NO DIVORCE NO SAME-SEX MARRIAGE: A Chat With The ECWA General Secretary

The Evangelical Church Winning All (ECWA) is one of the largest Christian denominations in Nigeria. With a membership base of more than six million, it is arguable the largest Evangelical church in Nigeria and perhaps even in Africa. Recently, the QreatifDave blog had the opportunity of chatting with its erudite General Secretary, the man running the day-to-day affairs of the Church, Reverend Professor Samuel Waje Kunhiyop, at the Church’s headquarters in Jos. He allowed us a glimpse into his personal life, the Church’s position on divorce, same-sex marriage, the proposed amnesty to the insurgent Boko Haram and much more. Below are excerpts.   

The ECWA General Secretary, Rev. Prof. Samuel Waje Kunhiyop

  

Q: Who is Rev. Prof. Samuel Waje Kunhiyop?  

A: I am the current General Secretary of ECWA.

Q: Can you please tell us a little about your childhood? What was it like?

A: I was the third child of ten children and was just an ordinary child who grew up in the village. 

Q: As a child, who, or what, had the greatest influence on you?

A: My dad and mom had a lot of influence on me, though it was not evident at the time as I was quite stubborn

Q: How did you come to know the Lord? When did you accept Christ as your Lord and personal saviour?

A: My class one teacher in Primary School read and shared John 3:16 and invited those who wanted to accepted Jesus Christ.  I did, and this was in 1963. 

Q: At the beginning of your career as an ECWA Pastor did you ever think you would one day be the General Secretary of ECWA?

A: Not even close.  In fact, being an LO was not even in my mind.  I just wanted to be an ordinary pastor who preached the word of God. 

Q: Can you tell us a little about your family? How did you meet your wife? When and where did you get married?  

A: I am married to Yelwa and we have four children; two boys and two girls.  I have three grandchildren from my two daughters who are married.  I met my wife in Kaduna as she was going to Secondary School and I was heading to the Bible College.

Q: How many children have you? What do they do now?

A: Four children, two boys, two daughters. Zigwai is a lab scientist, Babangida is an architect, Kauna is a student at the Polytechnic, Abrak is studying at the University of Texas, USA. 

Q: What exactly is the role of the General Secretary in the administration of the ECWA Church?

A: He is the chief administrator.

Q: Does the attainment of high office such as your own come with challenges to your faith and convictions as a Christian?

A: Of course, there are challenges/demands that come with the office.  I deal with 80 DCCs [District Church Council, the equivalent of a Diocese] and many leaders in these DCCs, departments, institutions and units.  I also have to deal with external organizations and governments.  Sometimes, I do not get enough time to study and pray as I need to do. 

Q: How do you balance your commitments to the administration of one of the largest Christian denominations in Nigeria with your obligations to your family?

A: This is quite tricky and difficult. One thing I do is that I do not take my office problems to the house.  When I leave the office, I leave office problems till the next day.  I try to be 100% husband and father.

Q: How would you rate Christians holding public office in Nigeria? Do you think they are any better than non-Christians counterparts? 

A: Unfortunately, Christians have not done better in this aspect. I wish that Christian leaders would stand out in the public arena as Esther and Daniel of old did. 

Q: What is the lowest point in your life? How did God bring you through it?

A: I do not know if I want to call it the lowest point but the most challenging time in my life.  In 2007, I felt that my assignment as a Provost was completed and I felt that I did not want to be idle.  The Seminary wanted me but I thought I was done and needed to move on.  ECWA approved my leave of absence for me to get refreshed and that was really good for me.

Rev. Prof. Samuel Waje Kunhiyop

Q: What is the highest point in your life?  

     A: I would say that I have had many high points in my life: getting a PhD, becoming a full-time professor of theology and ethics, presenting a keynote address at the Evangelical Theological Society in the USA, and writing my first major book which was published in the USA. 

Q: What is ECWA’s stance on divorce and same-sex marriage?  

A: NO DIVORCE AND NO SAME-SEX MARRIAGE. 

Q: The security situation in the North has deteriorated drastically since 2009. The church has borne the brunt of this upheaval. How badly is the ECWA church affected by the security situation in the North?

A: ECWA has lost many churches and property. Many church buildings have been completely destroyed.  We have lost our members and some of our pastors have been murdered. One of our pastor’s grave was even desecrated! The devastation of our churches in the North is beyond description. 

