Last Friday, 26th April 2019 at the Moremi Hall, inside Sheraton Hotel, Ikeja, City People Magazine, honoured Rev. Mother Esther Abimbola Ajayi with a Lifetime Achievement Award, in recognition of her Philanthropy and Church growth all over the world.
The award was meant to have taken place during the City People Awards For Excellence held on Sunday, 31st March 2019 at The Lekki Coliseum but because she was away abroad, she missed the event. She returned to Lagos last Friday to pick up her prestigious award.
Rev. Mother Esther Abimbola Ajayi who is fondly called Iya Adura is the founder of Love of Christ Generation Church (C & S Church) in London.
Over the last few months, everyone has been talking of how generous Reverend Esther Ajayi has been to so many individuals and churches. She is the popular London C&S Prophetess who spends heavily on Philanthropy & Charity. She has sponsored so many individuals. She has supported church growth all over the world, especially in Nigeria. And in the month of December 2018 alone, she was involved in so many programmes here in Lagos.
She is one woman of God who has taken up Generosity and Philanthropy as a way of life. Many don’t know her story. She is stupendously rich. And she spends big. She spends on the work of God. Her new biography titled Exceptionally Outstanding reveals a lot about this naturally pretty woman of God who spends millions a week on Charity.
What many do not know is that Prophetess Esther Ajayi is a self-made woman. She struggled to make it in life to become a successful businesswoman and after God called her into the ministry, her life changed. According to the book, Reverend Esther’s philosophy of life and Doctrine are ingrained and they make her who she is today. She believes that the bedrock of success includes Gratitude, Humility, Diligence and Faithfulness to God, accentuated with strict adherence to the principles of Jesus Christ.
“Gratitude is my Attitude, Giving is my Character. Nobody will miss it if gratitude is his attitude,” she told the writer. To her, arrogance begets downfall, while Humility begets success. “Humility will always come before honour. To meet with favour is easy. To remain in favour, you have to work extra hard. When gratitude becomes your attitude, you will live in favour of the days of your life. There is no two-way to it,” she said.
Reverend Esther’s emphasis on Generosity as a way of life is Biblical. “She is of the view that imbibing generosity in life should be a pre-requisite to those desirous of prosperity, as dictated by the Bible. “Some Christians are in financial poverty because they lack knowledge of the greatest book given to man-the Bible-which has all the keys to their of a debt-free life.
People say to me, ‘Reverend, I read my Bible all the time. My reply is, ‘Yes, you read your Bible, but do you apply it to your life?’ No matter how big your debt is, the Lord can free you from it. But you have to give. One of the hardest things in life is giving. The devil knows what you are going to get when you give, so he doesn’t want people to give. When Giving becomes a part of you, you don’t even see it. If you don’t give, you are not going to get; it is in the Bible-’Give and you shall be given: You can pray from morning till evening. The principle is that Give and it shall be given unto you. Luke Chapter 6 verse 38 says, ‘Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.’ I became debt-free when I understood the act of giving, with an expectation from the Lord. I started giving from the little I had. The more I gave, the more increase I had. It is also important to pay your Tithe as a Christian. Pay your Tithe, then the Lord will open the windows of heaven. Most Christians don’t pay their Tithes, yet they expect from the Lord. Pay your tithe, be honest about it and speak to the Lord, quoting the book of Malachi 3:10-12 to Him: ‘Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house, and try me now in this, if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you such blessing that there will not be room enough to receive it,’ says the Lord. If you are not following the principles, but you are following the person of Jesus Christ, it is okay if that is what you desire. He will look at you and protect you and that is the end of it. God is faithful. He is a covenant-keeping God. He wants you to put your trust in Him without mingling any fetish things with it. There is a person of Jesus Christ. There is a principle of Jesus Christ. The person of Jesus Christ is that if they slap you on one cheek, turn your second cheek. The principle of Jesus Christ is to pay your tithe, give and it shall be given unto you. That is why you see a Pastor and say, ‘That man can fast. He can pray. What is wrong?’ He is not following the principle. He is only following the person. If you have the principle, it is about giving everything. The not monetary aspect of life alone, but also giving honour and respect. All these things are very important,” she said. Reverend Esther is of the view that life is full of unexpected occurrences, but with resolute faith in God, one would surmount the obstacles. “The book of Isaiah 42 verse 8 says God is a jealous God. He will never give His Glory to a graven image or anybody. There is no how the tribulation will not come, but be of good cheers. He will always conquer for you. Be of good cheers. This is what will conquer for us. John 16:33 affirms it.
