It was a thing of joy for widows in Port Harcourt City Local Government Area (PHALGA) as Ogbakor Ikwerre California celebrated this year’s Christmas with them.
Christmas also called Yuletide, is a season set aside by Christians to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. It is a season of love and it symbolises the exchange of gifts to the down- trodden, less privileged, widows as well as loved ones.
In the Holy Scripture, the birth of Jesus Christ was announced by an Angel in Luke 2:7-18, which brought joy, peace and salvation to mankind.
In the time past, it was learnt that three Middle Eastern Kings, named, Gaspar, Melchior, and Baltasar, popularly known as the “Three Wise Men”, who felt compelled by God and were led by a new star in the sky to go to Jerusalem,  brought gifts to the son of God (Jesus Christ), who was to be born.
Till date, God has often times continued to speak to man to be a blessing to one another, especially for the rich to help the poor in the society.
In line with God’s command, a group under the auspices of Ogbakor Ikwerre In The Diaspora has been complying to that command since 2014 till date.
Tuesday, December 20th, 2022,  the California representatives and their press crew here in Nigeria embarked on group mandate to celebrate 2022 Christmas with some widows in three communities namely: Rumukalagbor, Oro-Adasobia, Rebisi and Oroworukwo, all in Port Harcourt Local Government Area (PHALGA) through the distribution of some food items such as beans, rice, tin tomatoes, salt, groundnut oil and maggi to the widows.
First, they started with the distribution of food items in Rumukalagbor community, where the group representatives were received by the Chief of the community, the Nyenweli of Rumukalagbor Community, Nye Nweli  Chile R. Kalagbor, who introduced the widows to the Ogbakor Ikwerre in Diaspora representatives.  He charged the beneficiaries to maintain peace and remain hospitable to the visitors.
Chief Kalagbor expressed  joy, saying that the kind gesture by the group would go a long way to cushion the demands of these widows during the season.
He prayed and thanked the group for their benevolent acts of showing love through giving, stressing that they would never lack as the bible supports what they were doing.  He said: “It is better to give than to receive and since they are interested in giving, they will never lack anything good from God.”
Some of the beneficiaries appreciated  Ogbakor Ikwerre in the Diaspora for the show of love even when they had no hope from anywhere.
One of the beneficiaries, Mrs Scholar Chinda said: “This is just a surprise as I heard that our people in the California remembered the widows. Like I earlier said in Ikwerre Language, Exodus 22:22 says, whosoever afflicted the widow invokes the anger of God to rise. In other words, when you bless a widow you have a blessing attached to it.
“Since they are there and are remembering the widows by doing what  our husbands are supposed to do for us and because of death they are not able to do it again”.
“As they are feeding us, God will feed them over there, God will always make a way for them, the American land will favour them, will honour them. Their children will be useful and none of their girl children will be widow early, so we bless them, we appreciate them in Jesus name, Amen,” Mrs Chinda added.
Another beneficiary and one of the oldest among the widows, Mrs Comfort Robinson, also expressed joy and happiness to be alive to witness such a kind gesture by her own people and prayed in Ikwerre Language saying:  “God bless our daughters and sons in California for remembering us. God will remember them in their time of needs”.
Also a beneficiary, Madam Linda Goerge, representing her widow mother, who is sick said: “I thank them very much for what they did. For me I will say let God bless them for remembering the widows. May their pockets never run dry. May God replenish their pockets and whatever they lay their hands on to do, shall prosper in Jesus name, Amen”.
At Oro-Adasobia Community in Rebisi, Port Harcourt, the team was received by some chiefs, among them were Eze Nyenweli Amadi Worha;  Eze Okani Adasobia, the XII of Rebisi Kingdom, Chief Charles Dede and Chief Okechukwu Abbey.
Speaking to The Tide correspondent in an interview, Eze Nyenweli Amadi Worha said: “This is the first time we have witnessed what is happening here in the hall today. I remember when I was in the United States, this idea has never crept up into my mind.
“I take this opportunity with my fellow chiefs and Oro Adasobia in general to thank the California members, who are actually rooted from this part of the world and they are doing marvellously well to feed the hungry persons in our midsts instead of sending the hungry persons out without food”.
According to Chief Worha, “they have fed thousands, no matter how they started, I know tomorrow will be greater. My prayer is that let God Almighty keep, protect, preserve and save them”.
Also speaking, another Chief, Eze Okani Adasobia, the XII of Rebisi Kingdom, Chief Charles Dede, said: “I am very much impressed and so happy that our people in the disapora have such a kind gesture.
“This is the first time we are witnessing such a thing,  as such we pray for more grease to their elbow for them to have remembered that there are people here that need assistance, it will go a long way to help these poor ones, so I thank God for what they are doing”.
“I also pray that God bless them in the name of Jesus Christ, God should prosper the works of their hands. I’m  appealing to the people in the diaspora to assist in training some of the children of the widows, so as to reduce the high level of crime on the society”, he emphasised.
His words: “Also to the parents of these children that have gone hay wild due to lack of proper home and  educational training, that God is the husband to the widows as such should grease their efforts in whatever they lay their hands to do, so they are able to take care as well train their children properly”.
The crew went to Oroworukwo and were received by some chiefs as well and the same testimonies and appreciation were recorded.
Earlier, the Ogbakor Ikwerre, California representative in Nigeria and lead speaker, Dr Christiana Chukumati, stated that the gesture started since 2014 and has been up and running.
Chukumati explained that the team has visited several communities in four Ikwerre Local Government Areas namely, Obio/Akpor,  Emohua, Ikwerre and PHALGA, adding that their set goals and aspirations are to put some smiles on the faces of Ikwerre widows.
She stressed that the Ikwerre Widows’ Outreach Project has been up and running with other various projects such as scholarship to the less privileged ones in the society, skills acquisition programme for youths, medical outreaches, among others.
Even the press crew were not left out as they also benefitted from the gesture.  As a result, they expressed joy and pray that God continues to bless and keep those their bothers and sisters in California, so that they can continue to do more for the less privileged and down trodden in the society.
On her part, Pastor (Mrs) Constance Walker charged all the widows to see God as their husband and a great provider in time of needs.
Walker further charged them to look for something to do with their hands, instead of sitting at home doing nothing.
She emphasised that a struggling widow would always be respected by all in the society, adding that a lazy widow will wait for some irresponsible men to take them for granted which at the end will not give them the respect they had when their husbands were alive.
The woman of God charged them to seek God’s face and do things that would add positively to their lives.

By: Susan Serekara-Nwikhana