UWM Africa Board

Rev. Dr. Helen Balafama Wilcox-Evwaraye Ph.D. Ordained Unity Minister (2004).

Rev. Dr. Helen Bala Wilcox-Evwaraye, Senior Minister and Executive Director of Christ Light Global Ministry, serves as the Chair of the Board of Trustees UWM Africa Region. She is an ordained Unity Minister (2004), and a Biologist, and has been an active member of the Unity family for over forty years. She served as Minister, Unity Church of Lima, Ohio, USA from 2007 t0 2010 before returning to the University System, and has continued to serve in various Ministry Teams at Unity Worldwide Ministries. Rev. Helen is dedicated, compassionate, enthusiastic, and visionary.

Rev. Helen is the Chairperson of UWM English Credentialing Ministry Team, and a member of the International Advisory Council UWM. She has been a resource person on “Unity in Africa” for Unity Worldwide Ministries and Unity World Headquarters for over twenty years and is UWM Minister Representative to Africa.

Prior to coming to the United States, Rev. Helen served as Board Chairperson and Spiritual Leader of Christ Unity Church, Port Harcourt, Nigeria, and as a Trustee on the Board of Unity Church of Practical Christianity Nigeria (UCPCN). She is committed to prayer and spiritual growth and has a passion for learning, teaching, and demonstrating Truth principles

Rev. Helen earned a Ph.D. in Biosystematics from the University of Reading, England, United Kingdom, an MSc. from the University of Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom, and a BSc. from the University of Ibadan, Nigeria. She is a retired Professor of Biology with over forty years’ experience in teaching, research and administration in universities in the United States, United Kingdom and Nigeria.

MY CALL TO UNITY

The year was 1970, at the end of my second year at the University of Ibadan, Nigeria. Throughout that academic year I was questioning my faith as I read some of the numerous teachings on religion and spirituality that flooded our campus. There were also students, mainly from Western Nigeria, who were passionate about, and practiced their traditional religions, and there were students branding themselves as Rosicrucian, Grail Message, etc. I came home with one question in my mind, and I asked my mother: “Why did our people leave their traditional religion to embrace Christianity, a foreign religion that was imposed on them by people that colonized them?” She said to me: “Bal, my daughter, I do not have an answer to your question. I know little or nothing about the religion my ancestors practiced. My grandparents were among the first converts to Christianity in our community; they embraced it and never turned back.  I was raised in the church, went to Mission Schools and I have a very personal relationship with Jesus Christ. You were born into a Christian family, and we raised with Christian beliefs. You are now an adult and an undergraduate (College student). I would advise you to do some research into Christianity and form your own opinion from an informed perspective.” Then she gave me her copy of Lessons In Truth by H. Emily Cady.

My mother was a Unity student and a prolific reader. She had taken and completed the Unity Correspondence course, and we had Unity books and magazines all over home. We grew up with the children’s and young adults’ magazines – Wee Wisdom, YOU Magazine, Good Business, as well as Weekly Unity, Unity Magazine, and Daily Word.

I did my research, as she advised, and I read Lessons In Truth. It was as if I wrote the book! Everything in it resonated with me, and I said to myself: “If the Gospel of Jesus Christ (Christianity) can be interpreted this way, then this is my path; I am a Christian, a Practical Christian, a Unity Student”. That was my call to Unity, this Beautiful Way of Life and I never turned back! I had a passionate desire to know God; to understand what life was all about, what my role, my purpose, in It was. The year I graduated from college, I left for the United Kingdom for graduate school. During my five years in Britain, I communicated frequently with Silent Unity, Unity Village, and interacted with Unity School of Great Britain, participating in some of their activities. I even returned to England several years later to attend a Unity Retreat at St Annes-on-the-Sea. That was my first experience of a Unity Retreat. I remained an active member of my hometown Anglican Church and attended the Interdenominational Protestant Church on the University campus on Sunday mornings and a Unity Study Group – Silent Unity Center, Port Harcourt – on Sunday evenings. Silent Unity Center was the spiritual hub of Truth students with different religious backgrounds. Christians, Moslems, Traditionalists etc. we all came together and studied Unity.  

MY CALL TO MINISTRY

I received my Call to Ministry on January 17, 1987, the year my son, Ochuko, was born. It was a clear audible voice that spoke these words to me: “My anointing of you is to serve me in Unity. Make Me Real”. And I asked “How?”. The Voice replied: “Experience Me.” Since then, I have continued to open my heart and mind to the Living Spirit of Truth for clearer and deeper understanding of the meaning of these words, as I answer this Call. These Words were repeated to me at my ordination in 2004 by my minister, Rev. Billie Blaine, as she smeared anointing oil on my forehead, and I felt the Presence. That was the outer expression of my anointing, my call to ministry, and it came with this Scripture: The anointing you received from Him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But as His anointing teaches you about all things and as that anointing is real, not counterfeit – just as it has taught you, remain in Him.  – 1 John 2:27.

