October 2023
November 8, 2023
Warri
We were invited by the Redeemed Christian Church of God Champions Cathedral to minister at their 6th Annual ‘Festival of Champions’ event in Warri. Thousands gathered on school grounds just outside the city. All through the night starting from 6pm people lifted up holy hands as they praised and worshipped for 12 hours straight. Where in the world does one see such fervency and stamina to praise God! It was such an encouragement and example that if the world can go to their night clubs and raves through the night we can do even more and walk away healed, lifted and changed!
The day after we set up our equipment in a nearby church and we could feel a great resistance in the spirit. The sound equipment was playing up and the fault was keeping us much longer than expected. Everyone was tired from the night before and we could just see how the enemy was wearing down the saints in response to the glorious worship that went up. Daniel immediately called all the helpers and sound engineers to the stage as we joined hands and started taking authority in the spirit. We worshipped and as Krzysztof played softly, we sensed a change in the atmosphere. Each one present was prayed for, and tears flowed. As we felt a release, we all returned to our posts and the sound came out perfectly. The enemy’s tactics were broken, and we had a glorious Sunday morning service with shouts and dances of joy for the victory we achieved in the Spirit that week.
Lagos
We flew to Lagos the next day to start a two-week tour of various churches and we witnessed such a tailormade anointing for every gathering. It is so encouraging every time to see how specifically the Holy Spirit guides the worship to serve the needs of those present. We witnessed so many tear-stained faces looking up to heaven worshipping. We could visibly see burdens lifting and shackles breaking.
Nigeria is going through a huge financial crunch and there are so many despondent people who just need a touch from God to tell them to be ‘anxious for nothing’. Phil 4:6-7.
In addition, it made our hearts so eternally grateful when we saw at each ministry engagement the number of children, teenagers and adults who came forward to receive Jesus as Lord and saviour.
Hundreds were saved and many were baptised in the Holy Spirit. We give God all the glory.
RCCG Holy Ghost Congress
As a discipline, we always attend the very big gathering called the ‘Holy Ghost Congress’ at the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Redemption City, Ogun State. A very unique and large Christian City on the expressway between the two major cities, Lagos and Ibadan.
Every year this event gathers millions around the world digitally and physically. During the year Pastor E. A. Adeboye announces the theme of the coming congress and usually, Vinesong is asked to write the theme song and this year was no different.
The theme was so aptly entitled, ‘Divine Repositioning’. A term that is quite a mouthful and perhaps a little difficult to understand by anyone in the Western world but as we sat and composed the theme song, we were amazed at how prophetic this theme was going to be. Not only for us as a ministry but also, we believe, as the Body of Christ worldwide.
Whilst we were in Lagos, Daniel started sharing a new message about King David in the Bible and his phase of repositioning from shepherd boy to a famous giant slayer. It tied in so well with the words of the song highlighting the repositioning in the lives of the lame man at the pool of Bethesda, Zacchaeus in the tree and the woman caught in adultery. We all have a story to tell of how we were divinely repositioned from nothing to something, sinner to saved, drunkard-turned-missionary etc. We know you have your own too!
During the Congress, as we gathered with the throngs of worshippers it became increasingly clear that we will all be transitioning into a very unknown 2024 where we are faced with a Matthew 24 reality.
It was humbling to see so many salvations, healings and times of very deep worship as the whole immense crowd was anointed with oil and served communion on the last night. We give God so much thanks for being able to witness such a spectacle and take the fire to all four corners of the earth!
Jesus is coming soon, and He wants to divinely reposition strategic people for greatness in the last days. The invitation is wide open and applicable for those who dare to say, “Here I am, send me”. May we all taste and see the miracles, signs and wonders that lay ahead.
Ibadan
With that same fire, we drove to Ibadan (the largest city in West Africa by area) for the next phase of our tour where we would minister in various places for a week. We had not been back here since 2019 so it was a joy to return and be greeted by such wonderful friends who have been faithfully serving in God’s vineyard.
It makes our hearts so glad to see men and women serving God wholeheartedly, blossoming in their callings. They have cultivated a work environment as an example for others to follow by their example of selfless serving. These people are making such an amazing change to their communities and in Nigeria as a whole!
In Ibadan alone, we registered 82 salvations. Glory to God!
Abuja
Both Christmas and New Year in Abuja were a blessed time of praise, worship, dancing and caroling but there was a veil over our festivities as we brought our tour to a close. We heard about a conflict starting on Christmas Eve, 2 hours away from us in villages near a city called Jos in Plateau State. Terrorists went on a killing spree at a Baptist church and neighbouring villages where more than 195 were confirmed dead. Our hearts go out to all the Christians in the north of Nigeria who are faced with torture, killing, and kidnapping on a daily basis but yet stay the course. It will only get worse as the days get darker, but we know according to Isaiah 20:2 that as “darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples, the Lord will rise upon us, and His glory will appear over us”.
Abuja is the spiritual and physical seat of government over the nation and our mandate was to speak and sing prophetically the utterances of the Holy Spirit over the nation from this place to take dominion for Jesus! At the moment there is a very great sadness and sense of hopelessness as people once again face a Muslim majority government, who are making decisions contrary to the life that Nigerians, of all faiths, believe in. May the Lord grant the people the courage they need to live and even thrive under these circumstances.
During our stay in Abuja, we shared fellowship with Pastor Chinedu and his wife, Dr. Oby Ezekwesili who is a formidable woman in leadership in Nigeria and Africa as a whole. She is the former vice president of the World Bank and a former Nigerian Government Minister, to name just two of the positions she had held. She is seeing a silver lining around every cloud over Nigeria and making steps to train and equip leaders and potential politicians with the knowledge necessary to create effective politics leading to robust and just governance.
And finally...
We also noticed during our time in Nigeria that it seems like God is putting very prominent people in prominent positions of influence. For example, the recent crowning of the former pastor of an RCCG church in Maryland USA, Ghandi Olaoye, now head of a tribe, King Ghandi Olaoye, Soun of Ogbomoso. His positioning will mean a great deal to future Nigerian political outcomes.
God is repositioning many people to do exploits in the last days. According to Joel 2:28 God “will pour out His Spirit on all flesh…” We were privileged and honoured to be used by God to sow seeds over these last 7 weeks that we trust, by the watering of the Holy Spirit, will reap a great harvest in the Name of Jesus!
Blessings,
Vinesong
