I give all the thanks back to God: I can’t be silent.

I must start by telling you how destiny brought me to TCC.

In March 2013, a prayer point was raised to pray for Pastor Nkechi and the entire TCC family in a church in Kaduna where I was worshipping at that time, they also mentioned that Pastor Cee had gone home to be with the Lord. We prayed to God to grant Pastor Kech wisdom to steer the ship He’s committed to her, as at that time I had never heard of TCC nor seen Pastor before.

Two months afterwards, I found myself in Port Harcourt for a job and stayed in Eleme with a brother from the northern part of the country who also mentioned that he occasionally worships in TCC. That made me do a google search for the location of the church and I read as much as I could from the web about the church. Within me I knew this was where I belong even though I hadn’t stepped my foot on Greenville.

Finally, I came in September 2013 on a Sunday service and afterwards came for prayer meetings only (due to distance coming from Eleme) until June 2014 when I rented an apartment off NTA road, then the journey to membership began. 

For about seven years, I had been trusting God for a formal full-time job because I had a casual job with no contractual agreements. Although I had participated in recruitment exercises of different organizations, I never got the job offers despite making it to the final interviews. Some would call these experiences a “near success syndrome”. While believing God for something tangibly big, I was experiencing God’s favours from likely and unlikely vessels in every area of need ranging from clothes, shoes, money, feeding, unsolicited offers of help, phones etc. That made it obvious to me that God isn’t unaware of my petitions. However, I still felt stuck in my career, lost confidence in my intellectual prowess, and wondered if I was ever going to make headway in my career given how much I had invested into it. 

My parents and concerned family members, for some years, have made repeated suggestions concerning my change of church as “things weren’t working” for me yet. I stuck to my gun, telling them that everything I needed for total development and success is here and I’m convinced this is the local church where the Lord would have me belong to. God led me to TCC and planted me here.

I have audio recordings of some prophecies by Pastor Nkechi Ene that I repeatedly listened to, prayed, and even sowed seeds towards. Each of these prophecies became a song in my mouth as I could say them without listening to the recordings. Even at that, there was no physical improvement in my situation.

Two months after the “major career change” prophecy of 5th January 2019.

NNPC (Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation) commenced a recruitment exercise which I participated in. I wrote the test and was interviewed for an Experience Hire role. This seemed like the manifestation of the major career change prophecy but without any explanation, the corporation went mute about concluding the process for the Experience Hire positions. A preceding recruitment exercise I took part in was that of Dangote refinery, which I also got to the final interview (4th stage) but was later told the unfathomable reason why I couldn’t get the job. 

In June 2020, Pastor Nkechi gave a prophecy during a Thursday service of someone getting a call within seven days.

I received that prophecy. Later, I replayed it, prayed and sowed in that regard as usual. Four days afterwards, I got a call from the managing director of an oil and gas servicing company for an immediate phone interview. I quickly got off the public bus I had boarded and had the phone interview by the roadside. After the interview, the interviewer expressed how impressed he was with me and requested that I send him a text message after the call to his personal line which he gave me. I never heard from the managing director or the organization again.

Meanwhile, after the prophecy of “the shift” Pastor Nkechi gave in June 2018 there was a shift in my thinking which made me apply for a Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF) overseas Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) Scholarship funded by the Nigerian government given that I had already bagged two master degrees while doing the casual job. Prior to this prophecy, I had always said that I wasn’t psychologically ready for a doctoral degree. With the guidance of my academic mentors and friends who were very familiar with the PTDF final selection criteria, I checked all the boxes in the selection criteria very well and had an impressive interview but I still did not get the final offer. I was greatly puzzled. Then, I was advised to re-sit for West African Examinations Council (WAEC) with targeted grades, so that I could get at least 80% of the maximum score for the Senior Secondary Certificate of Education (SSCE) criteria, as that was the only likely aspect (other than quota system and political connection) that could be humanly responsible for my not getting the scholarship offer in the previous attempt. 

I sat for the General Certificate of Education (GCE) exams 1st series in January/February 2020. After that, I was led in my spirit to print complimentary cards for my private teaching outfit and I danced to this leading of the Holy Spirit. I distributed the printed cards in my place of work at that time. When the GCE result came out on the first week of March, I hit the targeted grades but was not shortlisted for the PTDF-PhD interview. This dealt me a severe blow and I was really downcast. Three weeks afterwards, I got laid off from my casual job of seven years; the basis for the inclusion of my name among those that were disengaged startled me. However, after the layoff, I got contracts to coach some students who were preparing for external examinations at home due to the pandemic. This I did till the end of August and as a result, had significant improvements in my finance.  Early in September 2020, I felt the strong urge to invest time in surfing the web for Canada/US schools with full PhD funding for a Chemical Engineering programme.

In addition to doing that, I wrote emails to over 60 professors and program coordinators where I outlined my career profile and requested for opportunities in their research groups. In some cases, I asked for a waiver of application fees, and possibly Graduate Record Examination (GRE). I finally submitted my applications to five schools in the US who made GRE optional because of the pandemic.

However, the school I thought I had the least chance of being admitted into because it has a very low acceptance rate of 18% offered me a PhD admission with a full-tuition scholarship and research assistantship. This scholarship is worth about $90,000.00 (Ninety thousand dollars) per annum covering full tuition fees, health insurance and stipends. God is awesome and does His things with a touch of perfection. I could have gotten partial or full funding without stipends that would have made me remain in search of the shortfall, but God gave me funding with no deficit. While I was reeling in the excitement of what God just did, another school sent me an email saying they now have funding for a project that might interest me if I’m still interested in schooling with them. I had accepted one offer, and intended on declining the others.

During those trying times, I felt broken on the inside, discouraged and even lethargic. What kept me going was the time-tested and unadulterated Word from this pulpit, spirit-energizing music ministrations from the New Wine Choir, strong support systems in church, network of genuine friends, and my journey partner.

Pastor Kech, thank you for all you do for us the sheep. Thank you for not just teaching us the Scriptures but also embodying and living it. Thank you, Pastor Sola for your prayers, wise counsels and sensitivity to my issue. I also want to thank Pastor Tayo and Pastor Casmir for their encouragement, prayers, and spoken words of faith over me these years, even in moments I was with teary eyes. I also thank my FOG leader Bro. Derrick, Bro. Danjuma, Sis. Iyowuna, Sis. Helen, and Bro. Tunde for their nonstop check-ups and encouragement. God indeed came through for me in a bigger way than I could have imagined He is always on time.

Praise be to our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, whose power and awe-inspiring deeds are unparalleled. Hallelujah!