By Danjuma Auta
The 5th ECWA International Pastors’ Conference held at the Bingham University, Karu, Nasarawa State, has ended with a call for the spiritual re-awakening of pastors.
Guest speaker at the conference and the Provost, ECWA Theological Seminary, Kagoro, Rev. Prof. Bitrus Sarma, charged church leaders on continued personal spiritual evaluation in order to face the challenges of the present age.
According to him, pastors must place high value on preaching on the kingdom of God and the transformation of the church, adding that ECWA pastors were highly revered on the face of the earth.
In his words, “I belief if we are going to move an inch from where we are to the place God designed for our church and our nation, we must evaluate our values and reject those that do not fit in with Gods’ and begin to see things from His perspective.’’
He urged the church to sustain its doctrinal and spiritual teachings to refute false teachings and combat erroneous social media as well as liberal messages through sound Biblical teachings.
In a communique at the end of the programme, jointly signed by the ECWA President, Rev. (Dr.) Stephen Baba Panya, and the General Secretary, Rev. (Dr.) Yunusa Sabo Nmadu, the church urged security agencies to improve their response to distress calls, increase intelligence gathering and take proactive measures to nib in the bud imminent attacks on citizens.
The leaders challenged pastors to consistently evaluate their values and beliefs with a view to focusing on their heavenly investment by redirecting lost souls to the waiting saving arms of Jesus.
The Conference lamented the increasing reckless looting and re-looting of public funds at the detriment of dilapidated social infrastructural and basic amenities and called for more conscious efforts to fighting corruption, stressing that the Church remained the only hope towards a transformed nation.
It also advocated the need for the promotion of entrepreneurship by the government, Church and other religious bodies as well as the business community to solve the increasing rate of youth unemployment and promote advancement in skills for the future generation.
The 5th international pastors conference, with theme “Christ in You, the Hope of Glory” taken from Colossians 1: 27, was attended by over six thousand pastors from the 89 District Church Councils across Nigeria
The event is held every four years primarily for the purpose of assessing the spiritual growth of ECWA and stimulating the principle of team work amongst pastors.
The conference featured spiritual awakening messages and innovative methods of evangelism, Bible study methods capable of injecting fresh transformational ideas and medical outreach during which over nine hundred pastors received medical attention, including minor surgeries. It also featured songs ministrations, and sports, among others. Governors of Benue, Gombe, Plateau, Katsina and the host Nasarawa states were represented at the gathering.