Amiable, soft-spoken and passionate about family values, Snr. Rev. (Mrs) Maltilda Unuefe Ikhuiwu is the wife of the General Overseer, Christ Chosen Church of God int’l, (CCCGl) and Coordinator General, of the women arm of the Church Worldwide. In this interview, she speaks extensively on the Church’s Women Convention which commenced on Wednesday, March 29th, and ends on Sunday, April 2nd, 2023. She explains why the programme is imperative for every woman at this time of the nation’s trying moment, addresses the cure to the rising cases of divorce in most marriages, and lots more. Excerpts:
Another Women Convention of Christ Chosen Church of God Int’l is here. Tell us, why should women actually attend this year’s programme?
God bless you. Quickly, I want to let you know that the 2023 Women Convention is another opportunity for us to envangelize and win more souls to God’s kingdom. It’s an annual conference of Christian women which provides every woman an opportunity to come together in the presence of His Holiness to worship and give praises to God Almighty. It is basically a spiritual platform which attracts women from different backgrounds and parts of the world to come together to hear and share the word of God, pray for themselves to enable them prepare for every challenge in the family circle, in the fear of God.
What is the theme of the 2023 Women Convention? And what should the women who are attending the convention expect?
The 2023 Women Convention has as its theme “Arise, Shine and Take Dominion”. Basically, it is expected that at the end of the teachings and prayers, the women would be spiritually impacted. Their lives will be uplifted and improved with the scriptural teachings, skills, training, empowerment and their hopes renewed to overcome the growing challenges confronting Christian families in an ever globally evolving environment. There shall be total revival of souls for Jesus Christ and complete spiritual turnaround, increase and upliftment required for total restoration.
Considering the difficult times the nation is currently going through, as a woman leader, what words of encouragement do you have for the struggling womenfolk in our society?
Honestly speaking, there is no doubt that the economic hardship in the country today is seriously affecting many families. And as such, women must learn, first and foremost, to do away with frivolous and unnecessary mismanagement of scarce resources by not indulging in reckless spending. The way it is going now, any woman who cannot manage money will end up developing severe health issues such as high blood pressure. So, I urge all women to remain steadfast and be prayerful for God’s intervention in our present economic difficulty.
At the end of this year’s women convention of Christ Chosen Church of God Int’l, do you think the women would have a reason to look back and really testify?
I can authoritatively declare to you that this year’s convention is well packaged to meet both the spiritual and physical needs of every woman who will attend. Firstly, the women will be educated on how to manage their families and their businesses. It is a full package designed for both the working-class woman such as civil servants and business owners alike; to learn to productively manage limited resources and achieve optimum results both in business, families and their personal lives. They will be taught also how to trust in God, which is basically what the spiritual aspect of the programme is based on. In the course of observing God’s words through his teachings, serving Him through prayers and worship and praises, He gives us direction on the physical aspects of the convention, namely; where to go and where not to go, what to do and so on and so forth, during and after the convention .
What informed the theme of the 2023 Women Convention?
The present situation in the country is one of the major reasons which informed the choice of the theme for the convention. Look around you today, so much is going on in the world with the crippling economic challenges staring us in the face, our women are in dire need of a programme based on God’s word and teachings to give them renewed feeling of reassurance. That is it.
Can you give us an idea of the profile and pedigree of some of the guest speakers that you are expecting?
The Elect of God and General Overseer of this Commission, Our Spiritual Father and my beloved husband, Most Senior Apostle (Dr.) D. E.O. Unuefe Ikhuiwu JP, and I will be joined by other virtuous, God-fearing women within and outside the country, to impart the lives of our women. The pedigree of these virtuous women of God is so amazing such that they are women who have the fear of God as exemplified in the quality of their lives with their total surrender and belief in Jesus Christ. They include Rev.(Mrs.) Mary Adagbonyin; Snr Rev. (Mrs) Glory Echigbue; Snr Rev. (Mrs.) Mary Ehikhuemen; Deaconess Aguaze from the United States of America, and Pastor.(Mrs.) Grace Oguibike who will be the guest speaker at the convention.
