In the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ, in the Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, now and forevermore, Amen.
I want to re-emphasise that Brotherhood of the Cross and Star (BCS) is the Kingdom of God, divine, full of mysteries, and that it is led by the Almighty God. Everything about BCS is power.
This played out during the religious riot in parts of Zaria in Kaduna State, Nigeria in the year 1987. The riot resulted in the massive destruction of lives and properties, especially churches and persons perceived to be Christians by Muslims.
Several houses that belonged to non-natives, non-Muslims as well as assorted churches were set ablaze. The irate Muslim youths moved from street to street, house to house searching for Christians who they equally set ablaze.
BCS Bethel was then erected with zinc in the Samaru area with a handful of brethren. It was small in size; nothing about it showed that it can be reckoned with. The Father posted me to serve Him in that Bethel in 1985.
So one day, the irate Muslim youths moved to where the Bethel was with the intention to also set it ablaze. They knew quite well that people wore white and congregated there often for worship. But they got confused and undecided when they got to the front of the Bethel. Meanwhile, I was inside my room seeing and hearing them discussed. After a while, they moved away to another church and burnt it down.
At this point, I had to temporarily move out of the Bethel. A Hausa elderly woman who stood by hurriedly took me into their inner room, where I hid till the following day before I escaped on a journey to Calabar to report the situation to The Holy Father.
By the way, due to the state of the Bethel, I had earlier visited The Holy Father three times to report. Part of my intention was to see the possibility of getting money from the Him to build the Bethel.
But each time, The Holy Father would tell me, “I Am seeing you dancing inside a modern and bigger Bethel…”. I never understood what the He meant then.
When the mayhem subsided, I returned to Samaru to continue my priestly duties. By this time, the government had issued a White Paper. They decided to compensate all the churches and persons that were affected by the riot.
One fateful day, government officials were moving to the places that were burnt or damaged, giving out forms to owners of the affected properties to fill. They stopped by at our Bethel even though it was not affected. I collected the form. Perhaps I should have collected more forms.
Then I called the officials and brethren of the Bethel to a meeting, where I formally announced the collection of the form. But I was blamed by some officials for even collecting the form. To them, I had lied to the government. They distanced themselves from me, warning that when trouble comes, they should not be involved.
I did not mind them. I went ahead and filled the form and submitted it. The government officials reviewed our form and approved of it. They invited BCS to come and collect a hefty cheque. I went with one Pastor Isua-Ikoh who appeared to be understanding.
I immediately decided to move to Calabar to report and hand over the cheque to The Holy Father. My colleagues, that is, fellow Christ Students then, blamed me for being truthful. They talked and treated me scornfully. They even blocked the gate to our then Quarters against me, saying that I should not have mentioned the entire amount to the Father; that I wanted to show how righteous I was.
But the Holy Father directed that the money be used to build a modern Bethel in Samaru town. And so, to the glory of our Father, that is how the Bethel was built in 1988.
In the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ, in the Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, now and forevermore, Amen.
