Rt. Revd. Augustine Oghumah was recently consecrated as the bishop of Lagos Diocese, Christ Army Church of Nigeria, as the church celebrated the Episcopal visit of his grace, Most Rev. Abel S. Vurasi, the president and supreme head of the church Synod. In this interview with SEYI JOHN SALAU, Bishop Oghumah, who was born in Fugar, Edo State (hometown) in Fugar Etsako Local Government Area, speaks on the church. Excerpts:
The mantle of leadership is on you to lead the people of God in Christ Army Church of Nigeria, Lagos Diocese; what is your mission for the people?
Where there is no vision (no redemptive revelation of God) the people perish according to (Prov. 29:17-18; Hosea 4:6). A vision from God is vital for Christians. We do need to know the purpose for which God has laid a hold on us so we can live with real Holy Spirit inspired motivation – day by day. All true Christians’ vision and ministry should happen as a direct result of a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. We commit to do what we know is the heart of Jesus for us. When we love him in a way that demonstrates that he is indeed, first in our lives, we desire to do what pleases him.
Living to please the Lord gives us the right motivation and commitment for life; when we see and know God’s direction for our life. Then we are most bless, we are not stumbling through life experiencing uncertainty because we are living a ‘hit’ and ‘miss’ kind of life-style, God’s people are called to be those who know what their calling is, what they are meant to be doing and knowing why we are here on earth at this time. He wants us to be fully committed to him, and then we will be totally fulfilled as we obey his vision, will and purpose for our life.
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There is nothing more satisfying and fulfiling than to know the will of God for your life and we are doing it. Let us not be caught up with making excuses as to why this or that is not happening; true Christianity should make us the most joyful, and excited people on the face of the earth. And yes, there are persecutions that we have to bear when we take our stand with Jesus Christ, but it is worth it. When we compare that we will spend all eternity in the presence of our wonderful Lord Jesus then what we suffer here below is minor to the rewards that await the best in mind for you and me. He even uses our sufferings to refine us and make us more like him, when we consider what Jesus went through to purchase our salvation, we should rejoice.
What empowerment programme are you planning for the diocese and its people?
Listen: If you want to empower someone, the first thing you should have to do is understand them. It’s important to understand them. It is important to understand where they are now, what they want to accomplish, what they are passionate about, what they’re struggling with, what their ideas are and more. Ask questions, provide the means for people to respond and take the time to listen then you’ll know how best to empower those people.
Resource: God has given the church the opportunity and responsibility to share the good news of Jesus with people. Question: When you read that church (institution) communicating to people, were you thinking of people communicating the gospel with the people around them? Be honest.
Most churches communicate with the mindset that they are going to reach people directly. But we know that people are much more open to and influenced by their friends who they trust church leader that genuinely want to empower their people recognise this and provide communications resources their people can with their friends invitation cards to service and events Facebook events people can share with their friends though provoking social media, content people can share with their friends.
Collaborate: Church leaders who are empowered realise they don’t have a monopoly of good lease, they invite others to join them; they find a way to help others use their gifts.
Forge connection: Sometimes, the best thing you can do to empower someone is to introduce passion or complimentary gift social media provide great opportunities to do this.
Back to your consecration as bishop of Lagos west; what does this mean to you and the diocese?
Consecration means to be set apart or separated, for use by the Lord; it is the giving of our whole being to God for service, this does not mean just preaching or working with God. ‘Service’ in the bible has the meaning of waiting on ‘God’ to obey Him (Luke 12:35-37, Heb. 13:15-16), in other words if he wishes us to stand we stand, if he wants us to wait, we wait and if he assures us to run, we run; we are his to obey. Consecration is a definite act of our will before God; there is a point of time in the experience of every Christian when he will face the challenge of the total consecration of this life to the Lord. The challenge to take on the attitude that everything he has or ever wants to be, is now in the Lord’s hands.
It is all about presenting ourselves to the Lord. The ceremony of the consecration of Aaron and his sons to the priesthood is a picture for us to present our lives to the Lord, for every Christian is now a priest to God. But you are the chosen people; a royal priesthood, a holy nation; a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.
What other plans do you have in promoting the Lagos west diocese of Christ Army Church?
Promotion comes from God alone. Now, I realise that saying ‘promotion comes from God alone’ might sound trite at first but let’s look at it more closely because it’s not trite at all. And if you will get this in your spirit today it’s going to set you free like it did to me. Sometimes, we Christians fall into a trap of humanity that other people should be helping us towards our destiny. We think people should see our gifts and people should see the call of God on our live as clearly as we do and if they don’t we get disappointed. If we’re not careful, that disappointment can turn into unforgiveness; can turn into bitterness, and then our soul becomes poisoned and God cannot move us forward in that state. It’s a cycle – a very bad cycle and once you get on this cycle, it can be hard to get off it. But you can get off of this negative cycle, here’s how.
All it takes is a scriptural understanding that promotion comes from God alone. See; God alone knows the hearts of men and women, boys and girls. He alone knows the fulness of his plans for you. He knows when, how, what, how much, who, and so on. He knows all the answers to all the questions.
Additionally, he alone is the door opener. God has the keys to all the doors, he alone opens doors that no one can shut. He also shuts doors that no one can open. So, not only does God know what’s best for you, but he alone opens the doors to his best for you. God opens doors, not people, not your bank account, not your family connections, not your business network, only God opens doors for you and shuts other doors.
As the Bishop of Lagos west, what are your plans for the youth of the church and other members to carry them along with church programme and activities?
Youth empowerment is a process where children and young people encourage to take charge of their lives; they do this by addressing their situation and then take action in order to improve their access to resources and transform their consciousness through their beliefs, values and attitudes.
Youth empowerment aims to improve quality of life. Youth empowerment is achieved through participation in youth empowerment programmes; however, scholars argue that children’s rights implementation should go beyond learning about formal right and procedure to give birth to concrete experience of rights.
There are numerous models that youth empowerment programmes use that help the youth achieve empowerment initiatives. These programmes can be through non-profit organisations; government organisations, school or private organisations.
Youth empowerment is different from youth development because it is centered on development of individuals, while empowerment is focused on creating greater community change, relies on the development of individual’s capacity.
What is your advice to the Nigerian government, looking at the happenings in the country?
The government should respect and provide the resources for the various agencies that ensure good governance, the integrity commission and the office of the complaints commissioner.
Be a government for all the people that practise fair and transparent decision making and give equal opportunity for all citizens. Seek to study and to resolve the many issues surrounding illegal immigration and work to address crime especially seeing there are now more guns on the streets.
The government should ensure that the country remains among the top regional competitors in attracting tourists and arrest the decline of cruise ship passenger’s arrivals. The performance of employees including those in senior positions must be appraised with view to improving the public services.
