Loveworld Incorporated, more popularly called Christ Embassy has celebrated the epoch of the Rhapsody of Realities hitting 7,000 languages worldwide, with 520 of such languages in Nigeria alone. It has been a remarkable 22 years of walking in faith writes MICHAEL OLATUNJI.
When the Man of God, Pastor Chris Oyakhilome, popularly called Pastor Chris, stood before the congregation that faithful Sunday in 2001, clutching the very first copy of the daily devotional called Rhapsody of Realities, it was his words against the winds.
That was why only few caught the revelation, when he said prophetically, that “this small book, which would be published monthly, will soon travel and be in all homes all over the world.” Though a thunderous chorus of Amen, followed the prophetic proclamation, yet, one block at a time, with uncommon diligence and revelational Rhema, the devotional, in just two decades, have found phenomenal expression, pushing the Charismatic preacher of the Word of God, Pastor Chris among the world’s greats of all times, as he stands today, peerless as the most translated author, as the Adult version of Rhapsody of Realities (ROR), becomes most translated book on earth, having been translated into 7000 languages around the world.
Month after month since 2001, Pastor Chris, led by the spirit of God, put together ecclesiastical Rhema, wrapped with powerful feelings and enthusiasm, meant to trigger change in the reader, a change that leaves profound impact, setting or spinning him on a tangent never imagined.
From the first hundreds of copies, to the first million, to the first tens, to hundreds of millions, and presently to billions of copies of the devotional Loveworld Publishing had soared above the global stifling challenges of publishing, to distribute free of charge, the ROR devotional and can be found in all nations of the world, and anywhere you find a human community.
According to the Loveworld Publishing Ltd, publishers of the ROR, as at last count, the book has been translated into 7,139 languages of the world with 520 of them being Nigerian Languages. They could not but throw a challenge to anyone, anywhere in the world, with a knowledge of any language going into extinction, to contact them, as the Ministry has made a commitment to preserve all human languages, and ensure none goes into extinction.
And it marked the huge landmark humbly, with a press conference at the Providence By Mantis Hotel, on the GRA, Ikeja, where it told media executives its story from its humble beginning and gradually into the huge behemoth it has become, another success story from the soil of Nigeria. For the publishers, it is mere officialdom, for the Guinness World Book of Records to formally recognise the efforts of the revered Man of God, who from the shores of Nigeria, is reaching all corners of the universe with the message of goodnews, transforming lives shaping destinies, and restoring man back to their divine purpose to replenish and dominate all of God’s creation.
The beauty is that even in Nigeria, the book has helped to discover 18 more indigenous languages, beyond the 502 officially listed on the Nigerian languages websites, thereby adding to the body of knowledge and enriching the works of linguists on the nation’s body of languages.
The Director of Operations, Pastor Lola Aisida, said: “Never in the history of the world, and in all the record books of guiness Book of World records has any literary material – be it document, film, writing, book, or any piece of historical or modern parchment – been translated into 7,000 languages.”
For Aisida, the meteoric rise of the Rhapsody of Realities devotional to the most-coveted spot as the world’s Number 1 daily devotional and now the Most Translated Book (MTB) in the world, is seeded in the hard work sown by Pastor Chris and volunteers across the world who have grown into a vast network of publishers spread across several countries, churning out month after month life transforming messages, that is being translated worldwide by a web of translators who have morphed into a global network known as Translators Network International (TNI).
She said the massive army of translators, have continued to apply due diligence processes in delivering the devotional, across the world.
“By any standard, the work of translation is not an easy one. If it were, the world’s popular literary pieces would have long been made available in all languages. On the contrary, authenticated records show that the most translated records show that the most translated short film documentary is in 11 translations, the most translated short film has 22 translations, the most translated document, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, produced by United Nations in 1948, as at 2019, has been translated into only 370 languages. The acclaimed Most Professionally translated author in the world, Agatha Christie has her books translated in only 100+ languages.
“Aisida said though over 7,000 languages are spoken in the world today, research showed that 42 percent of them are endangered. The statistics posed a global challenge fit only for a global publishing house that transcends the inadequacies of the publishing space.”
