Early Life and Background
Garrick Sokari Marian Braide was born around 1882 in Obonoma, a village in the Niger Delta area of Southern Nigeria. His parents were idol worshipers, and theirs was a poor family. His father was Igbo but his mother was from the Kalabari tribe. The Niger Delta communities were divided into economic family groups called “houses.” Each house was ruled by a head who was usually a wealthy trader. Braide’s father was a servant to one of the house heads in Bakana. Braide himself served in the same house. He most likely did this till he was thirty years old, which was the age of release.
Introduction to Christianity and Mentorship
In 1890, when he was about eight years old, he came into contact with Christianity and was enrolled as an enquirer (a newcomer to the church that is under probation prior to full membership) at the CMS’ St. Andrew’s Church in Bakana. For many years, Braide was under the mentorship of Moses Kemmer, a native of Brass, who was the minister-in-charge of St. Andrew’s. It was Braide’s custom to spend some nights in the Church with his Bible and prayer book. In his annual report in 1909, Kemmer praised Braide as a young man, full of zeal and energy in preaching the word of God.
Divine Encounter and Calling
In 1912, he had an encounter with God that changed his life and set him on the path of destiny. He recounts the experience: “… After the communion, I knelt down in my pew and poured out my soul in prayer to God. At about the still hours of the morning, I heard a still small voice saying: ‘Garrick! Are you prepared to be my servant? Are you ready to witness to mankind the saving truths of the gospel?” He thereafter poured himself into the work to which he had been called. Kemmer, perceiving God’s calling on Braide’s life, gave him all the encouragement and support he needed.
Public Reaction and Defense of His Ministry
When Braide’s evangelistic and healing ministry began to come into the limelight, many Christians in Bakana were skeptical of him. Some said that he was either under the influence of occult powers or in the early stages of madness. Kemmer, on the other hand, threw his full weight behind him. To persuade the people of the credibility of Braide’s ministry, Kemmer delivered a message from Mark 3:29-30 (“But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; he is guilty of eternal sin.” Jesus made this statement because they were saying, “He has an unclean spirit.”). After this, they changed their minds about him.
Healing Ministry and Reputation
Braide had no predecessor in healing ministry in Nigeria. How exactly he came about and embraced the doctrine of divine healing is not known. Yet it was clearly of God. His reputation spread far and wide and he became so well known by late 1915 that sick people from all over the Niger Delta and Igboland came to him for healing. He would either just pray or lay hands on them and they would be healed. Kemmer in an article in The Chronicle, an official magazine of the NDP, reported that there had been no instance where Braide went to pray for the sick without the person being healed.
Message and Ministry Focus
Braide preached that there was a connection between sin and sickness, and he required those who came for healing to confess their sins and repent. Once they did these, they were assured of receiving their healing. Braide offered an African alternative to traditional evangelism. Rather than teaching creeds, he campaigned mainly on the destruction of idols. Braide also campaigned particularly effectively against alcohol consumption. The decrease in alcohol consumption led authorities, worried about decreased tax revenue, to investigate him.
Arrest, Imprisonment, and Death
Braide was arrested in March 1916 on charges including disturbing public peace. Braide was released from prison in 1918 and died later that year.
Date: 30th August 2022
Title: GARRICK SOKARI MARIAN BRAIDE -A Healing Apostle to the Delta
Source:
— A Heritage of Faith: A History of Christianity in Nigeria
— Wikipedia
Author: Ayodeji Abodunde
