TheCable

Ayo Oritsejafor, former president of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), has described a trending video of him soliciting donation at a church programme as mischievous and misleading.

In a statement on Tuesday, the senior pastor of Word of Life Bible Church in Warri, Delta, said he is too blessed to manipulate people.

In the video which went viral on social media, Oritsejafor was seen asking members of a church in the US to pay $5000 for mantle, adding that the congregation would not miss God if they do so.

The pastor, however, said he never sold handkerchiefs to members of the church, while mantles were freely given to those who volunteered pledges or support for some specific mission works.

“My attention was drawn to a short video clip of my recent ministration at Morris Cerullo ministry, San Diego, California, in the United States trending on the social media. The said sales of “handkerchiefs” story is untrue,” the statement read.

“I didn’t sell handkerchief to anybody. The mantles were freely given to those who volunteered pledges or support for some specific mission works in the ministry. The trending clip is misconstrued for mischievous purposes, a development that has become a norm on the social media.

“The negative portrayal of my ministration is unfortunate and misleading. The habit of portraying church activities in bad light just to ridicule men of God is a weapon the devil is deploying to discourage devout believers and to mislead committed Christians from supporting God’s work. It is a sign of the end-time.

“Every special offering raised in any Bible believing church is NOT meant for personal use of the ministers but certainly to meet some specific needs of the church or ministry and her charity outreach.

“At the level God has placed me, I’m way too passionate about the salvation of souls than to exploit the same souls I was commissioned to lead to Christ. I boast in the Lord that I’m too blessed and content to manipulate people. I don’t do it and will never do such. Therefore, the global audience, Nigerians in particular, should disregard any misconstrued, twisted information about my pulpit assignment.

“I hereby advise every concerned person to watch the full version of the ministration before passing judgment. Nobody should allow himself/herself to be fooled by the manipulation of many things on the internet aimed at discrediting their targets.”