[dropcap]B[/dropcap]enin City, Nigeria – As part of its observance of the spiritual injunction to be thy brother’s keeper, the Simply Worship Int’l Ministry, on Sunday feted the needy, indigent and less privileged at its Benin City headquarters.
The event which was the fifth in the series, senior pastor of the Simply Worship Int’l Ministry, Rev Victor Atenaga, said is called Smile Naija Project, and targets those involved with a view to making a difference in their lives by providing them with basic necessities of life.
He listed these to include medicare, clothings, food, furniture, beauty care, electronics, kitchen utensils and free legal counseling, with doctors, nurses, ophthalmologist, lawyers, fashion designers, event planners and others on hand to provide needed help.
“Today is just a day our church gives out to the City. We want to tell them that God is still interested in Nigeria. We started with clothing by which we gave out clothes to people, who needed them. From there, we moved to medicare.”
“…we also give out free food, free kitchen utensils, free furniture and free electronics. In terms of medicare, people have been coming for diagnosis and treatment. We have doctors and dentists on ground. We are also giving out free legal counseling.
“The funding is entirely being done by our church members. We started five years ago and we have done this six times in total.
“If you go out there, you will see Muslims and Christians alike. The condition is not that you give your life to Christ, but if you come we will preach to you that Jesus loves you and that He wants to make a difference in your life.”
On the day of the program, people from all works of life trooped out to help themselves with the various humanitarian gestures offered by the church.
One of them, Mrs. Eunice Obasuyi, who came for an eye test, said she was not a member of the church but heard about the program through his son, who is a member of the church.
She said, “If you go to the hospital, you will wait endlessly before they attend to you, but things are very fast here. The man of God is simply doing the work of God; he is simply helping God.
Another person, Edna Osilaje, who came for medical checkup, described the gesture as “a directive of God.”
