Chairman of the Lagos chapter of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria(PFN) Apostle Eyinnaya Okwuonu has urged participants in the just-concluded Lagos Scripture Challenge 2.0 to live according to the word of God they have imbibed during the exercise.
Okwuonu spoke at the closing ceremony of the event in Lagos recently.
The event, which took place at the Agape Generation International Church, Mende-Maryland, Lagos attracted top church leaders people from across Lagos and a few non-Nigerians
The Lagos Scripture Challenge 2.0 is a collaboration between the Bible Society of Nigeria (BSN), Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Nigeria Evangelical Missions Association (NEMA), and Faith Comes By Hearing (FCBH).
It is a spiritual renewal exercise designed to challenge Christians in Lagos to engage with the scriptures, in audio and video format, for forty-five days.
Okwuonu, who was represented by Apostle George Anselm, Chairman, Ejigbo/Isolo Province of the PFN, said the word of God is important in day-to-day dealings.
He said: “There cannot be revival without the word of God, there cannot be revival until the word of God takes root in the life of the people. Charisma cannot do that, personality cannot do that. Influences cannot do that. But when the word of God takes root in the life of a man, every other thing would change.”
Okwuonu said he was grateful to God for the opportunity to witness the scripture challenge because of the opportunity of making the word of God come alive in the lives of people.
“The scripture challenge 2.0 answers that question of taking the word of God to the people and awakening the consciousness of the word in the life of every believer. In fact, the Lagos Scriptural Challenge has really impacted me tremendously,” he said.
He expressed the wish that the programme is given more prominence. “We probably did not have many churches on the challenge but in the next ten years, Christians in Lagos will be a misfit if he has not passed through the level of the Lagos Scriptural Challenge.
” I want every province to get on board. Alimosho is getting the upper hand now but watch it, Ejigbo/Isolo is coming,” he said.
The challenge was divided into three phases. Phase one took place from February 2-16. The Bible was explored in Pidgin, Yoruba, Hausa, Igbo, and English (KJV and ESV).
About 380 WhatsApp groups were created for 380 trained facilitators during the challenge.
Every day for 15 days, members listened to daily scriptures on the Nigerian Bible App in the language of their choice.
The daily discussion was led by trained facilitators on WhatsApp groups.
The second phase began on February 18 and ended on March 4.
About 162 facilitators from 153 Churches across Lagos qualified for the phase and each received a free ‘proclaimer’ (Audion Bible device).
In the third phase,which took place from March 6 to 20, the Bible was projected in video format.
READ ALSO: God will show us our presidential candidate, says PFN
Participants had the opportunity of having real-life experience of the scriptures in languages of their choice.
About 130 facilitators from 123 Churches qualified for this category and each received a free ‘acclaimer’ (projector and tablet).
At the end of the challenge, 124 facilitators from 115 churches qualified for the final.
The national coordinator of FCBH, Nicholas Okereke said: “The 162 active WhatsApp groups contain a total population of 5657 participants. 77% of all the WhatsApp group participants were located in Lagos State and 14.8% in Ogun State.
“A total of 22 States in Nigeria were represented in the WhatsApp groups with some participants from outside Nigeria. The Local Government Areas in Lagos with the highest representation were Alimosho (14.8%), Ifako-Ijaiye (11.3%), and Ikorodu (11%).
He said about 19% of the “Proclaimer” listening groups were found outside Lagos (Ogun State). Alimosho, Ifako-Ijaiye, and Ikorodu were the Local Government Areas in Lagos that have the highest number of ‘Proclaimer’ Listening groups.
Rev, Toyin Kehinde, the founder and Senior Pastor of Agape Generation International Church, whose church auditorium was used for the closing ceremony, told participants at the event to continually give themselves to the ministry of the word and prayer.
The event witnessed the presence of some prominent church leaders.