Chairman of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN), Lagos Chapter, Pastor Yemi Davids is the Chairman Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN), Lagos Chapter. He is also the Founding pastor of Global Impact Churches with headquarters at The Goodland, Ogudu, Lagos. In this interview with CHINYERE ABIAZEM, he speaks of his intentional efforts in making the PFN Lagos more relevant/impactful with adequate communication to tackle misconceptions in the public space and to make necessary adjustments to encourage more youths in church. Excerpts.
You took over an almost divided body which had to hold its election twice. What has your executive Committee done so far to restore peace and unity in the Chapter?
Yeah, I mean, there have been some issues before we came in, and the election that brought us in was part of the reconciliatory process. I think the national body had to restructure the electoral system, which was more inclusive and I should use the word ‘open’. I won the election by two votes. So, that process itself helped to calm down tension.
There were three people that contested the position as chairman. There were other portfolios, and there was counting. It was an open ballot thing. That system alone helped. That process alone helped to douse whatever was happening before.
The number two is that love makes all the difference. We started reaching out to people. One of the core goals we had when we came in is reconciliation. Because, without love, there can’t be unity. Without unity, you cannot really have an impact. When a kingdom is divided against itself, it cannot stand.
So, we have been reaching out to people, and it has been very good, and we are really grateful for the level of acceptance. Maybe they saw that we are not out for our own course. When you are self – centered, you irritate people.
When you are self-centered, when it is all about you, people pick it up. And I didn’t come in like that. Being a chairman is a lot of added responsibility. I am a pastor first, here in my ministry. So, that alone gives a sense of ‘We are here to serve, not to do boss’. We do it together. So, I think that perception has helped.
What are some of your achievements since you emerged chairman of the Lagos State PFN?
I realised that one of the challenges we have is the fact that the body of Christ does not communicate adequately about the things we do and who we are. People just fill in the gaps and most of the things they fill in are just completely wrong. Sometimes, I don’t blame them, it’s just like husband and wife. When you don’t communicate, the wife can just fill in, ‘Oh, he doesn’t love me, he doesn’t care for me. ‘I feel we need to communicate more about the things we do so that people can have the right perspective. I try to create another system where we will be harvesting the good things churches are doing, like some churches do free transportation for people in Lagos. You know, some are helping or supporting orphans, widows and things like that. Some churches build and repair infrastructures in their communities.
I Want to get some of those details, even if it’s every month or quarterly, like a PFN Lagos Impact Report. So, if for instance, RCCG built this hospital here, Global Impact Church fed 1000 people. Maybe that way, people will see things differently.
Should we say the largest ministries in Africa are in Lagos. So, why should people not be happy about us? Maybe we don’t communicate effectively about the things we do.
You will hear things like, our schools are the most expensive. Members of the church are not attending. The money needed to even run those schools is a lot that churches have to subsidize virtually every month to keep it running excellently. Then they give scholarships to people, but because people don’t get to hear or know.
Then there are community services, community impact, welfare, things that we do in our church here virtually every day, every week, for instance, this person is doing surgery and we assist such members.
People don’t know because we don’t say it, and I understand why they don’t say it, because I am not doing those charitable acts to trend.
And then we wanted to encourage young people. One of the reasons why I was asked to get involved in the election, I was reluctant. They thought younger people should get involved. I am happy that we emerged.
We want to see how we can engage young people. I asked all my older people in Lagos State, can your teenager or your child in their 20s attend your church? If they cannot attend, then there are things to change. Don’t fight them, because we too, we grew up like that.
Now, what are we doing that is keeping the young people away from the practicality of the message? The way the service is done. Those are the kind of changes we are hoping to make in the leadership of the state. We will see how we can do that; young people being included in the process. There were some sentiments being expressed against non-indigenes in Lagos PFN.
To what extent has your executive committee worked to erase that sentiment?
Everybody loves development. Everyone wants good roads, water supply, and electricity. Leaders should not divide the people with their own language or messages. Every tribe- Igbo, Hausa, and Yoruba want good water, good schools for their children.
When it comes to development, national transformation, everybody needs that. Now, that’s what we are looking for. I feel pastors should be the ones to be tasked to educate their people like that, and then maybe that should also inform the way you do things. I mean, I’m happy that in our executive (committee), my secretary is an Igbo man.
There are good Yoruba people and there are bad Yoruba people. There are good Igbo people and there are bad Igbo people, same with other tribes. When pastors especially have that awareness, then it will reduce that tension.
I don’t think pastors will come and impose a candidate on people to vote for during the election. But, you can teach about national development. You can teach about leadership. They are free to make their choices of who to vote for.
But for church, for instance, there are common denominators: Jesus Christ, I won’t compromise on that. I won’t compromise on scriptures. But, other things, football club, your political party, make your choice, as long as your choice does not damage my life.
I think pastors need to be oriented with that kind of thinking, which influences the things they say, so that they don’t incite the people against one another.
As the PFN Chairman leading great leaders, how do you intend to rekindle the revival in the body of Christ at the state level?
When I am relating with my co-labourers, especially the senior ones, you need a lot of humility. I like the word ‘we’. You create very factual reasons, and then you see it as a collective effort. When it works, we win, not Yemi Davids wins, we win. It’s not that easy, but it’s working. We communicate with them, and most of the senior leaders in Lagos have been responding.
Do you believe in unification of the church?
Unification, yes! But, not uniformity? There are some common denominators that we have: Jesus, the Holy Spirit, eternity, that unites us. But, how you dress in your church, how you do your communion may be different.
I like what Paul says in the Bible, about the body of Christ. Look at my hand. My hand doesn’t do the work of the eyes. So, don’t say, because your own is the hand, the mouth is not doing well. I believe the reason our body is like that is because they have different roles.
The leg is not like the hand, the nose cannot do the work of your hair. Every ministry will be doing different things. Somebody is doing deliverance, somebody is teaching, somebody is focused on maybe singing. When people are taught that the body has different roles, in fact, some parts of the body are visible, some are not visible. That does not mean others are irrelevant.
In fact, in our body, the ones that are not visible, they are more delicate. But, the reason they are not visible is because they are very delicate, so that is just the basic understanding.
You don’t feel better than this person, or this person is not useful. The Redeemed (Christian) Church (of God) will never be like Winners Chapel. The roles are different. Understanding that people have different roles, but yet, of the same body, just like your own body.
So, our logos will not look the same, our pastors will look the same. If you understand that, you will not be looking at somebody and judging them. But, what we need is to have a regulatory body like the PFN. It is supposed to be a regulatory body that has to caution any or some excesses.
Some churches don’t want to be part of PFN because of some of the rancour or some of the things they heard about the body in the past. How do you encourage such churches to join the body?
I want to say, I understand their perspectives, and they should not look at the past. That is one reason why I think God brought me in, but that’s why one of our top goals or objectives is reconciliation. They are encouraged to join in and participate. The new leadership is poised at advancing the kingdom. That is our focus, and has the body become relevant.
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