The vision
The pastor's vision for the enterprise is firmly rooted in Obadiah, chapter 1:17. "In Mount Zion , there shall be deliverance, holiness and sons of Jacob shall posses their possession".

He said that he derived a triple vision holiness, power and prosperity. "With holi­ness, one can see the Lord, and with power, one can deal with the forces of darkness and with prosperity, one can live well on earth".

But Isong also got his inspiration from the early European missionaries who came to Nigeria not only with the Bible but with education, Medicare and training. Like the early missionaries, he caters for the spiritual and material well-being of the members of his church.

Upper room project
The city hall, which the pastor fondly calls the " Upper Room Project," is estimated to cost N500 million. So far, the building has gulped N100 million. When completed, the edifice would have a 15,000 sitting capacity. To Isong, his entrepreneurial striving is "an additional vision which enhances the spiritual and social life of people that visit this place. Mine is a comprehensive ministry," he said.

Prodding of unseen hand
Born 41 years ago at Ikono, Akwa-Ibom State , !song later graduated from the Department of Banking and Finance, University of Calabar in 1987. But instead of looking for a banking job, he held fast to his dream and prodding of an unseen hand.

As an undergraduate, he spearheaded a campus­based ministry, the Good Cheer Fellowship. Before his graduation, the ministry was very large and strong that he had problem of securing accom­modation for the activities of the ministry.

In 1993, he acquired a site at Eight Mile, and a year later, he named the place, City of Testimonies and began conducting service there. The name, Good Cheer Fellowship remained the name of the ministry until June 1996 when he and his partners evolved and launched a new name: Christian Central Chapel International (CCI).

Reflecting on his humble beginning, Isong said he has seen ups and downs. "But I'm generally delighted seeing people happy, seeing the poor rich, seeing the bound free , seeing the sick healed, and seeing sinners saved", he revealed.

Bracing for challenges
Knowing that the route he embarked on wasn't going to be easy, he decided to go for ministerial training. The quest took him to MTI, Malaysia , England and the United States of America. Alter his National Youth Corps Service, NYSC in 1988, he went under the tutelage of Archbishop Benson ldahosa at Benin . A year after, he found a companion for his soul, Helen.

Strong conviction
During his NYSC years, he wanted a reassurance that God wanted him to serve Him. As an officer of the Nigerian Christian Corpers Fellowship (NCCF), and while in camp as a trainer of incoming Christian corps members, an angel of God appeared to him in dream and told him what he longed to hear.

According to him, the angel simply asked him if he had condition before carrying out what God mandated him to do. Hear him out: "I know that God had sent me to preach His words to all nations. It was there and then that I told the angel of two conditions. One is that I must have anointing. I need power because I don't want empty message, and secondly, I want to he materially blessed so that I don't become a beggar around town or a burden to my family. That dream fortified his conviction for his calling.

The Anointing
The date, November 22, 1986 is one members of the Christian Central Chapel International Church in Calabar, would not forget easily. It was the date their icon and Pastor, Dr. Emma Isong was transformed and given the anointing which has seen him today as one of the most versatile light bearers in modern day Pentecostal Ministry.

Evangelist Dr. Emma Isong, has since the anointing, kept the tempo and sustained the God-given powers to salvage souls which could otherwise have been destroyed by demonic forces.

His prowess has led to an influx of afflicted persons to his sanctuary located at about 15 kilometres outside Calabar, the Cross River State Capital. There, the over 5,000 crowd of worshippers receive solace to whatever conditions which took them to the church. Isong, a Banking and Finance graduate who just clocked 41 was humble enough speak on how he got the anointing that brought him fame:

The miracle
"A man called Rev. Ernest Angeley was preaching in Calabar Stadium on that November 22, 1986. It was a Saturday. It was 9.15pm and it was raining. I would not say he gave me the power. I would say this crusade which I attended activated the gift.

As I stand there, the man does not know me up till now. He has never met me. I lifted my hands, as young as I was, coming from the university - I had no money for transport. And I saw this man working miracles. I saw this man working power. I saw the deaf ears opened. So, I lifted my hands in innocence and transparence and I said, "God, if it is not for the white alone, anoint me. If you are not a white man, anoint me. If that man is not a fake, if it is true that you can open the eyes of the blind, then use me and do it. If it is true, I am ready. I want to be part of this gift.

