Since the introduction of the Quiet Time program for the Young people in Nigeria in 2014, the cry to extend the blessing of the event to the young people in other parts of Nigeria has been very great.
In 2018, when we resumed the program in our new office building, having stopped for some time while building the new office, Brother Joseph graciously approved that we can also hold the event in other parts of the country. This was welcomed with a great applause and deep appreciation.
We held the first one in Benin City, and then in Abuja. This time around, the youth in the south-eastern part of Nigeria, Calabar, were relentless in their faith to hold a Quiet Time event in their area. This came to pass on July 20, 2019.
Word soon went out that VGR was planning a Quiet Time event in Calabar. A dedicated group of young people came together to offer to pay for the hall. Also, one of the churches in the town offered to pay for the refreshments we were planning for the event. The pastor told me that he would pay for the food, the drinks, and the water for the event. This was quite encouraging when we set out for the program.
We had about 280 young people in attendance. The expectation was very evident on their faces. A few of them have had the benefit of attending the program in Lagos, either while on vacation or when in Lagos for one reason or the other. They all came very excited and we welcomed them into the hall of a school compound that we had hired for the program.
We started the program with a word of prayer, and a welcome greeting to them on behalf of Brother Joseph and the Young Foundations. I asked a young brother to help lead some worship songs I had put together for the event. The excitement in the worship can been seen in the pictures. After the worship songs, I formally explained what the Quiet Time was all about with the words of Brother Joseph and the Quote by Brother Branham. After these preliminaries, we dispatched to start Quiet Time.
As you can see from the pictures, this was quite a very serious event for them. We gave out the sermon book “Come Follow Me” 63-0601. While some choose to read the sermon book, others read from their Bibles, and some decided to pray. In all the categories, it was a solemn time of deep silence. The one hour soon came to an end, and you could easily see that they really enjoyed their time alone with God. A brother told me that this is the first time in his life to have such a time with the Lord, and that it was impressive what it did for his life. Many others had great things to say.
We sang some songs, and had a quiz session from past quizzes from Young Foundations. This was very exciting and a real fun, and joyous time also. It was a feeling of, “Let us continue with the event,” but I told them that we had to close.
I explained the Young Foundations website to them, and encouraged them to sign up, and to take full advantage of the opportunities and blessings the website has for them, including Christian music.
We dismissed with a word of prayer and went out for the food and drinks provided for the event. They used the opportunity of this great moment of togetherness to fellowship with one another.
They departed from the premises, and went home. Some of them came from Cross River State, Akwa Ibom State etc. The next word was, “Brother Andrew, when will be the next Quiet Time here?”
The head of the school was so impressed with the appearance of the young people, and said she really loved the program and would be glad to welcome us back again.
We really want to thank Brother Joseph for providing this opportunity for them. A young brother here told me that a platform like this is very needful for the youths in the Message to break the doctrinal walls erected by the churches, which has fenced them from seeing one another and keeping them from fellowshipping with one another.
They are so happy that it affords them the opportunity to meet other young people in the Message who they might never have met in their lifetime. It affords them the opportunity to value the Message more than they would have done, encouraging them to listen to and read the sermons of the prophet.