YOUR VEHICLE CAN ALSO RECEIVE DIVINE HEALING
An automobile engineer in Umuahia, who doubles as the preacher of the word of God, Mr Okezie Ariwa, popularly known as Nwa Jesus, is making waves in Abia State as his work place called Jesus Workshop is always filled with vehicles.
According to him, vehicles receive healing like human beings do in churches immediately they get to his workshop.
Ariwa who hails from Umuobu, Umuajata Autonomous Community in Olokoro, Umuahia South LGA of Abia State has traversed the length and breadth of the country and beyond repairing and servicing automobiles.
He holds a primary six certificate, which he acquired in 1977, Ariwa says Jesus himself handed him over the key to automobile problems and asked him to use it to help humanity.
He dislikes the name mechanic as according to him, Nigerian automobile workers have debased it.
'You can hardly differentiate some with lunatics when you see them on the road. That you do a job that attracts dirt does not mean that you should be dirty yourself,' he said.
Our workshop
Here in Jesus workshop, we have clean marts, which we use in going under the vehicle if occasion demands for it, we have a lot of detergents and water at any point in time to wash our hands and clean whatever needs to be cleaned up. You can never meet your car body or engine dirty after repairs. Some people, because of engine wash alone bring their vehicles for servicing here. Sometimes you will discover that what is disturbing the vehicle is dirt and not mechanical fault. Ours is to prove a point, that those who repair vehicles are not mad people. And we have been able to do that in Jesus workshop.
Why I call myself engineer
And that is the reason I prefer to use the name engineer, because I am sure that the wisdom that has been given to me in this business if measured in America and Europe where talents are recognized, I would be awarded a doctorate degree in the field of automobile.
If you bring your vehicle here for clutch problem and we discover that the break is not good, we will also fix it and not overlook it because you did not point it out. Jesus Workshop is a model workshop which others should copy and that is why I am calling on the state government to allocate a land to us to show the youths that there is dignity in labour.
Building new workshop
We have money to develop the land if we get it today. Since I came back from Sokoto it has not been easy getting a befitting accommodation to build our workshop and that is why you see us here. In our workshop in Sokoto, you relax when you come for repairs and watch films while your job goes on and if you need to have a drink you get it. That is what I have come to replicate here.
I and my family
I am 48 years old and the first child of Mr and Mrs Edward Ariwa. My father, Edward Ariwa is 95 years old and still alive and my mother Patience is 75 years old and also alive. We are nine children made up of five girls and four boys, out of which two have already died, leaving seven alive. I was brought up under very harsh condition.
My father served the colonial masters, washing their clothes and cleaning their shoes. He served them in the North for 25 years, in Port Harcourt for 10 years and in Makurdi for five years.
The condition then was so hard that my parents could not pay my school fees. We were made to go into the forest, where we get some roots, with which we produced local sponge, take them to market and sell them to get money for our school fees.
We would also cut some logs of wood which our father used to carve and produce mortar. All these would be sold in the local market to raise our school fees.
My apprenticeship
During this period, I would go to a popular bicycle repairer in our village to study what he was doing out of curiosity. It did not take long before, I learnt how to repair bicycle. It was from the joy of repairing bicycles that I developed interest in the repairing automobiles.
During my school days I recall that the story of Christ interested me most and religious knowledge was one subject I did not fail for one day due to my interest in the story of Christ. I went to primary school at Umuajata Community School and ended up at Umuajata Central School, where I obtained my First School Leaving Certificate in 1977. I decided to learn how to repair vehicles in 1978 under a good master called Anthony Ajuzie of the blessed memory. I call him good master because he repaired anything that was engine, including Caterpillar engine. I picked interest in what he was doing and registered as an apprentice under him.
Because his handiwork was unique, I started praying to God to bless me with the knowledge for me to be like him, so that I can work on anything automobile. This is because any engine work which other masters could not do, they always brought them to him and he would help them out. So, I asked God to give me the same wisdom to excel like him.
It was not long and we left Umuahia for Sokoto, his former base before the war. Among the seven apprentices he had in Umuahia, he took only me because he had seen that I was the only one that was close to what he was doing. And this is because of the zeal and interest in me to know the work. A time came and he had an accident and was hospitalized.
Beginning automobile repairs
It was while he was in the hospital that the prayer which I prayed to God started manifesting in the workshop. I started handling jobs which surprised him in his sick bed when he learnt of it. The money I was sending to him as something that came from the workshop surprised him. Our neigbours who visited him in hospital were telling him the type of vehicles that were coming into the workshop which I was repairing. They were telling him that I was communicating with the people they did not know.
People were bringing big vehicles like Land Cruiser from Niger, Malaville, Yame and other adjoining countries and I was handling them perfectly. Those exploits convinced my master that it was not my own making, but the hand of God upon my life. He was in the hospital for three months and when he came out the workshop was bubbling with activities and money was rolling in. It was then that he called his family to come from the East and live with him and they came to the North. His wife once told people that since the husband had been training people, they had not seen anybody like me, because I never for once stole any of the money we made in the workshop, but would always send the money to him. I spent six years and seven months with him and when I graduated, he threw a party during my freedom and gave testimonial and told everybody that it shall be well with me.
Opening my own workshop
In 1984, I opened my own workshop in Sokoto State and ever since, things have been going on well with me. Instead of my work to be going down, it has been growing on a daily basis. I have never had a job which I found difficult to handle. There is no engine that I cannot work on and perfectly too. It was like my master handed over his anointing to me the way Elijah did to Elisha and then God multiplied it for me. I have trained many boys from different parts of the country and even beyond. I repair Japanese, German, Russian, Italian vehicles, just name it, God has never failed me in this field.
My turning point
Something happened, which I could consider as a turning point in my life. One day, I started hearing a particular voice speaking to me about the things in the past, the things at present and the things that would happen in future. This was when I came back from Sokoto and was preparing to go to Lagos. It was just three days to my take off to Lagos and I started hearing this voice and it kept telling me that I must not go to anywhere, that I must stay here. It instructed me to unpack all my travelling luggage and stay.
Living in a church
I ran to one church called St Josephs Chosen Church of God, Amakama. While in the Church, the voice ceased talking to my ears. From what they saw God do through me in that Church, they started calling me Nwa Jesus (Son of Jesus). I lived in that Church for some months. It was this voice that told me that he is the one, that whatever I might think of under heaven, he is the one. I did not believe it, until he presented himself to me in that Church; one early morning, around 5 a.m. when he presented himself to me and asked me what my problem was and I told him nothing. He told me that I should not be afraid that he is with me. It was from that day that I started living above the expectations of man. In January 2000, I left the Church for my house.
Why I christened all I have Jesus
With that assurance, anything I want to do, I place his name first. For example, this workshop is called Jesus Workshop, my jeep is Jesus jeep, my house is Jesus house, because I don't have anything I call my own. He gave them all to me.
But for the faithlessness of people in the affairs of God, children of God would be harvesting miracles on daily basis .You can tell your car that has a problem to be healed in the name of Jesus and it will be healed.
Many of the problems which people pass through are normal witchcraft problems, some are as a result of disobedience to the direction of the word of God. Many of them are due to disobedience to tithe and offering payment. Ecclesiastes 5, 4-6 say they have put themselves into financial hardship and jobless positions. That scripture says that many Christians are in trouble due to disobedience.
In Jesus Workshop, we are unique because we have solution to all automobile challenges. When other mechanics reach their wits end, they bring the vehicles to Jesus Workshop and the anointing here does the work. We are not the ones doing it; it is the master who owns the place that does his work. We have put many vehicles which people never thought would go on the road again back to the road.