GIDEON CHUKU is the Senior Pastor, Covenant Seed Assembly. In this chat with ISAAC NGUMAH, the clergyman talks about his ministry and the state of the nation. Excerpt:
Tell us your journey so far in the ministry
By the grace of God, The Lord has been so good by the number of years I have been in the ministry. The Lord has showed us His excellence, His goodness and His mercy on every side.
How many years have been in the ministry?
By the grace of God, I have been in the ministry for 19 years going to 20 years.
What is your focus in the ministry?
My focus in the ministry is souls’ salvation for Christ, winning souls for Christ and impacting them with doctrines of Christ and then preparing them for eternal salvation to be with The Lord.
What made you go into the ministry?
My going into the ministry was as a result of my calling from The Lord, the Lord called me into the ministry not for monetary reasons and material things. I was called by the Lord; the Lord confirmed it with signs and wonders, with miracles and prophecies.
What are the signs that God has called you into the ministry?
There are several signs that proved that God has called me into the ministry, and I am still seeing today. The Lord confirming His word through healings, manifestations of His power, winning souls, comforting many and delivering those who are under bondage, blessing the poor, raising those who are frustrated and giving hope to the hopeless, blessing those who are destitute and helping the widows and etc.
Tell your personal experience and relationship with God
My personal experience and relationship with God only that l can’t explain all, I have seen The Lord showed me His grace and also revealing Himself to me, my relationship with God is getting better on a daily basis because God is infinite in all things, God has been wonderful and mysterious in all things, my relationship and experience with God is awesome, it is wonderful, it is something that has elevated me higher to know whom God is. By the reason of my personal relationship with Him, He has made me to have confidence in Him.
Tell us your impact so far through your ministry
By the grace of God my major impact in the ministry is reaching out to people, the Lord has used me to impact lives of many, transforming their lives, the reason why God called people into the ministry is for souls’ salvation, the Lord has used me to impact lives; the salvation of their souls, making backsliders to be restored and also making those who are weak in all ramifications of spiritual life to be strong in the Lord to make people to bear the fruits of the Holy Spirit, which is an evidence of the true child of God.
How many lives have you been able to transform so far through your ministry?
I cannot give you a total sum of lives that have been transformed by His grace, I minister online and thousands of lives have been impacted; it is uncountable.
What are the programmes that you have held that have impacted lives?
One of the major programmes is The Supernatural Movie Of the Holy Spirit which is our annual convection and by His grace, God has visited so many in their thousands. This programme comes up every September and many lives have been saved, healed miracles, signs, wonders and testimonies.
What can you say on fake and arranged miracles and testimonies in churches today?
Well, the people that arrange miracles and testimonies are the fake ones. No genuine man of God will arrange for testimonies and miracles. We are not called to help God, it is for God to help us and use to draw men to Himself the arranging of miracles and testimonies is for self-glorification it is proven that such person is not called and No genuine pastor will arrange for miracles.
What can you say on sexual immoralities among church leaders today?
Sexual immorality among church leaders not only church leaders, sexual immorality in the church at large is one thing the leaders must preach against and also rebuke in the churches today; they should have the boldness to rebuke. I believe that a genuine leader called by The Lord should not be involved in any form of sexual immorality, The Lord Himself has condemned and also warned us to desist because of destroying the ministry of a child of God before one becomes a pastor he has to first of all become a child of God, no matter your position or office in the ministry, most Important thing is that you are a child of God at first. So, as a child of God, it is an abomination for you to indulge yourself in sexual immorality.
Should men of God go with security agents and private jets?
It depends on the vision of the man of God or a woman of God to a point that or to an extent for him or her to facilitate the preaching of the gospel. I think, there is nothing wrong about that if God has blessed a man of God and he acquires a private jet for the work of the ministry to tour round the world, there is nothing wrong about that but if it is for self pleasure, it is wrong.
What is the church contribution towards nation building?
The church has contributed immensely to nation building. When you nation is made of people, tribe and nations, the church has contributed in terms of preaching the gospel of our Lord Jesus and also revealing the fear of GOD to people to walk in the way of The Lord. Preaching and teaching people to obey the Government to keep to the rule of the government, to be law abiding to avoid all forms of discriminations and tribalistic that would further divide the nation also teaching those in government to know that if their duty is to fear The Lord and also serve the people; so, the church has contributed immensely, spiritually, morally, academically and etc. The church has contributed all round towards nation building
What can you say on the high cost of living in Nigeria today?
It is a general thing and it is affecting everybody, the rate of inflations is rising on a daily basis one of the major thing we ought to do as a nation is to go into productions, when we become a producing economy, most of the things that we Import will reduce.
