*Says God will choose a good leader for Nigeria in 2023
By Chesa Chesa
The Prelate of the Methodist Church Nigeria, His Eminence, Dr. Samuel Chukwuemeka Kanu Uche, has again recounted his recent ordeal in the hands of kidnappers, asserting that he was not harmed in captivity because of his faith in God and divine mercy.
The cleric was kidnapped by armed men alongside Rt. Rev. Dennis Mark, the Methodist Bishop of Owerri, and the Prelate’s Chaplain on May 29, 2022 along Enugu-Port Harcourt Expressway, in Umunneochi Local Government Area of Abia State.
Speaking during a valedictory visit to the Christ Methodist Cathedral, Nyanya, Abuja at the weekend, the retiring head of the Methodist church in Nigeria likened his experience to the biblical account of Daniel, in the lion’s den, when the carnivores curiously did not devour the faithful servant of God.
He recalled that whenever the kidnappers wanted to harm him and his fellow abductees, the gang leader would charge at them to stop.
The Prelate recalled that the Bible scripture that readily came to his mind during the ordeal was that “though we walk through the valley of the shadow of death, God will save His own”.
He therefore enjoined Christians to trust and have faith in his God who saved him from the hands of kidnappers, stressing that it was by the mercy of God that he was not harmed by the evil men.
Describing himself as a child of circumstance, Prelate Uche went down memory lane further, recounted how as a child, he had a convulsion and was pronounced dead; but when he was about to be buried, his mother objected as she told the family that before his conception, she had promised God to dedicate the male child to Him.
She noted that before this time, her two previous pregnancies ended in stillbirths. He therefore, underscored his belief that whatever God has destined for anyone must surely come to be by God’s grace.
He also recalled that his father was a Circuit Steward in the Old Ihube Circuit of the Methodist Church, noting that the benefits of serving God will not just be limited to those who rendered the service, but will cascade to future generations.
The 70 year-old Prelate, who retires this November, also prayed for God to enable Nigerians choose a good leader, a man after God’s heart as President of the country, and across all levels of government during the 2023 general elections.
He thanked members of the Christ Methodist Cathedral, Nyanya, headed by Rt. Rev. Kehinde Adeyemi, for turning out en masse to receive him, stating that although he valued the gifts presented to him, the large turnout of the congregants made his day and would forever remain evergreen in the mind of his family.
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