Despite persecution, we will continue to preach Christ —Baba, ECWA President

Reverend Stephen Panya Baba, who was, a few weeks ago, elected the President of the Evangelical Church Winning All (ECWA), in an interaction with ISAAC SHOBAYO, speaks on his plan for the church, insecurity in the country, and other contemporary issues.

What are your plans for the church?

My personal mission also coincides with the mission statement of ECWA. In our constitution, we begin by saying that the church is established for the purpose of glorifying God and I have no personal mission statement apart from that. I just want God to be glorified in my life and for Jesus to take his place and for the Holy Spirit to be magnified.

How did you receive the news of your election?

Usually, prayers are said, while candidates are presented to the General Church Council for consideration for election into various leadership positions, including that of the ECWA president according to divine direction. When I was eventually elected, I felt a very big burden, because the responsibility involved in that office is huge. However, I trust God for divine assistance.

In terms of church growth, we have been truly blessed at ECWA as we have an Evangelism and Mission Department that was established more than 100 years ago, long before ECWA as a church came into existence. ECWA members are supposed to be spirit-filled to propagate the gospel wherever they find themselves, and our prayer is that God will continue to move powerfully to rekindle that passion of evangelism and mission in a greater way, not just among ECWA leaders, but among individual ECWA members, so that the church will be part of the end time army that God is raising.

You are taking over at a time that churches, especially ECWA in the North, is facing challenges in different dimensions. How is your leadership going to tackle this?

This country is for all of us and we have to learn to live together and be tolerant. Most of the time, people talk of peace, but peace cannot be achieved except there is peace, justice, equity and fair play in all that we do. You know the Bible encourages us to pray for our leaders and also for peace to reign. The same scripture talks about leaders bearing the sword for the purpose of enforcing justice and fairness. So, we will continue to pursue this and also speak very strongly that there should be justice and equity in the country.

In terms of insecurity in the North, especially in the North-East, ECWA as a church, has been one of the victims of the menace of Boko Haram. What is your advice to the government in this regard?

One of the strategies of the enemies is to cause chaos and the first thing to do is to pray for peace. Secondly, the Lord Jesus Christ has given us a promise that He will build His church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. The gates of hell shall not prevail against a stationary or complacent church; the gate of hell can only make an attempt to prevent the forward-moving church.  I will encourage believers to seek God’s face and be determined to take the gospel to these areas. In fact, persecution is a pointer to the fact that the gospel has not properly penetrated this part of the country; if it had, there would have been peace, because ours is a gospel of peace. We pray that this gospel will penetrate all these areas so that many more shall be brought into the kingdom. It is the way Jesus Christ mandated us to conquer through the preaching of the gospel.

There have been concerns relating to division among Christians. How do you think this can be addressed?

This is very sad that in view of the persecution that we face as believers in this country, we are not really as united as we should. It is very difficult for one to force unity and again we come back to our only weapon, which is praying and interceding for our leaders, so that we will be able to come together and speak with one voice. When our followers and members see that the leaders are united, it becomes easy for them to relate with each other at that level. The blessing of united Christendom is great. If we want to see the overflow of God’s favour and blessings, we need to be united and I will play my own part to ensure that those of us at the leadership level play our part to foster good leadership, so that it can trickle down to the followers.

Bingham University, owned by the ECWA, has been facing some teething problems. What are you going to do to set the university on the right track being the only faith-based university in the North?

We shall do our best to see that the university is reinforced in every area. First, spiritually and also to ensure that it achieves the purpose for it was established. To run a university requires a lot of resources and specifically, financial resources, and we are praying and trusting God to do more in terms of supporting the university financially, and to raise the standard. We are planning and hoping that soon the university will start training pastors, and we are working towards this.

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What is your advice to the nation’s leaders on ensuring national development?

I think what is uppermost in the mind of many of us is security. Without peace, it becomes difficult to do the most basic thing. Farmers in the country presently are not finding it easy; the insecurity that has pervaded the country has made it impossible for many of the farmers to go to their farms. So, the government needs to buckle up and provide adequate security for the citizens, so that people will be able to carry out their duties without any fear. Next to that which is premised on the security of lives and property, is the economy which needs to be addressed squarely to address the hardship the people are passing through.

Are you satisfied with the way the government is handling the herdsmen’s situation?

Just like I said, if they want the people to have confidence in them, those that are responsible for these killings need to be arrested and prosecuted accordingly. Also, the government should put preventive mechanism in place and deploy security men to all these areas. Let government not be reactionary, but proactive. I strongly believe that the government has the capacity to prevent these killings.

What is your assessment of the three tiers of administration?

As a shepherd, I am very optimistic, but my optimism is not as a result of what I saw or think; it comes from the fact that God has a purpose for establishing Nigeria and that God has not finished with this country. I am also advising the political class to play politics with genuine intention and the fear of God.