Q: Considering the fact that it is increasing becoming clear that the government (through its security agents) cannot, on its own, provide security to all the people in the North (especially Christians and their churches), what should Christians do in the face of the deadly attacks we suffer every day? Shall we turn the other cheek or, “sell our cloaks and buy swords”?

A: The Church has always been under attack.  The Church must never compromise its position of love to the enemy.  However, we must resist the enemy using the power of persuasion at our disposal.  There is nothing as powerful as the pen and resistance against evil and evil structures.  Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr. did not use weapons to fight but they accomplished what many with weapons have not been able to do. 

Q: What is ECWA’s position on the Federal Government’s proposed amnesty to the Boko Haram insurgents?   

A: The ECWA Church strongly feels that the Federal Government’s proposal on amnesty to the Boko Haram insurgents is a serious mistake that has severe consequences.  Boko Haram has strong philosophical and religious ideologies that contradict the constitution of Nigeria. They have also employed evil means to accomplish their missions which has resulted in the death of thousands leaving behind widows, orphans, destruction of life and property. The Federal Government should prosecute those who deliberately violate our constitution. 

You Are The One I Love

Little Saratu and Maryam

Have you ever said, “I love you,” to your cocky brother or sassy sister? Can you remember the last time you said, “I love you,” to your overbearing father, grouchy boss; pesky neighbour, screwy roommate or envious friend? In the past year, did you bother to say, “I love you,” to your philandering husband or delinquent child? I know boyfriends whisper this to you with gleaming eyes and groping hands. Girlfriends coo it into your ears when they need to get their hair done or buy Dove Soap and Dark & Lovely Relaxer. I am not talking about that hormone-inspired thing (which, believe it or not, will, at most, last only two years.) I am talking about the real thing: the, “...love of God [which] is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us” (Rom. 5:5, KJV). You do have that love don’t you? Or are you not a Christian?

    You may dismiss this as ‘Western culture’ alien to our African tradition. I’ve heard people say, “It’s silly to go about saying, ‘I love you, I love you.’ Too much of it and it’ll sound contrived.” But have you ever lost someone you love? How did it feel? What caused you so much pain?

    One of the things that causes so much grieve to the bereaved is the lost opportunity to express their feelings, to say, “I love you,” to say, “I’m sorry,” to appreciate their loved ones when they were alive. We often take the ones we love for granted. We assume they know we love them. It should go without saying. They ought to recognize the little acts of love we constantly demonstrate: the smiles; the kind words, gifts, care, attention and constant fellowship; kind consideration and favour. Surely, they know we love them?

    The third time he said to him, "Simon, son of John, do you love me?"

    Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, "Do you love me?" He said, "Lord, You know all things; you know that I love you" (John 21:17, NIV).

***

    When Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, saying, "Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?"

    So they said, "Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets."

    He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?"

    Simon Peter answered and said, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."

    Jesus answered and said to him, "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven" (Matt.16:13—19, NKJV).

    In the first passage above, Jesus asked Peter, three times, if he loved Him. Thinking perhaps the Lord doubted his love for Him, Peter, “...said to Him, ‘Lord, You know all things; You know I love You.’” In the second passage, Jesus asked his disciples what people thought of Him. He had ministered among them, healed the sick, raised the dead; calmed the storm, fed the hungry; chased out demons…surely, He knew what people thought of Him? After all, (as Peter must have thought) he is omnipresent and omniscient? Nonetheless, He wanted to hear it from their mouths.

    Next, He asked His disciples what they thought of Him. Who responded first but the sanguine Peter? Hear him proclaim unabashed, “You are the Christ, the son of the living God.” This is not only a proclamation of faith; it is also a profession of love. Even though Jesus knew Peter loved Him, he wanted the disciple to voice it. For the word of the mouth has a binding power. When Peter voiced that truth, there was no going back. He had taken a stand—for the truth of Christ. “...You know that I love you,” “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God!” Strong words.

    And Jesus responded ecstatically. He blessed Peter, not for his wisdom, or his innate capacity to love, but for allowing God to reveal that truth to him.  For without allowing Love to shed the truth (His Word) in us, we have no hope of appreciating the God-kind of love, without which we have no hope of loving others truly much less confessing it.  

    As for confessing sin, there are rewards for confessing love. God is Love, and He confesses it to us daily: “…for his sun gives light to the evil and to the good, and he sends rain on the upright man and on the sinner” (Matt 5: 45, BBE), “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son...” (John 3:16, NKJV). We cannot ignore this virtue. The Lord exhorts us to, “confess with [our] mouth the Lord Jesus and...with the mouth confession is made unto salvation” (Rom. 10:9, 10, NKJV). So also, after Peter confessed his love for the Christ, he is blessed and received the assurance that, “The gates of Hades shall not prevail against you...And I will give you the Keys to the Kingdom of heaven...” What a fantastic prize.

