The senior pastor of Global Harvest Church, Lagos, Rev. Victor Adeyemi, spoke with Sunday Oguntola on ministerial and national issues. Excerpts:
Years after you relocated to Lagos, one hasn’t heard from you lately. What have you been up to?
Well, we have been consolidating in the city of Lagos, quietly building the church network. We have seen the church multiplied and have been reaching out to hundreds of less privileged. Right now, we are focused on the relocation plan to get a long lease property or outright purchase.
But our ministry is planting churches in several places. We just opened a branch in Victoria Island. We recently started worshipping in Maryland, USA. We are in South Africa and just yesterday we heard the good news that our registration has been approved in Nairobi, Kenya.
In Nigeria, we have planted three more branches in Ibadan, Akure and Abeokuta. We have a network of about 13 churches as we speak now.
What has been your experience since you relocated to Lagos?
Lagos is a very challenging city to relocate to. It is very, very expensive. We have had to make adjustments to cope with the costs of church operations. Also, Lagos is a city of very busy people who many times jump out early and return late. They are not available for volunteering as you will see in other cities. But the bottom line for me is that if you are divinely assigned to a place, the grace of God will get you your own people for you.
When we check our records, the Lagos church is winning more souls than others because of the population of the city. The challenges of the city have created opportunities for ministry.
Do you agree that church planting is back-breaking?
Yes, I do completely. It can be back-breaking because a lot of money goes into it. You have to rent facilities, equipment and spend on publicity. There is no church that can be opened without costing millions of naira today. The reality is people want good PA system, good ambience and serene atmosphere to worship because there are many options today.
So, anybody who is out to plant a church has minimum standards he has to meet to really get going. It can be back-breaking but any vision that is borne of God will receive provision. God is not duty-bound to support any project he has not supported. But it’s been exciting for us because God has been there all along.
Is there a particular reason why you operate more from the sidelines as against the limelight?
I would agree and I will say it is a reflection of my personality to a degree. I am kind of reserved and I also try to have a correct assessment of my strengths at all times. I shy away from responsibilities in CAN or PFN by nature, even though I have nothing against them.
I support some of the people who hold those responsibilities behind the scene. But I know my capabilities; some people can do a lot of multi-tasking, running their large ministries and also hold positions in CAN or PFN creditably well. I don’t think I am that gifted. I just stay within my perception by the grace of God upon my life.
Some people believe you are just hiding and deliberately making yourself unavailable to the larger body of Christ, just concentrating on your local assembly.
To a large extent, when you move to a large city like Lagos and you have a growing work, you really need to focus. When everything is well established, maybe you can take on additional responsibilities.
You follow politics a lot. Do you think the ongoing national conference is capable of fixing Nigeria?
On the surface, the conference appears well-intentioned but if you are familiar with Nigeria’s history, you cannot but have a bit of skepticism. I have my skepticism about the conference. We have had several of such conferences without any tangible results. As at now, we don’t have any legislation that the outcomes of the conference would be subjected to a referendum.
I will say my reaction to it is that of cautious optimism. You don’t want to give up on project Nigeria. You want to hope that there are no hidden agendas. I believe we have enough brains there and those people are representative enough of our diversities as a nation.
I must confess my anger about the representation of the youth. It is less than 20 percent and we say the future belongs to the youth. The same people who sat down at the constitutional conferences of the 50s and 60s are back. Is it that Nigeria has no capacity to develop young, intelligent people or what? So, I believe the capacity is there to come out with something credible but my reaction is that of cautious optimism.
Many people have given up on Nigeria. What would you say to such people?
My message to them is to let them know that we don’t have to give up on our country. Nigeria is still relatively young compared to those developed countries. They have also gone through many patches. They have overcome their challenges and I believe that Nigeria will come out one day. But for my generation, it is a bit disappointing that we have not gone out until now.
When I was a child, I kept hoping for a better day and the dream is turning to a mirage. Prof. Wole Soyinka once said his generation was wasted; I am hoping that my generation would not also be wasted. I am in the middle of my life today and it is becoming obvious to me that the older generations have schooled us in the same values that took our nation backwards.
Those are my concerns and I am seriously bothered by these. I know at the long run that this country will turn things around. Maybe it would be in the days of my grandchildren, though I seriously hope it does not get that far.
Why can’t it happen in our lifetime?
I believe it can happen but unfortunately we are not headed in that direction. The challenge is that of leadership. This nation needs a crop of people who will be selfless and passionate about change. They also have to be competent.
These qualities must come together. Nigeria needs heroes. We need such crops of people who are led by strong, steady persons capable of communicating their ideas for transformation. Our corrupt leadership is just a reflection of the society. An average Nigerian will use power to oppress the others if he is in power. He would also siphon our resources. Everybody is stealing something from everybody. If they have opportunities to do it at a larger scale, they would.
Are we lacking in people or system?
I believe we are lacking in systems and institutions, not people. As pervasive as corruption is, we still have the biblical remnant who are clean and upright. Some of them are not involved in the political landscape because, as far as they are concerned, it is too murky and they don’t want to be splashed with mud. Some others are involved but they are on platforms that are not effective.
When the political process becomes cleaner, some of them will emerge and change this nation for good.
Some people believe the church is part of the problems in the nation. Do you agree?
I agree to the extent that if half of the nation claims to be born again and the society is this corrupt, then the church is yet to be effective. We ought to revisit our messages and ensure that the contents change the characters of people and shape the nation for good.
Many Christians want to be righteous but claim the system does not reward righteousness. What message do you have for them?
To whom do they look up to for reward? The system might not reward them but God of heaven will. If a person lives a righteous life, the quality of his life will be honourable. He may not be the rich and this is where we need to correct our theology in the church. I am a proponent of prosperity. I don’t believe in poverty. God is too good to take pleasure in the poverty of His people.
He is not a terrible, wicked God. I believe He wants everyone to prosper to the extent of affording the basic necessities of life. It is not His will that everybody should be a millionaire but that our excesses should go to the poor. But when the theology is that that motivates everybody to look for material things, then we would have crooks all around.
We are challenging ourselves within the sphere of our influence to change things for good.
So, if the church is fixed, Nigeria will be fixed?
Yes, that is very true. Once we fix the church, Nigeria will be fine.
