- Urges churches to direct youths to God
Convener of the Conference of Nigerian Civil Rights Activists, Comrade Ifeanyi Odili, has tasked Christian leaders in the country to emulate the kind gesture of the Founder of the Synagogue Church of All Nations, Prophet T.B Joshua, “for his unceasing kind gestures to the less-privileged in the society.”
Odili, who is also the General Secretary of the Campaign for Democracy, spoke in Akure, Ondo State, at the weekend, when members of Young National Evangelical Network paid him a courtesy visit.
The activist, who is an evangelist in the Christ Apostolic Church, said, “Today, Christians all over the country are proud of the contributions of Pastor T.B Joshua to individuals in the communities, and in Nigeria as a country.
“The other time I visited the Synagogue Church in Lagos, I was moved to see many less-privileged people there being given bags of rice, vegetable oil, provisions and even cash.
“Some of them I spoke with said it is a regular practice directed by Pastor Joshua, that the church should not abandon the poor to their fate, that they should be feeding and clothing them regularly.
“But today in Nigeria, how many churches are doing this? Many of our churches collect offering, tithes and other contributions, but forget those who cannot feed among the congregation. They use money collected from the congregants to build universities that children of the poor among them cannot attend. They build mansions and gigantic shopping malls forgetting that the day of reckoning is almost around us.
Odili urged church leaders to always remember the poor, and not oppress them through arrogant display of their wealth.
“If the poor are attending the church hungry, definitely, they can never hear the sermon, even though they are not deaf,” Odili also observed.
He, therefore, urged other churches to emulate the practice in the SCOAN, as laid down by Prophet Joshua.
Besides, Odili advised young Christians in Nigeria to be devout, and shun sinful practices, so as to convert their age mates, “many of who are neck-deep in criminal activities.”
“Look at the age bracket of these kidnappers being apprehended around; they are within the 25-35 age bracket; meaning that they are young boys and men, and these are the people you should reach out to, starting from how you live your lives as Christians,”n he noted.
He said while the bad economic situation in the country could be blamed for the youths’ recourse to crime, “the problem can also be blamed on bad peer influence, and that is where your evangelism is most needed. Go into them and change them.”
In his response, the leader of the team, Evangelist Joseph Ayinde, said it was a glorious development that human rights activists could be found more in the vineyard of God these days, assuring Odili that members of the network would always approach him for counselling.
“We are indeed proud of you, and proud also of the humanitarian activities of Pastor T.B Joshua, who has been fending for the poor,” Ayinde said