Since you assumed the position of Women Leader and Coordinator General of Chosen Women Worldwide in the last four years, what have been your humble achievements in the lives of these women you are leading?
In terms of marriages, healing and restoring homes, family reunion, businesses and empowerment, we have done quite a lot. One of such is the healing programme for women in need of the fruit of the womb. This programme comes up once a year every October. I am a living testimony of the healing power of God in the healing programme, because for seven years after marriage, it was almost impossible to bear a child. Women have given testimonies here after 22, 28 years of barrenness through the power of the healing programme. A woman after several years of barrenness gave birth to triplets, two boys and a girl. In one of our baby dedications in one of our branches in Lagos State, a woman after 22 years and seven months of barrenness testified of how she gave birth to a baby after taking part in the healing programme. Also, marriages have been saved from divorce because most mothers of nowadays do not endure enough of whatever circumstances presented before them, unlike in the past. Also, some women are no longer submissive to their husbands these days. And the scripture is very clear on that when it said women should be submissive to their own husbands as a man is the head of the family. As Christians we must learn to endure.
Evangelism, winning souls for Christ, taking the message of Christ to communities where people have hardly heard the Gospel. Evangelism is a cardinal part of our achievements, Presently, we intend to travel to Iguobazuwa local government area for evangelism work and along the line, we are going to be giving out relief materials, food items to the needy in the rural communities in the local government. Also part of our achievements and programme from time to time is the first-born programme where prayer sessions are conducted for every first-born in all families whose first child’s destiny is hanging in the balance. There have been testimonies from first-borns who were under bondage being delivered and taking their rightful position in the family.
The rate of divorce among couples nowadays is quite alarming. In your days it was not too rampant. What has gone wrong?
The answer is simple. Couples no longer show endurance in marriages. I will explain. In the days of our mothers and our days, there was love and endurance on the part of mothers towards our fathers. Even as a mother in our time, there was so much endurance and love in midst of nothing. As mothers we knew how to endure and manage with the scarce resources and little materials available to us. And there was peace at home even when our husbands could barely meet our family needs. But today, the story has changed; the girls of this present generation prefer to be extravagant and wasteful as a status symbol. They have become more physically moved by material things, already made home, cars and wealth. In our days and the era of our mothers, it was not so.The women of today are no longer as submissive while the men are lusting after cosmetic girls whose sole aim is to lure men and destroy marriages not firmly established on the principles of Christ. Third party involvement in marriages can lead to divorce as well. Couples must learn to love each other and also learn to endure and tolerate each other in these trying times, no matter the odds.
Skill acquisition and women empowerment are a source of capacity building nowadays for women in most churches. Do you have such in place in CCCGI?
Oh yes, we do. As part of our efforts to improve the quality of lives of women in our Churches, many of them have been empowered in different ways For example, last year, we gave sewing machines, grinding machines, set up businesses and salon outfits for the women, etc. This year we will be going a step further by introducing the women to free training in other areas of business entrepreneurship like soap-making, baking, bead-making, gele and hat production, poultry, event management, etc. Some of the beneficiaries of the free training will receive start-up capital to take off with their chosen business initiative after the programme.
As the Coordinator General of the women arm of the Church, what are some of the challenges you have encountered in the course of leading the women?
The Lord has been faithful as the source of my strength. I have been actively involved in ensuring that every woman in the Church succeeds in her marriage, business, personal and spiritual life .Through all the programmes and activities we have in place in the Church, our women have grown spiritually with the help of the Lord. However, the support of every woman too has been really awesome in helping me succeed in recording all of these achievements .
Any word of advice for the menfolk?
Men should learn to appreciate and pay more attention to their wives by communicating with them always; showing their wives love, affection and care and by being open-minded. Once in a while,as men, touch your wives and take them out and pamper them. As you do these, in return, you will experience that submissive nature in us.
