• Thursday, March 28, 2024
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Church focuses on infrastructural development, professionalism, empowerment in 2021

Reverend Chukwudebelu Izuchukwu

Assemblies of God Nigeria, Apapa District says it is focusing on repositioning, infrastructural development, professionalism, and empowerment in church’s administration going forward.

Reverend Chukwudebelu Izuchukwu, Superintendent, Assemblies of God Apapa District, disclosed this in an exclusive interview with BusinessDay.

“We want to reposition the District because much as we acknowledge the performance of our previous District Superintendents, it does not mean that we have to maintain status quo. We have to add things to avoid regression.

So, we intend to reposition the entire District, the workforce and various other things associated,” he said.

Izuchukwu said the District has infrastructures already on ground that need to be developed. He said the property can accommodate a balanced sound International camp that if any program is held there, members of the church can lodge there in their thousands.

He noted that the District has nursery, primary and high schools and would raise the infrastructures to a standard where the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) mobilisation and other things could be going on there.

“That will equally make us give employment to our youth that are out from school without jobs”. On professionalism, he said the days are gone when a church service is ran from 8 a.m. through 2 p.m. in the name of the Holy Spirit is in charge.

“Even the Holy Spirit had said the time is short and there’s time for everything. We have our professional members today who even work on Sundays, you know, we have those who work on weekends and some are at work Monday through Saturday. So, they have only Sunday to rest. We are bringing professionalism, so that these people will know when to come to church and when to leave. We are actually bringing the media into the church system. Even before people open their Bibles the projector has shown the scriptures and in different translations for that matter”.

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Izuchukwu who was recently elected the Apapa District Superintendent wants to ensure that the Pastors in the district are all graduates, thanks to Assemblies of God Nigeria that operates her University.

“We equally want to help pastors know that there was a time we had members who were predominantly illiterates.

Today, it has changed. Even Assemblies of God operates her University. Most of the young people today are graduates. So, we want the pastor’s that could speak to these people and they will hear and want to stay. We will not pretend about it; you can’t give what you don’t have and you cannot offer what you don’t know”.

On empowerment, he said the District is introducing Information Technology (IT) school where all the Pastors can have a formal training and certificated.

“We are registering our school. So, we’ll train the pastors, their wife, deacon, departmental leaders and other members till we get to the grass root so that people will be internet friendly and then be compliant with what is in Vogue now”.

Looking at project financing, he said the Presbytery has looked at multiple streams of income in the area of apartment, schools and other ventures that the District plan to establish. In addition, he said the Presbytery has brought together some Brethren that are privileged and has given them three-fold terms of reference.

“They are to play advisory role. They are to represent us where their professional training requires them to be and they are to fund our projects which we are going to be taking one after the other accordingly. We have also as I said earlier established some other things within our schools that will be generating funds. So, the water production too will be generating funds, the camp with 10 building will yield a lot, but these are projects that would take a little time but most importantly we want to make the workforce know how to be sustained by what comes from where they are,” Izuchukwu said.

The District Superintendent targets 20,000 members by 2023 when the administration would be over. To achieve this, “all the departments will start Church planting, Sectional leaders will start church planting. Of course, we know we have a mission field in Ondo state that is on-going. We’ve been planting churches there,” he said.