We Pay Tithes And Offerings To Enhance Our Business – Lagos Prostitutes

• I’ll not collect tithes from prostitutes, yahoo boys –Pastor

• ‘God will judge erring pastors harshly’

By TAI ANYANWU and CHIJIOKE IREMEKA

There
have been arguments over whether prostitutes and Yahoo guys pay their
tithes and whether such tithes and offerings will be accepted as true
worship to the Lord. Sunday Telegraph’s visits to the streets, brothels
and churches have revealed startling secretes about this controversy.
TAI ANYANWU and CHIJIOKE IREMEKA report

There has often been
hot arguments over whether prostitutes and ‘gee guys’, popularly called
‘Yahoo guys’ pay tithes or give offering in the church and whether such
tithes and offerings will be accepted as an act of true worship to the
Lord.

While some sides of the argument, the prostitutes, said
they pay their tithes regularly for more jobs, some pastors on their
part said they will not collect tithes and offering from this category
of members, if they notice a member is paying tithes from proceeds of
prostitution or fraud.

However, in the spiritual matters of the
Kingdom, it appeared that these scarlets of the night are not left out
as they believe that the more offering and tithe they pay, will
translate to more and robust reward as such that follows good tither.

Malachi
3 demands Christians to pay tithe, that is, one tenth of their income
to the house of God as tithe to God so there will be food in the store
house of God; that is from the blessings God has given, Christians are
also to give free will offerings, for the advancement of the work of
God.

In verse 10 of Malachi chapter three, God commanded: “Bring
ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine
house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not
open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that
there shall not be room enough to receive it.”

This promise and
reward will go to anybody that adheres to the command and one of such
prostitute-tither is a 27-year-old Zika T, whose tithes and offerings
seemed to be making ways for her.

She said: “If I pay my tithes,
and give offerings, it will attract more customers to me. Before I go to
work, I will pray and ask God for protection and good business because
God is the one that determines what happens.

“I go to church and I
belong to the youth fellowship. I pray very well not because I am doing
this. I am just doing it to pass away time and to feed myself. I know
that what I am doing is wrong but I know that God will help me to stop
one day. That is why I pay my tithe and offering for God to open a way
for me. I’m a sinner, I know.

“Of course, I have a boyfriend; he
doesn’t need to know what I do. But if he finds out on his own, I will
explain things to him and if he feels otherwise, then he is free to do
his mind.

“Yes, if he can give me what I need, then, there is no
need for me to continue with this business. I will be ready to quit the
job. We do jobs to pay our bills. Nobody wants to work, so if he will
pay my bills, I quit.”

Unfortunately, prostitution in the country
has gone digital making difficult even know who is a prostitutes from
the mix of other clean ladies.

There are silent prostitutes that
have more activities than those on the streets and brothels. There are
those clean and well dressed ladies with good command of English and
good jobs that you will kill to have as a wife, yet engage in
prostituting from home.

They go to work during the day but do the
oldest profession at night. If you are waiting for them to be on the
street, you will be making a mistake as they control things through
phones, facebooks, Instagrams, and whatsapp among other apps.

They
go to church because they are targeting some rich guys in the church.
Some of them visit big churches and in the process, they join different
activities in the House of God. One major factor here is that you don’t
chase people away from the church. Church welcomes all manner of people
hoping to transform them.

“Of course, they are expected to be in
the church because that is where they find their deliverance and meet
their change. Church is like hospital where both the sick and the
healthy visit,” said Minister Paul Ifeoluwa, of the Vision of God Bible
Church, Festac, Lagos.

He noted that these categories of people
have found their ways to the ushering department of the churches, saying
that they are choristers and committed members of the church and
therefore pay tithes, give offerings even without anybody suspecting
them.

“They have to be in the church if not, their salvation will
be far. Church is a molding point for people with hurts and characters
that require remolding and reshaping. If you are sick and stay far away
from the hospital, you are gambling with your life as your healing will
not be in sight,” he insisted.

One of the scarlets of the night
in search of her daily bread, Jessica Onovo, said: “Why won’t
prostitutes pay tithes? After all no pastor had ever asked for the
source of income of the tithe payers. Their followers pay tithes to
ensure and increase the work of God.

“In the tithing world,
prostitutes are the saints; we have armed robbers, extortionists,
corrupt public servants, drug barons, 419’s, Yahoo boys, and the rest of
them all paying tithes. So, why picking on us?”

According to
Cassy Blez’s cousin, who was engaged in the oldest profession, prayer is
the first thing before going out for the night duty.

She
reveals: “Every evening before setting out to business, she should pray
and shout “robocatca, remamakatabosa, and all the likes for a full one
hour, disturbing our ears and peace every evening.

“I am sure she
was a faithful tither because she attends all the Night vigils, mid
week service and all other programmes. I guessed the tithing worked
because she was catching one white man after another. She was dealing in
dollars.”