She concluded that Loveworld Publishing will ensure that no language goes extinct as the Rhapsody of Realities will remain widely distributed month after month in all languages of the world.
The Abuja Zonal Pastor of Christ Embassy, Dipo Esho, appreciated Pastor Oyakhilome for coming up with the book, which has “brought men into the reality of the original purpose for which they were created.”
For him, the Ministry would ensure that the book continues to reach all communities in all nations of the world, adding that the original purpose of the book is to bring men back to their creator for the fulfillment of their purpose.
He mentioned that testimonies abound of people in hopeless situations who have got reasons to live again just by reading the book.
In one of such instance, a man, who has died for hours, was resuscitated back to life, just by merely placing this devotional book on his body at the hospital.
The TNI General Manager, Dr Ruki Lawal said the translators, made of language experts, are present in all nations of the world and are helping to research and to discover languages across all boundaries and regions and translating the devotional into those languages monthly.
She described as TNI’s greatest challenge as technology, adding that technology keeps changing and language experts have to continually be on their toes to keep abreast of developments across the world.
To achieve uniformity in the message of the Man of God, the TNI, she said have an academy, with the headquarters in Nigeria where all translators are trained and retrained in the terms, and languages and nuances peculiar to the Ministry in order to ensure that what goes out monthly in all those identified languages are the right words and phrases from the author.
To celebrate the 7000 language feat, the LoveWorld Publishers would between September 2 and 3, 2022, would organise a global event to tell the world how this has been done, and efforts would be made to ensure that as much of these languages considered endangered are brought to life with translators telling their stories from across the world.
A user of the devotional, Dr Chris Iyama, said the Rhapsody of Realities has been transforming lives, mentioning that users now form study groups meeting daily to study the book.
Iyama who came across the Ministry via the book as a secondary student in the early 2000s at Abuja, said everything he turned out to be today was as a result of the daily nuggets from the book, flowing from the heart of God through the Author, Pastor Chris.
He said the book is mind enlightening, and the testimony of users have shown that they become transformed upon laying hands on the book, adding that the book has permeated into the inner recesses of the National Assembly adding that some profound contributions and bills that got ratified had passed through legislators who have make use of the book.
Iyama said the 7000 languages feat to which the book has been translated into is worth celebrating because it means billions of people across the world are being touched by the book every day and a transformation is happening in their lives.
A regular traveller, Deacon Michael Egbo who claimed to be the forst to take the book out of the shores of the country said the book has been a great influence on his life and family.
He testified that the book led to a spiritual revolution in Ghana, and about 500 prisoners gave their lives to Christ while some ended up becoming pastors of the gospel across the continent after their jail terms, just by having contact with the book.
One of the media executives, Yinka Aderibigbe, Publisher, Sunrise News Online commended the Author and Man of God Pastor Chris Oyakhilome for the inspiration to write month after month, the devotional for the past 22 years.
He said: “I would like to commend this awesome book which has become one of the best testimonies out of Nigeria to the rest of the world. I pray for greater unction on the Man of God Pastor Chris Oyakhilome to continue to impact lives across the world and to make them turn a new leaf to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.”
Pastor Sylvester Ebodaghe said the Loveworld is beyond devotional. According to him, yearly, the church organizes a concert to celebrate the nation and through this assists in bringing political and other icons in the society to share life transforming experiences to help build the future of the youths.
He described the book as a “total package” which “helps to build the readers faith from the inside, change his perspective about live and living and give him a new hope for a better, brighter tomorrow.”
He described the Man of God Pastor Chris Oyakhilome, DSC, DD, as a prolific writer with over 150 titles, a seasoned researcher, a preacher, a mentor and teacher whose life of purpose has remained a huge lesson to all his followers, who daily are guided by his mantra to live a life of purpose and a life focused on goals.
Aisida said the Rhapsody of Realities is also in audio and Braille formats for the blind and others living with disabilities in order to ensure that all people irrespective of their state in live are captured in order to ensure that they are not denied the opportunity of experiencing the healing and transforming hand and power of God.