By Danjuma Auta
The ECWA Spiritual Mothers in Ministry (ESMIM) has held its first leaders for members from the 86 ECWA DCCs.
The programme, which was held at the conference center of ECWA headquarters, Jos, had the wives of the chairman, vice chairman, secretary, and assistant secretary from each in attendance.
Declaring the programme open, ECWA President, Rev. (Dr.) Stephen Baba Panya, stated that women are the backbone of church ministry, adding that since the birth of ESMIM, the leadership had worked hard to make the women succeed and assured that ECWA leadership would continue to build a strong support mechanism for the pastor’s wives.
He charged ministers of the gospel to work with their wives and lamented how some pastors were drifting from the faith by allowing the devil to control their lives because they’re no longer connected with their wives.
He appealed to ESMIM members to encourage all pastors’ wives to wake up and serve as watchdogs to their husbands in the kingdom work.
Earlier, ESMIM national leader, Mrs. Naomi Baba Panya, thanked the ECWA executive for their support and said that the birth of ESMIM was necessitated by the desire of pastor’s wives to move in ministry with their spouses for effective service to God and humanity.
She disclosed that wives of past executives had the vision to start a support mechanism for their husbands in ministry which was later actualized by wives of the current executives.
Mrs. Panya disclosed that as ECWA spiritual mothers in ministry, they were pace-setters who are expected to walk and talk spirituality as they serve God and humanity.
She called on all the spiritual mothers in ministry to strive to know the plight of the down-trodden in the church and society with the aim of helping them.
Also speaking, wife of the ECWA General secretary, Mrs. Alice Darin Nmadu, thanked the church for approving the bill for the establishment of ESMIM as, according to her, this would bring revival amongst pastors’ wives as well as the church.
She urged all the spiritual mothers to participate in all church activities along with their husbands as partners in ministry because “`where your husbands plant seeds, your role is to water it and allow God to cause the growth.’’ She called on them to be kingdom promoters and not to be stumbling blocks in the ministry.
More than 300 women attended the two day programme.