Mrs Osinbajo, Iluyomade, Others Urge Women To Serve Humanity
BY CHINYERE OBIORA, LAGOS – Nigerian women have been challenged to imbibe good Christian virtues, love one another and devote their lives to the service of humanity.
Leading voices and women of virtue in both religious and political space threw this challenge at the 2017 Arise Women’s Conference Nigeria held in Lagos recently. With the theme: ‘Branded for Christ’, the programme was well attended by thousands of women from all walks of life from across the federation.
In her homily as Special Guest and Preacher at the programme, Wife of the Vice President, Pastor Dolapo Osinbajo urged women to always submit to the command of Jesus, saying that was the true mark of being branded for Christ.
Speaking on the topic: ‘Yes Lord’, she said being branded for Christ takes a painful process but comes with pleasant reward in the end, wvwn as she said it is the seal of the Holy Spirit that brands Christian women for virtuous living.
According to Osinbajo, “Ruth, Philip, Daniel and Deborah were special brands because they said yes Lord. They obeyed God rather than man”.
She described the theme of the conference as a unique one, adding that; “For me this is a submission of all that we’re doing in the Christendom. For you to be branded, a lot must take place. For you to be branded that brand needs to make a statement.”
In her presentation at the conference, Founder of Arise Women’s Conference Nigeria, Pastor Siju Iluyomade, said as people branded for Christ, women should always possess and show forth attributes such as ‘love, joy, patience, tolerance and compassion to everyone.’
“My message to everyone is that we need to touch humanity. The world is what we are meant to touch and if we imbibe these virtues that I’ve spoken about – being compassionate, being less-selfish, wanting to reach out to one another so that nobody will lack anything,” she said.
The convener, who is wife of the Pastor-in-charge of Region 20, Redeemed Christian Church of God, said since its inception, the organisation had empowered more than 20,000 women in its skill acquisition programme.
She said the organisation has adopted Dafara, a community in Abuja where they built schools and sunk borehole, adding that in the coming year, a library would be built so that girls in the community can get educated and free themselves from the shackles of poverty.
Awards were presented to deserving persons at the occasion with Imo State First Lady, Nneoma Nkechi Okorocha, the Face of Arise 2017 receiving ‘Arise Ambassador’s award’.
First Lady of Edo State, Mrs Betsy Obaseki, who was also honoured with ‘Arise Ambassador’s award’ described the conference theme as apt and said women must not only be branded on the outside but also on the inside.
“We should have as Christians, truth in our inward heart, and be true children of God in our words, in our actions, in our thoughts, in our imaginations even in our dreams”, she said.
Queens College Old Students/Rebecca Group and the Principal were presented with ‘Arise Ambassador’s award’ for supporting the training of visually impaired students in the school.
ARISE is a Faith-based Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) committed to accelerating nation building through the women empowerment. It has also been passionate about the health of women and free preventive medical care is being offered to women in HIV tests, Eye tests, Blood Pressure and Blood Sugar level tests.
