It’s Overflow time at RCCG Congress 9th Dec. 2013

#copied from Nairaland

By SAM EYOBOKA
 THE Redeemed Christian Church of God, RCCG, has perfected plans to host the most exciting Holy Spirit-charged festival that will feature exhilarating music ministration, seminars and teachings often laced with loads of miracles and life-imparting prophecies.

Briefing newsmen in his office at the new RCCG Secretariat, the Special Assistant to the General Overseer on Administration and Personnel, Pastor Johnson Odesola said the church has done everything possible to have a successful Holy Ghost Congress—a special annual spiritual fiesta which began in 1998—assuring that there will be no traffic mayhem on the ever busy Lagos-Ibadan Expressway as a result of the programme.

According to Odesola who was flanked by his assistant, Pastor Goke Aniyeloye and the managing editor of the church’s official magazine, Redemption Light, Pastor Olaitan Olubiyi, the theme of this year’s event which begins tomorrow is; “The Overflow.” “The Overflow we are talking about is not just for the church, it’s for the whole nation. All of us could benefit from it,” he said, noting that there is tremendous hope for Nigeria.
“Once we are still able to raise the banner of praise unto the Lord, there’s hope for us. People are worried about what may happen to Nigeria by 2015, I want to assure you that as long as God is on the throne, it’ll be well with the nation. It cannot get worse by the grace of God.

“The essence of the programme is that we want Nigerians to join hands with us to pray that God will restore our nation. We also urge Nigerians to pray without ceasing for our government and leaders. You can say anything about the president or the governor and all those who are in authority, but there’s something we believe; according to the Bible, nobody can get to any position except God permits him or her.
“So whether we like those people or not; whether we voted for them or not; they are God’s choice and we should be praying that they will lead us well,” he urged.

On provision of infrastructure at the camp to accommodate the ever growing number of participants, Pastor Odesola maintained that there was no way the church can provide facilities that will adequately accommodate participants. Nevertheless, he said the church which generates its own power and provides its own water, had put in place several measures for the comfort of the participants expected from far and near for the programme.
“One way or the other, people have stereotyped the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway traffic with RCCG, and that is absolutely untrue. The Lagos-Ibadan Expressway was commissioned in 1977 when there was no-body along this road. No town, no village, and not much vehicles. There has been no expansion since then, so you can expect this kind of thing. But thank God for recent palliative measures the govern-ment is taking on the road.

“You can move round the camp to see the number of car parks the church has invested so much money on to ensure that nobody parks on the road. RCCG has done everything possible to ensure that we do not constitute a nuisance on the road. If people park out there, it would be public transporters. You know; whether there’s a programme or not, they have their own way of doing things. While we are expecting a multitude, we also want to ensure that there is little or no constraint of traffic during the one week period,” he maintain-ed.
Asked about the state of loud speakers within the auditorium, Pastor Odesola said the church had received a considerable number of equipment to effectively cover the auditor-ium, pointing out, that the German company which would have supplied all the equip-ment had delayed because it is involved in preparations for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

He nevertheless maintained that sound quality at this congress would definitely be better than last year’s, stressing “in the last three months, we have procured close to 5,000 units of micro speakers that can go for sound and for music from Germany. At the moment, we’ve received about 4,000 out of the 7,000 we ordered.”
Pastor Adeboye and other anointed ministers of God including the National Presid-ent of Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor will be ministering just as various choirs including Vinesong, a non-denominat-ional team of missionaries, who spread the gospel through worship and the word almost 11 months of every year would be on parade. Though the team members are from different nations, Vinesong founded by John Watson, is based in the UK.

Holy Ghost Congress began in 1998 when over seven million individuals were said to have gathered at the Lekki Beach in a landmark event, reminiscent of the congregation of the children of Israel in the days of Moses, to celebrate the proginator of Christianity, Jesus Christ with astounding miracles following.
That first edition was called the Holy Ghost Festival, Lekki 98. Subsequent editions have moved to the Holy Ghost Arena at the Redemption Camp, first as a 3-day event, and later as an all week-long affair.