Rev. Sunday Ache, the author of the bestseller, Breaking the Curses of Bloodline, says nobody, including the born again, is immune to bloodline traits. He reveals how people can discover and decisively deal with their bloodline traits as well as family battles, curses, child delay, etc. He also shares his rebirth and transition from a herbalist’s son and a meat seller to his current status as the District Overseer of Foursquare Gospel Church, Alimosho Missionary District, in the interview below with Christian Benefits on breaking hereditary family curses and battles. Excerpt:
In an earlier interview with Christian Benefits, you disclosed that you had a herbalist family background. How did that impact your upbringing and your life today?
My coming into Christianity from a herbalist family has really impacted my life positively. I see myself as a debtor for serving the devil for the period I did. So, I am indebted to God to serve Him for the rest of my life. When I came to Christ, I was determined to double my efforts in serving God and to reverse the years that I had wasted serving the devil. So, when I came to Christ, it became a major turnaround not only for me but also for everyone around me.
Briefly share with us how you became born again from a herbalist family background.
I got born again in secondary school. All through my time in primary school, most of the people in my neighborhood knew my lifestyle up to the point I gave my life to Christ. My life became a testimony on its own when I accepted Christ, such that many people in my neighborhood said if someone like Sunday could be born again, more notorious young people like him could also be born again. This became such an issue that my new life in Christ started attracting more people to the Lord. When people saw my new life, without being told, they knew something wonderful and positive had changed in my life. That alone was enough for more people in my community to also give their lives to Christ. Before I accepted Christ, I knew some people in my secondary school whom I thought were born again and whose lives my salvation challenged. They were amazed that this boy who was so notorious for bad things was now born again. They came out of their shells and started identifying with me. So, my salvation spread the gospel to more students in my school and others in my neighborhood of Mafoluku, Oshodi.
Aside from coming from a herbalist family, share with us the impact of your upbringing in Mafoluku, Lagos.
My upbringing in the notorious Mafoluku, Oshodi, was very terrible. I mingled with notorious and wrong people. We were vagabonds and involved in everything bad. This negativity impacted my life growing up in Mafoluku until Jesus came into my life. I am from Delta State. My father was a renowned herbalist in the entire Mafoluku community. At a point, I joined the meat sellers at Bolade Market who are mostly Muslims. This influenced me to the extent that I wanted to become a Muslim. I was just 13 years old when I started selling meat at Bolade Market. The butcher who trained me in meat selling was an Alfa (a Muslim cleric). So, I started following him to the mosque. I wanted to learn the Muslim way. In the course of this, the Lord located me and I gave my life to Him.
For giving your life to Christ, did you suffer any persecution or rejection from your herbalist family members and fellow notorious Mafoluku peers?
I would say yes and no. The rejection I experienced didn’t bother me because I knew who I was before Jesus saved me. Of course, most of my friends mocked me after I accepted Christ. Fortunately, my salvation was not based on what people said. It was based on the rebirth encounter that I had. That encounter made me ignore persecution and rejection. Fortunately, in the long run, many of those who rejected me eventually gave their lives to Christ too. My new life in Christ influenced many to accept Christ as well.
Aside from being a pastor, you are also a prolific writer and author of many deliverance books. What are the sources of your inspiration as a writer and author?
I am a practical preacher. I observe, watch, and study the day-to-day lives of people, probably because of my background. I found myself leaning more towards prayer, deliverance, and power ministry. I love seeing people liberated. I feel bad when I see people under oppression. That is my primary source of motivation and inspiration. I am inspired to liberate people by all means, including through writing books on liberation and deliverance from demonic oppression. I am inspired to write books to liberate and bless people. I write books to take my messages beyond my immediate location and community. These are what prompt my writing. I write books to ensure I reach people in places I cannot physically reach. And to the glory of God, that has been my testimony.
Share with us an insight into one of your books, titled Breaking the Curses in the Bloodline.
