Dozens of single ladies in wedding gowns were part of the congregation that graced the Hallelujah Challenge event spearheaded by Gospel minister, Pastor Nathaniel Bassey on Sunday night, October 22, 2023, at the Eko Hotel and Suites.
So much so that one would have thought there was a mass wedding taking place but it was just people dressed like their testimonies.
They had shown up in the appearance at the gospel music festival after Pastor Nathaniel Bassey declared that the festival was a “dress like your miracle” night.
It wasn’t just single ladies that dressed up, students also showed up in Graduation gowns while Trying to conceive (TTC) women showed up with artificial baby bumps or baby dolls as a sign of their faith for God’s visitation at the Halleluyah festival which started around 6pm and ended at midnight.
Kemi Filani recalls that Nathaniel Bassey in 2017 birthed the Hallelujah Challenge; a praise and worship movement on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube. It was held at midnight and thousands of worshippers around Nigeria and the world would connect online to lift their voices in praise and prayer, united by one hashtag: #HalleluyahChallenge.
After the success of the movement in 2017, it became an annual festival filled with sometimes mind-blowing testimonies from participants.
This year’s 20-day hallelujah event started on the midnight 3rd of October, 2023, and so far it has had special guests like Pastor Jerry Eze, Pastor Joshua Selman, Minister Dunsin Oyekan, MInister Victoria Orenze, Minister Lilian Nneji, and more in attendance.
Hundreds of thousands of online users participated by joining the live stream on YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram.
As a matter of fact, Day 17 of this year’s challenge had over half a million viewers on YouTube and over a hundred thousand participants on Instagram and Facebook respectively.
In rounding up the 20-day challenge, the Gospel minister, Nathaniel Bassey while taking its theme from the biblical Acts 16:25-26, held the festival concert on Sunday night at the Eko hotel and suites saying “We will pray, we will sing, we will dance. Foundations will be shaken, prison doors open and all bands shall be loosened in Jesus’ name. Get ready! Come Expectant to have an encounter with God.”
