The Senior Pastor of the Word of Life Bible Church, Warri, Delta State, Pastor Ayodele Joseph Oritsejafor, has dismissed reports that he sold ‘Holy Handkerchief’ during his recent ministration at the Morris Cerullo Ministry, San Diego, California.
A video clip of the event had gone viral on social media that the immediate past President of the Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, made a huge dollar harvest selling the ‘blessed handkerchief’ to worshippers at the event.
But in a release, the popular preacher tried to knock the bottom off the video clip saying that he gave out the ‘mantle’ that people saw in the clip freely to congregants who were willing to support the works of the ministry in whichever way God leads them.
Below is the rebuttal that Oritsejafor distributed to media houses and many online platforms, including The Crest, to clear the fog of confusion on the matter:
Disregard Mischievous Distortion of my Sermon – Oritsejafor
My attention was drawn to a short video clip of my recent ministration at Morris Cerullo ministry, San Diego, California, in the United States trending on the social media. The said sales of “handkerchiefs” story is untrue.
I didn’t sell handkerchief to anybody. The mantles were freely given to those who volunteered pledges or support for some specific mission works in the ministry. The trending clip is misconstrued for mischievous purposes, a development that has become a norm on the social media.
The negative portrayal of my ministration is unfortunate and misleading. The habit of portraying church activities in bad light just to ridicule men of God is a weapon the devil is deploying to discourage devout believers and to mislead committed Christians from supporting God’s work. It is a sign of the end-time.
Every special offering raised in any Bible believing church is NOT meant for personal use of the ministers but certainly to meet some specific needs of the church or ministry and her charity outreach.
At the level God has placed me, I’m way too passionate about the salvation of souls than to exploit the same souls I was commissioned to lead to Christ. I boast in the Lord that I’m too blessed and content to manipulate people. I don’t do it and will never do such. Therefore, the global audience, Nigerians in particular, should disregard any misconstrued, twisted information about my pulpit assignment.
I hereby advise every concerned person to watch the full version of the ministration before passing judgment. Nobody should allow himself/herself to be fooled by the manipulation of many things on the internet aimed at discrediting their targets.
Meanwhile, I want to acknowledge that there are a few dubious characters in our midst these days who apply cunning methods and outlandish tricks to exploit their congregations. To such, I preach repentance before they are disgraced. God will surely avenge the innocent souls being ripped off in the name of prophecy or miracle.
- Signed.
Pastor Ayodele Joseph Oritsejafor