Mr Remi Adetayo is a succesful entrepeneur and business owner in Lagos who stumbled upon a video clip of Miriam Nilsson singing in yuruba (a Nigerian dialect) at the Festival of life in Dublin, Ireland that somebody had put out on Youtube. After a lot of research he found out where the clip was from and got in contact with Kingdom Center. After discussions with his pastor, pastor Tope Akinbola, they decided to invite a team from Kingdom center to come and minister at the Holy Ghost night as well as on their church Glory Worship Center's 14:th Anniversary. Glory Worship Center is a vibrant Redeemed Christian Church of God church with around 1000 members situated in lagos.

We had a talk with Miriam Nilsson about her experience from the trip.

So, please tell us a little bit of the main events in your trip.
"OK, I don't know where to start. So maybe I'll just start from the beginning. Arriving at the airport we were very well received by a welcome committee from Glory Worship Center and then mr and mrs Adetayo and their sons Ayo and Ara met us at the hotel.The first two days we got a chance to see a little bit of Lagos as well as practicing with GWC's band and we also had the great honour of being invited by mr Remi to meet the King of Ogun state. Friday was Holy Ghost Night and we went very early to the redeemed camp to be able to come in order and do some soundcheck. That's one thing about Lagos, you better start early because the traffic can be extremely bad."

At the camp you also met Pastor Kunle Ajaji, am I right?
"Yes, Pastor Kunle was responsible for the musical program. He is a pastor but also an incredibly anointed saxophone player. One of the few people who can really preach with their instruments."

So what was your impression of the Holy Ghost night?
"I can only say wow, wow, wow! For a european it's hard to imagine half a million people, that's like the population of Gothenburg gathered together in one place! The joy was contagious, hours of dancing and praising God and it seemed like people never got tired."

What happened after the Holy Ghost night?
"On Saturday afternoon Glory worship center arranged a concert with pastor Kunle Ajaji, Tribe of Judah, Infinity, us and more. Sunday was grand finale of Glory Worship Center'r Anniversary. A great service with a lot of different presentations. We were blessed to be a part and minister at that meeting as well."

You were also interviewed by The Day, the largest Newspaper in Lagos?
"Yes we were and they published a long article about our visit."

Anything you want to add?
"Yes I would like to say a great thank you to Mr Remi as well as Pastor Tope, for inviting us and being such gracious hosts. We really enjoyed our visit!"

Swedish Cowboys Who Minister with Yoruba Songs 11.07.2007

They are all Swedish, but they sing Nigerian Christian choruses with so much enthusiasm to win souls for Christ. The trio were in Nigeria for one week to render the songs to excited congregations. Godwin Haruna encountered them in Lagos

Ki le o le se Olorun mi?
Ki le o le se?
Eyin ti eda aye at'run
Ki le o le se
Ki le o le se Olorun mi?
Ki le o le se?
Translated, this praise song says: "What can't you do, my God?
What can't you do?
You who created the earth and the heaven
What can't you do?
What can't you do my God?
What can't you do?

The massive crowd at the Holy Ghost night of the Redeemed Christian Church of God erupted ecstatically when this Yoruba song was rendered by Ms. Miriam Nilsson, a Swedish national last Friday at the camp. It was not only this song that Miriam, alongside her two colleagues, Mr. Tobias Sturesson and Ms. Elisabet Johansson perfectly rendered in flawless Yoruba, many others followed to the excitement of the congregation led by Pastor Enoch Adeboye, General Overseer of the Church.
The feat was also re-enacted at the 14th anniversary celebration of the Glory Church Parish of the Redeemed Church, Ebute-Meta, Lagos during a concert to mark the epoch. Just like the congregation at the Holy Ghost night, the crowd at the concert could not hide their joy at the sight of Nilsson singing choruses in Yoruba. She also did some in Igbo (Imela) which she later revealed she learnt on this trip to Nigeria.Visiting Nigeria for the first time with her team, how did they come about the choruses they were singing so well? Thislife asked her. Beaming with smiles of satisfaction for a feat well done, Nilsson says she has many Nigerian friends in the United Kingdom. It was one of them, whom she simply referred to as Alalade that taught her the songs while in the UK.
Asked if she understood the lyrics of the songs she sings, she responds in the affirmative. Pressed further to interpret the lyrics and she wasted no time in translating the song rendered above. When Thislife then announced jocularly that the interview would be conducted in Yoruba, she laughed heartily and responded that she might have to call her interpreter.
She says when she renders the song in Sweden among Nigerians; they are always moved to see her do it. Nilsson says her ministry, which is the Kingdom Centre partners with the Redeemed Church, which is spread all over the world. She adds that she has performed last year at the First Festival of Light of the Redeemed Church in Dublin, which was reckoned to be the largest gathering of Africans in Europe.
At that point Tobias joined the conversation and says they were in Nigeria at the invitation of the church to minister at the Holy Ghost Night and at the anniversary of the Glory Church Parish. "We are happy with the reaction. We have done series of songs about the Kingdom of God, which the congregation liked so well", he says.
Asked to comment on how they minister to people using songs, he adds: "In Sweden, what we do basically is that we have a big conference with people coming in every year for leadership training. We believe that the Kingdom of God is something more than just getting saved; it is the giving of a mission to do in life, an area to conquer for God, an area to bring the glory of God into that area. We are doing that in the area of entertainment. In Sweden we are very famous at conference centres that is basically what we do around Europe as well".
In Nigeria, Tobias says their message is for people to take responsibility for their land and not just to say God has saved me and I am going to be blessed. "I need to take responsibility for where I live and that is what we are really working with in Sweden. That is what we do through our songs here and we also do through talking with people. That is what God tells us to do in Genesis I: ‘He tells us to have dominion over the earth' which is more than anything. We have the tendency to just get saved, and then we want blessing, we want new cars or get healed and everything, which is fantastic. However, another great part is that we are called to have dominion over the earth. As we see it here in Nigeria, there is a revelation that people are yet to catch this in many areas", he says.
What is their experience in this ministration in Nigeria? This time, Elisabeth responds and declares that Nigerians are wonderful people with great hospitality. She feels delighted to be on the trip to the country.
Miriam counsels people to be responsible for what God has given them. She adds that God has given people different gifts and it is left for the individual to identify his/her talent and optimise the potential inherent in such gifts.
In Sweden all of them are members of the ministry called the Kingdom Centre and although it is not affiliated to the Redeemed Christian Church of God, they also preach salvation to people. Kingdom Centre is a church that is working all over the world to present and expand the Kingdom of God.
Tobias also intervenes to say that they have a working relationship with many Redeemed Christian churches, but they are under the cover of a Nigerian, Pastor Sunday Adelaja who has the largest church in Europe located in Kiev, Ukraine with 25,000 worshippers.
According to him, the church started 14 years ago and today, it the largest congregation in Europe. Despite disparities in the social standing of people here and Sweden, Tobias insist that the thrust of their message to the divergent peoples is the same.
"I think what we have a tendency to do is that we look at our social standard and give ourselves excuses not to do certain things. In Sweden, when I go to an area that is dirty, you discover that it's so much about our mindsets of what we can do or can not do. Of course, the resources are limited for a lot of people, but I think that in that situation, that God has just as much of a plan for them as he has for me. I have been to poor countries, where people also give and enjoying their lives.
"I think when we find a purpose for our lives and start taking responsibility, we can do very much with the little we have. Most of us have hands, legs, we have the ability to be a blessing to people. The message is the same for all peoples and God has a plan for everyone irrespective of their status", he says.
He says despite the differences in social standing of people here and Sweden, he sees more happy people here than in Sweden, where people are easily depressed and lonely.