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.