CHARISMATIC SIGNS

“And God Almighty bless thee, and make thee fruitful, and multiply thee, that thou mayest be a multitude of people” – Genesis 28:3

At the annual Watchman International Leadership Conference held in January 2015, at LOGISS, Awo Omamma, Imo State, Peter Brown, from the Watchman Catholic Charismatic Renewal Movement in Buchanan, Liberia, gave testimonies of how God blessed his 15 year-old marriage with babies, and diverse divine interventions that saved him from the enemy’s several attempts on his life and family. He also told the jubilant congregation of Watchman leaders and ministers how God has prospered the Watchman location he oversees in the large coastal city of Buchanan. His testimony:

“MY coming to this meeting was a miracle. The Ebola crisis in Liberia has prevented some airline operators from flying to some West African countries except one and their fare was US$1,500 but my national pastor had called me to say that we needed to raise money so we could attend this programme. Though there were hitches here and there, I want to be grateful to God that at the end of the day we made it.
Again I want to give God all the glory for supporting us in our parish in Buchanan, where God has placed me to monitor His work. By God’s grace, we were able to secure a land for our church. We have also started erecting a building. But a time came, and for some reasons difficult to comprehend, almost all the members later left the church. Later, as I thought about this, I was made to understand that no church had ever survived in that community. I was left with just ten persons then but in spite of that, we were able to continue working on the church building until we reached the lintel level. When we attended last year’s conference, by the help of the Lagos diocesan pastor and my national pastor, we were able to see our daddy in the Lord, the General Superintendent. At the end of the day, I had enough fund to put a roof over the building and by the grace of God the numerical strength of the church is now on the increase and they are all Liberian indigenes.
I want to also testify of what God has done in my family. I got married fifteen years ago but there was delay in conception. So many things were said about us by so many people. I, however, tabled the matter before God during the last International Gospel Ministers’ Conference (IGMC) of the Hour, which we attended here. My national pastor was very much concerned about it and was always praying for us. We visited some hospitals yet there was no positive outcome. My wife was worried but I kept encouraging her that God will give us children at His own time. There were some concerned people who suggested that she should visit some places to seek solution but I told her not to go to anywhere that we should place our hope upon God. I remember that in the course of one of the prayers my national pastor made for us, he assured us that God would give us children and even gave their names as Emmanuel and Emmanuella.
In 2010, my wife took in but, unfortunately, she had a miscarriage and was devastated, but I consoled her, and told her that someone who was looking for a shoe to wear, if he happened to get a pair of slippers, that is an assurance that the person would eventually get the shoes he is looking for. By the grace of God she took in again and in October 2013 she went into pains for complete one week. During that period we had a programme of fasting and prayers and I preached during our Charismatic Hour fellowship a message given by one of our leaders titled, “Who Said It?” Meanwhile she was in the hospital and a call came that I should proceed to the hospital to sign an authorization paper so she could be operated upon, perhaps, because of her age and the fact that it was her first experience. When I got there I requested that they should allow me to pray and they obliged me. I prayed to God requesting that my wife should have a normal delivery. My argument was that if Sarah, as we read in the Bible, did not deliver by Caesarean Section even at the age of 90 years, my wife would not deliver through CS. I also cited the case of Elizabeth and concluded that my wife would not deliver through CS. I left the hospital later and went home praying throughout the night until I slept off. By 2.00am she called to break the good news that she had delivered. I called the baby Chinyere (God’s Gift) Emmanuella. I believed that Emmanuel would soon follow.
In July, last year, I decided to visit my in-laws in Ghana and also use the opportunity to see the Watchman national pastor there (Pastor Boniface Obi) who had also prayed for us in the area of conception and to break the good news to him. To embark on that journey, I boarded a boat at the Port of Buchanan and we sailed on the high sea for two days. At a point, the waves became very unfriendly and the captain had to anchor the boat on the sea as we faced serious danger of being overwhelmed by water. In order to save our lives (49 of us), the captain ordered that all the goods be thrown overboard but before we could do anything the boat sank. I fell into the ocean and looked all around me but couldn’t see anything I could hold on to for support and I don’t know how to swim. I was wearing a jeans trouser and a jacket over a shirt.
The only thing I could hold was a gallon that I found near me. I used it as a tool to swim with but when I laid on it, it compressed and could not support me. For two days we didn’t eat anything. I managed to stay afloat but at a point I told the person near me that I was too tired but he encouraged me to hold on. When I looked at the distance we had covered and the distance yet to be covered, I noticed that both were very far away from the shore. The question I asked myself was what was I supposed to do in that circumstance? I asked myself whether this was how I would die. Then I remembered the message of our General Superintendent which said that Our Death Was Not Necessary. When that message flashed on my mind, I said: God, my death is not necessary! I reminded God of the little things I have been doing for Him like the case of Hezekiah in the Bible. Thereafter, I saw two persons who were on a plank and pleaded with them to help but they were unwilling to offer any assistance. After too much persuasion they reluctantly left the plank for me and I held tight to it. The sea wave was boisterous and I was thrown up and down but I held tight to it because I knew that my life depended on it. How I came out of the Atlantic Ocean that day is still a mystery to me, something miraculous.
The news of the incident had spread at my base in Liberia. They said that I had drowned and was dead. They informed my wife that I was dead and she was troubled and restless. Meanwhile, our child was still very tender and she was also heavy with pregnancy. When, by the special grace of God I came out from the sea, I learnt that five persons had died in the incident.
When I returned to my location in July, the Ebola crisis had become a sing-song but I told God that if the Atlantic Ocean could not drown me, Ebola would not kill me. My national pastor was always in touch with me and would tell me that our GS had called and had given us the assurance that we were ‘sacred cows’ and that the disease would not touch us and that our death was not necessary. And true to his words, nothing happened to us.
Sometime in November last year we had a programme of fasting and prayers and we went on publicity by marching through the city. My wife also participated in the exercise. On Saturday, that week, after attending to some house chores at about 11.59pm she gave birth to Emmanuel. So I want to be grateful to God Almighty for what He has done for me. Though there were indications that the enemy wanted to terminate my life but in all, God gave me victory.
So if you are there and your desire is to have children, have faith in God, don’t be discouraged and be rest assured that at the appropriate time, God will answer your prayer.
Praise the Lord!”