"Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth"
1 Corinthians 1:26
Those who may possibly read in a hurry, the above scripture detailing the caliber of people whom God used to call into His ministry, may run away with the wrong impression that God usually calls riff-raff.
But when one, however, looks at the message contained in 1st Corinthians 2:7 specifying the divine qualifications of the called, speaking hidden wisdom, one would then begin to realise that they are never of the shallow waters.
"But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our Glory.”
From Genesis to Revelation and through ancient and modern times, it is never in the character of God to call the indolent or the lazy drones into His vineyard, and He is not known to saddle the talentless with the ministry of accomplishing great works for the salvation or liberation of the world.
The Biblical David was highly skilled on the field and in the art of poetry and music; Elisha was a large scale mechanised farmer before his was called into the prophethood, just as Peter was a skilled fisher man while Paul was a radical lawyer and skilled tent maker.
Talking of the formidable women in His Ministry, the Bible described them as "great was the company of those women that published it", Psalm 68:11.
From Miriam, the older sister of Moses, being a most remarkable woman and Prophetess; to Deborah; holding two offices, female prophetess and a judge, they were gallant women of no mean order. Through to Lydia, a seller of purple and quite wealthy and Priscilla, teacher of the word of God in a more perfectly way to Apollos who himself was an eloquent man (Acts 18: 24-28) they were never push-overs in any way.
They were indeed a company of great souls who ruled kingdoms and touched lives positively, winning souls in their thousands for the Lord.
This brings us to the President of Message of Salvation Women Ministry, Mrs Florence Funmilayo Ajagbe who before her call into the care of widows, was a confidential secretary in the Ministry of Health, Ilorin, Kwara State.
She was a professional in charge of handling sensitive and classified information on behalf of very high-ranking executives. Her organisational, communication and technical skills were excellent while she was a trustworthy person of proven integrity.
The Senior Pastor of her church at ECWA, Ilorin, Rev. Dr. B.L. Owojaiye stated that she and her husband, both as elders in the church, have led exemplary life of 54 years in marriage, adding that: "This speaks volume of the life they are living in their marriage which is still thriving and as couple, the church can vouch for their impeccable characters."
"Her life is compatible with what she teaches, I can proudly recommend that any penny in her custody will be used for the purpose for which it is meant," Dr Owojaiye remarked.
Jesus Christ, who was fore ordained to "bind up the broken-hearted, proclaim liberty to the captives and the opening of prison to KB them that are bound," called his ministers for some purposes, Isaiah 61:1
When one looks at the staggering data of widows, across the globe, as provided by the United States Bureau of Statistics ,one would no doubt realise why the Lord Jesus Christ called Mrs Ajagbe, to the Ministry of leading widows to become women of noble characters.
According to the statistics, no fewer than seven million women become widows globally each year.
God gave Moses the mission to free his people from the shackles of Pharaoh. What was the mission of God for Mrs Ajagbe and how was she called?
She had genuine passion for sharing the pathetic stories of widows who came her way while she was in the Ministry of Health and was always found a way of helping them, providing counselling and giving them material comfort. Her office soon became a place where others who heard how she had been a ready shoulder to lean upon, invaded to unzip their hearts for succour.
She told her story:"In 2005, a minister of God called me and told me that the Lord has asked him to tell me to give my full attention to this Ministry. I didn't rate it at anything because it had been part of my preoccupation at church level. When women mostly widows continued to call at my office each day for prayers, counselling and assistance, my boss advised me that I should reconsider my stand and give full time dedication to this divine assignment.
“I began trading in computer wares, selling raw foods and provision while opening a medicine store and attending to women who came for prayers and were testifying to the efficacy of the prayer sessions we were doing daily.
"The same Pastor who told me earlier that God wanted me to leave every other thing and concentrate on Women Ministry, came again this time with strong warning that I must not be recalcitrant in heeding the call. During an all-night vigil in 2005, God ministered to me directly in mysterious manifestations in which I saw different signs that confirmed that He was leading me into the Ministry. This was a time my husband and I were pensioners while our children were at colleges, with much school fees to pay.
