Having the consciousness and conscience to think of others first before ourselves is an extraordinary feat. And being generous is an act that often makes a difference in other people’s lives. Man of God who is the Senior Pastor at the Omega Fire Ministries, Apostle (Prof.) Johnson Suleman, is never tired of sharing and this is evident in his regular activities.
Seven convicted prisoners from Edo and Enugu prisons and a 73 years old woman are the latest receivers of Suleman’s act of kindness. The prisoners aged between 20 and 35, who had their sentences ranging between three years and five years had spent part of their sentences before God intervened through the ‘Oracle of God’ as Suleman is fondly addressed, during one of his usual liberation calls to prison yards. A bail bond of N1.5 million was said to have been signed to rescue the prisoners, while the man of God promised to later empower each of them with startup capital for various skills that they are good at.
“We needed to intervene, we needed to save and restore souls” declares Prof. Suleman of his concern while he cautioned the freed men against returning to crimes. “We are not getting you out to return to crime. God does not give third chance, He may give second chance,” he warns.
The aged woman’s case was so remarkable the church rose in ovation for Prof. Suleman’s gesture. The old woman, who survives on hawking firewood, has been working unnoticed in the church for many years. But her case got the man of God’s attention when he learnt that she was accused of being behind a missing phone where she lives. To Suleman, this was a touching story of life and a tormenting one at that for her age. Apart from volunteering to replace the missing phone to save the old woman’s integrity since she had never been so accused in the church by anyone, Prof. Suleman also mandated her to stop hawking firewood promising to pay her N50, 000 freely every month for life. This rare gesture, which Suleman said will be coming directly from his personal purse, is needed to restore the woman’s confidence in God.
“You are not truly rich until you can reach out,” Prof. Suleman says while commenting on the basis for his everyday charity, while he encouraged all to “keep helping people, though some will abuse it and some will insult it. Remember that success without a successor is failure in disguise. Having wealth and prosperity is not about how much money you have or how many cars you have in your garage, it is about how many lives you are affecting”.