I am your friend, Dr. Charles Apoki. Welcome to the Church Without Borders — the global church without borders. People watch these videos from all over the world, and I am so excited. This is the difference between a church that has four walls and this one. You can attend this church anytime, anywhere — in your office, in your car, even in your restroom. We communicate. I try to bring life into the Scriptures and relate them to our society.
Remember, I have a webinar coming up on the 21st of February this month by 7 p.m. — Opportunities, Limitless Opportunities, Endless Possibilities. I just had a discussion with my son. We hold a business meeting every morning. He is in Europe; I am here. He has held a business meeting with one of my staff members who works for our company in Europe. We have a company in Europe. Ten years back, I would not have imagined that Dr. Charles Aoki would have a company in Europe. I am employing my son, who has a PhD. He resigned from his job to work in my company. My third son and fourth child can also work in this company.
All the trips you saw on YouTube were paid for by my company there. I did not take money from Nigeria, and those expenses are tax-deductible over there.
So what are you waiting for before you register? Send a message to +234 80 21 9262 via WhatsApp to register. The lecture will be recorded, and you can watch it over and over again. It is restricted to those who pay to attend the seminar. I am still studying the Book of Ruth. Let me share one principle with you — something I have not usually shared publicly, except with those close to me.
Do not read the Bible in a hurry. You can read one line, one sentence, and meditate on it for a week. Most of the messages you hear from today’s pastors are mass-produced messages. Your education, your experience, your exposure, and your employment should affect, to some degree, your interpretation — alongside your spiritual enlightenment.
Then the Scriptures become applicable to contemporary living. If not, the Bible — even this old one — will just become a history book. This Bible is about 25 years old.
We are looking at Ruth chapter 1, verse 19. It says: “And it came to pass, when they came to Bethlehem, that all the city was moved about them, and they said, ‘Is this Naomi?’”
I can relate to that. The day you dare to leave where you have been stagnant — in your Moab — where you have been devastated, battered, shattered — that day, people will react. Ruth lost a husband. Naomi lost a husband and two sons. They lost time. Yet they decided to move to Bethlehem, Judah.
Yesterday I spoke about Ruth and what they do not teach you in church. Listen carefully:
The greatest hindrance to most people is not the devil.
The greatest hindrance is social inertia.
You get used to some places.
You get used to some people.
You get used to some methods.
You get used to the way things have always been done.
And you are so afraid of the future that you are not willing to move.
To leave Aba was not easy. To leave medical practice at the age of 40 was not easy. To see your mates far ahead of you in different countries while you feel stagnated — that is not easy. I told my wife, “I need to reconfigure my life. I need to move.”
In this old Bible of mine, I underlined Jeremiah 10:17: “Gather up your belongings to leave the land.”
On the 6th of January 1998, I marked it. I began preparing to leave Aba. By the time I left, kidnapping and insecurity became widespread. Many people later migrated. But I heard two or three years ahead and moved. When I decided to sell my hospital and go into ministry, people questioned me.
“Doctor, you want to sell your hospital?”
“You want to go into ministry?”
“What is ministry?”
Someone told my landlord, “We pray our children become medical doctors. Someone becomes a doctor and abandons it to become a pastor?”
My landlord was worried. “Why not open a small clinic?”
When you move in a direction contrary to what is normal, questions will arise. Naomi asked Ruth logical questions. They were sensible questions. But the answers God was going to provide would not follow natural processes or logical sequences.
You are listening to me today. You did not know me years ago.
I started doing videos on the farm during hardship — carrying cucumbers, carrying cassava. Some of you saw the first video where I wore a black raincoat in the rain. People asked, “Is this really a doctor?”
A classmate confirmed I studied medicine. Yet people talked.
If you listen to every voice — the analysis, the advice, the criticism — you will never move.
I shut my ears because I heard from God. When we opened our school, people asked, “You are medical personnel. Why are you opening a school? Did you study education?”
Today, my school is one of the best in Delta State. I have two big schools. I am building a third — a tertiary institution.
People will talk, but they will hardly help you. I remember sharing handbills for a program. It rained heavily. I was soaked. I went into an elite restaurant to share handbills, and a former classmate saw me.
“You are Dr. Charles Aoki?”
“Yes.”
“What are you doing now?”
“I am in ministry.”
He shook his head.
When I greeted him in those days, he would not respond properly. But today, if I tell you what is happening, you will be shocked.
Life is like that. Sometimes you resign from a job to start something new. But do not resign carelessly. When you dig a foundation for a tall building, you excavate deeply until you reach strong soil.
God excavated things from me. I changed my dressing. I taught in the school with my children. I drove the school bus. I cleaned toilets.
They used to call me “that doctor who drives a bus.”
Today, the story has changed. If I want to move in a convoy today, I can — but I do not. After this video, I am going to speak to professors in Asaba on how to create wealth. The same man who sold his hospital and was criticized.
The strongest voices are the voices of people close to you — your spouse, your children, your relatives, your neighbors.
God blessed me with a wife who stuck with me like Ruth.
Today’s marriages are often fair-weather marriages. When hardship comes, people leave. My wife stayed.
The voice within you also matters. A friend once called me from the airport, heading to the United States. He said, “I’m heading back to my country.”
I said, “We are here.” And I stayed here. I turned Nigeria into my throne and the world into my footstool.
Where God will change your story may not be attractive.
When God will change your story may not be convenient.
How God will change your story may not be logical.
Ruth’s name is in the genealogy of Jesus Christ. Orpah’s name is not.
The husband who left you is not supposed to share in your glory.
The wife who abandoned you is not supposed to share in your glory.
The friend who refused to help you is not supposed to share in your glory.
On any currency note, the signatures are few. God wants to sign His signature on your life.
Say, “God, I don’t care who left me. I don’t care who mocks me. I know You are working something out.”
I am a building under construction. There may be noise. There may be refuse. There may be chaos. But when God finishes, He will furnish me and sign His signature.
They did not make me. God made me. I am a mystery to many, but the Lord is my refuge. Stand firm. God is working out something.
Dr. Charles Apoki is still my name.
Subscribe to this channel. Press the notification button. Share this. And that webinar on the 21st of February — it will be mind-blowing. do not miss it.
Send a message. One thing we have is integrity. God bless you.
