WOMEN VITAL IN NATION BUILDING - OKOGBUE
Okogbue
Rev. Mrs. Rose Nkaku Okogbue is the founder of Dominion Women Prayer Ministry (DWPM), a non-denominational women ministry formed to create awareness among women.
She believes that women are very vital in the ministry was formed. 'Women have a very important role to play in nation building because every child comes from a home and the woman is there in the home. She is the one that is rearing the children; she is the one that should be giving a helping hand to the husband. If a woman is able to influence the husband, there are things that the husband will not do outside. Also, if a woman is able to raise her children in godly manner, there are things that they will not do outside. They will not be easily influenced because they have imbibed the core values, morals from the home and what she has done will have a ripple effect outside and her own life will be a mirror for the people around her that would want to emulate her and live a better life'.
Continuing, she said: 'If you discover the child spends more time with the mother, right from the womb, the child has contact with the mother and when the baby is born, the child sucks the mother's breasts and that is the closest contact a mother and child can have. Some children suck for six months, nine months or one year. So, at that time, you are feeding the child, you are speaking into that child's life and at times even when they are not able to talk, you are talking to them, they are smiling. That is where the influence starts and as they are growing up, she is imparting in them, values and morals. So, she plays a very important role because she spends most of her time with her baby.'
On her mission, the DWPM founder, whose dreams are high, said that through the ministry, women are trained to be spiritually alert and emotionally balanced to handle the challenges facing them as daughters, wives, mothers, leaders and home builders. 'I intend to raise women that will be in dominion in their homes, environments, careers, businesses and in their ministries. You know when a woman is grounded in the Word of God and the goings-on in the society, she will be able to handle the little challenges in the home and around her', she said.
Speaking on how the women can curtail societal problems, Okogbue noted that with the intercession by women some problems will be averted. In her words: 'Women can help in tackling the problems in the country through prayers. If you read the book of Esther, you will discover that at a time when Israelites faced a challenge, it was Esther (a woman) who intervened through prayers. Consequently, God gave her the courage to confront her husband who dealt with the problem. As touching the problems facing our country today, if the women can organize themselves and earnestly cry to the Lord, I know there will be and end to them.'
According to her, there are women who are very virtuous and those who are successful in business. If they can mobilise finances to sponsor indigent youths, they will achieve a lot. She gave an instance. 'Two years ago, the Lord led me to form a football club. One will start to wonder what a woman like me is doing with a football club, but I formed it. What has that football club done? It has raised youths. They are now Godfearing and they are now 200. They now have the fear of God in them, that when they have a challenge, they declare a fast and pray before they go into any football contest. So, that is the way you can raise children. Not only your own children, there are ways you can affect other children positively by identifying with their plight. There are orphans out there who need financial aid for their social status to be enhanced. And once they are assisted, they will be willing to do whatever you want them to do to improve their lives.'
She further stated that rendering help does not depend on how much one has but on individual. 'It doesn't matter what you have, you may not be a millionaire, but the little you have you can be used to impact on other lives. For instance, any time we have the programme of giving to the poor, I might not have up to N10, 000, but the moment I begin to think about it, you will see open doors and at the end of the day, I will share items worth N200, 000 or more to them. So, it is your willingness first, your open heart because God is looking for vessels to use and if you volunteer and say Lord I am ready, He will begin to mobilize resources for you. So, we don't need to be millionaires to do anything. We need to be focused and committed and God will pool the resources for us.
Dominion Women Ministry, Okogbue said, does not only teach women how to pray. It also runs an empowerment programme where they teach them skills acquisition on how to make detergent, soap, disinfectant and cake making, among others.
'I foresee the ministrygoing beyond the nation in the next three years. Then, we will be able to build resource centres for not just the women but also for the youths and children because when you begin to groom the children at an early stage, they will not go into crime in future. So, what we have in mind is to groom the entire family. We are thinking of incorporating our men so that they will know that they are the pillars of the house. It is not enough to get money. One thing is to get the money and another thing is to ensure that money is judiciously used ', she explained.
However, she charged women to be up and doing. 'Let them wake up from their slumber, you are in the home, you can do something.
In our last meeting, there were women that said their husbands don't allow them to work. I told them there are some things you can do in your bedroom or your bed. You can stay in bedroom and make hats. You can stay in your bedroom and sew without owning a shop. There are things you can do in your little corner. It is good for women to look inward, there are so many potentials in us that need to be developed in order to become what God has called us to be. Education or not, God has equipped everyone of us to be the best'.