How God picked me from the streets, Indian Hemp joint to do exploits for Him – Bishop Kingsley Enakirerhi

Bishop Kingsley Enakirerhi

It was the streets that God picked him. He didn’t desire it. But God wanted him to do exploits for Him. Bishop Kingsley Enakirerhi, founder of the Heroes of Faith Ministries Int’l, Ughelli, Delta state, a general in the army of God, tells the story of little beginning to a towering man of God with thousands of members and over 30 branches across the world today. Heroes of Faith City, Patani Road, Ughelli

With blue blood flowing in his veins- his grandfather was a kingmaker – Enakirerhi’s life is a testimony that God can pick anyone from nowhere and place him at higher pedestal. His background, a polygamous home of three wives, with the last wife of his father a witch, helped to shape his beginning – that life is a continuous battle which must be fought through with prayers until success is achieved.

According to the Man of God, the last wife of his father used witch craft to kill his (Bishop) mother’s five children and through providence -like a destiny child – God survived him in all.

After secondary school, he left Ughelli and wanted to travel outside the country. However, he became stuck in Lagos. He worked briefly when he literally lived on the fast lane as a street boy with car at his disposal. A weird life, all kind of mannarism, girls at his disposal, drinking and smoking of hemp, he literally lived as if the world was in his pocket. Heroes of Faith City

And it was in there, the streets God picked him. Embracing Christianity started with the preaching of a police officer, funny enough, it was at an unlikely place – Indian Hemp joint. That was about 45 years ago.

As he and his friends gathered to smoke, a police inspector would came around also, not to smoke but to preach and share tracts.

That was in Lagos and in 1978. As the familiarity grew and became used to the coming of the police officer, God started to deal with him, conscientising his soul in preparation for eventual repentance.

According to him, “the police advised us to fast every Wednesday from morning to 12pm with one prayer point – God show me the light, God show me the way, God show me Jesus.”

He obeyed the policeman, though still smoking, he kept doing that for about three months. He was not sure other co smokers did the same.

As if God was preparing ground for him to do exploits in His name, his half brother got an accomodation at FESTAC area of Lagos and invited him to live with him away from where he met the preacher, the police officer.

While there, in the same compound, he met another fervent Christian who made it a daily duty to pray through the night.

“In the course of staying there I met a young man, every night singing songs and praying. His popular song were: ‘What a friend we have in Jesus’; ‘Upon one bright morning ‘; ‘In the hollow of his hands…’ Anytime he was praying everybody in the compound would feel the heat.”

According to the Bishop, the man kept inviting him to his church without yielding. He kept giving him promises that he would one day follow him.

By that time he was co-habiting with a girlfriend. “One Sunday I just made up my mind and I told my girlfriend get ready let’s go to the church. That was how we followed him to the Assemblies of God church.

“During the sermon, it was like the pastor was addressing me. I heard the word of God never like before. I had been to Anglican, Catholic churches, I never for once heard a sermon like that. It was like somebody had told him about my life’s history. He spoke as if the sermon was directed at me. At the end he made an altar call. I didn’t know how I found myself by the altar. I used to be a hard man but that day I started weeping like a child, praying for forgiveness of my sins. When the pastor was through with the prayers, other people went back to their seats but I was unable because I was still crying and I didn’t really know why I was crying. I was later led by the ushers to a corner where I was counseled. That was how I started my Christian race in 1978/9.”

After the church service, going back home, the man he accompanied to the church stood up inside the bus and wanted to preach, “I begged him to allow me to tell the other passagers what happened to me in the church earlier that day. I found myself repeating what the pastor preached in the church.” That was how he started evangelism.

Meanwhile, his girl friend had become pregnant by this time. He was confused. He had to confide in the pastor. “Go and pay the bride price and marry her,” the pastor counseled him. “But sir you told me if a man is born again he becomes a new creature,” he retorted.

The pastor would not hear of it as long she was pregnant he could not put her away, the pastor told him.

“I told myself that I will talk to God about it. And I prayed continuously, saying Lord you said if anyone is a born again he has become new. Lord what should I do?”

Surprisingly, the pregnancy, about six months old, got aborted when she was taking her bath. Unexpectedly, blood suddenly gushed out of her body. “I then realised it was not God’s wish that we should marry. We parted ways immediately,” he explained.

Now close to the man who led him to the church, he was to learn that he was a member of the prayer band. Bishop Enakirerhi also became a member and later choir and Sunday school worker in quick succession. He later became Sunday school secretary, for all his passion for the work of God.

“Before I knew it I became a member of soul winning group. At 22 years old, I put my youthful energy into the work of God to the extent the pastor, Titus Ibekwe (78 years now), of the church called me one day and advised me to attend a Bible School to become a pastor. Then the church, Assemblies of God, was known as the weeping church because intercession was one of the pillars of the church. Prophecy was regular. There was no hiding place for sinners in the church, Assemblies of God was something else then.”

However, his life was to take a detour in 1980 when someone invited him to the Bible teachings of William Kumuyi, which held weekly at Ebutta Meta, Lagos. Kumuyi was a lecturer then at the University of Lagos.

“The teaching was so strong that I didn’t miss any day. From Ebutte Meta the fellowship meeting moved to Gbagada. I became more devoted to the fellowship, known as Deeper Life while still attending the Assemblies of God.

“At a point, a group of people started meeting in my house every Friday for prayers. We would fast and pray for people. We still had our intercession at the Assemblies of God. Before I know it I started receiving visitation from the Lord Jesus. He appeared to me twice, I heard the call to be a pastor. Then the question was where do I answer the call – Assemblies or Deeper Life? Kumuyi had just established a Bible School at Ayobo area without a church except a fellowship centre where Bible was taught once a week.”

He decided to share his desire to attend a Bible School with friends, youths like him. They all agreed and encouraged him, that truly he had the call. Some were already calling him ‘pastor’

According to him, pastors by then were not rich but preached in modesty. The richest pastor rode Honda 175 motorcycle.

Yes, he had the hunger to attend a Bible school but which of schools, was the question. Such was his dilemma. In such a state of mind, he was sleeping one night when one Rev. Omoniyi, the district superintendent of Deeper Life came to him in a dream and said “son why are you confused?” He carried his bag and Bible and said “son you are not going to the Assemblies of God, you are going to the Deeper Life Bible School. “That was how I went to the Deeper Life Bible School.”

At the Bible school, the Mission Director spotted him out and advised he should come to the mission ministries. “He started to pressurise me to go to mission department. But when I started to pray I kept seeing myself in Ughelli, my village, going to preach, evangelising in the market places. It was so much that I have to own up and told him that I was not going for missionary work, that God was calling me to go back to my village. That was in 1982. After holding crusades and planting churches in the East as a missionary with Deeper Life, on November 9, 1982, I came back to Ughelli and since then I have been here. I didn’t break away from Deeper Life because by then it was not yet a church, we were raised to plant churches.”

On challenges faced so far in the ministry, Bishop Enakirerhi said betrayal is the most expensive among others. “A man of God, little or mighty, must experience betrayal, then disappointment. The other challenge is sin especially temptations from ladies. Then self glorification, glamour. You have to fight them out like Paul said ‘in all we are more than conquerer.”

The secret of success in ministry is God. “Everything I have achieved is God. We had little beginning with only two students but today we have 30 branches all over the world. This city is built by God.”

He advised those yet to repent to come quickly to God “because now we are living on the edge, Jesus is coming soon with all the prophecies in the Bible about his coming have been fulfilled.”