It was in 2007 that Reverend Mark
Anthony Ibekwe received the call to start a special ministry. While many pastors usually mount the
pulpits to sermonise on heaven, hell fire, tithes and offering, Ibekwe says his
call is to visit interior villages, providing inhabitants with medicine,
clothes and other essentials.
He usually asks concerned Nigerians
to donate for his ministry, so that he would be able to buy those desperately
needed items.
He described his ministry as the Village
Medical Outreach, which impact, according to him, is primarily to help the
health of rural poor people.
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| Ibekwe |
Ibekwe had actually wanted to be a
regular pastor, starting a church and preaching the gospel, but God apparently
had other plans for him. He explained that since he started the medical
outreach he had learnt a lot.
The 48-year-old man explained the
rudiment of his ministry and how he sources for the medical experts who
attend to the villagers.
According to him, whenever they get
to any village, the first thing they do is to interact with the village heads
and chiefs, without whose approval their mission would be in vain.
“But since I started this outreach,
we’ve never been rejected or turned away from any village,” said Ibekwe.
Once he receives the nod of
approval, he goes to the health centre in the area, sourcing for doctors and
nurses. These specialists are usually paid some stipends after each outreach.
“One of the reasons we source for
medical experts in each of this state is because we can’t speak the language of
the people. But the medical experts can speak the languages. This enables the villagers
to explain what ails them and makes us to know how they feel.”
The group usually treats general
illness, but whenever the doctors encounter life-threating disease or illness,
they refer the person to general hospitals.
Ibekwe, who studied Religion at the University
of Jos (UNIJOS), Plateau State, said with a smile that he took the
ministry because, “I have a passion for it! You can’t do this sort of thing
without God calling you. Before I went fully into it, I used to go on crusades
and other outreach for a very long time. It’s a way I can contribute
my quota to the society. People may find it hard to believe, but the truth is
that we most times fund this ministry from our pockets. The only supporter we
have right now is Calvary Bible Church.”
Before Ibekwe decided to go to the
university to study Religion, he was already an Ordained Reverend,
pastoring churches. “I’ve been pastoring churches since 1987,” he disclosed.
The pastor, who was ordained at the
Triumphing World Ministry, later went to the International Institute For
Christian Studies in Kansas, United States for further studies.
Recollecting some of the rural
places he had taken his message of health to, Ibekwe said: “I feel overwhelmed
by the large number of sick people who turn out to receive medical attention. For
instance, at Rakung Village of Barinkin Ladi, Plateau State, where we held free
medical outreach, almost everyone who attended had hepatitis.
“Our findings showed that this
village and other surrounding ones were depending on an abandoned mining pond
to bath, for irrigation, washing, drinking and other household uses. And of
course, almost everyone had worm infections! They were given drugs, which can
give them a temporal relief, but is that enough? Is there a way we can get more
drugs that will tackle this and other specific illness?”
This was a rhetorical question,
which the clergyman expected Nigerians to answer. But suffice to say that in
Rakung Barinkin Ladi Village trip, the reverend with his team went with 72,000
tablets of drugs, engaged the service of two midwives, one doctor, six nurses
and 10 volunteer workers. And about 2,480 people benefited from them.
Still taking a walk down memory
lane, Ibekwe remembered the journey to Umuchie Village, Ezinhitte Local
Government Area of Imo State in 2007.
On that strip, his ministry went
with 10,000 tablets of drugs. He engaged the services of three nurses and eight
volunteer workers. About 600 sick people were said to have benefitted from the free
medical services.
“We went with 10,000 tablets of
drugs, involving 10 different types of drugs,” he reminisced. “A weight scale
and blood pressure meter. Before traveling to the village, the chief of the
town, His Royal Highness S.O Uwaegbu, was contacted and he was very pleased.
Out of the five villages that made up the town, one was chosen and divided into
two parts. We concentrated on one part to avoid being overwhelmed by large
number of people on the little drugs we went with. This paid off as part of the
village was mobilised. The elders of the village gave their consent and two
village criers went out about 8:30pm and about 5:30am, calling out to the
people to come for free drugs and treatment.