    God took Peter into deeper communion with Him for merely articulating his love for Him. The same should happen when we voice our love for our family and friends. When we say, “I love you,” and truly mean it, we formally declare our intension to commit to, or continue in communion with, the people we love. When they respond in kind, as Peter did, the fruit will be a bond that even, “the gates of hell cannot prevail against.” When we withhold this, we leave them frustrated, insecure and in doubt, and this may open a door for Satan to steal into our relationships.

    Love is both a gift and a virtue: A gift, because it is freely given and freely received; a virtue, because it needs cultivation and nurturing. There is a Proverb that says, “As iron sharpens iron, so a man [or woman] sharpens the countenance of his [or her] friend” (Prov. 27:17, NKJV). Failure to openly proclaim our love tends to dull that of those who love us. They may continue to love us—albeit with faltering steps—but their perturbed spirits continue to confront us with the questions, “Do you love me? But who do you say I am?”

    “Do you love me? But who do you say I am?” is the query the agonizing bereaved did not answer when their family or friends were alive. Now that they are gone, they have lost the opportunity to enjoy a relationship whose binding power even the gates of hell have no power to undermine. But wait. There is an interesting twist to this. Sin is not only the bad we do, but also the good we choose not to do. “The man [or woman] who has knowledge of how to do good and does not do it, to him [or her] it is sin” (James 4:17 BBE). We err grievously when we do not disclose the truth of our love. As the scripture says, “Better is open rebuke than hidden love” (Prov. 27:5, WEB).

    If we are the Christians we claim to be, we will live as Christ lived. Everyday He asks us, our friends ask us, “do you love me? But who do you say I am?” Would our response be as emphatic as Peter’s, not merely saying, you are my spouse, or you are my sibling, or you are my friend, but you are the one I love?   

    “Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them” (John 13:17, NIV). I love you.

I WILL SING By Edith Garba.

Edith Garba

Life, they say, is not a bed of roses. And most times, life is not fair. But I do believe that all things work for the good of those that love God, those called according to His divine purpose—I'm one of those called!

     I have had so much physical and emotional pain lately, so much that people are amazed that I'm still alive. Friends, relations and neighbours come around and, even before a word is said, I only have to gaze into their eyes to see how bad my condition is. I look at them and I see so much pity and, in some, I see compassion.

      I got a glimpse at compassion the other day when my cousin came to visit with his friend, Fidelis. Fidelis couldn't tear his eyes away from me. He must have seen a portrait of me and couldn't reconcile the emaciated body strewn on the bed with the pretty lively face he saw smiling in the picture that hung on the wall. I perceived he couldn't believe I was one and same person. The compassion in his eyes was self-evident. It seems to yarn to either take away my pain or, at least, share in it. When they were about to leave, Fidelis surprised me with a gift of a thousand naira. Although it wasn't much, the love that came with it surely magnified it. Such is the great difference between pity and compassion: Pity feels sorry, but compassion not only feels sorry, it stretches out an arm and help.

     Life has taught me so much. It has taught me, most especially, about people. I have learned that the only thing constant in life is change. We are surrounded by a lot of fair weather friends. Some would say, “Oh, she's my best friend,” when the sun is shining so brightly in your life but will abscond at the slightest sign of stormy weather. Some come around, size you up and conclude this is the end of road for you. Some say they love you but, in truth, they do not.

     A lack of depth and vision has made some people myopic in their judgment. I've heard people make silly remarks like: ''when we think you would die, then we wake up every morning and find you are still alive". What cheek! As if they are the air I breathe! When in fact I look at them and I see I have more life in me than they have. Though my body is afflicted, my spirit-man is renewed daily. Assuredly, in my physical weakness there is a vibrant and rejuvenated spirit inside of me.

     In the mist of all the pain I’m going through, I will sing! In my tempestuous encounter with life and people, I will sing! I will sing because I know who I am, I know whose daughter I am. My father is Ebenezer (The Lord My Help), The Owner of The Universe, The Bread of Life, the Almighty God.

Edith and friends

    He has promised me so much. He said though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death that I should fear nothing, that even when I walk through fire it shall not burn me, not even the water of life can drown me. I heard Him clearly and I can not remember Him saying all would be rosy, but He has declared me more than a conqueror, a winner, long before the battle begun. He says I'm a victor!

