Gathering of the Eagles in Nigeria
Success in our loving Father above!
In January of this year if you would have asked me if I planned to go to Nigeria, Africa, I would have replied, not in this lifetime, as far as I know. But that is exactly where many members of the Leadership Team found themselves this month.
A young Nigerian man by the name of Sayo Ajiboye, invited us to come and bring the Gathering of the Eagles to Nigeria. When he told me that if we did not come Islam would own Nigeria, and the Lord immediately confirmed his words by saying: If you will go, I will give you the authority to push back Islam and stay its increasing power over Nigeria. If not, Nigeria will become another Sudan. I broke into spontaneous tears as the Father baptized me with His love and desire to give Nigeria this victory. Further He said: I will use the Gathering of the Eagles to prepare Nigeria for revival. I was overwhelmed with His passion. I wept uncontrollably for over 40 minutes as He put the faith in my heart to go and gain this victory for His Kingdom and His glory. As I wept He quickened a Word that He had given me when He appeared to me soon after He first commissioned the Gatherings, when He said I am going to take the Gatherings to many nations on the earth to help prepare the way for my glory. Many nations will call you blessed for what I will do for them through your obedience.
The following Gathering leaders accompanied me to Nigeria: Eugene and Patricia Underwood, Lenny and Cora Lee Barber, Brad Alford, Reggie Smith and his daughter Leslie, David and Loretta Hoole, LaDonna Radcliff, Ken and Jane Duyon, Ricci Wilson and her daughter Tiffany and yours truly. Pastor Dennis Heibert also went with us as well as another Canadian Pastor, Merrill and 3 other friends from Canada. Two other Canadian Pastors Femi and Remi Ogundri brought with them a small group and joined us for the first part of the Gathering before having to head back to Canada.
As we landed on the soil of Nigeria, I saw images of India all around me, including poverty, and desolation. Beyond those images were wonderful loving eyes of what would become our new Nigerian family. After such a long and tedious flight it was so wonderful to be met by Sayo at the airport. His eyes were full of faith and expectation. It was like falling into the welcoming embrace of a long lost friend, as he greeted and hugged each one of us. Also, Pastor Lenny Barber came with him to greet us. I love Lenny and his wife Cora Lee, but I have never been so glad to see Lenny in my life. I just wanted to hug him and never let him go. Lenny and Sayo were so confident as they took charge and escorted us through the barrage of the masses of humanity through which we would have to walk to get to the waiting vehicles. Had they not been there we would have been overwhelmed and probably not seen our luggage again. (The airport is full of untrustworthy souls wanting to get whatever they can from incoming Americans.) I can promise you everyone who arrived with us felt the same way as they saw Sayo and Lenny.
Our first night was spent in a nearby hotel that had little more to offer by American standards than a safe place to sleep. It was clean and simply furnished, but its highest value that night lay in the fact that it also gave us a place to congregate with our loving friends (new and old) and discuss our trip to Nigeria and make plans for the next week of meetings.
The next day we traveled out to the sight where we would be having the Gathering. The Gathering began Sunday night, after a long wait to get electricity, which incidentally never came about. So we started the Gathering outside under the stars and enjoyed a wonderful time of worship. Again, the Gathering lasted five days. During that five days we fought extreme heat conditions, found ourselves without electricity as much as we had it, wrestled with bugs and curses. Yes, I said curses. We wrestled, and wrestled, and wrestled some more. We never ceased to wrestle until we left Nigeria. Why this outrageous warfare against curses? Because we came against two major demonic forces, in fact two of the most important forces in all of Nigeria, and we prevailed!
Ogboni
Ogboni is a major prince over all of Nigeria. The worship of Ogboni has been ongoing for so long, Nigerians don’t even know where he came from. It began long before there was written testimony from which to draw. So, worship of this evil spirit is ignorantly handed down from one generation to another. He looks like a black Mister Clean with large breasts of a woman. He is very large and very powerful. I know him as he boldly walked into the service one afternoon. (That was the day we spoiled him.)
We were there to do warfare on behalf of the Nigerian Church. And, we learned from the Lord Himself that the responsibility of the horrific conditions that prevail in the Nigerian Church rested in the lap of this powerful evil being. So, we had to deal with him.
We spent days repenting, and weeping before God for, and over Nigerian Christian Leaders who demand worship and absolute submission from their followers. As it turns out, a few Christian Leaders who are deceived by this evil prince, Ogboni, rule most of the Nigerian Church. Many of the Leaders are even bound by practices of witchcraft, which they themselves perpetrate against their follows. The followers by enlarge live in poverty while they support the dynasties created by these deceived leaders. It is a pitiful reality that was painful to unravel. The followers are guilty of the highest level of worshiping man. And, it is a worship the men require and demand. The end result has been a national Church destitute of real power and joy.
