By Omos Oyinbode

Pastor Ifeanyi Ogude is the Founding Pastor of Heaven Bound Christian International Ministry in Asaba, Delta State. The Christian organization is one of the largest in the Delta State capital. In this interview with our Asaba Correspondent, OMOS OYINBODE, Pastor Ogude speaks on various issues concerning the church and Christianity in general.

Excerpts:

You are 47, how does it feel like being 47 years of age?

Well, first of all, I want to say God has been very faithful to me. God has been absolutely faithful to me. He picked from my mother’s womb where I had spent 11 months before I was born. He brought me from the miry clay and took me to the level I am today and I’m happy for the grace of God that has been upon my life.

Take us a little back to your background

We are 10 children in the family, five boys, five girls. I’m the number 7 and I grew up knowing love. For example, I had never seen my father and mother having an argument over an issue one day all through my days with them. We were born into a family where love was flowing. We love ourselves in the family. My mother and father were educationists. The 10 of us are all educated, all of us are graduates.  My father never let us misbehave in the family so as not to soil the family name. We were not allowed to have our ways. We were knocked into shape as we were growing up. We had a very wonderful upbringing.

Now, you are 47, can you say life has been so fair to you?

Yes, life has been fair to me. I had the privilege of being trained by my father and mother. I broke away from them as a man when I was 27. I stopped taking money from them. I started fending for myself until today. At any point I want to deviate, God will bring me back.  Any time I want to have the moment of discouragement, God will bring me back, so life has been very fair to me in all ramifications.

Now you are you are a graduate, many graduates of your type are in big organizations working and making plenty money. Why did you veer into gospel ministry?

I was called from my mother’s womb, that’s the truth. I once had a friend, any time we sit together, he would tell me you are called to be a pastor, then I was not a pastor. I wasn’t ready to be a pastor, I really wanted to work in the oil sector. I think I entered into ministry in 1994. If it was when I finished university that I entered into the ministry, by now I would have been a very big boy in the ministry. It was because I wanted to work in the oil sector. My life has been characterized with taking people overboard and ensuring that they are happy. But man proposes and God disposes. God said you are my own, I’ve called you into the ministry. So, I had to follow God’s call for my life.

Now are you satisfied being in the ministry?

Yes, I’m satisfied being in the ministry. I receive calls from everywhere, India, Indonesia, America, France and other places, giving testimony of what God is doing in their lives and that makes me happy. My life is adding value to other people’s lives. That is the joy of being in gospel ministry.

Now, people see church as a business, an avenue to make money and enrich themselves. What is your take on that?

Of course, it’s a big business where men go and make money. Let them enter with that notion, when you enter, then you will know whether it is actually for business, money making or to serve God. I pity men who go into ministry for the purpose of making money. I, for one, have never thought of money before going into ministry. By the grace of God I’m gainfully employed, my wife is gainfully employed, whatever comes into our family we manage it because the Bible says godliness with contentment is great gain. But any pastor who enters into the ministry because of money and when the money is not forth coming, he would want to try his hands in diabolical means to make money. But when you are called by God, you will enjoy Christianity.

My own take is the joy I derive from seeing men getting hope from God, seeing broken homes getting mended, seeing souls saved, seeing men who are destined to die being restored to life. That is what gives me joy and at the end of the day, like I told you, the people I pray for, one had HIV/AIDs in America, he called me, he went for test after the prayers, and discovered it had gone. He called and then said Pastor, I need your account number, and I told him God is not interested in getting money from you. Thank God you are restored, give the money to your pastor there in America.

In Asaba here, they will tell you, nobody comes to my office prayer and blessing you, if you come to me and say oh pastor by the grace of God, the Lord has answered me, what can I do for you? I will say buy a recharge card of N1500 for me. I don’t place money first. I give priority to the souls of the people. The Bible says “seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you”. If you serve God, God will take care of you. I don’t want to be a billionaire, I don’t want to be a multimillionaire. I tell you, I don’t have a big man in my church, I don’t have a small man. The moment you enter the church, everybody is equal.

Now, there are many pastors who bargain pay before being invited for programmes. Some collect money before praying for people in their assemblies. How do you see that?

I don’t think any pastor is doing like that. But for me, I don’t do that. Jesus did not collect money from people before praying for them. I will offer prayer for you and you go. When you call me to tell me, I will tell you, give all the glory to the name of the Lord. I’m here by the grace of the Lord just purely to glorify the name of the Lord and not for monetary or material gain.

There are so many churches all over the places and more are still growing. It is therefore expected that as churches grow, evil and corrupt practices should reduce but rather than reducing, evil is growing. Do you think the church has done well for society?

The church has done absolutely well for society. The churches in the society right now are not even enough. We need more churches. The Bible says faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God. The more the person continues to hear the word of God, the more impact it has in his life. One day he will make u-turn. So, I’m an advocate for more churches in society.

When some churches start, they struggle for years and don’t make needed breakthrough. But you started very recently, now the church is very large with so many members. What is the secret of the large membership of your church irrespective of it being young? How did you achieve this feat?

