear a word from God at my mouth for the year 2012. I was really
overjoyed to see my tribal group receive me with such honor. The Grand
Patron, an elder statesman, Rev. Dr. I. C. Tolar, the Coordinator, Rev.
Dr, Godwins Soroaye and a prominent Ijaw minister for almost three
decades, Rev. Benson German led me to the grounds to receive a bouquet of
flowers. This is the first time I will be received like this by my own
people and in the city of Warri. I was humbled by God’s word as I see His
word come to pass.
I like to take you down memory lane so that you will appreciate what the
Lord is doing with us in this ministry. I was born in Lagos. My father,
Joel Amamieye, was rich. So I was not born poor. In his days, he was
Commissioner for The Boys Scout in the then Lagos state. So he must have
been a prominent man. He became personal manager of WAHUM, a manufacturing
company in Lagos. A robbery operation on the van that brought the money
for workers salary cost my father’s life to be short on earth. The only
testimony that was used to nail my father was what the gate man said. He
told the company and kangaroo court that my father specifically instructed
him not to open the company gate when the money van arrived. So while the
van was at the gate, the notorious criminal, Oyenusi and his gang attacked
and robbed the van. Unfortunately, that day, my father got to work late
after the robbery incidence. Even though Oyenusi told them that they don’t
know my father not to talk of working on his instruction, they refused to
listen.
My father had no lawyer to represent him. No one to speak for him as
Nigeria just came out of the civil war. There was also this anger against
the Ijaw man for what Isaac Boro did. While the kangaroo trial was on,
General Gowon promulgated the decree of death by firing squad.
Incidentally, my father along with Oyenusi became the first to be killed
by firing squad. From Kirikiri prison to the stake, my father cried for
his innocence. Even up till today, sometimes, I hear my father’s cry. This
is the more reason I get infuriated by injustice. When I hear someone is
killed, my blood pumps up. I want to know why he was killed. I want to
know if it was true. Something in me wants to know if they were given a
fair hearing.
As the news of my father’s killing went across the land, the national
newspaper, Daily Times carried it as a front page news. One of my father’s
very dear friends in New York saw the news on television. He was so
weakened by it that he took some days off work. When this man was in
Nigeria struggling to find himself, he had stayed with my father for one
year. According to him, my father even wrote several letters to several of
his friends to help him to travel out of Nigeria back in those days. So up
until this day, he has fond memories of my father. When I am in New York,
I stay in his home although he and his wife of over forty years are
retired, he is still a strong man.
In 1971, we moved to Warri. I grew up here in Warri. Having seen my
father’s death, I was never the same. My whole life turned brutal and
base. I was rough and rugged while growing up here in Warri. I was brutal.
I was bad. I did all manner of bad things as a revenge against the system
and society. It was at the brink of joining a cult group that would have
empowered me to disappear after an operation that I had an encounter with
Christ. The past three decades of knowing Christ personally and intimately
has changed my entire life. Today, I am a living proof of the saving power
of Christ. It was here in Warri I did all the bad things as a sinner. It
was here I got saved. It was here I started preaching. It was here I
pastored my first church fellowship in 1983 that grew from a handful to
over four hundred in 1984. My first city wide crusade was help here in
Warri in 1985. It was from here I moved to Port Harcourt twenty two years
ago.
Now, twenty two years after, I was received by my own people as the
prophetic voice for the hour. So you can see why I am happy. Well, my joy
was full when some dozens of Ijaw youths came protesting with placards
while I was preaching at the prayer ground. It would have disrupted the
service because the young men we had as Ushers and Security were also
ready for any eventualities. But God turned it around. Every one of those
boys were on their knees as I shared my own story with them. They saw that
I was no different from them but Jesus saved me. At last, all of them
received Christ into their lives. The change has begun. I gave them The
Word For You Today devotional. That is our quarterly devotional we send to
partners. Request yours when you partner with us. The seeds sown will
blossom in Jesus name. Amen.
Like our text tells us, the feet of those who preach the gospel are
beautiful. Why? What we preach has the capacity to turn beasts into
beauties. We beautify lives. We beautify our world with the power of the
gospel. But then, there is a question there: how shall they preach except
they be sent? We are ready to take this gospel to the ends of the earth
but we need those who will send us with their money and materials. It
takes a lot of money to go from place to place, village to village, city
to city, country to country. Will you partner with us this year? I am
asking you to pray about going with us from where you are located by
sending us. Send me an email: mike@aggressivefaith.org and tell me that
you want to send me to the villages, cities and twenty nations we have
listed to reach this year. You can do it. Do it in Jesus name. Amen!