“I am an apostle in the market place. Every apostle should be in the market place. It is in the market place that you can get the resources and the integrity to support your ministry. Aside ministry, Jesus Christ was also a carpenter. He had time to do his secular work.”
These are the words of Bishop Dr. Joseph Ighalo Edoro, the general overseer of A Touch from Heaven International Ministries and an accomplished businessman in the below interview with Christian Benefits on Apostles in the Market Place.
Bishop Edoro, a former television newscaster and one time personal assistant to a former Edo state governor, Mr. John Oyegun, recounts how God stripped him of his lucrative job and other valuables. He also provokes fellow ministers of God to explore the market place to run their ministries and to meet their family sustenance instead of living on their church treasuries and members which he said may affect their integrity. Excerpts.
Please, how would you like us to introduce you?
I am Bishop Dr. Joseph Ighalo Edoro, the senior pastor of A Touch From Heaven International Ministries, Lagos. I am from Edo state of Nigeria. By the grace of God, we are here doing what God has called us to do and also doing business.
Can we have a look at your upbringing, including your salvation encounter?
I grew up from a Catholic background. I served mass for many years. My grandfather wanted me to become a reverend father in the Catholic Church. So, I was sent to Saint Paul Minor Seminary, Benin City, Edo state where I spent about four years. I was very ardent and dedicated to what I was sent to the seminary to do. From childhood I am always excited doing things for God. After leaving the seminary I thought the Lord was leading me somewhere but I didn’t have much knowledge then. Later, I attended a secular school but was still fervent in the Catholic Church until I found Christ in a different dimension. To be fervent in the Catholic is very colossal. Along the line, I came under a peer group influence, joining different associations and began moving in my own way. I stopped serving mass. Hitherto, I longed for God from a tender age until I lost touch with the Lord but he didn’t lose touch with me.
I did not retrace my steps. Rather, God called me back unto Himsekf. Despite my wildest acts contrary to God’s way, He kept watching over me until He caused me to go through a series of experiences that led to my brokenness. At this point I had lost my lucrative job as a special assistant to the then governor of Edo state, Mr. John Oyegun. I had also lost a couple of other valuable things. Yet, the brokenness didn’t lead me directly to church but God kept working on me. I tried my best to solve my problems by myself but all to no avail until the day I came across the light on the road to Damascus like Saul experienced.
Share with us your own experience or encounter on the road to Damascus
I have a friend called Jackson Akpasubi. He was formerly an editor with the now defunct Concord newspaper and later The Guardian newspapers. Jackson was my classmate in the university. I was on the road to do some terrible things when he ran into me along Fola Agoro, Lagos, over 30 years ago. He asked me what was going on. Before then, I was a newscaster at NTA Benin. I also ran a programme with a colleague who later became the chief press secretary to the then Edo state governor. I narrated my plight to Jackson and he took me to Mr. John Momoh of Channels Television. He also invited me to his church, The Redeemed Evangelical Mission (TREM.). When I visited the church and listened to the ministration of the general overseer, Bishop Dr. Mike Okonkwo, the power of God came down; I responded to the altar call and I was saved. Prior this time, I didn’t believe in giving one’s life to Christ. I had a form of godliness in me but I didn’t believe in that practice owing to my background. From that moment everything in my life changed for better.
Share with us the joy of salvation the day you received Jesus Christ
The joy of salvation is an understatement. On that day that I accepted Christ I completely became a new man. I saw life differently. I became very light. I didn’t feel any problem inside of me. From then till now all I care about is Jesus Christ.
As a young believer, who were those you looked up to as your mentors?
As a young believer I looked up to Jackson Akpasubi, one Pastor Victor and Dr. Mike Okonkwo. Dr. Okonkwo has the word and the power of the word. I became a voracious reader. I loved reading the books of Bishop Oyedepo, Watchman Nee, and Spurgeon. I grew up at TREM from the foundation class to the Bible school. I later attended Samuel Bible School, Yaba, Lagos. It’s been a sweet journey with Christ over the years till now!
When and how did you receive the call to ministry?
I received the call to ministry in the mid 1990s. There are many ways to identify a call. There is a direct call that comes with issues or conditions. That is one that God will strip you of all you had and this will lead you to brokenness. That was my own experience.
What is the specific mandate of your call to ministry?
The core mandate of my ministry is to express God’s love to people. I do all things out of love because Jesus is love. He who abides in love abides in God, and God is in him. Love is cardinal. It is love that makes a person to receive the ministry of a man before the power of salvation takes over. The second mandate is to minister deliverance to the captives. I am a core deliverance minister. I am also called to the ministry of the prophetic. I am blessed to the praise of God. Unto us, gifts have been given for the benefits of the body of Christ. We preach the word in season and out of season. For a man to do that, he has to be engrafted in all areas of ministry.
What are the gifting the Lord endowed you to fulfill this mandate?
God has blessed us with the gifts of healing, miracles, the word and the prophetic.
Tell us the major programmes of your ministry in line with its mandate, and share with us some outstanding testimonies from these programmes
Basically, we run city wide crusade outreaches that impart lives for Christ. God manifests Himself in all our programmes with awesome testimonies. I cannot minister without the power of God being expressed. The kingdom of God is not in mere words but in demonstration of power. I have been in the ministry since 1995.
Aside ministry, you are also a successful entrepreneur. How do you combine both?
I am an apostle in the market place. Every apostle should be in the market place. It is in the market place that you can get the resources and the integrity to support your ministry. Aside ministry, Jesus Christ was also a carpenter. He had time to do his secular work. The dynamism of our contemporary world has failed due to the indoctrination of lots of people by man-made doctrines. Many who call themselves men of God swindle people of their resources. I don’t collect people’s money. I am a trader. I do buying and selling to fend for my family and to run the ministry. I am into real estate business to fend for my family, to run the ministry and to do philanthropic works. We support different categories of other ministries as well as various communities.
How do you balance the ministry and the business without one affecting the other?
We need to keep teaching people, particularly pastors in businesses how to balance their businesses and the ministry. When you are blessed and you neglect the Holy Spirit, God will take the blessings from you. So, I constantly live in the fear of God because I know He can withdraw His blessings from me if I neglect Him. When a man prospers as an apostle in the market place, one of the things that will happen to him is that the world will come to him to operate in the way of the world. But a true apostle in the market will not be swayed.
Why do you keep low profile despite your success both in ministry and business?
I try to be as humble as much as I can. Many men of God are noise makers. I am the chief sinner but God knows that I love Him. I am not swayed or carried away by the mundane things of life and the inordinate ambitions of men. What I care about is godliness, salvation and love. These are what matters to me in every facet of my life.
What was your recent press conference on the issues in Lagos PFN all about?
The aim of the press conference was to draw attention that nobody has the monopoly of knowledge and wisdom except God. We organized the press meeting out of love for the body of Christ. I strongly believe we (Pentecostal pastors) can handle our problems by ourselves. Whatever issue that arises at any point in the PFN we believe it should be a family affair that we can amicably sort out among ourselves. I believe we should avoid bringing bigotry and tribalism into the body of Christ, particularly in the Pentecostal fold. We look up to the Christian leaders in this country Nigeria, and expect them to show good examples to the followers. The problem in the body today is that it appears the elders do not want progress in the body with their fanning of indoctrination, fraternity and tribalism in the body. Their walls are breaking down. So, there is going to be an avalanche of change otherwise many churches will come down in shreds and scandals will be much.