Apostle David Eloh is the president of Believers House of Freedom (BHF), a ministry founded seven years ago to effect positive changes in the lives of the youths. In this interview with Seyi John Salau, he spoke on the need for youths to be given better attention in the society.
Could you tell us more about Believers House of Freedom and how the vision was given?
I was a pastor in Winners Chapel many years ago. It was from there God gave me an instruction to return back to the youths. So the purpose for which BHF stands is strictly for the youths; it is targeted towards building capacity in them; it is also about training and making them have the strong desire to effect positive change in our generation. BHF corrects some of the ills amongst the youths and the next generation. This is not farfetched because some of the things God wants me to correct are some of the things I was deeply involved in as a cultist.
How did you get involved in cultism and how did you eventually encounter Christ?
While in higher institution I had a friend who introduced me to cultism and asked me to join, which I did because the foundation of cultism was laid in me during my secondary school days. While in the university I stayed with my grandmother because some of the things I could do freely in her house as an old woman I could not do them in my parents’ house. My father had the law that one should be at home latest by 7pm but my grandmother would even encourage me to go clubbing and prepare food for me even when I bring girls home. So, after leaving school I came to stay somewhere in Surulere, Lagos but was still involved in cultism. On the street where I stayed everybody knew me as a rough person that drank and went partying, but there was this old woman in the vicinity who invited me to Deeper Life Headquarters at Ayobo. When I got home and thought of her effrontery to invite me for a church programme, something told me to go that I might even find girls there. That was where my conversion started and things were no more the way they used to be when I came back from the retreat.
How did you embrace God’s call with BHF?
I was reluctant. I was already a zonal pastor in Winners Chapel. I knew it was going to be a very difficult task so I was not too excited, neither did I want to get myself involved, but it took two of my friends for me to embrace the call. One day I got a text from one of them saying, ‘God said what he has asked you to do you have to go ahead and start’. I was dumfounded, so I had to call to ask him what he meant by the text and he explained to me the revelation he had. He said he saw thousands of youths walking in the wrong direction and then I came around telling them that they were walking in another direction. That was how he woke up from the dream.
Seven years after you got started, how has the ministry been doing?
It has been wonderful; some of the things happening were not some of the things I thought I would see in terms of support and people being enthusiastic. I discovered that most people are not enthusiastic about the youths. People are more interested in other things. I think it is a very big mistake because the biggest threat that Nigeria has is towards the next generation and if I look back at the atrocities we committed as undergraduates in school and 26 years later I find that things have gone worse and the youths have lost confidence in the church and government, I shake. In fact, the youths do not have role models anymore.
If people are not interested in moulding youths, what do you think they are interested in doing?
People are more interested in making money. As far as people are concerned the issue of moulding the youths does not produce money. We are living in the age where everything is about money. You want to be a president or senator, it is about money. Some people open religious organisations to make gain whereas if it is moulding the youths, then you have to keep giving and giving because they do not have the offerings or tithes. It is not actually a profitable venture, but the thing there is about building a legacy and a better tomorrow. It is about writing our names in the hearts of the youths so that tomorrow they can say they were actually corrected.
Who is to blame for the moral decadence in the society today?
Everyone has failed. Christian leaders preach success to people without telling them to work for it. They even go as far as selling anointing oil, that is how gullible our people have become. They say, if you want to prosper come and buy anointing oil. So I ask, prosper in what? Success does not come by prayer, otherwise Nigeria would have been the most successful country. Working is not as a result of sin or the fall of Adam. I don’t think there is any nation that prays more than Nigerians. These days people don’t even go to work. They have shifted evening prayers to morning. Some of all these things are even errors. When God came to Adam, it was in the cool of the evening because God expected Adam to be at work during the day. The only way to show forth the glory of God is to work. God is a worker, working is powerful. It is what you sow that you reap. So people should be told to discover and pursue their talents and they will grow. I hold the church responsible for the situation because they have the responsibility to set the agenda for the society. The government has failed. Since I started having understanding of what government is about since the time of Shagari, we have not had builders. The government has failed woefully, whether civilian or military. Then on the part of the parents, you ask, where are the parents? Most parents are not always there for their children. So the parents should be there and even in the situation where you have the parents, you wonder what role they play.
Diversification of the economy will help fight unemployment – Apostle Brown
Apostle David Don Brown is a senior pastor of Another Life Church, a Pentecostal ministry with branches across Ibadan, Ondo and Lagos. The Abuja-based cleric spoke with Seyi John Salau on religious intolerance in Nigeria.
There seems to be an increase in religious intolerance in the country. What is the position of the church on this?
Nigeria is a secular state that allows people of different religious inclinations to worship their creator in the way and manner they deem fit without infringing on the rights and freedom of worship of others. Unfortunately, recent attacks on Christians in the North by some suspected Islamic fundamentalists leave a sore taste in the mouth of peace-loving people of this country. A situation whereby people, for no justifiable reason, attack churches at will, chase away worshippers and destroy properties is unacceptable in a country like ours that is supposed to promote religious tolerance.
Most people have tied the violence in the North to unemployment. How can we reduce the rate of unemployment in Nigeria?
No country that practices mono-economy can survive these present hard times; this also applies to Nigeria. We thank God that the present administration has since resolved to look beyond oil and explore other ways of diversifying the economy and government revenue such as solid mineral exploration and agriculture. We have done it before in the past and I see no reason why we cannot do so again. We have lots of fertile lands across the length and breadth of the entire country that can be well utilized for high breeding agricultural products.
Looking at the church in Nigeria, how come we do not see them speak with one voice on issues affecting Christians?
The truth is that what everybody must know about this is that when you talk about the unity of the church, you have to understand what a church is and who is the church. That is the point. To me, I believe that there is nothing wrong with the church of Jesus Christ. But today, the reason why it looks as if there is no unity in the church is because not everybody is working by the ruling of the bible that unites us. The only thing that unites the church is the bible and the name of Jesus Christ. God knows His own, there is no problem with God’s church, and He is taking care of it. Just like you can take care of your body, God is taking care of His body, but those who are saying they are part of the church, and they know themselves, they are just trying to look for validation; that is why there will always be this rancour and seeming division, but there is no division in the church of Christ.
Finally, if asked to say a prayer for Nigeria, what would you pray for?
I pray that the desires of the enemies of Nigeria will not come to pass because the problem we have in Nigeria today is not only within, it’s also without, for there are outside forces working against Nigeria. I pray that the Lord God Almighty will take care of us, join us together as we have been because we are so mixed together that separating us will create a lot of havoc for families and people. I pray that the Lord God will sustain Nigeria and that God will give us leaders who will believe in the development of the average person and the country.