Miraculously, I was invited to partake on a weekly radio programme gratis and with many radio listeners buying into the educative talk, christened 'Obinrin Oniwa Rere (The virtuous Woman)'. Consequently, testimonies were shared and the need to have a meeting point where I could attend to their needs became another challenge which God, in no time, solved for us as voluntary helps came speedily through the Grace of God."
Going by the level of success recorded by her Ministry in the distribution of bumper relief packages to hundreds of widows in the state, how has her Ministry been able to handle the assignment without recording untoward issues?
Mrs Ajagbe believes that nothing good is owned without the Giver's blessing and provision. According to her, where there is the vision “there had been the provision a-head of the manifestation of the vision. The Lord had perfected everything before He called me . If the Lord had not built the house those who labour to do it are only doing it in vain. He is not a God of confusion and which is why we have been very methodical in utilising every provision. He has made available to us in this Ministry, both human and material resources.The Bible asks one to be gentle as a dove but to be wise as a serpent. Apart from managing well all resources available to us,we engage the services of men and women of the Nigerian Civil Defence Corps to oversee the distribution and ensure orderliness as you could also observe when widows were queuing up to receive their packages.
"To ensure equitable distribution, we invited five widows from each church and ensured that they were seated comfortably with their overseers. The Weekly teaching of the scriptures impacted well in the behaviour of participants who always conducted themselves orderly as the distribution went on. No doubt we had some challenges from those who were not on the list sent by churches, including those who gate-crashed into the venue, but seeing that the scheme is not ceremonial, rather, a constant event, they were assured that there were enough to go round and so the initial anxiety died down and not a single person left this hall without the package. We need to thank our supporters who have been sponsoring this scheme in cash and in kind, including provision of expertise for our free medical outreach programme which has been of tremendous success."
For somebody who has been preoccupied with caring for widows in the past twenty years, it was remarkable hearing Ajagbe assigning value to her collective experience on the field.
"I did not go into this scheme simply because I had been a women leader at the church level. God inspired me to go into the distribution of relief package, not only at our office and here at the ECWA Hall where we give both the spiritual and physical assistance to women; we also reached out to them in villages and towns by the leading of the Lord.
"It is, however, traumatic when we hear the ordeals which many widows are facing in the hands of their in-laws. It is really traumatic and many times I am moved to tears, seeing their wretchedness and the way most of them were abandoned by families in their lust for reaping where they did not even sow.
"We empower many of them and where necessary we take loans to ensure they are meaningfully engaged in their trades. God has helped us to sponsor the education of children of widows up to university level while supplying water to leprosarium, and equipped them with food stuffs. I thank my husband for his whole-hearted support for this Ministry at all times. He was presented with a bus as his birthday gift but he has been making the bus available for our constant use."
One may be wondering why she is being saddled with ministering to the spiritual and physical needs of widows when already the Church existed for the same purpose. Many could even wonder whether God's invitation to her is a subtle indictment against the church which sacred responsibility, as stipulated in the Bible, is to take charge of meeting the needs of the widows, would she have been called into this Ministry if the Church had been alive to its duties?
"Right from the Bible days, the Ministry has been divinely commissioned to complement the efforts of the church and so assigned by the Lord for His Glory. They are not rivals or created to antagonize each other but ordained to serve God's purpose." A close study of the Bible especially in Corinthians, Chapter 12:4-6 shows that there are diversities of gifts but the same Spirit, just as there are differences of administration, yet the same Lord while there are diversities of operations but the same God which worketh all in all." Conversely, God ordained the Church and within the church raised men and women of honest rapport and endowed with the power of the Holy Spirit and wisdom to ensure the proper care of the widows. God has a special place for them; no wonder why we refer to our Lord Jesus Christ as the caregiver of the widows."
Besides, the Lord who so much loved the world and gave us His only begotten Son has indeed commissioned this Ministry to reach out to share God's Love to the whole world. This is why this Ministry is interdenominational and inter-faith in its distribution of its programmes, especially the "Give them Relief scheme for the widows. You would note that our church here in Ilorin, ECWA, fully supported me in the administration of this programme.
Our Senior Pastor, Reverend, Dr. B.L. Owojaiye attended this function and indeed sanctified the reliefs before we started distribution. So, God is the owner of the harvest and the harvest is full and He is still charging us to pray that He could send more labourers to this VINEYARD.
Interview
By Olalere Fagbola