"That was not my salvation, I had been born again some years before then, but that was my experience of the anointing. Then the fire of God came upon me. It came upon my palms, my tongue, my forehead, my belly and I was screaming like a child.

Those who stood near me ran away, they thought I Was mad. I was feeling it and screaming. I was shouting Jesus Lord help me, Lord help me. I was trying to extinguish the naked fire which tended to engulf my body.

The crusade was over and they had said the grace, but here I was battling with the fire which was burning my palms and body. I went and carried a basin of water and dip my hands into it, the water became hot. I have never experienced it. I looked for somebody to tell my Predicament, but I thought they would say I was possessed by demons. I did not know where to go.

"The next day was Sunday and I Went to my own church, I held peoples' hands to pray as they told us to do. Innocently, I did and the first two persons I held fell down. When I saw them fall, I also had to lie down before I was accused of pushing them down. I did not know what I was carrying.

"Then 1 went to another place where three people were standing and I joined hands with them to pray and they also fell on the ground. When I went to the third place, the crowd ran away.

It was here the man who was coordinating stopped the prayer sessions. All eyes looked at me scornfully. I then asked my God, I said what am I carrying? I asked myself I said "1 hope this thing is real. The power was so strange to me. I then decided to look into the Scriptures. I found out that in the garden of Gethsemane in Mathew 26, people came to arrest Jesus and he said, here am I, he fell down.

"1 found out also on the day of Pentecost, the power of God came down. Acts chapter 2 and they ill fell down. I began to read the scriptures and buttress my point, then I said lo, I have got the real thing I was looking for power to heal, deliver, save the lost, heal people of cancer, lay hands for people to get promotion, I have got the right thing.

Miracles performed
1 cannot recount statistically the number of miracles but I will tell you a few. In 2001, I went to Holland to a place called Utrecht. I was preaching and they brought a man from Belgium who was blind in one eye. The power of God made this eye open.

In London, a lady came to me, she said she was 32 years old, she had not been able to marry. She said no man had ever proposed to her. She was get­ting desperate and I said to her by the time I come back to London next month, you will be married. She said it is not possible, I have not seen the man. I said OK.

By the next two months when I arrived in London, a lady came to greet me with her husband. I told her I don't know you, she smiled and told me, but you prayed for me to be married and three weeks after you left, I met the man and he said he wouldn't wait, so we married.

There are lots and lots of these, not only miracles of healing but miracles of breakthroughs, plenty, child birth, open doors and good jobs, etc

Prosperity and fake miracles
Pastor Isong strongly believes that Christians should not be going around as beggars. "Christianity has gone beyond the traditional worshiping without progressing. Prosperity goes hand in hand with power and humility", he said.

To him, the existence of fake miracles presupposes that there are genuine ones also. He compares fake miracles to counterfeit naira notes in circulation. He argues that the fact that fake naira notes exist does not mean one will not spend the wad of good naira notes in his pockets. Said he: "There's no other evidence one can produce, go to court of law or dig the grave of Christ to prove to doubting Thomases that Jesus Christ is quite alive and living except through miracles and healings. Signs and wonders which are not contrary to the scriptures, add credibility to evangelism and the Gospel'.

Rise of televangelism
He is full of praise for the vast outreach, immediacy and impact of the television. His happiness derives from the fact that the television over the years has helped many men of God to reach many homes and touch several souls. He believes in the words of his late boss, Archbishop Benson Idahosa who ones described the televi­sion as "tell a vision.”

To him, therefore, the television is there for pastors and all credible men of God to use and tell their vision. Without television, he argues it would be extremely difficult to knock on doors and preach to people.

Squandering of riches
Describing the nation's economy as one of the best in terms of potentials, Isong said he feels bad that Nigeria has not judiciously utilized his abundant resources. Citing the case of some top government functionaries who recently got entangled in the messy web of corruption scandal, he lamented that it is disheartening that the likes of the former Inspector General of Police, Mr. Tafa Balogun salted away chunks of money while many Nigerians cannot even pay their school fees.

Stones on the table
Isong takes on President Obasanjo for putting stones on the table of Nigeria instead of food. He says the president much advertised reform programme are not yielding expected benefits. The man of God is also upset that the clamour for 2007 by politicians has overheated the system. So I see President Obasanjo as a good architect who lacks good engineers to execute his drawings”
* Culled from The Sun