While it appears on the surface to be a rather healthy Church, as you dig just a little below the surface the stench begins to rise. Therefore what remains is a Church that in this case prays often but they are without the sense and the tangible presence of their loving Savior; indeed without the favor of His great love because of their worship of man. The reason Ogboni had such an open door to invade the Church was because it is this very system that Ogboni has set up for his followers throughout Nigeria. The worship in the case of his secular followers is given to the elders of their tribes, to whom they give absolute submission and worship. Even the kings of the tribes were considered below these elders as they rule with an iron hand.
So, to have this set up in the Church, seemed to be only natural. But obviously not God’s will. The theme we used throughout the Gathering was: Worship God and not man!
We completed the days of mourning over this sin just as Ogboni revealed himself. Upon seeing what we were dealing with we did our warfare and down he came. God brought a deathblow to him as far as his rule over the Church of God in Nigeria, during the Gathering. Having done so, the more serious warfare against us began. Some of Ogboni’s witchdoctors appeared to one of the intercessors and told her that they were going to get rid of the Americans. I kind of chuckled in hearing the report, as I knew the one factor that Ogboni did not take into consideration was that the Lord was on our side. Who can stand against you when He is on our side? Well, Ogboni got reminded of the one factor he forgot early in the week.
Islam
After taking care of Ogboni, our next task was to put boundaries around Islam. Remember our reason for going to Nigeria was to push back the Islamic powers that had seriously encroached upon Nigeria and was about to completely overtake the entire Nation.
The warfare against the whole team escalated, as the Islamic powers came to realize we were in town and they were next. We had to fight through a tremendous heat-wave for which we often did not have air conditioning to help relieve our suffering. During the moments we did have the coolers we were never so thankful. But when we didn’t have it, as the entire electrical system would be shut down, we were more than miserable, especially me! Further, we were struck with sickness, which we had to warfare against constantly after the fall of Ogboni. I especially had to fight the wars as death curses were being sent out against me constantly. We got little sleep and lots of worship time in the Lords presence. Every moment of time in worship whether in the services or in our rooms were cherished beyond belief.
One benefit of the warfare you might say was that it caused the whole team to pull together real tight. We became very close and some wonderful bonding took place. I think we felt more like family than we ever have. Even as groups were leaving the airport to go home, we kept stopping to say goodbye to each other. Further, leaving our new Nigerian family was as difficult as leaving our American and Canadian family. We were all just a bunch of cry babies.
Back to the Gathering! God was revealing the whole history of the Nation’s Church in vision after vision. Sometimes more than one of us received the same or very similar vision confirming and directing our steps. Messiah came in several times and many saw Him. One time He came in and about half of the first row of people fell down under the power on their face with no one to catch them. Personally, I fell down to my knees as He walked by me because I could no longer stand up. It was an awesome time in His presence. Pastor Brad, Pastor Reggie, Pastor Eugene, and Pastor Dave lead worship. I think those men were under a greater anointing then I have ever seen them. I still don’t think they even know how powerful the presence of God was in the meetings. During one service Messiah visited Pastor Reggie and he was delightfully undone. Many of the Nigerian Leaders if not all of them received visitations from the Lord. Through these visits and visions confirming the Word we were led into complete victory over Islam as well.
Despite the incredible warfare, the cultural and even sometimes language barriers, the primitive conditions under which we lived and worked, we won the war! The last few minutes of the last service God drew new barriers around the Islamic Prince, and it was sealed. He will not even with his greatest efforts take over Nigeria, as the Lord Himself, said NO FURTHER!
True Spirit of Worship
The Nigerian people are absolutely foreigners to true worship, as we know it in the Gatherings. All they ever do is praise. When they were introduced to true worship they wept at the thought of the worship team leaving, knowing they would have nothing not even worship tapes to fall back on. Worship was born into Nigeria through this trip. Some of those who stayed a few days longer were welcomed into one of the largest Churches in Lagos, Nigeria. There would have been 1000s in attendance. There, they spoke on and led the people in true worship of God as we had been experiencing in the week long Gathering. Sayo said God exploded upon the people. Everything changed, as the Spirit of worship turned the Church upside down.