I was inspired to write on that subject matter after reading a particular book on deliverance written by the late Pastor G. Oyor of God Will Do It Ministry, Ibadan. In that book, he wrote something about Genesis 11:20–26, talking about the life of Abraham, that there was a curse in that family. I didn’t see this as a mere curse but a curse in Abraham’s bloodline. And this was not about witches or wizards. It was about something in his blood lineage, and this had to do with his parental heritage. Blood is a connection between generations. Every man born into this world has a connection to Adam. Nonetheless, every family has peculiar traits, and those traits are in the blood. Everyone in the world, including believers, as long as blood flows in their veins, has peculiar issues or traits in their lineage that they need to deal with decisively.
In that book, you focused extensively on Terah’s genealogy down to Abraham and Isaac as one family lineage that suffered from bloodline issues. Kindly tell us the bloodline issues, curses, or traits, and how each of them broke the bloodline issues.
If you study Genesis 11:20–32, it talks about the lineage of Abraham, and the first person in that lineage was Reu. When Reu was 32 years old, he gave birth to a son named Serug. Serug went on and gave birth to Nahor when he was 30 years old. Nahor went on and gave birth to Terah when he was 29 years old. Terah grew up to 70 years old when he gave birth to Abraham. Terah means prolonged delay. It also means hindrance. This means Terah had delay in his blood, in his DNA formation, as evident in the lives of his forebears Reu and Nahor. In Bible days, people looked at the circumstances and situations surrounding a birth before giving a child a name. Terah didn’t have a child until he was 70 years old. This was the same issue—prolonged delay—in Abraham’s bloodline regarding childbearing. In addition, Abraham married his half-sister. By the time Abraham knew God, he was 75 years old. This means Abraham had been barren before he met God. The issue of his prolonged barrenness had nothing to do with God. It had to do with his bloodline. Abraham married his half-sister, Sarah, from the same family bloodline of delay inherited from their forebears—Reu, Nahor, and Terah. So, Abraham didn’t have a child by Sarah until he was 100 years old. What saved Abraham was that God made up His mind to give him a child. Abraham never actually prayed for a child; he only kept complaining. The moment Abraham left that bloodline and slept with Hagar, he immediately had a child called Ishmael. When Sarah died, Abraham married another wife called Keturah. She gave him five or six children. Blood is a contention. The moment God enabled Abraham to conceive and bear Isaac, one would have expected Isaac to be productive. Unfortunately, Isaac didn’t marry until he was 40 years old. The same issue—delay. Like his father Abraham, Isaac also married his cousin Rebekah from the same bloodline. But he was wiser. When he noticed the delay, he prayed. The Bible says he entreated the Lord and gave birth to twins, Esau and Jacob. Jacob also experienced delay. He didn’t marry until he was 40 years old. The same thing happened with Esau. He didn’t marry until he was 40 years old, and the woman he wanted to marry was also barren. Even Leah, whom he eventually married, also experienced delay for 14 years before she had a child. There was another trait in their family bloodline: lying. Abraham started that trait when he said that his wife Sarah was his sister.
Somehow Abraham didn’t lie because Sarah was truly his half-sister.
Yes, technically, he didn’t lie. But in reality, he lied because the moment you take a woman and start sleeping with her, the sisterhood is gone. Did Abraham commit incest by marrying his half-sister? I would say no because, at that time, incest was permitted. It was before the law. At that time, God had not given the law against incest. Jacob became a fraudster and a liar. His uncle Laban was a liar. Rebekah was a liar. Rachel was a liar. Leah too was a liar. So, aside from delay, lying was another common trait in their family bloodline. Another trait in their bloodline was that women didn’t live to enjoy the success of their children. Though they lived long lives, they always died before witnessing the success of their children. No one knows the mother of Abraham till today. Sarah had died long before Isaac became successful. Jacob ran away from home for 20 years. By the time he returned home with great wealth, Rebekah had already died while Isaac was still alive. Another trait in their bloodline was that the elder ones served the younger ones. Isaac took the place of Ishmael. Jacob took the place of Esau.