It has been the focus of my ministry to make God real in my life and in the lives that I touch; to know God as the only reality in my life and in my world. How do I do this?  Just as I was instructed. By experiencing God in everyone and in every situation, knowing that God is the only Presence and Power there is, I bring God into manifest reality. God is made real, and I am a healing and illumining influence in my world. I share the Truth I am knowing and experiencing about my Self with people who are receptive to it.  I have found that people are drawn to my ministry who have felt the inner promptings to “experience God” as I did and are ready and willing to be about the Father’s business. Together we are experiencing God as individual being, as the Substance of all forms, and truly making God Real. I envision a planet spiritually awake and alert, every being expressing their God potential and experiencing life fully and I believe Unity is a path to manifesting that vision. 

MY LEGACY/WISH TO THE FUTURE GENERATION

Unity believes the scientific evidence of an abundant universe that is infinite and constantly expanding. This abundance is everywhere evenly present and available to all as divine ideas. Human beings are created and equipped to live life abundantly, free from limitations and bondage of any kind and expressing the fullness of all spiritual attributes – life, love, peace, joy, power, understanding, wisdom …… in mind, body and affairs. This is the way Jesus Christ, our Elder Brother and Way Shower lived and demonstrated for all who would follow. This is the Unity way of life.

I am committed to prayer and spiritual growth and have a passion for learning, teaching, and demonstrating Truth principles. I motivate, empower, and inspire individual and communal growth and transformation through prayer, education, and service.
My legacy would be that I have facilitated and encouraged loving and safe environments that foster and nurture spiritual awakening and growth. People are learning spiritual principles and growing together within their cultures and context, deepening their consciousness, and transforming themselves, their communities and the world through their shared spiritual awakening as they study and practice Truth, the Unity way.

It is my desire and hope that this and future generation would embrace the Truth of an abundant Universe; that they believe in the realm of infinite possibilities – the Kingdom of Heaven – and the freedom of Spirit that comes with knowing that Truth eliminates all obstacles; and that they focus on action steps that facilitate the realization and manifestation of this vision of a world connected and at peace.

Rev Festus Umeojiego

Rev. Festus Umeojiego was Unity South Church’s Senior Minister and CEO until he retired from Unity ministry in January 2016. Born and raised in Nigeria, Rev. Festus was first educated as an Engineer. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from Manhattan College in New York, a Master’s degree in Nuclear Engineering from NYU, and a Master’s in Mechanical Engineering from Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan. He was employed in the automotive industry in Detroit for many years before being called to Unity ministry.

He credits his engineering background with leading him to Unity: “Nuclear science introduced me to Quantum theory, which opened me to a non-linear way of conceiving reality that I find consistent with Unity’s and other mystical ways of thinking.” He found Unity during a time of devastating civil war in his country of origin, and saw in Unity philosophy a means of transforming and transcending the human tendency towards conflict, often fueled by perceived differences.

Rev. Umeojiego was ordained in 1983. He first served  Unity Center of Truth in Houston, Texas, followed with service as the Senior Minister of Unity Church in Woodbury, MN, from 1988 to 2001. From 2002 through 2008, he served as the Senior Minister of Unity on the North Shore, Evanston, IL. He returned to Minnesota and began his service at Unity South in January of 2009. He continues to provide spiritual leadership today: leading special services and ceremonies, as well as teaching and facilitating adult spiritual classes and seminars throughout the year.

He served for over ten years with Unity Worldwide Ministries on the Licensing and Ordination teams, that evaluates ministers in training for credentialing. He also served on the Board of the Great Lakes Region of Unity Worldwide, including service as the Chair of the Board. Authenticity and integrity are the most important leadership qualities to Reverend Festus, without which, he has said, “we are empty barrels and sounding brass, regardless of our intellectual ability and skills”. He believes, as did Unity’s cofounder, Charles Fillmore, that “the purpose of human existence is to demonstrate the Truth of our being; to manifest our inherent divinity, our Christ or Buddha nature!”

Sr. Rev. Okon O. Ebong was ordained a Unity Minister in 1999. He attended the Unity School for Religious Studies (USRS) in Nigeria between 1996 and 1998. He joined Unity in Nigeria in early 1990s. Before this time, he was associated with the United Church of Religious Science (Science of Mind) and rose to the position of a Study Group Director for 10 years during the 1980s. He thereafter served as the President of the International New Though Alliance (INTA) in Nigeria for many years. He served as the President of Unity Church of Practical Christianity, Nigeria-UCPCN (the Unity umbrella organization of Unity in Nigeria) for five years (2001-2006) and has been presenting seminars and workshops locally and internationally. Rev. Ebong attends the Unity Peoples’ Conventions and International New Thought Alliance Congresses in the United States often. He is currently serving as a member in the English Credential Ministry Team of Unity Worldwide Ministries. Currently the President, Unity Church of Christianity, Nigeria and Director of Daily Word in Nigeria since May 2019 till date. Presently a member of the executive board member of International New Though Alliance – INTA and a member Board of Trustees, Unity Worldwide Ministries – UWM.

