I watched Shanty Town and I cried. Here's why!

Transformational life lessons from a hit movie.

Author

Ugonne Ann Okonkwo
January 30, 2023

Hey love. How are you doing? Did you have a great weekend? Was it a tough one or you actually had real fun? It was a mixture of both for me. #toughbutrealfun.

I was about to procrastinate on this newsletter but my heart is literally burning and I can’t sleep so with Baby Nate on my chest, here goes this week's newsletter. It feels like an urgent one.

Last week, I gisted you how God saved me from prostitution as I shared my salvation story so you can imagine how my interest was piqued when I saw the movie, Shanty Town. To be honest, I'm not even sure if I should recommend the movie or not because sis, 2023 is the year where our gates must be manned at all costs. The enemy is fighting tooth and nail to deceive, numb, integrate and normalize darkness in our lives and communities and a major way he's doing that is through media. Gosh, the media is so important. Please pay attention.

For those that may not know anything about the movie, Shantytown is a gritty, action-packed Nigerian drama that explores the lives of sex workers, gang leaders, and corrupt politicians in Lagos. I watched only the first four episodes before it was my bedtime but I couldn't get it off my mind as I went to bed. I kept asking, "God, am I living in a bubble? Are things this bad? Are there people living like this or is it an exaggeration?"

Of course, I know movies tend to exaggerate the truth but I found myself crying as I prayed earnestly because I felt like this could have been me with just one small wrong move in my life years ago.

Darkness as black as night

Sis, please don't be deceived by what you see on the surface. There are dark wicked problems, places, and people out there. They may be flying all over the world; Dubai today, Paris tomorrow but you won't believe the twisted things that people are doing and the crazy extent they are willing to go for meaningless things. And it's only going to get worse. Things are going to get darker but the good news is that we've been called to arise, shine and solve these enigmas. Imole De by Dunsin Oyekan should be our anthem in 2023 because indeed When light comes; darkness disappears. The world needs our light otherwise this place will become inhabitable.

After I finished crying and praying, I just got angry in my spirit. How can I, Ugonne Ann Okonkwo, exist and a prostitution ring will be thriving in my community? Lord! What exactly did you save me for? See this year, may our lives and vision be weighty in eternal consequence. There is more to life than bone-straight hair, multiple passports, and holiday destinations. Trust me, we are going to have all of that but may we never lose sight of the weightier matters because there is so much more. This life is warfare. There are territories to take and battles to be won and so long as you are with Abba, you will overcome. Look at the enemy literally plucking away our girls and destroying destinies through prostitution and what are we doing? Sitting around, looking pretty, and posting on Instagram. Tufiakwa! Not you. Not me. Not with the power of the Holy Ghost bursting on the inside of you. We are going to sit with the Holy Spirit, catch compelling visions, build wealth, collaborate, defund iniquity, dethrone evil altars and establish the kingdom of God here on earth. Period!

 Vision is warfare

There was a particular scene in the movie where Chidi Mokeme's character, Scar, told the sitting governor that they use the blood of seven virgins and seven old women to wash Chief Fernandez's ring in Ijesha every year. It was such a revealing moment for me because it confirmed my speculations about power, fame, or glory on any level.

In the arenas God is calling you to, there are giants in the land and evil altars that have been raised there. Remember what I mentioned in last week's newsletter about how you need power to thrive in these times? My sister, it's not a joke at all. There are spaces, boards, organizations, and opportunities that you can only access through the power of God and a certain recognition in the spirit. This is the "Jesus I know, Paul I know“ dimension. Are you recognizable in the spirit or you think it's just good vibes and inshallah? Lmao! My friend, will you wake up!

You think these people are walking around empty-handed and unprotected. Not so! There are men and women trained in covens, empowered by demonic spirits, and sent to steal, kill and destroy. And like Chief Fernandez, they are servicing their altars and honoring their consecrations regularly.

I pray that the Holy Spirit will help us to see and undress the degree of darkness we are contending with. I pray that we will be so weighty in God that whatever angle they are coming with, we will match and overthrow them there. Whether it's spiritually, economically, physically, or financially, we’ll rise up higher and above any principality and power. This is our destiny and whatever training you have to go through now, please submit to the process in peace because it's only trained soldiers that go into the battleground.

Speaking of compelling visions, kindly support my sister, Doreen Omosele, in doing the Lord's work in the sex industry. She is the president of When Ladies Gather and the Founder of Blossom Girls Network where she reaches out to sex workers. She didn’t pay or ask me to do this but I am because I kept thinking about her and the work she does as I watched the movie. They will be opening the first Blossom rehabilitation home for Sex workers this month and will be needing all the support, prayers, and donations they can get. Click here to find out more about her work and kindly support a worthy cause today.

Operation sheep in wolf’s clothing

At the beginning of the movie, Inem (Ini Edo's character) was released from prison and we are made to know that she was once a sex worker in Shanty Town. It was later that we discovered that she was actually an undercover agent who wants to avenge the death of her twin sister. I believe this undercover operation that God will use in these times. They won't see you coming. They will underestimate you because you are African. They'll look down on you because you are a stay-at-home mom or take you for granted because you are female until their walls come crashing down. It's the Jael code and I love it so much. Do you remember Jael?

Ahh! Time will fail me to give you her gist but just go and do a study on Jael. That's how they won't see some of us coming until they are all brought down. For some others, you may look and sound like them but you are not one of them. There’ll be contact without contamination because you are a well-trained agent and that vision God has put in your hands is an undercover mission that will be used to stop satan in his tracks and establish heaven on earth.

A SNEAK PEEK INTO MY MIND

🐱‍🏍️💃 𝙒𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙄'𝙢 𝙨𝙪𝙥𝙚𝙧 𝙚𝙭𝙘𝙞𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩

  •  Cycle 10 of Immerse inner circle. We're ready to run, are you coming with us? When someone does something right once, it can be attributed to "luck" or "chance". But you see when you get something right over and over, it's safe to say that you've mastered it! Sis, we've mastered this personal transformation thing at Immerse inner circle, no jokes. Not only do we know what we're doing, but we've also gotten better with every strike. We've been immersing ourselves in light for 9 Cycles now and we're set for Cycle 10! Don't let this train of total transformation, significant shifts, and purposeful precision pass you by! Click here to join us for Cycle 10.

𝙒𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙄'𝙢 𝙬𝙖𝙩𝙘𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜

  • Abbot Elementary. This is one of my favorite tv series in recent times. I occasionally remember it and just watch an episode or two to unwind. Have you seen it before? Who’s your favorite character? I like Barbara and Principal Ava. Lol!

🎤🎼 𝙒𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙄'𝙢 𝙡𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙤

  • Miracle no dey tire Jesus by Moses Bliss. I wish I can explain to you how much I'm enjoying this song right now. It’s a whole vibe and a declaration for me.

🙇🙌 𝙒𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙄 𝙖𝙢 𝙜𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙛𝙪𝙡 𝙛𝙤𝙧

  • Baby Nate’s Rocker. I was looking for the wire everywhere and I couldn’t find it. I asked the Holy Spirit to help me find it and he did.

Have you seen Shanty Town? What do you think of the movie? Let me know. Hit the reply button. Happy New Week!

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𝘋𝘰 𝘸𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘰𝘯? 𝘛𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘮𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘦𝘸𝘴𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳. 𝙃𝙞𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙧𝙚𝙥𝙡𝙮 𝙗𝙪𝙩𝙩𝙤𝙣.

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