COVID-19: Nigeria is jeopardising the future, spiritual life of the younger generation —Edokpai

As authorities continue to ease the lockdown occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic and with churches resuming in-person service, there has been anxiety on how churches will cope with the new normal post-COVID-19. In this interview by OLAMIDE ENIOLA, the General Overseer of New Life For All Nations Ministry, Pastor Sunday Edokpai, discusses how the Church can function with the new experience.

How would you describe your experience both during the lockdown and now that the lockdown is being relaxed?

Our experience during the time is of two dimensions: spiritual and social. When we talk about the spiritual aspect of the church, there are certain things which we ought to do as a church which we were not opportune to do. All the programmes outlined by churches could not hold, thereby having spiritual implications for people. Although we are in the internet age, this only works for those who are literate. What about church members who are illiterate? So, we were not able to meet the spiritual needs of every church member as we should have.

It also has effects on the church which really gives us concern. The project we are doing has been at a standstill because of the lockdown – skilled workers working on it could not work. We were unable to embark on our outreaches.

By not being able to gather, we missed a lot of things. The Bible says, “…have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ.” In a situation where people could not come to have fellowship together, it robbed us the benefit of having collective fellowship with the Father and the Son.

In any case, what happened has opened our eyes to what happened to the Church in the primitive era when churches met in houses. What happened made many of us revert to house fellowship or family gathering. This enhances building family altar since people could not come out. In one way, it benefited families and small groups. As a result of this, we were able to build discipleship.

The church’s social life was also affected in that activities like wedding ceremonies, burial services, holy communion, among others could not hold.

Right now, the lockdown is being eased and we are looking at how to implement all the government regulations that come with the reopening of churches. We are happy with the relaxation of lockdown because we can now gather in a larger group than we could during the lockdown and we hope this would enhance our spiritual being the more.

However, what has happened about the lockdown is that government only considers the medical side to it without taking a spiritual approach to it. Government takes all its decisions on what the World Health Organisation (WHO) says. Looking at what really happened, was it caused by WHO that the organisation would know the right approach to it? But God knows about it and He has the solution. Unfortunately, if the church is locked down, who now takes the spiritual approach to the issue? That power has been given to the Church. This is not to say that ministers of God and the Church did not pray in their closets during the lockdown, but that does not meet the need of congregational prayer – one will chase a thousand and two, ten thousand. In a situation where you are alone, one may not be able to do much.

What would you say the Church did to help the poor during the lockdown?

We mandated every local assembly to see to the welfare of their members. So, most of our churches did that. We learnt our lesson from those who publicised theirs on radio and television, but could not do much because many people went to them for palliatives. So, in order to avoid having too many people to cater for, we did ours silently within our neighbourhood, and the beneficiaries really appreciated us.

How do you intend to cope with the new normal?

We will cope, because we are not a novice. Anyone who studies the Church during the primitive era will know that what the Church is passing through now is nothing compared to what it went through then. If the people of those days could manage themselves and survive that period, we will adjust to that too and ensure our people comply. We have all the government-stipulated protocol – conducting a one-hour service, providing hand washing basin and soap, hand sanitizer and thermometer for checking temperature.

What’s your take on the view that using nose/face mask is a re-enactment of the veil on Moses’ face in the wilderness?

When we talk about church doctrine, people are allowed to air their view and we are not to judge anybody. Again, we are not mature the same way in the things of God, so everybody will play along the way of their maturity. To the best of my knowledge, we have no option but to obey the government. The Bible asks us to do so, so long government’s instruction does not conflict with our faith.

Has CAN done enough in creating awareness about the pandemic?

No, we criticize CAN. They have not done enough, to the best of my knowledge. They are the ones who should have educated the government. From the onset, they ought to have let the government know that this pandemic has spiritual approach to it. They should have allowed the government to relegate the spiritual. If from the onset CAN had made the government see the importance of the church in a thing like this, the government should not have locked down the Church. This is not the first pandemic to happen in the history of the world. During Egypt’s conflict with Israel, there was a pandemic and what did they do? They called on Moses to pray for them, but this time around, the Church was not allowed to play its significant role during this time and it is CAN that should have played that role. Yes, the virus is highly infectious, but that does not stop WHO and health workers from intervening. Ministers of the gospel should have been allowed to come in our own way to handle the matter spiritually.

Can we quantify what the Church has lost during this pandemic?

It is unquantifiable because it affected individuals who make up the Church. For instance, during the lockdown, it was probably only civil servants who got paid their salaries regularly, what about those who rely on daily job to get paid? This set of people was affected, thereby preventing it from being able to contribute its quota to the Church. Most churches lost valuables because the monthly returns were not forthcoming.

Now that the lockdown is being eased, what is your advice to the Church and the government?

As a church, I would not want us to take this pandemic as a disease, I want us to take it as a sign of the close of this age. Jesus made us to understand that when we see these things happening, we should know that the end of this age is at hand. Any moment from now, Christ can appear. So, the Church should get itself ready for the coming by dropping whatever will not allow us go with Jesus.

And to the government, the Church should be allowed to open fully to hold their service. By doing this, the Church will be empowered to intercede for the government, health workers and on behalf of our nation. And when we do this, it can ameliorate the present situation.

Again, we are jeopardizing the future generation of our young ones when they can neither go to school nor to the church. When they can go to church, they can be taught how to fear God. On the contrary, if they cannot go to church, the devil can lay hold of them to do otherwise.

Do you think the Church will have its normal life when coronavirus is finally defeated?

We may not. It also depends on how church leadership gets close to its members during this crisis. In a situation where holding and attending church service is now possible on the Internet, radio and television, we may have to contend with people not coming to church again.

Now that the church is opening again, I encourage church leaders to move close their members to make them see the importance of fellowshipping. If this can be done, we will have the same result as we used to have.

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