Lots of Christians do not want to go through this. I thank God that my calling has been amazingly glorious. I have received unmerited grace and favours. I can’t but thank Him all the days of my life. God can change your situation at any time within a twinkle of an eye. When God calls you and things are going upside down, you will be wondering, ‘What is happening?’ But when things start taking shape, you will appreciate the Living God,” she said.
Reverend Esther has role models whom she looked up to during her trying moment and up till now. She has the utmost respect for her mentor, Dr Mike Murdock. “His teachings are awesome. I turned on the television about 11 years ago and I saw him teaching for the first time. He is a good man of God. His teaching is wisdom. The book of Proverb Chapter 4 verse 7 says ‘Get wisdom and understanding,” she said. Dr Solomon Alao, the Supreme Head of Cherubim and Seraphim Unification Church Worldwide is also her worthy role model. Others are renowned American media proprietor, Oprah Winfrey and American business magnate, Microsoft founder, Bill Gates.
Reverend (Dr.) Ademuyiwa Ajayi believes his wife of 34 years was compensated by God for her faithfulness. He is of the opinion that her principle of life and doctrine contributed immensely to how she weathered the storm. He describes her life in clear terms, without mincing words: “If you are called by God and you are faithful to God, your faith will still be tested. My wife was called and her faith was seriously tested. When she passed the tests, God compensated her for her faithfulness.
That is what made her what she is today. She was very committed and faithful to God. That was how the church came into being. She is a very hard-working woman. When she was in the business world, she was a very good businesswoman. She made a great impact on business. All the dignitaries she had as clients said they had never seen a woman that was so hard working as her. After she left the business world and came fully into Christianity, she has been a committed and faithful woman till date. As a family woman, she has high morals. She does not like cheating and she can’t compromise with morals. Reverend Esther is blessed with an amiable disposition and an extremely kind heart. She has impacted positively on innumerable lives.
Without preference to religious or racial backgrounds, Reverend Esther has added value to the existence of a multitude of people in an unprecedented manner and contributed immeasurably to Christendom. Aside from supporting many church establishments and raising people’s churches-regardless of affiliation-and making stupendous donations to mountain churches, Reverend Esther, on a yearly-basis, sponsors over a hundred people to Jerusalem on- Holy Pilgrimage.
This sponsorship is in 3 batches every year. She pays all travelling, accommodation and feeding expenses and gives the pilgrims allowances to ensure they have an exhilarating experience during the pilgrimage. This project is called The Jerusalem Tour. At least 120 people go on Jerusalem Tour in all the batches every year. In March, 35 people; in July, 65 people and in December, 20 people-all flight tickets, accommodation and feeding duly paid for by her. To cap it all, she gives each pilgrim at least $300 as a personal allowance. In spite of outrightly purchasing the building where the church is located from the Royal Association of Deaf People, Reverend Esther has been magnanimous enough to give the members of the association 5-year free access for social gatherings and meetings in the church’s Function Room.
After Reverend Esther came into her good fortune, she got wind of the fact that her former boss at Clemento Furniture had gone into penury. Out of her own volition, she sought him out and blessed him with 5 million naira. Her former boss was shocked by her kind gesture, to say the least. He never thought for once that Reverend Esther would be used by God to bless him, later in life.
