By Nimi Princewill, CNN
Every morning at 7 a. m. Nigeria time, Pastor Jerry Eze can be seen on a YouTube live stream praying fervently for thousands of requests he has gotten from his fans around the world.
Usually flanked by his wife Eno and a partner, Eze’s passionate prayers are expressed in pressing staccato, as he prays for remedies for illnesses and demanding situations such as illnesses, judicial instances, and financial problems.
Eze touts miraculous healings with the slogan “What God can’t do, doesn’t exist,” and in the middle of the live stream, clippings of pre-recorded videos of his followers sharing testimonies they say are the effects of their prayers are shown.
They range from curing terminal ailments to conception after years of infertility.
Eze describes the testimonies as “strange acts of God”.
“It’s beyond science and technology,” he says.
CNN independently verified the content of the videos.
Broadcasts on the New Season Prayers and Prophetic Statements (NSPPD) channel have propelled Eze to the rank of the most-watched preachers on YouTube.
With more than 90,000 maximum simultaneous viewers, Eze’s screens are among the most played in the world on YouTube, according to online analytics site Playboard, which collects data for YouTube channels.
Its YouTube platform also ranks among the gospel channels with the highest live audience in the world: Brazilian preacher Bruno Leonardo, according to Playboard data.
Eze also raises gigantic amounts of donations through its broadcasts. He’s one of YouTube’s highest-paid preachers who leverages the platform’s Super Chat donations for creators to generate revenue.
The audience of YouTube’s Super Chat feature pins their comments on live streams for a payment ranging from $1 to $500.
Eze’s YouTube channel receives one of the Super Chat donations in the world, according to Playboard.
Among its fervent enthusiasts is award-winning Nigerian singer D’banj, who tells CNN that joining Eze’s morning prayers is routine.
“Waking up every day with the NSPPD. . . it’s now part of my daily routine. I hardly miss it. It’s part of my family’s morning devotion,” adds D’banj, whose real representative is Oladapo Daniel Oyebanjo.
The singer says he had his own percentage of miraculous prayers on the platform.
“I don’t forget last year that Pastor Jerry said we wrote seven things we need to happen, we prayed and I believed. I checked the list the other day and. . . all seven got a response.
Nollywood actress Tonto Dikeh said she also contacted the Eze ministry early last year. She is now “addicted,” she tells CNN.
Eze, who turns 40 on Monday, has come a long way since the days when he and his single mother struggled to eat.
“I come from a circle of relatives where the deficient describe my circle of relatives as deficient,” he says. “There were days when my mom and I had nothing to eat, and my mom would hold my hand, pray and give thanks. My mom a single mom and a little shopkeeper who sold peanuts in the market. . . There were days I would come home crying for not making sales, so I couldn’t buy us what to eat.
Born on August 22, 1982, in the local government area of Bende, Abia State, Eze told CNN that his education was funded by a concerned couple who saw his active involvement in a church in his early years.
“I only do things in church like sweeping, singing, and reading the Bible, doing what most of my friends didn’t have to do. I had just finished high school before I was welcomed,” she says of the couple. .
Eze excelled in his studies and earned a bachelor’s degree in History and International Relations from Abia State University. He finished a master’s degree in human resource management.
Before venturing into ministry, Eze worked with a television channel before joining the World Bank’s HIV/AIDS assignment and then worked as a communications specialist with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).
“I was very excited about the paintings (at UNFPA), but my mom didn’t. She said that wasn’t what God had told her. According to her, God told her that I was going to be a preacher,” Eze said.
“I never shared those aspirations (to be a preacher). I didn’t even listen to him. She and I lived in poverty, so I asked her why God didn’t help us out of poverty first before asking me to give up a task. that gave us money to be a preacher. The money I gave him came from his jobs (with the UN), so it didn’t make sense.
He quit his assignment and entered the ministry full-time, but, sadly, his mother died from a failure at the center before she knew her ambition for him, she says.
“It was when he died that the truth of my project began to be felt,” he adds.
Entering the ministry full-time came with great sacrifices, and Eze says he spends many hours praying at night to prepare.
“I don’t have friends, I don’t go out, I don’t have free time. I can’t say what mine are anymore because there’s no place for Array,” he says.
Eze has two children with his wife Eno, who is also a pastor. He said his marriage is not very good because of the demands of the ministry.
“It wasn’t 100%, however, because my wife and I do the same thing (ministry), we came together in the same way. The things that are important to others don’t matter in our family. Our conversations are about ministry and how I will then do God’s will for our lives. If I had married the woman, I would give birth to her.
Eze may have an Internet phenomenon, but insists that his fame is accidental.
He had begun broadcasting live in hopes of inspiring his congregation when the pandemic disrupted the entire church and attendance at his nascent ministry, Streams of Joy International, declined.
“It was not a purpose to succeed in the world,” says Eze. “During the Covid (peak), there was palpable concern and I noticed that many of my fans were very afraid to approach the church. So each and every morning, my wife and I will come together to inspire people,” he told CNN.
“I just sought to communicate about hope,” he adds.
Eze’s daily messages of encouragement then became a daily online prayer network every day of the week on YouTube and other video-sharing services.
Live streams have been good fortune and now in its third year, Eze’s YouTube channel has 880,000 subscribers as of the date of that publication, and its screens have garnered more than 122 million views over a three-year period, according to figures from its channel.
Viewers from the UK and the US. The US collectively account for 25% of its YouTube streams, with over a million views from the UK and over 700,000 views from the US. Between July 20 and August 16, 2022, according to the platform’s figures. .
Nigeria has more than two million viewers. Its broadcasts are also seen in other African countries and countries such as Italy, Germany, Canada, France, Spain, Ireland and the Netherlands, according to the graph.
Digital analyst Edward Israel-Ayide said CNN Eze’s good fortune would possibly be related to the “recent rise of virtual churches and devout online movements. “
Israel-Ayide says it is due to the consequences of Covid-19.
“With the lockdown restrictions in place, the need for a network and a sense of belonging have led Nigerians to stay home and look for virtual platforms that can give them direction and hope,” he says. “After Covid, many other people are still looking for a goal and a direction due to the demanding socio-economic situations caused by Covid-19 and the existing global economic crisis. This is one of the main reasons why devout movements like Pastor Jerry Eze’s NSPPD are thriving.
While many other people now know about it through its online platform, “that’s not where it all started,” Eze says. “There was a physical church before the one that’s online. “
Eze founded Joy International Church on the outskirts of the city of Umuahia in eastern Nigeria many years before he knew about it.
Eze is now located in Nigeria’s capital, Abuja, and his church has expanded beyond Nigeria to have branches in the UK, USA, and Nigeria. USA and Canada.
Attendance at his church in Abuja has also increased. But it is with the online network that maximum ground is gained, and it is here to stay.
“People all over the world are used to waking up and locating Pastor Jerry online,” says Eze. “It’s like a virus that’s here to stay. “
El-CNN-Wire™
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