     Weeping may endure for a night (sometimes a very long night) but joy certainly comes in the morning if you keep hope and faith alive. God has turned my mourning into dancing, my darkness into light, and my disappointment into a blessing.

     When I think of the His goodness and all He has done for me, I will sing! When I think of where I am and where He has brought me from, and through, I will sing. When I think of His promises and where He is taking me to, I will sing. I will sing because I know I am not alone.  Even though I may be lonely I have a friend in Jesus; I will sing. In spite of the present circumstance, the pain and the hurt, I will sing. When I pinch myself and I feel pain, I will sing.

     Even though my voice is cracked and hoarse, I will sing. I will make melody in my heart, shout His praise in the congregation of His saints because He is the essence of my being, my hope, my expectation, my today and tomorrow, the air I breath, my life, my beginning and my end, my all in all.

     When I remember that through the good and the bad God remains the same, I just want to sing and you know what? I will sing. When I think of the good life that awaits me I just want to shout a song and make a joyful noise.

     Hallelujah somebody!

SYSTEMATIC GENOCIDE IN SOUTHERN KADUNA: A CONSPIRACY THEORY By John Danfulani

Governor Yero of Kaduna State

The topmost proviso of social contracts in a post-Hobsian State of Nature is the protection of the lives of the citizens of a nation by its government. Due to the importance attached to this, it is referred to as the Traditional Duty of government. For a while now, we have seen how this chief duty is becoming too hard for the government of Kaduna State to perform vis-a-vis the genocide going on in Southern Kaduna. From the onset, we were tempted to believe that the magnitude and sophistication of the genocidal strategy currently being executed in Southern Kaduna caught the government unawares, thus its barren initiative to truncate this diabolical agenda using the security agencies. But now, we think otherwise. We greatly doubt the sincerity of the state government in tackling this menace.

     For fear of getting overwhelmed in a catalogue of events and losing sight of facts and curious coincidences, let us not stretch too far by chronicling events that transpired years ago. A few weeks ago, Aduwan village in Zangon Kataf LGA was attacked, lives were lost, and properties destroyed. What was the government’s reaction? It took the Kaduna State government days to visit the areas ravaged by a marauding militia to commiserate with the victims. When state officials finally visited, what were their words and actions? They stated that the survivors of the terrorist attack be referred to advanced medical facilities in Kaduna metropolis! What did the government spokesperson tell the world? "We shall hunt down perpetrators of these acts and punish them". This statement didn't condemn the act but rather tried to create scapegoats from those accusing government of negligence in the handling of the security situation in the area.

     As the state government’s hunting of terrorists, killers of the Aduwan people, was going on, Attakar villages in Kaura LGA were being savagely attacked, with dozens killed (mostly women and children), and even more uprooted from their ancestral homes and forced to seek refuge in IDP camps. For days, the whole world was denied the knowledge of this atrocity by some ‘official cover-up’. The world only got to hear of it when the Center for Development and Rights Advocacy (CEDRA) went to the ravaged communities with journalists and relief materials. That bold step by CEDRA forced government to act by physically visiting and dragging state and national emergency bodies along. True to type, in the IDP camps, the government sang the, now familiar, song of, “hunting and punishing the perpetrators”.

     Now this genocide scheme has been transferred, in the form of arm banditry, from villages in the hinterland of Southern Kaduna to all highways leading to it. Last week, a senior NNPC staff was attacked and killed on one such highway. After that nasty wasting of a promising engineer, there are so-called daily robberies that occur in all the routes leading to Southern Kaduna. In all robbery incidences, lives and properties are lost. Still, the Kaduna State Government and security agencies sing the same old sad song: "we will hunt and prosecute perpetrators of these acts".

     These incidences clearly show that there are loose ends in the administrative and physical security arrangement in the state. There is no clear congruence between the quantum of resources oozing through the pipeline of security votes and the actual security people are (not) enjoying in the southern part of the state. It's now difficult to extricate government from being consciously or unwittingly complacent in this reign of impunity that is akin to the formative stages of a genocidal scheme. As this reign of impunity persists, the assaults, killings, and so-called robbery in Southern Kaduna are taking the pattern of events that may climax with a Rwanda-like genocide.

     If there aren't skeletons in government's cupboard, if they want to set themselves free from the conspiracy theory making the rounds, they should, with immediate alacrity, form a powerful committee to look into allegations of a genocide scheme targeting the people of Southern Kaduna. Anything short of this will proof right the allegation of the state government's complacency.