Feat! What feat? Jesus said if I be lifted up, I will draw all men unto myself. Here, there is no skeleton in our cupboard. There is nobody we are working for here. No, I don’t work for anybody. I pray for you in my office and you go away and God honours His word. You can see, we don’t have television programme, we don’t have billboards everywhere but as I’m here now, if I enter Europe today, I will open a church with many followers. People there are calling me to come. I told my wife that I didn’t want to open a church before but God said I should go ahead. But today, those that thought I’ll would be calling other men of God to help me, they are the ones calling men of God. I have not called one man of God since we started the church. By the grace of God, I’ve no regret leaving the Redeemed Christian Church of God.

I was telling one of the children that if I want to drive a Lexus Jeep today, I’ll get it but I’m not interested. Pastor Oritsejafor who is my mentor went through all these challenges, today, he is enjoying his ministry. Give all to God and God will carry you. Adeboye sold his pick up for God’s work, today, God is helping him. Adeboye, Oyedepo, Oritsejafor, today, they are great men of God. We’ve got to work for God and allow God lead us.

There is a man of God who said instead of the Nigerian church making missionaries, they are making millionaires, that the church has lost focus. Do you agree with that?

That is his own view. I see Nigerian churches making missionaries and not millionaires. I see Nigerian churches sending men and women to heaven. Among the disciples of Jesus, there was a Judas. I do not agree with that statement.

Okay now, there are many ministries around town. Some focus on prayers, some on evangelism, some on praise. Others on deliverance, and some on holiness. What is the focus of this ministry?

We focus on evangelism, making disciples for Christ and impacting on lives. I was telling my wife sometimes back that men are dying, children are dying and people are suffering. I have been asking God to help me to build the biggest hospital that would attract the international community to treat people with all conditions free of charge. I bleed when I see people suffering. I’m praying God to help me build one of the biggest hospitals in this state. My members will tell you, whatever God gives to me, we plough it back into the lives of the people. I’m not a materialistic pastor. Naked I came into the world and naked I will leave this world. I will only be remembered by the good that I have done to people and to God. So, my desire is to see how I will prepare men that will make heaven.

Let’s go into politics. Nigeria is at the verge of conducting another election. The atmosphere is getting charged as the March 28 and April 11 elections get closer. What do you have to say concerning the elections?

Well, I tell my members that this election will be peaceful irrespective of what is going on now. God is interested in Nigeria. So, forget what they are saying now. There will certainly be pockets of violence here and there but it will not have effect on the nation. Nigeria will move forward after the election. The gate of hell cannot prevail against the nation. The election will come and go but Nigeria will remain.

Now, there is an allegation that Mr. President gave N7bn to CAN to campaign for his re-election. But CAN had said there is nothing like that. What is your reaction to this allegation against the church?

This is referring to my father, Ayo Oritsejafor. I will stop at nothing to tell you that my father cannot collect one billion or one kobo from anybody to work in the person’s favour. Pastor Oritsejafor is a man of integrity, a man that we all look up to and want to be like him. He can never do that. I vouch for him and all the people around him because he is putting his feet on the ground that Christians will not be marginalized in their own country. He is a man that knows his onions. It’s more unfortunate that they are employing Christians to do this.

 But again as I told you before, Jesus had 12 disciples but one was a Judas. The scandal against the church must come, that is why they said Jesus was using the power of Beelzebub to heal. Jesus was scandalized even when he was alive. And may I shock you the Jews are still believing that the Messiah is yet to come, they didn’t believe that Jesus was the Messiah. Anybody can do anything they want to do but the church is waxing stronger and stronger.

But I must state here that I’m a man who does not want to dabble into politics, I pray for politicians but I’m not interested in anything called politics in the church. And those pastors that jump from one governor to the other, they are rubbishing their image before the governors and they are rubbishing the name of Jesus. I’m using this opportunity to beg them, stay in your church, let them come and see you there, that is integrity.

Now this church building was demolished a few months back and within a short period it has been erected again. How did you arrive at this within this short time?

We had our office initially along DLA Road, number 7. At a point, the place was no longer conducive for us, so I told my members that we are going to break the church and build a new one. On December 1, we demolished the old structure. On the 14th of December, we laid the foundation. Our target was to complete the building by the 15th of January, 2015. That is one month, but there was a little hitch somewhere but we took the bull by the horn and by 15 of February, the church was completed. Just within two months. And now, we want to dedicate it on the 15th of March.

It’s time for us to say God thank you for building a gigantic structure like this for us. But I must say this that since we started this building and finished it, no politician gave me one dines. This building has consumed millions of naira from us. But God provided the money for us. Let me not put a figure but millions have been sunk into the building. And one dine did not come from any person outside the church. The money came from the church, my children all over the world. There are some that even called and said we heard you are building, I said No, relax when I want to build the 30,000 seating capacity that we are going to use for our major church, that ‘s when we need you. This one is worship centre and office of the church. As I’m speaking to you, the building is a miracle from God.