I was given vision after vision of the revival of worship, and glory that is going to sweep over Nigeria. I saw untold millions get saved. I saw so many visions of millions upon millions getting saved I finally decided that God must have been speaking to me about all of Africa. Then in the last vision I saw the word NIGERIA rise up from the bottom and rest over the vision. I then asked Sayo how many millions live in Nigeria. I was then told, 120 million souls, most of whom are not saved. But, I now know a huge percentage will get saved through this coming revival. I also learned as Nigeria goes — so goes Africa. So, by the Lord beginning in Nigeria with the Gathering of the Eagles, and the ruining of powerful powers, to prepare the Church for His glory He is pulling the trigger on all of Africa, which, will result in a continent aflame with the glory of God, and millions worshipping Him in the truest sense in song and in heart. I am soooo excited.
If you were with us, I am so glad for all you did and suffered for the marvelous people, of Nigeria. Your fruit will be abundant in heaven for your sacrifices. If you did not go with us but prayed for us, you will reap the fruit right along with the rest. My only sorrow is that you never got to meet the Nigerian Church. For this your loss is incalculable. All my colleagues who did go will affirm me in this. I wish I could bring each one of our new Nigerian family to the States long enough for you to meet them. You too would be in love.
The signs that Messiah gave us that the work was accomplished were given both in the Spirit, with many visions testifying of the same, and in the natural as I will share.
First, we saw a rare form of African eagle suddenly show up at the facility in which we were having the meetings. They hovered just above the ground about 10 ft,. They would swoop down to grab up the lizards and return to this place of hovering. Because this eagle is rare we would never have expected to see it in a community. Eagles congregate in the wild not with people. There were several of them, which thrilled the Nigerians as well as us Americans. We all knew it was a sign.
Secondly, the minute we brought Ogboni down the electricity we had been without throughout the entire meeting, suddenly came on.
Third, we came to Nigeria after the rainy season was over. But the Lord spoke to me in a vision that He was going to send the rain to testify that the work had been accomplished. The day after our Gathering of the Eagles, Nigeria ended, it rained a great part of the day. It also rained the night we left Lagos.
Fourth, and perhaps the greatest miracle of all occurred when Pastor Reggie and part of the team who went with him and Sayo to the large Church in Lagos. They were asked to speak. After they spoke on worshipping God alone, and led the people in worship, they went to the office with the Pastor’s wife and she with them did spiritual warfare to bring down the worship of men in the Church. The fact that the message and the song were released in this particular large and influential Church who itself perpetuates the sin with which we dealt, and that the pastor’s wife agreed enough to intercede to bring it about in the Nigerian Church is nothing short of a divine testimony that God did His work.
We will be returning next year for another Gathering of the Eagles in Ibadan Nigeria. This is the Cultural Capital of Southern Nigeria, a very important city. Please keep this in prayer with us as well as the Nigerian Church.
Also, for those of the Leadership Team who stayed home and interceded for us through heavy warfare, you too will reap the fruit born in this Gathering~ millions of new souls for the Kingdom of God.
Many Blessings,
Shalom,
Nita
Letter From Sayo~ Our Nigerian Host
Mama Nita,
I arrived in St Louis yesterday. I am writing you not knowing where to start. How can I describe the import of what the Lord wrought through your coming? How can I express my deep gratitude at what you all gave to make this a reality? I left Nigeria with Tears in my Eyes. I left with a deep cry to God requesting Him that He will cause the Leadership of His people to Turn and Obey the Voice of the Prophet.
Ken and Ladonna may have told you that the later part of their stay was not wasted at all. The Lord rather opened major doors for the message to the Nation to be relayed. We were interviewed by the largest News Paper for their Religion Section and also by one of the Foremost Christian Magazines. All of these were done without prearrangement. (This too is a miracle)
On Sunday, we went as a Team to one of the Largest Churches in the RCCG Denomination in Lagos. We told them we have come just to worship but they insisted that they wanted us to share for ten minutes so we got Leslie to sing a song, Ken to share a Word and Reggie to Release the Worship. They asked us to do this after everybody in the Church was tired with over three hours of exertion in the service. Ma, when we got up, the whole atmosphere changed! It was as if a New Spirit came over the place, a new and powerfully different presence, we were all overwhelmed. They could not go on in the old way. The Spirit of Worship came down, focus was shifted from the ELDERS to the LORD! Will you believe what they tagged that Sunday? The ELDERS SUNDAY! After this in the Pastors office, the Team spent nearly an Hour in Release of Words of Authority over the Church in Intercession. The Pastors wife who is also a senior minister in the system will not allow any of the Elders to Join us – She alone and our selves went into a season of deep warfare and release of Gods counsel. She said words about the church and about our presence that only the Holy Spirit could have caused her to utter. (Her husband went somewhere else to minister)
I believe that the Lord gave us these two days as a sign – One to the Church and the other to the (Secular) World.
Sayo