AdminReminiscent of Jesus Christ’s act of feeding 5000 men with five loaves of bread and two fishes, General Overseer of Omega Fire Ministries, Apostle Johnson Suleman, has fed hundreds of migrants at the Guatemalan Border in Mexico as part of his humanitarian aid and individual contribution to making the world a better place for all.
As revealed in a video that trended online recently, the Nigerian cleric’s humanitarian act tagged #TouchoflovewithApostleSuleman feeding initiative was done under his Touch Of Love Foundation that began several years ago and touching the Mexico-U.S city border in October, 2023.
It’s one of the several interventions of the Apostle to the migrants who are currently facing severe dehumanizing conditions and dangers while trying to cross into the United States.
At a migrant shelter in a church provided by an evangelical minister, Pastor Victor Barrientos in the Mexico border town of Matamoros, Apostle Suleman not only fed the migrants himself but also prayed for God’s intervention in their situations.
Meanwhile, it is on the cleric has been on that act of feeding thousands people for many years now in different cities. For instance, in Nigeria, it has become a routine that every week, he feeds thousands of Nigerians as well as helps many poor people in Auchi, Edo State and many other places. Papa, as he is fondly called, has been feeding his congregation every Saturday for many years now as well as engaging in other philanthropic acts such as free healthcare to women and children, scholarships to youths and financial assistance to the poor.
Last year, Apostle Suleman donated N20 million naira to the Benue State government to provide welfare and other basic needs to Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs). Also, in 2019 and 2020 when the Corona Virus caused massive hardship and other challenges on Nigerians, the man of God still came to the rescue as he donated N10 million naira each to four northern states as well as a N5 million naira donation to support the IDPs in Benue.
The General Overseer’s philanthropic gestures has endeared him in the hearts of many, including past Nigerian presidents who sent encomiums to him, including while they were still in government.
Due to his philanthropic gestures, Apostle Johnson Suleman won the Edo Man of the Year award at the 10th edition of the Edo Festival and Awards ceremony (EFAC) held in London, the United Kingdom (UK) last year.
Meanwhile, the migrants at the Mexico-U.S border whom he fed have become part of the new multitude that has come to benefit from the philanthropic gestures of the man of God.
Apostle Suleman not only fed them but also made a cash donation of 100, 000 Mexican Pesos (about $5,900) to the evangelical ministry led by the Mexican pastor, Victor Barrientos who has been providing shelter and other assistance to migrant families in Mexico from his church.
While making the donations and feeding the migrants, Apostle Johnson Suleman thanked the pastor for providing aids to migrants and promised to come back in few months’ time to further assist the migrants.
He said: “Pastor Victor, God bless you. How many of you know that Pastor Victor in Matamoros is doing a great job? And I want to thank you and say God bless you. In the next few months, I am going to be here again.
“We will be here again and we will keep supporting you for all you do for the immigrants, all you do for the people and all you do for the rejected.
“What you are doing is what I am doing in my country, and I understand. So, congratulations and God bless you.”
While praying for the immigrants, Apostle Suleman prayed saying, “May the Lord grant your requests and open your door, give you all testimonies and show you mercy in Jesus’ name, Amen.”
Harrowing Conditions of Migrants
It has become a stark reality for thousands of migrants who, following delays in processing their papers, get stuck in Mexico every year while trying to cross into U.S. The migrants are often from across the globe, including from Nigeria, Venezuela, Cuba and Haiti and from Colombia, Panama and Honduras, among many other countries. Most times, these migrants walk on foot, from the city of Tapachula, near the Guatemalan border or from the Mexican border city of Matamoros towards the U.S border.
According to a report by AFP, about 3000 migrants walked on foot from a Mexican city to the U.S border on 30th October, 2023 alone in efforts to cross into the United States.
But walking on foot is just the least of the many harrowing situations and dangers that these migrants face in Mexico daily. Apart from the humanitarian crisis such as hunger, diseases and lack of shelter, migrants also face grave conditions like kidnappings, torture, extortion, rape, death and other forms of abuse. Consequently, the Mexican border city of Matamoros has become one of the most notorious places for many suddenly missing migrants who end up dead or trafficked for various kinds of dehumanizing reasons.
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A recent report by the International Organization for Migration (IOM), in a 2023 release tagged, ‘Missing Migrants Project (MMP), said it documented about 686 deaths and disappearances of migrants on the US-Mexico border in 2022 alone, making it the deadliest land route for migrants worldwide on record.
Also, the report said while 696 migrant deaths were recorded in 2018 alone, in 2019 and 2020, 854 and 798 migrant deaths were recorded on the US-Mexico border, respectively.
These harsh realities according to Apostle Suleman, led him to bring succor to the thousands of migrants in Mexico through his Touch of Love Foundation.
Expressing his joys over the assistance from Apostle Suleman, Pastor Victor thanked the Nigerian cleric, saying it is the first time ever that he was receiving financial support and food assistance from a man of God in his efforts of helping migrants.
He said: “Apostle, I am so grateful to God because God is the one that provides…Thank you so much.
“In Matamoros, there are men that are called men of God. They only come and preach and then they leave.”
He said that Apostle Suleman not only came and preached but that he also provided food, served the food himself to the migrants and equally donated financially.
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