The uncommon “Man of God” called Ebuka Obi
By Arinze Anapugars
The term “Man of God” had long since lost its luster. Therefore, for anyone who has encountered the zestful spiritual director of Zion Prayer Movement Outreach, Lagos, Evangelist Chukwuebuka Anozie Obi, referring to him as a “Man of God” will be a paradox, given what we know about men of God.
Our Men of God have built a fluffy reputation as prosperity preachers. “The more you give, the more God blesses you”, they tell their ever-trusting followers. No longer content with 10 percent tithe, they now ask the congregation for “first fruit” – their entire first salary as well as the full salary for the first month of the year! For whatever problems they are seeking answers to, they are told to sow seeds to “provoke” God to grant their wishes. Many pastors even have price lists for prayer points, from healing to employment, business opportunities, life partners, fruit of the womb, contracts, visas.
But this is not the message at Evangelist Ebuka’s Zion City located at Ago, Okota. Not only does he abide by the Biblical injunction of “freely you were given, freely shall you give”, but he often declares that “any pastor who asks for money for prayers or for seeds and offerings to obtain answers to prayers is not a true prophet of God”. And you want to call him “man of God” like the others?
He preaches salvation, urges his members to fast and pray ceaselessly, to shun sin and embrace Christ as the sure way to obtain answers to prayers. Miracles are not for sale, he says. At Zion City and online, he does not ask for tithes or seeds. Which other man of God is like him?
Everyday, thousands of people from different states in Nigeria, the United States, UK, Asia and other parts of the world troop to Zion City in search of salvation and miracles. Millions more across the globe follow him online.
The first time I watched him on YouTube after a relation sent the link to me, I heard Evangelist Ebuka boast about his “Prophecy with instant solution”. I instantly dismissed him just as another “man of God” with bogus claims to visions and miracles.
But I was wrong. I have heard people at Zion giving mind-blowing testimonies – healing of terminal illnesses, stroke, paralysis, conceptions after years of barrenness, breakthroughs in careers and businesses, amongst others. Apart from those who received their miracles at the center, many others did so after he mentioned their cases during his “Open Heavens” online prophetic prayers. During one of my visits to the ministry, I witnessed two standout cases. One was a professor at Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, who threw away the crutches he had been on for years after Ebuka prayed for him. The second was a woman who came all the way from the United States in search of solution to her 16-year-old hearing problem after exhausting all possible medical options in America. The woman who could only hear with hearing aids was completely healed at Zion and discarded the equipment. There were also many others who testified that the prophecies they were given were “on point”, like we say.
We have heard of men of God who arrange miracles or who prod people to give testimonies even when the healing has not occurred with the assurance that God will act on their faith and heal them. But for Evangelist Ebuka, the testimonies come in droves. He has a team which thoroughly scrutinizes and verifies claims of those who want to give testimonies before they are allowed to mount the podium to share their story. You are made to show evidence of “before” and “after” conditions to the panel to prove the miracle before it is accepted. Every day, the queue is so long that Ebuka has to cut many off so he could move on to his ministrations and deliverance sessions. This oftentimes leaves many complaining that they were not given time to share their miracles with the congregation. Surely, this is not the usual man of God!