Good afternoon, Ma’am. We are from Timeless Facts Magazine. Can we meet you?
I am Rose Yusuf. I am a child of God, a lover of Jesus, and the wife of Reverend Yinka Yusuf.
Can you tell us about your salvation journey?
I got to know about Jesus when I was quite young. Growing up, I gave my life to Christ so many times at every given opportunity. At the age of 10, I had the opportunity to listen to a man of God during a crusade and I gave my life to Christ. That was my very first encounter, and from that time up till now, it’s been a beautiful journey.
All through my teenage years, I was always looking for the opportunity to know more about Jesus; any opportunity I had then, I would give my life to Christ, and I would do it again and again. The fact that at that early age I had heard about how Jesus came to die for us left an indelible mark in my heart. I just fell in love with Jesus from when I was quite young, and I am still loving him up till tomorrow, no regret.
Can you share with us: how did you meet Reverend Yinka Yusuf?
I met him before we even started anything like relationship; as a matter of fact, I think God took me to Zaria in 1986/87 to meet him. I was in a fellowship when God told me there was somebody, He needed me to minister to. It was a very intriguing story. I was in a fellowship when I heard God’s voice for the first time – a very audible voice. I was 17 or thereabout. The voice was like, “Rose, come.” I turned and didn’t see anyone behind me. At first, I was scared, but then I realized it was the voice of God. But I kept giving the excuse of “I came to the fellowship with people, and I can’t just leave the fellowship.” He insisted, “I need you to follow me.” So, I yielded and followed Him. I sensed His presence; it was strong. I knew there was someone standing there, though not visible.
I just grabbed my things and followed Him. It was a fellowship outside the campus. He led me across the road into the campus. I was like, “is this truly God? If it’s you, can you give me more signs?” I went to the uncompleted Chapel where we used to pray; the presence was so strong I fell under the power of the anointing. When I got myself back, I was like, “God, I know this is you. Now, what do you want me to do? How do you want me to do it?” He said, “there is somebody I need you to get saved; there is somebody I need you to minister to. I need him desperately.” That was the word. I will never forget the word, “I need him desperately and I need you to preach to the person for me.” I said, “okay, God, one thing I need You to do for me also: if it is You, You are going to lead the person to me and not me to him.” That was my condition. So, I was led by Him to the campus towards the female hostel. I was almost at Amina Hostel, and nobody was meeting me, but just at the door by the gate, he was leaning on the wall there. At that time, he was also crying out to God. He greeted me and said, “Good evening, sister. Are you going to Church?” The moment he said that the Holy Spirit said, “that is him.” And so, I knew he was the person.
I told him I was from the fellowship, because at that time, FCS were singing across in the Amina Hall there, but I said, “if you want us to go, why not?” On our way there, I stopped him at the basketball court where I led him to Christ. He gave his life to Christ, was filled with the Holy Ghost, and the rest is history. That was the first time we met, but we became friends after then. After a few months, I left ABU Zaria. That’s why I always tell people that God took me there to meet him. I left ABU for University of Jos where I graduated. After five years or so, he asked me to marry him, and the rest is also history.
How have you been able to manage being a wife of such a busy servant of God, knowing there are times you can’t even see him?
First and foremost, I am a firm believer that every man or woman has his or her partner. All you need is to stay close to God and God will lead you to the right partner. So, I believe everyone is crafted and prepared for the right person.
The most important thing in any single’s life is to make sure you don’t miss out on the right partner God has planned and prepared for you, and the best way to do this is to stay close to God. Stay serving Him, and He will lead you to the person He’s also preparing for you. You must submit yourself to go through whatever training and preparation He wants you to go through before you meet the person – that’s the one.
Secondly, I think one of the major things that has helped me is the fact that I love him; you understand there must be love, because nobody is perfect. I am not perfect, and he is not either, but as long as there is love, the Bible says “love covereth multitude of sin.” You know God is love. When there’s God amid that relationship, it makes every other thing right. There has never really been a struggle; of course, we’ve had our challenges here and there, but I believe God had prepared me for him and so everything is just a walkover.