Rev. Ebong pioneered UCPCN – Community Spiritual Renewal Centre, Ekritam Akpan-Obong, Akwa Ibom State where he is currently the Director/Senior Minister-At-Large and Unity Centre, Kwale, Delta State. He is a mentor to Credentialing candidates of Unity National School-UNS and serving as the Facilitator of the Unity Institute Nigeria Ekritam Campus (Unity National School, Nigeria).

A retired Oil/Gas Field Superintendent with Nigerian Agip Oil Company Limited (NAOC), a subsidiary of E&P of ENI Group in Italy.

My Call to Unity:

Having been a student of the School of Truth in Johannesburg, South Africa and studying the Science of Mind and a close follower of Brother Mandus of World Healing Cursed in Blackpool, England, I find myself drawn to Unity through Rev. Dr Catherine Ponder books of Unity Church Worldwide who personally redirected my enquiry about Unity to Rev. Foster Mammilla of Unity School of Christianity. That was the beginning of my journey in Unity.

My Call to Ministry:

Having ministered in the New Though Ministry of Science of Mind, I find myself in Unity School for Religious Studies (USRS) Unity Ministerial School in Nigeria where I studied and was licenced in 1998 by Sr. Rev. Dr Amos N. Kalu (JP) and ordained in November 1999 by Rev. Ron Tyson.

My legacy/wish to the future generation:

Having found Unity as a way of life for spiritual living I have been working to ensure that the younger generation study and imbibe the Truth Principles as taught by Unity. This is what inspired me to establish study class and teaching wherever I go using the Unity curriculum to share in classes especially with the youths. The bits and pieces of sharing I have made, I hope it will continue to motivate the future generations like my publish poem in the August 2008 Daily Word.

Perspective, Wish or Goals of UWM Africa:

When I started as a Credential leader in Unity it was a great joy when aspiring Credential Unity leaders from Malawi, Cameroon and Ghana where in Nigeria training for Unity Leadership. It was a great joy when Rev. Dr Harry Kudiabor of Ghana who served as a Unity Minister in Ghana and United Kingdom visited Nigeria and most recently the visit of Rev. Thandi of South Africa visit us in Nigeria in November 2018 traversing Enugu, Lagos, Abuja and Ekritam expressing oneness of purpose in working together to spreading and sharing the spirit of Unity. My wish is how we in Africa from Egypt to Kenya, Nigeria, Cameroon, Malawi, Benin-republic, Ghana and South Africa can work together to spread the teaching-healing-truth of Unity. I am appreciative of the pioneering work and ideas of Rev. Dr Helen Wilcox- Evwaraye, Rev. Thandi, Rev. Festus Umeojiego, Rev. Dr Udo Igwe, Rev. Mrs. Ada Igwe, Rev. Mrs. Elizabeth Oyebode, Bro. Akin Solanke (now Reverend), Rev. Okon O. Ebong with encouragement from Rev. Lisa Davis and Rev. Gregory Guice of Unity Detroit, Unity Temple as we sat at Unity Village to hatch the need for Africa Region in Unity Village, Missouri. My wish and vision for UWM Africa Region is evergreen and I continue to pray for a day in which we will have no inhibition from geographical boundaries in the generations to come nor anything to prevent our zest and passion to spreading the Unity message regardless of tribes, languages and Nations in Africa.

Reverend Kabelo Letebele

Rev Kabelo is an ordained Unity Worldwide Ministries minister.

He is a long-standing member of South Africa’s Unity Centre of Love and Light. Having grown up in Anglican Church until his university years, he spent close to 10 years not attending any church and not in any church movement – his spiritual journey would begin through reading books like Conversations with God by Neal Donald Welsch and being introduced to the works of the Dr Wayne Dyer.

It is often said, “when the student is ready – the teacher appears”, this was Kabelo’s experience when a colleague at a bank where he was working at the time – invited him to attend a very “different church” which did not follow the traditional Christian approach and thinking, but was more “spiritual and open-minded”.

Kabelo then visited and connected with Soul Home, a Centre for Spiritual Living church (also known as Science of Mind), a new thought movement largely based on the teachings of Dr Ernest Holmes.

New Thought movements such as Centre for Spiritual Living and Unity Worldwide Ministries, places emphasis on an expanded view of God or “One Presence underlying all of life/creation” and embrace the idea that each one of us has the “Christ” presence within, which is the “God presence in us”. Therefore do not believe in “sins” or “hell” but that our spiritual journey is an eternal quest and process of realizing that we are an emanation of this “One Presence”.

In 2010, Rev Kabelo then joined the Unity Centre of Love and Light in 2010, having met Unity Centre of Love and Light’s Founder and Senior Minister, Rev Thandi Nhlengetwa. Unity is a New Thought movement, which places the emphasis on “Christ Consciousness within all individuals” and understanding the bible through “Christian Metaphysics”. Christian Metaphysics looks at the bible as our own journey of spiritual evolution.

As a minister in training Kabelo’s areas of passion and interest are:

• Prosperity and Abundance teachings
• Healing and Wholeness
• Prayer, Masterminding and Visioning

Kabelo is reachable on nletebele@gmail.com or 00 27 74 156 2262