Intending Pilgrims travelling to Jordan for the 2021 pilgrimage from Lagos, Osun and Ondo states of South-West have been charged to be good ambassadors of Nigeria while in the holy land.
The charge was contained in a speech delivered by the Executive Secretary of the Nigeria Christian Pilgrim Commission (NCPC), Rev Dr Yakubu Pam while addressing the pilgrims at the Chapel of Christ the Light, Alausa, Ikeja, Lagos Thursday.
The NCPC boss warned those with the mindset to abscond not to even dare as every machinery was in place to checkmate them as the entire eyes of Nigerians were on them.
“The entire eyes of Nigeria are on you from the South-West zone. Don’t try to abscond as you will be caught and be dealt with.
“I came back from Jordan two days ago just to come here to address you because I place a very important premium on you.
“The first three batches that just returned had no recorded case of abscondment and I don’t want to hear any reported case from you as we will not take it lightly with anyone intending to do so.
“Your state governments have spent hugely on you to travel on this pilgrimage, so don’t bring shame to them and your families if you try to abscond”. Pam warned!
He said Jordan plays an important role in the history of the Bible but assured that it has not replaced Israel as a pilgrims destination.
“As soon as Israel opens its doors, we shall resume full pilgrimage there but for now, Israel has stiffer covid19 protocols than Jordan which makes it difficult for us to embark on pilgrimage there.
“The act that established NCPC gave us the mandate to explore holy sites all over the world. Before now we were researching some of these holy sites before we discovered Jordan amidst the outbreak of COVID-19.
“We settled for Jordan because they have the same policy as Nigeria on covid19 protocol especially on the vaccine. Israel has a more difficult policy that’s not flexible or in conformity with our own like Jordan does.
“We have never explored Jordan until now. We shall be exploring more countries like Greece, Egypt, Italy aside Israel” Pam explained!
On the choice of Jordan, Pam said “some significant events happened in Jordan including the baptism of Jesus. Moses who suffered from the Israelites from Egypt saw the Promises land on Mount Nebo before he died and was buried there.
” It was in Jordan that Esau and Jacob met at the River Labbok and reconciled. The descendants of Lot lived in Jordan. I can go and on. So we have enough evidence to show how Jordan was picked because it has over 70 different holy sites and more Christians (3%)/than Israel who practised Judaism.
“Jordan is both where the old and new testaments met. Where John The Baptist baptized Jesus and so many others”.
He said the President of the Christian. Association of Nigeria, CAN, Rev Dr Samson who led the delegation as the spiritual leader was full of praise on the Jordan trip and said ” he was blessed and received spiritual impactation as a result of the holy sites he saw.
According to Rev. Pam, pilgrims are expected to behave themselves very well and assured them that all preparations for their comfort has been out in place and further assured them of adequate security, accommodation, feeding and protection while in the holy land.
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