Initially, it wasn’t easy because I never really wanted to marry a pastor. Growing up as a young Christian girl, I had the opportunity to work with a lot of pastors. I was in the music ministry and all that, but I didn’t really like the pastoral ministry because of all the things I had heard, the things I had experienced with some pastors and all that. So. I didn’t want to have anything at all to do with a pastor. When he started talking about marriage, I was like, “not for me.” But then, I told God, “I’m not going to be sentimental or emotional and all that. I need to know if this is the person you have for me.” I had to go to my own altar where I talk to God, and God confirmed it, so the moment I knew he was the man for me, nothing surprised me again.
There is no trial or issue that surprises me, because I am already prepared, programmed and made ready by God. The Holy Spirit is his best friend as well as my best friend, too. So, in any trial I just ask the Holy Spirit to guide me, and He has always been there to pull me through. It has been an amazing ride with him.
Tell us, ma. Did you marry him when he already had everything? Many just want to marry a rich partner.
Anyway, the Christianity of today is different from what we had in those days. Back in those days, pastors were considered poor. When I accepted to marry him, I had two challenges; one was that I was not ready to marry a pastor, not because of money or no money, but I was not ready to marry a pastor because of the challenges they go through.
Like I said before, the stories – that was my number one reason. Secondly, when I said yes, I was like, “how do I go home and tell my people that I want to marry a Pastor?” He had nothing when he wanted to marry me. He had the Church, a fellowship that was already transitioning into a church. But all through, we were friends and even when the fellowship was going on, I would visit and all that.
For any girl not wanting to marry a pastor because he is not rich means she is not fit to marry one, because intent matters a lot. I believe that a genuine man of God will not marry a fake lady. I honestly believe if you are a true servant of God and He’s given you an assignment, He will prepare a woman that will help you carry the assignment through. So, for ladies who are just looking for a rich man to marry, they have no business being in the ministry.
What’s your take on those young people who are in the Church but not of the kingdom?
You know, there is no sitting on the fence; there is no place for lukewarmness in the body of Christ and with God. As a matter of fact, the Bible says in the book of Revelation that if you are lukewarm, He will spew you out. So, it’s either you are all out for God or you are not. We are at a point in our Christian race where you either stand for God or you stand for the enemy. There is no demilitarized zone at this end time. In fact, they call me “Mama Rapture” because I can’t go a day without talking about the rapture.
Everything is wrapping up; most of the prophecies in the Bible have been ticked. The last thing we were looking out for is the war in Israel and the war has broken out, so any sensible Christian should be concerned about how to serve God and how to serve Him well, because at the end of it all, after all said and done, that’s the most important thing – to stand before God blameless. My advice to any young man or woman out there is to keep serving God if Christ tarries. Make sure you are true to yourself, because you can lie to others, but you can’t lie to yourself. Love God, serve God, and all other things will come looking for you.Matthew 6:33.
How do you combine running the school with the hectic family and ministry commitments?
School has been a dream right from when we were in Kaduna. I love children a lot. I used to pray that if God would give me the opportunity to have a school, I would make it as affordable as it could be for people. So, the school is not there for money making; as a matter of fact, I run an NGO tailored to helping young children of the less privileged to have access to quality education with very little. I have a lot of wonderful men and woman that support the NGO; many of the kids are on scholarship.
I have a good team of dedicated staff members, starting from the head teacher. They all know that the school is a ministry for us, we let them know this before they even come on board. The staff members are amazing, and so the school doesn’t take much of my time. I visit them as often as possible, but when I am not there, I know they are fine.
My number one assignment is my husband. Nothing takes that place. Sometimes I want to be there but because he needs my attention, I just shut everything out and focus on him, my first assignment, my first ministry. I always get permission from him, so the rest doesn’t bother me.
What do you consider your biggest blessing in marriage?
Aside God, it has to be my husband, and then my daughter, Angel; then my wonderful family, my sons and daughters all around the world. I have a lot of wonderful people in my life that I cannot trade with for anything. The best gift any man can ask for is the gift of the right people that can stand with you in ministry and in life, generally. I have wonderful and amazing people in my life and I can never be tired of thanking God for them.
Your closing remark?
I appreciate you all. I pray that God will prosper your work, promote it, and you will continue to be a blessing to the body of Christ. I want to ask that you all keep reminding people about the soon coming of Jesus Christ, so that we all can be prepared and be ready for him when he comes for us. God bless you all.
