Word for Today : My Life at 60!
Ministry of the Word (MOW): True Spirituality
Please, sing with me if you know the song:
Take glory, Jehovah Nissi take glory;
Alpha & Omega, take glory;
It is from my heart , O LORD (Repeat x3).
Dearly Beloved
I am giving this testimony of my life at 60, to the glory of God in Christ Jesus and to the shame of the devil. This testimony should encourage someone. Truly, all things work together for good to those who love God…Romans 8:28.
If I praise myself, my testimony comes to nothing. The best friend in my life and my mentor has always been our Lord & Saviour, Jesus Christ, the Word of God, from a very tender age. He has been my life, my thoughts, my aspirations, my empowerment and my source. To him alone be glory, honour and adoration. This is not to say that I have not benefited immensely from teachings by great earthly teachers, especially while studying medicine at the university of Ibadan, Nigeria and men of God such as pastor Adeboye, Bishop Oyedepo and pastor Olukoya etc. However, am very independent when it comes to true spirituality. I have read in my bible: “Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty” (2Corinthians 3:17). I have seen the worse form of bondage in the church. I often wonder why ‘popular’ men of God make so much money with impunity from their ignorant congregation, using the power in the word of God. Our Lord Jesus said: “Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give” (Matthew 10:8). Remember, Prophet Elisha rejected material gifts from Captain Naaman after God used Elisha to heal his leprosy (2Kings 5:1-16).
Honestly, I thank God for Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Truth and the Life; the Word of God. I have no doubt that I would not have been alive today to give this testimony of the Amazing Grace of God in a man’s life if Jesus Christ never existed, or if Jesus Christ is not who He says He is in Holy Bible . He says: “…All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth” ( Matthew 28:18). At the name of Jesus, every contrary power must bow.
My full names are Leonard Ben Bassey. Am spiritually known as Bro Ben Bassey.
My qualifications include MBBS, MA, FWACP(psych). I am licensed to practice as a consultant psychiatrist both in Nigeria and the UK, on account of my dual citizenship.
I was born about 60 years ago into the royal family of late Prince Ben Udoh Bassey. My late paternal grand father, late Chief Abasiekpo Abasiubong, was a highly revered paramount ruler of Eket, in Akwa Ibom state. On account of numerous losses to evil forces, only my immediate senior sister ( Deaconess Mercy Ben Bayode), currently in USA is alive today out of numerous children of my late mother.
On completion of my primary and secondary school in Akwa Ibom, Nigeria , I travelled to Lagos in 1976 to stay with my late eldest sister, Princess Veronica Bassey . While in Lagos , I completed ‘A’ level and got admission to the university of Ibadan, Nigeria, in 1978.
I graduated as a medical doctor with MBBS from the University of Ibadan in June 1983, and qualified as a consultant psychiatrist in 1995. I was generally quiet in the university. As I later told someone, I could have been well known on account of my quietness.
I joined the Nigerian Navy after NYSC in November 1985, as Surgeon Lieutenant under the Direct Short Service Commissioning.
Some aspects of my testimony:
**At 60, the grace of God has enabled me to enjoy divine health in abundance. Not even once, can I recall sleeping in the hospital as a patient since becoming a medical doctor in 1983. The word of God says: “But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you” ( Romans 8:11). Inside me, I still feel very young. I remember what the word of God says: “Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle’s” ( Psalm 103:5).
**I voluntarily retired from the Nigerian Navy as a Surgeon Commodore in 2008, against expectations, based on the leading of the Lord. I served in the navy for about 23 years, though not uninterrupted. While in the service, I was awarded Forces Services Star (FSS), Meritorious Services Star ( MSS) and Defence Services Star (DSS). You may call it mere co-incidence, the same 2008 that I disengaged from the Navy, my ex-wife left me in a very dramatic circumstances following a few failed attempts to smuggle strange babies into our matrimonial home, which I successfully resisted with the help of the LORD . The same year, I was baptised in the Holy Spirit; the good Lord blessed me with houses/material things; I relocated to the UK, and the Ministry of the Word was revealed to me , all in the same year. It’s the same year Abasi Health Foundation, a registered NGO in Nigeria was revealed to me.
