Olufemi Emmanuel, the Provost of the West Africa Theological Seminary (WATS), Ipaja, Lagos, has reiterated that the seminary will take the gospel message to the unreached population of the world.
According to him, the unreached are people who have not heard the gospel and those that have been hearing the gospel but are yet to embrace it. “The day they embrace or accept the gospel is the day they are reached.’
He made this known in a statement titled, Renewed WATS, where he affirmed his commitment to refocus the seminary in line with the vision of its founding fathers.
He disclosed that in line with the founding visions of WATS, the seminary will deepen theological teachings on holiness as a way of life, noting that holiness should not be seen as an activity of the church alone.
According to him, holiness is a culture and lifestyle that should be embraced by people of all walks of life, and that it should reflect on their daily routines. He disclosed that the seminary is in a vintage position to impact the larger society on the back of the level of people it trains annually.
“There are people from strategic institutions in Nigeria that come for training here. The military chaplaincies; the politicians; the lawyers, the academic; the police and other professionals come to the seminary for leadership training.
“If they all imbibe holiness as a lifestyle, they will definitely go back to their churches, formations, institutions and impact them,” he stated, adding that until Christianity begins to impact the society, it has not started. “And that is our main objective.”
According to Emmanuel, the seminary hope to train over 4, 000 students each year in line with its new drive under the ‘Renewed WATS mandate. “Our intention is to engage the church which is the catchment area and Christians in the market place to take advantage of the training in the school. We have more than enough resources to accomplish this task.”
