Church Launches  Education Empowerment Programme

Yusuf Ebiti and Yetunde Bello

The Christ Ambassadors’ Fellowship (CAF), a division of the Christ Miracle Church Mission (CMCM), has introduced the Christ Ambassador’s Education Endowment Fund (CAEEF) aimed at improving education for children from elementary school to higher education.

Speaking  during the launching ceremony in Lagos,  Chairman of CAF Ambassador Kunle Filani, said that  given the country’s current economic challenges, such an intervention was required to enable educated and purposeful children to make the most of their gifts.

The education endowment,  according to Filani is only intended to assist some selected number of the Church’s underprivileged members.

“The education endowment is solely meant to support our Father in the Lord’s philanthropic gesture by the full sponsorship of some carefully selected indigent and gifted children of CMCM. As members of CAF, we are committed to the development of both the spiritual and physical activities of the Church,” he said.

The keynote speaker and a legal practitioner, Olatunde Adejuyigbe (SAN) who spoke on ‘The Spiritual and Metaphysical Benefits of Philanthropy ‘, urged Nigerians to forgo their luxurious lifestyles in favour of helping the poor.

According to the senior advocate, it is not philanthropy to steal from the treasury and then give to people.

He said: “The things that are meant to be for the children of this great nation have gone into private hands and we celebrate them. The thing with God is that He looks into your heart. An offering is a spiritual sacrifice.

“If you have people who stole from the Church and give back to the community, it is not philanthropy. You don’t need to wait until anyone promises you something before you give it out. Do it according to the will of God. God is counting on us to do His bidding, counting on us to uplift some people. Philanthropy in the eye of God is taking.

“The problems are all around us. Some people are out of school and need something to go forward. We are all selfish and the truth is Christ made himself a low reputation. We, Christians, come up with the ostentatious lifestyle and spend so much on luxurious things. We spend too much on us,” he added.

Chairperson, CAF week, 2023, Amb. Adeoti Adejuyigbe said the gesture was intended to empower young children and make them productive members of society

“This occasion was slated for today to achieve two different things. First, this program was scheduled to celebrate our week, the Christ Ambassadors Fellowship (CAF) week. We celebrate our week yearly to appreciate the goodness of God in each life within our fellowship and to mark the anniversary of the fellowship.

“Moreso, we scheduled this day to do new things for the Lord who has been so good and kind to us. In furtherance to this, we decided to take a step of faith, the Lord backing us all the way, to launch an Educational Endowment fund to educate and mentor young persons from primary school level to university or vocational level.

“In lieu of this,  they intend to uplift and protect such young persons, keep them within the boundaries of God’s love, and make them useful members of society. I believe all will agree with me that this is an urgent need in our nation at such times as this,” she said.

On his part, Chairman of CAEEF, Amb. Lekan Abdul, specified that it was intended to transform many lives and revolutionise the act of selfless giving.

Lekan stressed that CAF will be preparing the upcoming generations of Nigerian leaders and that education is a catalyst and an instrument to facilitate social change.

“CAEEF is set to revolutionise the act of selfless giving. Our focus is on the education of smart, intelligent, and purposeful children of the less privileged members of our fellowship from Primary School to Tertiary level. We are not unaware of the current economic disequilibrium that the country is presently faced with.

“This project is designed to bring about a panoramic turnaround in several lives, culminating in the upliftment of our highly esteemed fellowship. With this fund, each child will be sponsored by just one individual at various levels of education. This will enable us to give regular results on the performance of the child. We will also be providing mentorship and guidance to these future leaders of our society.

“It will be of great joy to know that we are set out to change the course of our nation, we will be training the next generation of great leaders – doctors, engineers, professors, scholars, inventors, engineers, etc. The sky is truly the starting point. One day in the near future we will be proud to see the benefactors of our endowment as respectable men and women of the society-Men and women of timber caliber,” he added.

President, Christ Miracle Church Mission (CMCM), Prophet Peter Aladebisi, JP who was represented by Pastor Oke James indicated that the CAEFF was established to advance and spread the gospel of Christ.

“The CAEEF programme is spiritually put in place for the growth and expansion of the gospel of Christ. I pray for you with the word of God in Deuteronomy 15:10, as you give and donate towards this laudable project, your heart shall not be grieved when you give, your Lord and maker shall bless you in all your works, and in all that you puttest thine hand unto.

“Due to your serious and hard work toward good success in the lives of others in this year of change, opportunity and miracle in the things of God, your lives will not lack good and glorious results in your various walks of life.”

Former Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Adesola Amosu affirmed that helping children is about helping them grow into better versions of themselves.

Amosun continued by advising Nigerians to heal themselves from giving, as he described giving as “the hardest thing to do”.

“We get rich and forget everything. We forget the source of our wealth, we forget those around us and we forget to remember that we cannot take all these things anywhere. To our pastors, don’t be shy of telling us to give. You should tell us to do that whenever we are not doing that. I also have a foundation and I am giving back to the community. Giving is the hardest thing to do but we must do it. When you are giving do not confer with flesh and blood but with God.”