“I was watching this sermon on TV where a pastor was
preaching on how necessary it is to pay your tithe which is 10 per cent
of your income but funny enough, he didn’t specify the kind job or how
you earn the income that’ll enable you to pay your tithe.

“Rather
he focused on the implications of not paying your tithe. So many
questions keep ringing in my mind. Should it be considered right or
wrong if prostitute pays her tithe? A Yahoo boy nko? What about our
politicians?”

For Jessica White, she doesn’t joke what things of the Lord irrespective of what she doing for the moment.

“I
go to church to worship God not to catch a man. I know where to get the
king of man I want. I pay my tithe, I give offerings and I do other
contribution when the need arises,” she quipped.

These people do
not see themselves different from others in the country. You need to see
them during the day. They are wonderful people but have hidden night
identity. They are emboldened by the activities of Nigerian politicians
and civil servants, whom they say do worst things than them, yet
recognised and respected in the society.

On the Lekki-Ajah axis, the sight of Osamor Orus in any church is to the presiding pastor, as good as hitting a jackpot.

Ordinarily
Orus, as he is fondly called, is a young man. But beyond the façade of
his kind mien, is an unrepentant ‘Yahoo-Yahoo’ kingpin, whose wealth
come from milking the hard-earned resources of others through indecent
and ungodly means.

This affluent resident of one of Lekki’s
exclusive estates makes it a habit, every Sunday, to visit as many
churches as possible.

He dumps stupefying offering, tithe or gifts on the laps of the ‘lucky pastor’ of any church visited.

Orus’
cash gifts are usually so mesmerising that they render the efforts of
other worshippers in the prowling ground of Lagos super-rich a
Lilliputian’s gift.

Take it or leave it, Orus is a darling of the
pastors on the Lekki-Ajah axis; and he is welcome in their churches any
time any day as the pastors never bother to ask what the source of his
income is and if it is genuine, godly or ungodly.

But, the Head,
Media and Public Relations of the Redeemed Christian Church of God,
Pastor Olaitan Olubiyi said: “If I know that a worshiper, who wants to
pay tithe is a prostitute, yahoo or earns his or her income from a
dishonest source, I will not take the tithe from such people.”

According
to him, one thing about tithe is, the pastor is not in a position to
tell whether the payer’s source of income is genuine or not.

He
explained that paying tithe is a way of appreciating God for giving one a
source of income and an act of worship which attracts reward.

“Paying
tithe from income that is not genuine or tricking a pastor into
collecting from an ungodly income is an absolute waste. Indeed, such
tithe is a wasteful venture because the payer will lose the benefits of
tithing.

“Invariable, there is a curse for any wrong doing and
disobedience to the word of God concerning any issue,” Pastor Olaitan
stressed.

Pastor Olaitan finds a soul mate in Rev Stephen
Ezechukwu, Head Public Relations, The Salvation Army Nigeria Territory
Headquarters.

He said: “Tithe is 10% of someone’s income, from a
godly source. Tithe does not belong to the pastor; rather it is God’s
and an act of worship of the Almighty God, which attracts reward to a
genuine tithe payer.”

He added: “God will not accept tithe paid
from ungodly source of income as an act of worship. Hence, the payer
will lose the reward if his source of income is not godly.”

For
Rev James Akinadewo, Regional Overseer, Lagos Region, Motailatu Cherubim
and Seraphim Worldwide, without mincing words said: “It is wrong for
any pastor to accept tithe from people whose income come through ungodly
avenues.

“God will judge, harshly, any servant of God who
accepts tithes from prostitutes, yahoo people and those who pay tithe
from ungodly means. The Bible says that the truth you know and do will
set you free.”

Speaking on the right of any pastor to reject a
tithe from a worshipper, Elder Chris Njelita said it amounts to
hypocrisy for any pastor to openly say he will not accept tithes from
prostitutes and yahoo boys.

He said: “So, the pastor will not
collect tithes from a harlots but will but will collect from
politicians, corrupt civil servants, murders, blasphemers, sinners,
fornicators and adulterers among other sins. It doesn’t make sense.
Romans 3:23 says, ‘For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of
God.’

“If you stigmatise these people, how then will you win them
over to Christ when you have condemned them? If you are called of God
and you know a particular member who does a shoddy job, call him, speak
to him or her like a father and brother would, advise him or her per
adventure he or she might change but not by stereotyping him or her.

“It’s
ungodly. Let’s not be over righteous here. The scripture says, “Bring
ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine
house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not
open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there
shall not be room enough to receive it.”

Anyone that adheres to
this will get that reward because it’s the word of God, he added. “Let
the over righteous people and pastors go and read about Jesus Christ and
Mary Magdalene, perhaps, they will learn something.

Source:- Newtelegraphonlineng