They turned out in their droves to celebrate the 10th Anniversary of the Love of Christ Cherubim and Seraphim Church as hundreds of followers brought a kaleidoscope of colour, music and worship to its south London HQ venue.
With a high profile list of distinguished guests and speakers – from home and abroad - on view, which included the church's founder, Reverend Mother Esther Ajayi, it was like a home-from-home for people of the Nigerian Diaspora it attracted.
An endless array of ‘typically Nigerian’ cuisine, including; jollof rice, moi-moi, pounded yam and fried rice, followed with tuwo shinkafa, amala and ikokore provided the ideal back-drop for all.
In her address to her audience, Reverend Ajayi talked of what it means to have faith, saying: "No matter how deep your debt, the Lord can free you from it but you have to give. My family and I used to be so broke that our slogan was ‘give us this day our daily bread’ as we only knew what we will eat and where we would sleep today.”
Renowned for her endless acts of charity, she, with great verve and excitement, highlighted the troughs and eventual peaks of her life story in a sermon filled with passion and unreserved belief; "We became debt-free when I understood the act of giving with expectation from the Lord,” she said.
“I started giving out the little I had and then the more I gave the more I got. The Lord wants you today to have faith in Him and let go of the little in your hands."
After praying for the hordes of worshipers present at the Clapham-based church, a Thanks Giving service took place before a huge celebration of music and dancing marked the end of what was a historic day for all concerned.
