Beyond mid-week activities, many churches usually draw amazing crowd of worshippers to their Sunday services. To some extent, some people have, erroneously, come to believe that the parameter for measuring a success in ministry is a church which commands huge fellowship and can boast of huge edifice as a place of worship.
But do the crowd pulling potentials of churches amount to anything? One has often been caught in traffic jams orchestrated by influx of vehicles around worship arenas on several occasions. Incidentally, one honestly can’t question that because, the constitution of Nigeria guarantees her citizens freedom to congregate and freedom of worship.
Secondly, one wonders what our drifting world will become if society is devoid of the vital character molding role and other moral needs that the church plays in society.
Hence, while church operation cannot but flourish in line with the command of the Master and Savior Jesus Christ, offering and tithe collections have made many some servants of God supper rich.
In the days of early European missionary, the church catered for the spiritual, social and economic needs of their converts. It also blazed the trail for human and societal development.
Many have argued that today’s church operators rather feed fat on tithes and offerings paid by worshipper while majority of their followers suffer abject poverty to the extent that their wards can’t even afford to go to the missionary schools built with income from the offerings and tithes that their parents paid to the church.
However, a recent survey shows that this is not entirely correct. Quite a good number of churches are pace setters in different areas. A South African national simply identified as Betty spoke after fellowship at the Ikotun headquarters of Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN).
She said that Prophet T B Joshua is a clear champion of what he described as ‘reversed mission to Africa.’
According to her, a constant scenario at the SCOAN depicts foreign worshipers who are attracted by Joshua’s miracle making prowess and massive charity globally. ”Streams of religious tourists also troop into Nigeria just because of the Ministry of the man of God and Africa has indeed swapped roles which early European missionaries who used to be the source of spiritual solace for Africans,” Betty added.
A Peruvian national, Sophie, last Sunday said: “Gone are the days when foreign missionaries brought the good news to Nigerian and the rest of Africa, do charity, built schools, hospitals and rehabilitations centers here.
“The founder of SCOAN is currently providing succor, charity and meeting spiritual need of religious pilgrims from every part of the globe. He has built schools; rehabilitated communities devastated by natural disasters, provided food for the hungry in different parts of the world.”
She added: “T.B. Joshua is the only black missionary who has attracted more foreigners to his country. In those days, especially shortly after the abolition of the slave trade, white missionaries brought the gospel to Africans but today, the whites are the ones trooping to Africa in search of spiritual succour at The Synagogue Church of All Nations.”
But why do foreigners flood the SCOAN when Joshua is more or less ostracised by fellow ministers in his own country? Jackson, a visiting American worshipper said: “Is the answer not found in the Bible. A prophet is definitely not honoured in his own native home, If Prophet T.B. Joshua has nothing to offer, we will not be coming out here week in week out.
”Outside his healing and deliverance ministries, Prophet Joshua is an internationally-acclaimed philanthropist whose acts of charity, has caught the attention of the United Nations.
“According a Forbes report, the man of God has spent over 20 million dollars in humanitarian aid in different parts of the world. Together with his Emmanuel TV Partners, succour and financial aid has gone to many people, nations and institutions around the world. You can celebrate you champion; why not?” Jackson asked.
Recently, Prophet Joshua had challenged fellow ministers of God and indeed other Nigerians to stop thinking of what aid they can get from foreign donors and cultivate the habit of sending help to nationals of other countries.
Other Nigerian clerics that have left indelible marks in ministry include Dr. Tony Rapu of This Present House. His church is famous for providing a center where socially maladjusted youngsters, drug victims ad harlots are rehabilitated.
Pastor Paul Adefarasin of House on the Rock, went into the records for turning thousands notorious area boys to Jesus boys who are today useful to society.
From time to time, different churches organize training and empowerment programmes for indigent members of the society.
Oga writes from Lagos.
