“By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance.” (Heb 11:8)
George Washington was America’s first president. His life story is an inspiration to me. He was known as a hard worker. His father died when he was 11. He joined the army. He retired from the army in his thirties and bought land in a small town called Mount Vernon near present Washington. His dream was to be a farmer. He married and planed to settle down cultivating the land. He was successful and happy. But then the call to duty came. He did not really want to go but he felt the duty to answer the call. At the age of forty he took the command of the colonies’ army to fight the British. After eight years of wars America won and became independent. George retired back to his farm and wife. But the call came again to go to Philadelphia to be in charge of the Constitutional Convention. That is how the first constitution of America wax written. After that George went back to his farm to retire. But it was not to be. Unanimously they voted him to be the first president of the United States of America. He was the one who wrote the law that a president should serve a maximum of two terms. After serving two terms as the first American president he finally got his wish. He retired to his farm which has suffered much from neglect. Even in his old age he was seen working the land.

George Washington sacrificed much for his country. He was a rich man before the call to duty came. He did not enter politics to make money. He did not have a great ambition to be famous or rich. He sacrificed present comfort and personal dreams for the sake of duty to his country. Because of that his name is synonymous with love for the country, freedom, honor, loyalty and the call to duty. His inspiration was Abraham in the Bible who also left his father’s house to go to a place called the Promised Land. It was not easy to leave a place where things were going well to go to the unknown just because God called him. God promised Abraham that he will be the father of nations and that his name will be great. He will be a blessing to many all over the world. ‘Abraham trusted God and obeyed’. That is called faith.

I am not comparing myself with these giants: Abraham or George Washington. But this is our testimony: God called my husband and I to leave America and to go back to Warri, Nigeria to start a church called Father’s House. It was not easy to leave our children behind. It was a sacrifice to leave America and to go back to Nigeria. But God gave us the grace to obey. We came back in November 1999 and started the church in March 2000. The rest, as they say, is history.

This is my prayer for you this evening: whatever God says to you, even if it seems impossible, trust and obey Him! As we have no regrets to sacrifice our dream to live in America for the reality of living in Warri Nigeria, for the sake of Christ, you too shall have no regrets in obeying the call of God whatever it is! Glory to God!!!