Pastor (Mrs) Dove Ezurike Ifeoma is the Founder, Covenant Mothers and Kings Fellowship International, based in Anambra State. In this interview with NGOZI UMA, she shares her insight into the humanitarian mission of her ministry, among other issues. Excerpt:
In what ways has your ministry transformed lives, and can you share any impactful testimonies?
Our ministry has impacted lives, men and women, timbers and calibers, educated and uneducated. Many full time housewives today are gainfully employed, women that are given to gossip, that have nothing to do are now coordinators in our various branches. Currently, we have 100 branches across Nigeria. I am not the one in all of them. These are the women I met on the street. These are men that their destinies were written off. Society has given up on them, but on gathering them by the Spirit of the Lord, and then they gave their lives to Christ and the word of God, I mean the undiluted word of God was preached to them, and their hearts were opened, and they received the word. They got born again. They settled and began to serve. So, they have been impacted spiritually. They’ve been impacted materially. They have been impacted financially, emotionally and otherwise, even socially and politically. Financially, we empowered so many men. Some from our catering school have learnt how to bake, some shoe making and tailoring,etc. Also, we have been a blessing to many through our program every month, like a minimum of 200 widows are on salary every month. Every month we pay them salaries. Also, we have given scholarships to so many children in our school and outside our school at nursery, primary, secondary and university levels.
How will you describe your kind of ministry?
It depends on your understanding of your calling, when the Lord called me, I told myself I needed to discover the God who called me so that tomorrow I would not run to pastors. So, I went on a set apart to pray and hear from God. I remembered vividly that I had a revelation where I saw children naked and dirty and they were crying and begging me for food. So, I had compassion towards them. I went to the kitchen to get food for them when I heard a voice telling me that these are the people of this generation. They are naked, so you need to clothe them. They are hungry, you need to feed them, both spiritual and physical food, and they are very dirty. You need to cleanse them by the word of God. I knew that my ministry is not just to feed people with the word, but also assist them physically and otherwise. So, any ministry that only helps people solve their spiritual needs, neglecting whether the physical, emotional, financial and the political needs are incomplete ministry. When you solve their spiritual needs, you also solve their physical needs, their financial needs and all that depend on how far God has helped you. We have the Grace Hand Mission, an arm in the ministry where we would mobilise ourselves. We go to different villages. We buy bags of rice and wrappers. We go to different villages to mobilise women and men, after the Word of God is preached to them. They gave their lives to Christ. We share those welfare materials with them.
You are married. Is your husband a pastor, too?
My husband is not a pastor at all. He is a businessman.
What was his reaction when you said you were going into ministry?
My husband is a very mature man, and maturity is not about age. It is all about understanding, ability to bear responsibility and assimilate some certain things whether convenient or inconvenient, without reaction. I married a very matured man and I am submissive to him. When you are submissive to a man, you break his bones. When he ought to react, he will just keep quiet as if he does not have a say. If I have Jezebel spirit: I want to rule over my husband, or shout at him, or talk to him arrogantly, maybe before the public he will begin to resist the calling but because I’m very submissive to him, respect him and honour him, and God was also involved. In fact, he told me that he has given me as a sacrifice to God. He can never come between me and my God. That is a man of understanding.
What are the challenges in doing ministry in men dominated sector?
First, men despise women a lot, especially in Africa. This is so even in ministry. They don’t value the work of a woman. But, I think this is out of ignorance. Unknown to them, there is no man or woman as far as the Holy Spirit is concerned. This is because it is one God that fills one with the Holy Spirit. It is only a headed vessel God is looking for, not gender. God is not a God of gender. What he wants is one that obeys Him. Whether you are man or woman, God will go ahead to use you. Some men are acting ignorantly. God can use anybody. Secondly, women face criticism. We face limitations because there are some churches, instead of giving you a branch, for example, to head, they will say women are weaker vessels, let a man be the head and the woman to assist, so it brings limitations.
