THE B.U.D. FAMILY IS A YEAR OLDER TODAY!

I am so grateful to God for being too faithful! He is the God of the call! When He calls a man and the man answers, He backs such up and goes even beyond what the man can think!

On this occasion of our anniversary, I would love to tell the story of how we started.

In 2015 (Late 2015), my sister, Esther told me that there were two Facebook groups she would love me to join. I wondered what ‘groups’ were because I had never been added to a Facebook group before that time. The way Esther painted the godly discussions and interesting programmes held in the groups made me think, ‘Wow, the online Christian fellowship I had always dreamt of has eventually come to reality’

One way or the other, I found myself in the groups and I was loving it until I started seeing some posts that to me were against the Will and the Word of God. What broke the camel´s back were the incessant quarrels that I experienced there especially against the person who preaches the truth (I was even a victim). I was so much charged with ´holy anger´ about the innocent souls that would be swallowing the false teaching going on in some of the discussions, so I started a group on Facebook called ´Ladies Worth a Ruby (L-WAR)´

Hahahaha…I have always been a prayer mama so I loved and still love anything that deals with prayer like (war, wrestle, fight and so on.) Haha. So, don´t be too surprised that the name of the group had a WAR. But the creation of the group left me with a lesson. I listened to a sermon by Zac Poonen, one of my Fathers in the Lord and it was just exactly the lesson I learnt, creating L-WAR. I paraphrased it below:

Jesus Christ was born into the family of a carpenter and He was a carpenter Himself. For thirty years, the Lord was working with nails and hammers and chisel and planks of different sizes and shapes.

He must have seen sins of different shapes, sizes and types but he didn’t step out of the carpenter’s shop to go and start a church or a meeting. He did not step out of the carpenter’s shop until God asked Him!

No matter how rotten the world was, sinking in the mire of sins, He wouldn’t dare step out of the carpenter’s shop until God asked Him!

Many Christians have not come to the Sabbath rest. They want to do and do for the Lord without asking for His direction!

They are consumed with zeal for God´s work but they don´t wait in humility to hear and see what God would have them do.

Learn to rest in God before going out there and serving Him!

And that was the lesson! I was consumed with the zeal to correct the wrongs that I saw in the other groups so much that I started MINE. No wonder it didn´t grow! No, it didn´t! 

Until I confessed it to God as a sin! Until I told Him that I was sorry for putting the cart before the horse, did He change things around. Just like He changed the names of Abram and Jacob, the Lord gave us a new name!

And He didn´t want the same pattern that I had seen on Facebook, so He brought us to Whatsapp! Oh my God! Maybe what I am even saying does not make sense to you but it is a revelation! It is a truth!

A child of God should never be a copycat! The Lord has an assignment each for everybody- every child of His and oh my, just let go and let Him lead you into the path He has set for YOU!

So, in February, 2016, our name was changed to The BABES of Unique Dynamite Family (THE B.U.D. Family) and few months after, we moved to WhatsApp where our major home is now. BABES is an acronym for Bible—believing, Amiable, Beautiful and Empowered Sisters. 

One major thing on my mind as the family started growing was that quality is the most important thing in any organization. From my past experiences in the other groups, I realized that a crowd of people might actually dilute the quality and due to that, our number only increased gradually and not spontaneously. 

In actual fact, whenever we realized that some members are not willing to be full family members or are quarrelsome or are preaching false doctrines, we will warn them and afterwards have them removed if they persist. The family is a home for sojourners on the way to heaven and God has been faithful.

One thing I have noticed in the daily administration of the family is that God is the One fully in control, not any man! I will give instances of course.

In 2016 when B.U.D. Family was founded, I became so fond of the family to the extent that I would be in the group all day- of course, working for the Lord and growing together with other ladies but it was too much- at least that was how God saw it. One day, the Holy Spirit made me to realize that I was behaving as if I owned the family. He made me to understand that even if I stepped back, the family would still go on beautifully well. He then instructed me to do a test in order to realign my mindset. He asked me to go on a 7 or 14 day phone fast (I can’t remember now).

“Simply wake up and pray! Pray and study! Take away The B.U.D. Family from your mind for a while. Give the attention you have been giving to the WORK I gave to you, back to me. Didn’t you realize that there has been a shift, Lizzy?”

It was very difficult for me to do. I was so sad and skeptical but I wouldn’t love God’s children more than their Master, would I? I announced to the house that I would be away from the house for a while and majority of them (We were just about 20 then, if I am not mistaken). I put some people in charge of different activities and afterwards put my phone away. That period was so fantastically gloriously!

When I resumed back to the family, they were so happy to have me back but I could see that they fared well in my absence. I also realized that it was an opportunity to also allow some leaders be made.

After that till now, we have had people who had been so significant in the house that one would think their absence would overthrow the family but God has always been faithful! He has always proven to be the One in charge of the house. Once a key person vacates the house (For so many reasons like academics, National service, spiritual reasons, employment, phone issues and so on) almost immediately, another ‘key’ person would be raised.

And the way this God answers our prayers nko? We would just cry to Him in unity and He would answer speedily. The testimonies that have been recorded in this praying family of us are numerous, actually. No no no, this God is faithful!

In the past four years, (I actually still can’t believe that it’s been up to four years! Oh my God!) we have written and produced a movie. (Click on this link to watch our very inspiring movie THE VOICE OF FAITH: THE MOVIE )

We have published an e-magazine. We have recorded many songs. We have held a retreat! (This baffled me so much. Parents were willing to release their children to ‘who am I?’ for three good days! Ah! I couldn’t believe my eyes but it happened and it was GREAT!) We have a video of the programme (An interesting recap of the experience) Click here to watch. Kindly subscribe to our YouTube Channel, comment and share.

We also had the launch of our movie- a very great one! It was our first physical meeting but it was too real! God is simply with us. We can see it clearly. He is even confirming it greatly as I write this. Oh gracious Redeemer, thank You!

Then, I was to travel. I knew it might be the last physical meeting I would attend with the family for some years, so after praying to God, we URGENTLY organized a programme which turned out to be the best B.U.D programme for me. The Phenomenal Woman is a programme I will never forget in a lifetime! Click on this link to watch the recap of the programme. See pictures below:

Yesterday being a Saturday, many B.U.D.s met at sub-zone levels for get-together programmes to commemorate our 4th anniversary. Click on this link to watch the recap of the get-together. See pictures below:

So, these and many more are proofs that God is the one in charge here. He is the One leading and we only follow!

I can write and write actually but I desire to stop here. Haha. We still have the fifth and the tenth and the twentieth and the hundredth anniversaries (If Christ tarries) so you will get to read more about us every time in the Name of Jesus. Amen.

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My dear sisters from different mothers but the same FATHER, please let us be blessed by the prayer meant for the priest:

24 The Lord bless thee, and keep thee:

25 The Lord make His face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee:

26 The Lord lift up His countenance upon thee, and give thee peace.

(NUMBERS 6)

I LOVE YOU TO THE MOON AND BACK!

I am Elizabeth Oyebola aya Yakubu. Have a fantastically favored February!