THE AUTHORITY
In following the footsteps of his Lord and master, Jesus Christ, who fed 5000 men with five loaves of bread and two fish, the General Overseer and most senior pastor, 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. The #TouchoflovewithApostleSuleman feeding initiative which was done under his Touch Of Love Foundation that began several years ago and touching the Mexico-U.S city border in October, 2023, is 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.
Why Help 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 boarder.
According to a report by AFP, about 3000 migrants walked on foot from a Mexican city to the U.S boarder 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, other forms of abuse and very commonly, death. 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.
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.
Therefore, It is on this note that the popular Nigerian Apostle and great philanthropist, Apostle Johnson Suleman, brought succor to the thousands of migrants in Mexico through his Touch of Love Foundation.
Aside food and prayers, he also donated 100, 000 Mexican Pesos for the continuous assistance to migrants.
Expressing his joys over the assistance from Apostle Suleman, pastor Victor thanked the firebrand pastor, 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.