Reverend Esther is extraordinarily blessed by God and she, in turn, blesses people liberally. Her church members often have life-changing experiences with her. One of such was when she recently blessed several members with cash gifts to improve their lives, during a church service. She holds the title of Matronthe and she financially supports more than 50 churches in Nigeria and other parts of the world. She was also recently inducted as the matron of GAB Awards as an appreciation of her immense support. In 2017, when she discovered that the founder of BEFFTA, Dr Pauline Long, had been solely funding the prestigious award ceremony in London for 9 consecutive years, she pledged her lifetime financial support to BEFFTA. The Esther Ajayi Foundation, which she launched in London in 2017, focuses on Philanthropy, Volunteerism and making a difference in people’s lives: including taking care of the homeless adults in the society; those having difficulty with immigration; women in domestic violence and the orphans.
The scope of the foundation, it must be noted, is not limited to the United Kingdom and Nigeria, but all over the world. In 2018, its projection is to touch one million lives. It heavily supports youth empowerment and makes regular donations of self-empowerment items to the youth to add value to their lives and make them gainfully employed. It also built modern homes for the disabled and a rehabilitation centre for the Nigerians recently deported from Liberia, in Odogbolu, Ogun State, Nigeria. She empowers the poor and the disabled in Information Technology, (IT); engineering, tailoring and the likes. The centre is also equipped with a library.
Since its launch, the foundation has supported a countless number of people who have health challenges. It issues grants to charities working on community conservation, education and health projects and supports those in the criminal justice system. It also empowers women through gender equality; while advocating for peaceful societies globally. Its spread includes the United Kingdom, Ghana, Bulgaria and Nigeria and it is poised to be launched in the United States of America. Through Reverend Esther’s philanthropy, several people in Nigeria have received medical aid, including the popular Nigerian poet, Lanrewaju Adepoju, who had a N10 million eye surgery and other expenses taken care of. She also took care of the health challenges of Mr Bukayo Bakare, who was ill with chronic osmolysis of the left femur and chronic ulcer of both legs for 15 years. He got succour when Reverend Esther paid the two million naira needed for his treatment.
Another Nigerian, Mr Oladipupo, had spinal vertebrae collapse with gibbous polyarticular arthropathy, in addition to bilateral shoulder and hip joint problem and needed to take a medical trip to Fortis Healthcare, New Delhi, India to survive; Reverend Esther paid the N6 million needed for his survival. She also donated N10 million for the medical operation of a four-year-old Nigerian boy in India; aside from distributing relief materials at the Royal Seed Orphanage in Ofankor, Central Region of Ghana, to support the orphans, among several other innumerable supports.
Reverend Esther is the Life Grand Patroness of the Good Samaritan Foundation, (TGSF)- a London-based foundation focusing primarily on alleviating bullying and violence among young adults, with a view to ending them and encouraging the youth to live a life free of crime. The foundation, through her support, recently distributed relief materials to the Internally Displaced People, (IDPs), in North-east Nigeria, in a bid to alleviate the scourges of insurgency. She was made the Life Matron of Buruj Sports Academy in 2017 during the academy’s 10th year anniversary. Prequel to this, she had immensely rewarded the team who had a successful outing in Manchester, United Kingdom; by winning the English International Super Cup. In December 2017, her foundation donated a million naira each to seven entrepreneurs at Ovation Carol in Lagos to start-up their businesses. She also launched The Esther Ajayi Foundation, Ghana at the prestigious Movenpick Ambassador Hotel, Accra on March 10, 2018.
In May 2018, Reverend Esther visited Turkey to give a helping hand to people living in refugee camps. By this time, the foundation had touched over 600,000 lives, indicating its potential of surpassing it’s one million people’s projection for 2018.
Despite her impressive achievements, Reverend Esther ceaselessly focuses on one unique project which would add value to people’s lives in different parts of the world and impact more positively on Christendom and the Cherubim and Seraphim Church Worldwide. The project is building empires on acres of land in the United Kingdom, Nigeria and other parts of the world, with all the amenities of life including schools, accommodation, hospital, advice centre, gymnasium, industrial kitchen, and the likes, at the underprivileged’s fingertips and this project, on completion, would effectively alleviate the problems of a countless number of people in the world and immeasurably add value to their lives.
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