Your abandoned course, forgotten skill, or paused project may be the very platform God wants to use to bless nations. Just because you stopped doesn’t mean God canceled it. What felt like a detour may be God’s design for a double calling.
Far back in 1997, as an undergraduate at the Federal University of Technology, Owerri, Imo State Nigeria, I was consumed with fire for Science Laboratory Technology especially Microbiology and Parasitology. I was that student who could lose sleep analyzing the prevalence of candida albicans, malaria parasites, intestinal helminths, and urinary tract infections. I devoured textbooks on antibiotic sensitivity testing and diagnostic techniques like they were prophecy scrolls.
I even ordered Monica Cheesbrough’s world-class laboratory manuals all the way from the UK. I studied them like scripture. My hunger led me to earn membership with the Nigerian Institute of Science Laboratory Technology (NISLT). My hands were trained in the lab, my mind wired for discovery.
But then life shifted. There was no mentor to guide the fire. No platform to sustain the pursuit. And so I walked away. I dropped the lab coat and picked up the Bible.
I dove headlong into ministry. For over two decades, I gave my life to preaching, building Faithhouse Leadership Church, mentoring leaders, conducting national deliverance services, and shaping transformational platforms across nations. I didn’t look back.
But then came the divine disruption: COVID-19.
That pandemic wasn’t just a plague, it was a prophecy. It forced me to face what I had abandoned. It pulled me back to a treasure buried under the weight of assignments.
COVID-19 gave me success light into public health as a ministry.
Suddenly, I saw what I hadn’t seen before: the lab wasn’t my past, it was a platform. What I dropped wasn’t discarded, it was divine. And I knew, God was calling me to rise again in the field I once left.
That was the birth of IGOLD Public Health Institute, under IGOLD, our global leadership and nation-building cross-cultural church system, rooted in Faithhouse Leadership Church.
Now, through IGOLD, we lead public health research. We train faith and health leaders for real-world impact. We raise certified public health champions. We design digital health platforms. We mobilize community health campaigns. We teach strategy, equity, and service.
To lead that vision, I went back to what I had buried. I pulled out my parasitology certificate, wiped off the dust, and pursued post-certifications in Public Health Informatics, Epidemiology, Immunology, Health Management, and more.
And as a trained lawyer, the journey shocked me again. It opened doors into Medical Law and Public Health Law. Oh my God, I am waoooood! The anointing is now flowing in areas I never imagined: between courtrooms and clinics, between legal codes and public health policies. Ministry has expanded. Destiny has unfolded.
And here’s the wild part: I’m still on fire for Jesus. I still pray for hours. I still study with hunger. I still preach with revelation. I’m fully available for all-night deliverance services. I still lay hands on the sick, cast out devils, and declare miracles. I haven’t stopped one assignment, I’ve simply awakened to more.
Jesus is now using me in the lab, in the legal system, in the public health space and still on the pulpit. He’s using all of me. Every page. Every gift. Every certification. Every calling.
Beloved, hear me clearly:
Stop abandoning what you started.
Stop burying what you built.
Stop walking away from what God planted.
That old degree. That shelved dream. That postponed thesis. That dormant training. That song, book, sketch, and idea, God hasn’t forgotten it. Why should you?
Did you abandon:
A professional course or diploma?
A university degree or technical training?
Your manuscripts, books, or songwriting gifts?
Your love for sound, music, instruments, or art?
A vision for missions, advocacy, or child outreach?
Language studies you dropped for French, Arabic, Igbo?
A master’s or PhD you paused?
A business idea that once made your heart leap?
Your ambition to become a doctor, lawyer, architect, or reformer?
That NGO, foundation, school, or youth platform?
Your fire for prayer, midnight study, and spiritual discipline?
Go back. Don’t just revisit, revive it!
Re-dig the wells. Re-light the fire. Reclaim your treasure.
Sometimes, your next level is trapped in your last abandonment.
Destiny never forgets its own.
And let me say this:
Joining us at Faithhouse Leadership Church will not only feed your spirit, it will help you recover your divine deposits. This is more than a church. It’s a destiny recovery center. It’s where sleeping visions rise again.
Welcome to a church where your treasures are not only remembered, they are reignited.
Barrister Ikenna Emmanuel
Pastor | Lawyer | Nation Builder | Leadership Mentor
Team leader -Faithhouse Leadership Church
Member, Nigerian Institute of Science Laboratory technology
www.faithhouseleadership.org
ikennaemmanuel1977@gmail.com
+2348035003594