What can you say on the achievement of Nigeria since independence?
A man at 64 years is no longer a small boy. By my own assessment, we have made some achievements but just that the expectations are high. People are expecting more; they are expecting leaders to do more. So, as a nation, the leaders should begin to think on how to take the nation higher and it is not the time to blame anybody at all the leaders, stakeholders should sit down brainstorming on how to move forward so that we can do better now and in the future.
What can you say on the political structure of Nigeria, economy, agriculture, health and infrastructural developments since independence?
Nigeria has gone a long way in politics, Nigeria should have a political structure that will not be tribal sentiments, we should have a political structure that will be aimed at nations buildings and having the nations at heart, leaders should see themselves as servant leaders having the structure that will better the lives of the citizens so that both the citizens and those in power will enjoy the dividend of democracy, having a structure whereby we can have a free and fair elections that will be accepted by the citizens at large and also by the international communities. We have a lot while growing economically, building a political structure first will pave way for a better economy, talking about agriculture, the country is richly blessed with agriculture in the area mass land in the northern part of Nigeria, we have good climate , we have abundance forests we have abundance forests we have more educated that can make agriculture to strive in agricultyure, what we need to do is to absorb a greater percentage of our youthsto develop that sector, agriculture will solve the problems of food crises in Nigeria and we will have a enough and also export to other nations, agriculture is one thing that the government should look into
Education:
We are trying as a nationin the area of education we are still growing, we need to Improve on our educational system, the government should empower in such a way that will empower people from primary level while growing they will empowered with skills on gradualtion day, on primary and secondary level and also creating a healthy education environment, proving lornseducting we should
Social anenities in terms of infrastural developments:
We need do more on electricity, we need to have stable power supply for daysands months, it will reduce the cost of living, a lot of factories industries are leaving Nigeria because of power
Social amenities like touirism:
That will make outsiders from different countries to come into our countries we need to bulld infrastructure that will make people to come to our country for tourism.
Road Constructions:
We need more roads constructions, as a country, people are expecting each sister country, they are expecting more from on road networks it will create an improved economy.
Building of factories and also creating foreign investments:
That will go a long way to create wealth for the Nation and also create opportunities for employments and real investments
Tell us your challenges in the ministry
I will say human attitude, it is not easy to be with human being AND also leaving I thank GOD I thank God for the wisdom and understanding and guildance
Tell us your experience in the ministry
I have experience spiricual growth, I have been able to reach out to people to Impacts many lives have been toched, Imparted,so many souls have been saved, backsliders have been restored healings worked testimonies, miracles genuine healings practical healings and deliverance manifested, I have seen God visit people and seen the manifestation of the gift of the holyspirit in my life and through my ministry, I have seen the manifestation and revealing things that happened in the past and in the present and revealing things that will happen and they will all come to pass so these are my experiences and these are the things that will keep encouraging me to continue to move in the ministry.
What can you say on the Renewed Hope Agenda of the President?
I think the president is the president of the federal republic of Nigeria so that he is giving us us hope I think he knows what he is doing, if he is giving hope because of the challenges we are passing through as a nation and as the president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria he is telling people that things will get better that is the character of a leader a leader will always give hope to see light in the tunnel so if the president is giving people hope I think he is on the right track but the next thing is for the hope to be back up with action the renewed hope should be back up with action that will also stir us up with the desire and the intension which he has for the citizens and the masses.
What can you say on the President’s agenda to reform the political economy of the nation and his efforts to alleviate the sufferings of Nigerians?
That is a right step in the right direction as a leader of our nation having that vision to reposition the economy to be stable; it is a very good one. The most important for the leadership is to back their promises with action; the decision to reverse the economy is a very good one and it will encourage an average Nigerian to see the economy better. The President as the number 1 citizen of Nigeria has all it takes to really restructure the economy of Nigeria.
What is your advice to the President on how to reform his policies?
The President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria is a citizen of this country and by the grace of God, he has seen a lot. He has experienced a lot and I believe with his experiences in politics and business, he can do better. So, my advice to the President is that he should remain focused on his plans; he should not deviate or change; he should seek the face of God first; putting God first; he should heed to good counsel and surround himself with people that will help him to achieve his goals for the nation.
What can you say on the state of the nation?
Nigeria is a big nation and we need to do more and let every standard be improved. Security, health, education, agriculture and our political system and structure should improve. For the state of the nation to get better, it is should be the collective efforts of both the government and the citizens at large for us to have peaceful co-existence, working unity and harmony and making sure that the programmes of both the Federal and state governments are supported in order to make us strive as a nation.
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