By Vera Wisdom-Bassey
Pastor Lazarus Muoka is the Founder and General Overseer of The Lord’s Chosen Charismatic Revival Movement. Before then, the Etiti-Okabi-born indigene of Imo State lived all his life in Lagos, where he worked with China Cable, Ikeja, Niger Chin and other companies. He later resigned not only from his former ministry, Watchman Catholic Charismatic Renewal Movement (WCCRM), but also from the companies to set up his own ministry. He recently spoke to journalists at a press conference meant to herald the church’s 20th anniversary.
Twenty years is not a small thing in the life of a church. How has the journey been in the past years in terms of personnel and congregational growth?
The Lord’s Chosen was established on December 24, 2002. We made the people around us know that God called us into the ministry and gave us the 10 billion souls mandate. When the ministry was established, people were asking us how we arrived at 10 billion souls. I tried to explain to them that am pregnant with 10 billion souls, and that I would be delivered in due time, even though the population of the world is not up to that. But as generations come and go, this mandate will be fulfilled. This goal would be met by the special grace of God.
As for the congregational growth, we were with some people at Ilasamaja. That’s where we were named The Lord’s Chosen Revival Ministry. When the ministry was established, there was something that the people saw and which made them keep coming in their thousands. At one point, there was no place for them to stay, as the whole place was filled up with people. People were fighting us for making noise. But when some people could not contain the crowd they opened their gates for people to stay and worship in their compounds. At a time, somebody told us that there was a place at Ijesha where we could keep the multitude. That was how we came and saw that somebody had started pouring sand here when we came to negotiate. It was then we bought eight plots of land and started building.
How would you account for the extraordinary growth of your church or ministry within a short time?
We started worshiping at Ijesha in August 2003 in a place we thought was too big. But the crowd overflowed the street. Before you knew it, the congregation overflowed to the Express Road. One day, God spoke to me about the land. We got somebody who owned a major part of the estate. When we met the person and bought the place every other person that had plots of land there to sell sold them to us. We built about 22 halls and each hall contained a plot of two lands. We entered the place. We handled some challenges within the compound. It was usually flooded, making things difficult without proper drainage. Today, we can say that God has advanced us. The Lord’s Chosen Church has spread to all the states in Nigeria and beyond Africa to Austria, America, Asia, North, and South America and it is still expanding. We are in over 100 nations. I travel to all these places in the course of evangelism. We are in four continents of the world. It is God that is solely responsible for whatever growth and expansion that had happened in the ministry. That is why I wear this apron with the inscription: “Only God can do this.” No man could have done it but God. This is because, at the beginning, we had some challenges. When God is doing something, the devil would bring his agents to hinder it. One of the challenges was when one person came and said that he gave money to the church to develop this place. There was nothing like that. This is because everything we do is on record. And when it was brought before him, he was surprised. Despite the challenges, we went everywhere preaching the gospel. Being 20 years is worth celebrating because if we look back, we would say that God has been faithful to us. He is the One who established us and announced us all over the world. Many people who saw us when we started sneered that this ministry would not last for more than three months. Many bad things were said concerning us. But what they did not know is that this is not a project of man but of God. Since the beginning of the ministry, it has been testimonies galore. He has used this place to touch people with terrible lifestyles, and they have become born again. I mean hardened armed robbers, prostitutes, and herbalists. But, for this church, I don’t know what would have happened to our nation, Nigeria, and the entire world if those criminal elements were not converted. God also used the church to deal with some sicknesses and diseases. We are celebrating because we can see what the Lord has done. It is good for people to know that we did not fall from the moon but started somewhere.
You must have had some fears when you started the ministry. What were those fears and what was the propelling force that kept you going?
Before the ministry manifested physically, I had revelations about what lay ahead. I knew through these revelations that this was God’s work. I had no fear because God was the one who called me into the ministry. In one of the revelations, there were a lot of fights with many people in the dream. I didn’t know who they were. Even a lion came and attacked me. I killed the lion. When these things came, I shared them with the Pastor whose ministry I was under then. Before this ministry was born, God took me to many kingdoms. I defeated them. I don’t want to mention names so as not to cause trouble. The Lord gave me Isaiah chapter 60. Before this verse came, a voice was telling me what God would do with me. I rejected it and said that it was not me. In one of Reinhard Bonnke’s crusades, he gave me the microphone to pray for the people. It was then he said that he saw me being in charge of one of the biggest ministries in Africa.
When you left your former ministry, there was serious objection and opposition. How were you able to handle that and what is your relationship with them now?
When I was in my former ministry, by the grace of God, I served God with all my heart. Some people were wondering why I was too serious with God, and someone accused me of carrying church activities too much on my head. But whenever God gave you something to do, you must do it with all your heart. When I started serving God, I noticed that the more I served Him the more He continued to magnify my ministry. I continued to share the revelations being shown to me with my leader then. I told him what I saw. But when it eventually happened that I needed to separate from them, they could not contain the pain. I thought they would understand that it was God behind it. So when the call came, I had to resign. I thought they would support me. They did not manage it well and it affected them very much. I went there several times and asked them what sin I had committed. I even went to other men of God. They explained certain things to me.
The general impression is that people like you are above temptation. Is this true?
Temptation is inevitable, and nobody is above it. You need the grace of God to overcome.
Nigerians are generally afraid of the 2023 elections and what they portend for the country’s future. What has God shown you concerning the elections?
In the coming elections, we are playing our role. We are to stand in the gap. Our role is to continue to pray until there is an answer to that effect. We need security and peaceful elections, coexistence, and unity, and the progress of our nation and God will answer. Though we may not be known just as some parts of the body are not seen, we are playing our role, even if we are not recognised.
How do you relax amid your apparently tight schedules?
If God wants you to sleep, He will allow you to do that. So anytime He permits me to rest, I will rest. I am a servant, not a master. Anything He wants me to do, I will do it. If He wants me to rest, He will not allow any demon or witch to disturb my sleep. It is God that controls anything that has to do with His child. If it is human, I would be resting by now, not answering your questions. But as a servant whenever I am called upon I answer the call.