The governor gave the charge at a special church service to celebrate the birthday of the General Overseer of Omega Fire Ministry, Apostle Johnson Suleman, in Auchi, Edo, on Sunday, March 28, 2021.

He described Suleman as "a man being used by God", and said that testimonies of his benevolence to Nigeria Correctional Centre, Auchi, through support and interventions, has shown his love for humanity which Jesus Christ represents. 

"I met Suleman for the first time at a crusade in Agbor and from that day I noticed the fact that God has a hand in his life.

"I thank God for what He is using him (Suleman) to do across the world; he is sent on a mission to humanity and to the world. 

"I know that the church is not constituted by the building or the crowd but by the body of Christ, and from what I have seen here today, the Pastor is bringing the word of God to reality in many lives. 

"I urge you, the Church, to continue to be prayerful in support of your Senior Pastor, for any man of God that is rising, there must be challenges on the way.

"The Church is you, it's not the building; so I urge you as a Church to stand strong in prayer for him and his family so that the evil ones will not have their way against his leadership," Okowa said.

He told the people that Suleman had striven so passionately to win souls for Christ, adding that he has a huge followership everywhere. 

The governor, who marveled at the music and other entertainment performances by some youths in the Church, thanked the Pastor for giving youths a platform to excel.

"As we continue to move on, we have to do the things that will attract youths to Christ, and that is exactly what we have seen here today.

"It's important because if we don't do that, we begin to lose them and may God not allow us to lose our youths," he added.

Earlier, the celebrant, Suleman, thanked God for giving him another opportunity to witness another year and pledged to do more to evangelise for Christ.

He admonished all to eschew hatred as it does nobody and the nation any good.