**The good Lord used my first marriage of 12 years from 1996 to 2008, to teach me serious lessons in spirituality and warfare. When my first wife abandoned the marriage in 2008, it was indeed a great deliverance for me from the power of darkness, even though I never had this understanding until after about a year later. It was like a dream ( Psalm 126:1-3). By divine arrangement, I remarried to Iyobosa Ben-Bassey ( nee Ekhator) in December 2013. Iyobosa, a registered paediatric nurse, is God’s sent to fully repair the damage of my first marriage. We met in December 2011 at the Redemption Camp, Nigeria, during the Redeemed Christian Church of God’s Congress. The marriage is blessed with two lovely daughters, Princesses Esther and Victoria Ben- Bassey. In addition, I have many spiritual children. It’s noteworthy that while in my first marriage, I consulted renowned gynaecologists both in Nigeria and the UK, including doing IVF and the HIV test on three occasions, to no avail. Truly, I have been vindicated, more so as my ex-wife went about telling people that I was responsible for our inability to have children and even said it in the court during a very protracted divorce case that lasted about five years. The word of God says: “Who is he that saith, and it cometh to pass, when the Lord commandeth it not?” (Lamentation 3:37).
**Through the intervention of my only surviving sister, Mercy Bayode, using some pastors, with the leading of the Holy Spirit, I joined the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG ) in 2007 on my 50th birthday . Due to my desire for spiritual growth, I went through workers in training at the Abundance Life Parish , Ikoyi, Lagos and later graduated from the School of the Disciples in 2009. By the grace of God, I was baptised in the Holy Spirit on the 10th February 2008, and since then my life has not been the same. I have said it a few times that it is difficult to teach someone Holy Spirit baptism. The best way to learn it and understand it is to experience it yourself.
**The Ministry of the Word (MOW)-Acts 6:4), and Abasi Health Foundation (AHF) were not revealed to me on a platter of gold. MOW is the spiritual arm of AHF. Following revelations I received through the MOW, I began to notice some contradictions in some of the practices of the organised churches including the RCCG but the good LORD directed me to remain independent and form divine partnership with churches including RCCG. The Ministry of the Word has been in divine partnership with the RCCG and all Word based churches since 2009.
The MOW is acting as a bridge to enhance true spiritual understanding amongst churches. I have no doubt in my mind that MOW has encouraged many people to be spiritually independent and promote the Word of God. Let me use this opportunity to express my profound gratitude to those MOW participants that the good Lord has used mightily to bless others through the Ministry of the Word platforms. Grace and peace be multiplied to you in Jesus name. Amen. Quench not the Spirit” ( 1Thessalonians 5:19). Those, I might have offended, knowingly or unknowingly, I want to use this opportunity to say, I am sorry . I have no bitterness towards anyone whatsoever. As a psychiatrist, I know bitterness can kill easily. Three major challenges in the church that the Lord has revealed to me are: spiritual ignorance, ingratitude and unforgiveness. Please, be aware of them.
Aside from my spiritual work and psychiatric practice primarily in the UK currently, I am proud to say that I am also a farmer in Nigeria and I also have the urge to go into estate development. Those who are close to me would attest to my passion for farming.
The word of God says:
“Seest thou a man diligent in his business? he shall stand before kings; he shall not stand before mean men” (Proverbs 22:29).
Based on my life experiences, I can affirm that there is power in the Blood of Jesus. The power in the Blood of Jesus delivered me from my first marriage. I could recall the only prayer I knew how to pray then being ‘ Blood of Jesus ‘. Now , I can dare any devil or any agent of the devil to try the power of Jesus Christ in Bro Ben Bassey. At the appearance of the true light, darkness must disappear: “And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not ( John 1:5). Whether the devil likes it or not, we shall continue to promote the Word of God. We shall fulfil the scriptures: “For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea” (Habakkuk 2:14).
Please, join me to praise this all Sufficient God, our Maker, the Man of War, and pray for me that our good Lord will use this occasion to show me extra mercies/grace and draw me even closer to Himself in Jesus. Amen. I pray that God will give me the grace to use this occasion to show love to others and support those in need, in Jesus name. Amen.
This is the testimony of the amazing grace of God in Christ Jesus, upon my life at 60. Many people within human thinking, had concluded that Bro Ben Bassey will not have biological children, but my God disappointed all of them. If the Lord tarry, and I live, details of my life testimony shall be presented in a book form in future.
“If it had not been the LORD who was on our side, now may Israel say…Our help is in the name of the LORD, who made heaven and earth” (Psalm 124:1-8).
“O LORD our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth!” (Psalm 8:9).
Something more than gold;
something more than gold;
the word of God in the heart of a man is something more than gold. Hallelujah!
To know more about the Ministry of the Word and Abasi Health Foundation, please visit:
http//www.abasihealthfoundation.org
https://ministry653.wordpress.com
http//www.ministryoftheword.org