CHRIST EMBASSY CHURCH CONCEALS PASTOR'S FAMILY ISSUES

Members of Christ Embassy, whose founding spiritual leader, Pastor Chris Oyakhi­lome, is facing a divorce suit instituted in London by his long estranged wife, Anita, seem to have taken the un­folding saga with grace and equanimity.
Apparently determined to ensure that the biblical prophecy, “strike the shepherd and the sheep shall scatter,” does not come true for the Pentecostal ministry populated by young people, the members will this morning hold an extravagant praise service to celebrate the continuing faithfulness to the church and to motivate each other to hold up in the face of the present circumstance.
During a short presentation at the midweek service held at the Kudirat Abiola Way, Lagos headquarters of the church (which also serves as the home of Lagos Zone 5 of the church), one of the zonal leaders,
Pastor Roland Dabo, quoted from the Bible in the Book of Nehemiah (chapter 8, verse 10) and said: “Remember that in the month of August, our dear man of God (a reference to Pas­tor Chris) told us to always know that the joy of the Lord is our strength. We must consistently give God praise in all circumstances,” adding that giving praise is a surefire “way to silence the enemy and the avenger.”
Pastor Niyi Orebiyi, who joined Dabo to make the short presentation on the reason for the church’s decision to hold the extravagant praise service on Sep­tember 7, emphasized that “a man that is not joyful cannot praise God,” thereby indicating that the church was not shak­en by the current situation.
Earlier at the start of the midweek service which began at 6.50pm with a short prayer session in tongues led by dark-complexioned pastor, the choir in a song ministration led by a fair-complex­ioned male chorister, got the congrega­tion enthralled, enraptured and wor­shipping as he sang these words: “We’re getting stronger everyday; no matter what comes our way; Stronger today than yesterday. We’re moving forward, we’re going higher.”
Annually, members of Christ Em­bassy pour out into the streets across the nation on October 1 to mark the Independence Anniversary with evan­gelism under the Reach-Out Nigeria programme, during which they distribute free copies of the Rhapsody of realities, a daily devotional and bible study guide published by the church. For this year, Lagos Zone 5 has set the target of dis­tributing 2 million copies. While urging members to continue pursuing the zone’s target, a deaconess shared the testimony of Susan Inegbedion, a Christ Embassy member in Ajah, Lagos, who was able to achieve the individual personal target of distributing 1000 copies and vowed to surpass it three times. This disclosure moved many members to redouble their efforts as several of them were seen signing up and collecting more copies, which they planned to distribute in the course of the week as they go about their private affairs.
In the message (sermon) to crown the midweek service, which was preached by Pastor Shade Emioghene on the theme, “How to precipitate the power of God through praise,” she noted that the thoughts and contempla­tions of the mind of a person play key role in the tone of praise. She admon­ished the members, saying: “Be careful of the thoughts you entertain at times like this.”
Alluding to some of the things Pastor Chris usually said to the members in consonance with the bible, (“The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places, all things are mine, the word is working in my life”) Emioghene told the congrega­tion to maintain a positive confession at all times.
Without directly mentioning the pending divorce suit, she, like the other pastors referred to Pastor Chris as “our dear man of God” and said, “What the devil meant for my downfall, God used to promote me,” and urged the members to meditate on the right things that bring joy assuring that they would definitely receive the comfort of the spirit as they depend on the grace of God to call the bluff of the devil.