Some GOs not qualified to be church workers —Edokpayi

The General Overseer of the New Life for All Nation Ministries, Ibadan, Oyo State, Pastor Sunday Edokpayi, speaks with SEYI SOKOYA, on the security challenges of the Nigeria and the church.

Killings and kidnapping have become rampant in the country. What do you think the government can do to genuinely put an end to this?

The issue of the nation is so pathetic. The current security challenge of the country ought to have been arrested way back, but it was not attended to promptly and that is why we are here today. When a thing becomes degenerated, it will be difficult to address. This is where we find ourselves in this country. Unfortunately, we have a leader we voted for. When he ought to act by himself, he delegated that action to those whom the citizens did not vote for. So, they made the situation worse for him and before he could realise it, things have gone out of hand.

That is the situation we have found ourselves in and now this has caused religious crisis, tribal crisis and insecurity in virtually all parts of the country. Because it has had religious and political undertone, it has become difficult to address. We are not stable politically, tribally, religiously. Where do we now run to other than God’s intervention? The only thing we can do as a country now is for all of us to pray and return to God. We need to embrace unity which will help us focus together to address the security menace in the country.

How feasible is this because the jostle for the 2023 general election has commenced among leaders and politicians?

I think our politicians are going to suffer more if they fail to unite the nation, because the moment they fail to realise this fact, none of them will do well. We all need ourselves to make the nation work for good. The political class can only make a headway when they become united with citizens of the country.

There are notions that the disunity in Church in Nigeria is also contributing to the problems in the country. How true is this?

Church may not be united, but we are not contributing to the country’s problems, instead we are interceding for the nation. We had a problem when the pentecostal side of the church emerged many years back. The orthodox saw what the pentecostal leaders did to them, they saw them as snatching their members and as a result, instead of them to see that we are all aiming towards one goal, they don’t even want to have anything to do with the pentecostal movement. Now, there is dichotomy between the orthodox and the pentecostal. So, this became a problem for the denominations to come together. This is why the government came up with the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), as a way to unite us, because of the doctrinal difference. When you say you are a Christian, and you are doing things that are not expected of a Christian, it would be difficult for me to associate with you. But one thing that unites us is Christ. So, if we can project Christ above every other thing, this will make it easier for us to come together and under the banner of Christ, we can now begin to correct ourselves.

Except we project Christ above bishops, archbishops, General Overseers, and every other thing, that is when we can make things right. If Christ is our focus, then we will be able to resolve the issues and we will be able to come together.

What do you think the church leaders can do to solve the problems of Christianity and bring more solutions to Nigeria’s problems?

Christianity in Nigeria is taken out of context as a majority of us are not heaven-focused; we focus on materialism and as a result of that the church at large has experienced serious setback. There is nothing one can do to bring them together because their goals are not the same. Notwithstanding, we are still battling hard to let them see the truth. There are some people that are not even qualified to be a worker in some churches, but they classified themselves as General Overseers. You realise they have nothing to offer when you get to them. So, these are some of the problems we are facing in the Christendom.

Is this why the church no longer witnesses instant miracles?

No. The issue of miracle differs even from the Bible days. Miracle is the act of God that has to do with place and occasion. When a bulb is witched on in daylight, you will not feel the impact, but when it is turned on in the dark, you will see the effect of the light. The light of the gospel is shining everywhere and it has driven darkness away. That is why it seems that we are not seeing miracles as it was in the olden days. But miracles are still happening. Waking up every morning is a miracle, but many people don’t know that. For you to stand on your feet to walk is a miracle.

We have the yardstick to measure true miracles and fake miracles. Jesus told us by their fruits, ye shall know them. Now, since miracle is the act of God, no one can draw any parameter on God on how to carry out miracle, where to carry out miracle, on whom to carry out miracle. God does miracles at His will, with or without a man of God and you will attest to it that this is the miracle of God.