“We were able to get three nurses
and eight volunteer workers to help out on the dispensing of drugs. At about
4:00pm, the villagers trooped out of the venue; old men and women, boys and
girls, all ready to receive what we came with. Uwaegbu graced the occasion and
expressed his delight and commended us, saying such a thing had never happened
in the town. During the one week we stayed in that village, we attended to the
sick and the weak. Their weight and blood pressure were checked and drugs
dispensed accordingly through the help of our medical personnel. We were able
to dispense drugs to over 600 people free of charge. There was joy and
appreciation in the hearts of everyone, giving thanks to God for coming to
their aid, especially during the farming season.”
Ibekwe noted that nobody could meet
all of man’s needs, but each individual could start from somewhere. He
explained that Nigerians could start showing love and care to the needy,
especially those in the rural areas; the poor, sick and infirm.
He said: “Diseases kill people in
the villages not because there are no drugs, but because there are too many
fake drugs, thereby making the sickness resistant to drugs. In our outreach at
Ezeagbogu, we discovered that almost everyone above 45 was suffering from
arthritis. Malaria is a major killer disease in our rural areas. Every 30
seconds, a child dies of malaria. But the drugs for the treatment of this are readily
available in the urban centres unlike that of the rural areas.
“Honestly, making an impact is what
people care about. By touching their health, we are directly making a statement
that will not be easily erased from their hearts.”
He said that what the ministry
presently needed now were prayers, medical advice, drugs and funding.
Ibekwe added that it would be so
easy to help the less privileged, if Nigerians put their minds to the task
“Imagine, N1, 000 will buy enough
Folic Acid for 100 people. N3, 000 will buy enough Vitamin A supplement for 50
children for good eyesight. N5, 000 will buy enough malaria drugs for 200
people. N8, 000 will buy enough Ibuprofen for 300 people suffering from
arthritis! N10, 000 will buy enough anti-diarrhea medicine for 500 children.
N20, 000 will buy enough Multi-vitamin drugs for 1,000 people and N50, 000 will
buy some anti-retroviral drugs for 50 people who are HIV positive,” analysed
Ibekwe.
The reverend worries about the rich
and the poor in Nigeria. He
said that nothing could be more challenging than to watch people; one eats and
the other goes hungry.
“One has everything and the other
nothing! In this world of great prosperity, there are people still living in
abject poverty, in this world of abundant clothing materials, there are
millions who do not have clothing. Why do I talk like this? It is because I
have been there! In the course of my rural missionary work in1987, I’ve been
with the very poor people, those in abject poverty; I have seen men and women
walk around in their community naked! Not for show but because they do not know
what it means to wear clothes.
“I have given away dozens of new and
fairly used clothes to hundreds of people. I have joined and trekked for miles
in rural areas where there is no road and bicycle because it is not available.
I have slept many times in village mud houses; sometimes on bare floors and I
know what it means to be a guest to mosquitoes. I have seen children and adults’
die of diseases only drugs of N40 could cure. I have seen individuals and
families starved and go to bed without food for days. It makes my heart bleed.”
The outreach is, however facing challenges;
some which had been solved while others are still pending.
Ibekwe and his colleagues were
able to solve some of those challenges through the support of some partners,
especially Calvary Bible Church.
The minister said that since
inception in 2007, the medical outreach ministry had been able to administer
medical services, one-on-one to over 40,600 rural individuals free of charge
with over 800,000 tablets of drugs in more than 46 village outreaches across
different parts of Nigeria.
“We have also engaged the services
of over 400 qualified medical personnel, with over 300 volunteer workers and
the services of many community leaders,” explained Ibekwe.
He further said that two years ago,
God laid it in his heart to build a medical mission centre, where poor village
individuals can have access to quality medical care at the lowest cost if not
totally free.
He added: “Right there in a rural
community in Ezinihitte Local Government Area, Imo State, God is giving us that
opportunity to fulfill this vision. We want to see sick little children, women
and men, treated and ministered to. We want to affect their lives, pray for
them and see them give their lives to Jesus Christ. We wouldn’t mind any form
of supports to actualize this vision.”
Ibekwe believed that God is calling
him and his partners into greater commitment, through which they could touch
more lives, than they had been doing. “People can become partners to this
organisation. Make a commitment today! My number is 08027517019,” he said.
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