Archbishop Designate Isaac Idahosa, General Overseer of God First Ministries Inc., popularly known as Illumination Assembly, on Saturday, May 30, has put paid to the promise he made weeks ago, to distribute foodstuff palliatives to pastors and ministers of the gospel, including members and non-members of Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria alike, to help them mitigate the economic effect of Covid-19 pandemic in their respective homes.

His admirable penchant for giving and ensuring that the welfare of people around him are catered for is just another reason to love Bishop Idahosa.

The charity event which took place at the church auditorium witnessed a near mammoth turnout of pastors, other altar ministers with different portfolios including deacons and deaconesses from divers denominations and doctrinal inclinations.

Enlightening Apple’s Bite International Magazine on the motivation behind his decision to cater for the welfare of ministers of the gospel, Bishop Isaac Idahosa said that it is a call to duty for believers to strengthen one another. He explained that the hallmark of being blessed is when you become a blessing to others.


“It is call to duty for believers to strengthen one another. When God blesses you, the true sign that you’re really blessed is to stretch your hands of fellowship and love to others. That is how to go. When one is down, every other person is down, and when one is up, all others are up. We have seen light, and the light is to be our brothers keepers. Jesus said, by this shall all men know you’re my disciples if you have love, one for another. That is it. We are provoking to love, and unto good works.

“In the past, we have done for membership of the church and the community, however, this time, we are concentrating on ministers of the gospel, it doesn’t matter where you belong, weather you are a member of PFN, CAN or another denomination or Christian body, we are all brothers and sisters in the fold of Christ, that’s why you can see people congregated and more are still coming in, to take the little we have to offer them.”

Present at the charity ball to lend support and credence to one of own were other revered accomplished ministers of the gospel who are hierarchy in PFN, one of them was Bishop Dr. Femi Soneye, Province Chairman, Island Eti-Osa, PFN. In his remark, Bishop Dr. Femi Soneye describes Bishop Isaac Idahosa's gesture to ministers of God as though coming a bit late, however, very thoughtful and highly appreciated.

“It is a palliative that is coming almost late, but we thank God it came, and it is very appreciated. Pastors are shepherds, who look after people, but people don’t look after them. In most cases, people they look after turn against them. There is nothing you do for members as a pastor that is sufficient, the day you don’t have, it’s like you have never done. So it’s so great that we have one or two persons remembering that pastors are equally human beings who should also be looked after,” he remarked.

Also present was His Excellency Archbishop Jim Okeu a cleric and former gubernatorial aspirant in Benue State. He described Bishop Idahosa's altruistic gesture as apostolic.

“This is apostolic, the early church started this, but somewhere along the line it disappeared, now it has appeared never to disappear again. The bible says, whatever they had they shared in common, so there was no need in their midst, very soon, there’d be no more needs in the church. So this is apostolic, this is what we have been expecting in all generations, and I’m happy to celebrate him (Bishop Isaac Idahosa) as a person for this. We all are going to hang on with him to make this a success from this level. This is a sacrifice and it is highly welcome in the church of the living God,” he closed.

Highlighting the economic effect of Covid-19 pandemic on ministers of the gospel, convener of the charity event, Archbishop Isaac Idahosa enlightened that ministers of God are humans like everyone else and they have same experiences as other people too.

“Ministers of God are human beings too, blood and water flow in their veins. They go to the same market like everyone else, their children go to the same schools. So the effect is the same on everyone. The only difference between Ministers of God and other people is the calling and grace. Ministers are humans too. The bible described Elijah as a man of like passion like you.

“Even Jesus during his earthly ministry had similar experience, at a point, they needed money to pay taxes, no money was found, he asked them to go open the mouth of the fish to settle the bills. So ministers are no exemption we pass through what everyone else passes through.”

Items distributed as palliatives include repacked raw rice, garri, cartons of noodles and condiments.
Apart from ministers of the gospel, some uniformed officers including police, and other paramilitary present at the charity ball were beneficiaries of the palliative distribution.

Some beneficiaries who spoke to Apple’s Bite International Magazine expressed their gratitude for the timely gesture by Bishop Isaac Idahosa.

One of such beneficiaries Pastor Achiever Jubilee of Prosperous Outreach Ministries, a ministry that reaches out to travelers, explained that since the pandemic halted activities, most young pastors have been finding it hard to cope.

“We appreciate him and thank God for using him to reach out to fellow pastors. This period, pastors need a lot of encouragement. Since the church has not been functioning, a lot has been going on within, and even the members can not cry to them. Pastors really need to be encouraged, so this approach to call pastors together and support them is God’s will. Indeed, God will bless him and honor him for this. It may not be much what he gave us, but this little speaks a lot.

Deaconess Patience Amadi also expressed profound appreciation to Bishop Isaac Idahosa for remembering them, as the foodstuff will go a long way.

“This is a very good initiative by the great man of God. The period of this pandemic, people have really suffered. For Bishop Isaac Idahosa to remember us in a time like this, is a very good gesture and we are very happy This foodstuff will go a long way.”

Another beneficiary that spoke to this tabloid was Pastor Simon Danmole of New Restoration of Lost Hope. “This initiative is very encouraging. We have been looking forward to seeing things like this. We have lots of ministers who have what it takes to deliver like Bishop Isaac Idahosa, but decided not to act on it. We really appreciate what he is doing, and we pray for more grace for him to continue like this.”

This ministers palliative by Bishop Isaac Idahosa Is one from the series of givings that he did through his foundation named after him during the covid-19 lockdown. He had on different occasions distributed food stuffs, cash, hand sanitizers among other items to church members, and the host community of his church God First Ministries in Ajah, not less than 2,000 people have benefitted from his humanitarian gestures during this pandemic lockdown.


Credit:

https://applesbite.com/covid-19-palliatives-bishop-isaac-idahosa-extends-food-distribution-to-pastors-ministers-2/

So what??