We loved you so much that we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well, because you had become so dear to us. 1 Thess. 2:8

Christians embrace the command to love fellow believers and even unbelievers as Jesus loved us. We must undergird each act of kindness to people with genuine love; otherwise, God would not accept such services. When we love, we back it up with kind deeds. Often, we preach the gospel first, and when the people respond positively, we shower them with love. The most effective way of sharing the gospel is to share our lives with the people – love in action. God demonstrated His love to us while we were yet sinners. People may resist the gospel but will welcome genuine love shown to them.

We should care and share our resources with people irrespective of their response to the gospel. Doing that should be an end in itself while we pray and trust God to extend that effort and open the hearts of the people to the gospel.
 
 
Author: Rev. Sunday Bwanhot
Rev. Sunday Bwanhot is a missionary with EMS/SIM. He pastor’s ECWA Chicago, serves as ECWA USA DCC Chairman and Team leader of SIM Culture Connexions. 

Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall, but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary; they will walk and not be faint. Isa. 40:30-31

From energy bars to power drinks, etcetera, we all desire to be strong and complete the race of our lives. This passage is not about physical strength but spiritual strength. All of us who are in this race get tired quickly. A lot of adverse conditions ware out even the spiritual giants among us. The relentless attacks of Satan on believers, infightings in the Church and fellowship groups, growing anxiety, and impatience as we await the fulfillment of the Lord’s promised return to be fulfilled, etc. Hope, as used here, is not a wishful desire but a sure thing God will make happen.

For spiritual strength needed for the journey, keep your eyes on Jesus, feast on His Word, drink from the Spirit, pray, and tag along in fellowship with other saints.

Author:†Rev. Sunday Bwanhot
Rev. Sunday Bwanhot is a missionary with EMS/SIM. He pastorís ECWA Chicago, serves as ECWA USA DCC Chairman and Team leader of SIM Culture Connexions.

Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men. (Col. 3:23)

A Christian is not just a confessor of his faith but a possessor who incarnates every aspect of the tenets of Christianity. His heart, soul, mind, spirit, and body are not compartmentalized; instead, they all converge to present a wholesome life pleasing to the Lord. We are Christians who honor and submit to God in word, thought, and action. We are Christians each day of the week and at all times, day, or night. We are believers at home, at work, at play, and in the marketplace.

There is no time, place, or situation when we can put off our Christianity for a minute and be or do something else. For everything we do, we must remember that we are Christians first and foremost, and God is our Master. We need to have a mindset that everything we do is for the Lord, and He requires us to be faithful. How I handle any work entrusted to me as a Christian will bring a good or ill report for the Lord.

Author: Rev. Sunday Bwanhot
Rev. Sunday Bwanhot is a missionary with EMS/SIM. He pastor’s ECWA Chicago, serves as ECWA USA DCC Chairman and Team leader of SIM Culture Connexions.

by Rev. Sunday Bwanhot

Lord, be gracious to us; we long for you. Be our strength every morning, our salvation in time of distress. (Isa. 33:2)

This is a great prayer each of us should offer every morning. It starts with asking God to be gracious or compassionate to us. As people who have sinned against God, we do not have a right to demand anything except to plead that He will be kind to us despite our shortcomings. Any right or entitlement does not arise here. To long for God is to desire nothing else except our consuming need to be close and be satisfied with God. We start the day with a declaration that we will trust, rejoice, hope, and walk with Him throughout the day. We will not rely on our abilities, resources, or anything else. As we go through the day, it will not all be rosy, so we would rely on Him to deliver us from and through the vicissitudes of life. Personalize this prayer. Lord, have compassion on me; I desire you. I will trust in your strength and deliverance for me on this day. Amen!

Author: Rev. Sunday Bwanhot
Rev. Sunday Bwanhot is a missionary with EMS/SIM. He pastor’s ECWA Chicago, serves as ECWA USA DCC Chairman and Team leader of SIM Culture Connexions.

by Rev. Sunday Bwanhot

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. (Col. 3:16)

Then we hear, read, study, memorize and even meditate on the Word of God, there is no doubt that we get to know the Word. Knowing the Word intellectually is not the same as experiencing it. When we encounter the Word, it will lead to the transformation of our lives, character, and actions, and that is when we can affirm that the Word of Christ is dwelling richly in our lives. This transformation will equip us with the wisdom of God with which we can teach and admonish one another. There is corporate singing of praise and adoration to God because we are all experiencing His love and goodness. With such a level of contentment, we also offer gratitude to God. Therefore, we must be proactive in reading the Word of God daily and living out all it teaches us.

Author: Rev. Sunday Bwanhot
Rev. Sunday Bwanhot is a missionary with EMS/SIM. He pastor’s ECWA Chicago, serves as ECWA USA DCC Chairman and Team leader of SIM Culture Connexions.

by Rev. Stephen Baba Panya

Press Release on The False Accusation That ECWA Forces Persons, Including Almajiri, To Convert to Christianity

The attention of the leadership of the Evangelical Church Winning All (ECWA), has been drawn to some distorted media report that the Department of State Security, (DSS) agents raided one of our facilities in Jos where 21 Muslims/almajiris are held hostage and being forcefully converted to Christianity. These reports are not only false and misleading but a deliberate effort to discredit the church and cause religious crisis.

Accordingly, we wish to present the following facts on the allegation:

Among numerous ECWA Units is the ECWA Discipleship Unit established under the ECWA Church-Related Ministries Department of the ECWA Headquarters.

The Unit, among other activities,

1. Trains the less privileged in the society for capacity building, skill acquisition, Christian Ethics and leadership skills with the sole purpose of making them relevant to the society.
2. Equips the trainees, upon completion of their one-year training, with tools that will help them in establishing themselves.
3. For lack of space at the ECWA Headquarters, the office acquired a private property within Tudun Wada residential area in Jos as a temporary site for the training and housing of all trainees.
4. The trainees at the property, before being enrolled, are expected to provide the name of their sponsors and pay a mandatory sum of N75,000.00 to cover feeding and training fees.
5. As a practice, the Unit maintains a file for each student containing his or her personal data.
6. Trainees at the facility, as a matter of policy, are all adults with none falling below the age of Eighteen (18).
7. Trainees are free to withdraw from the training once they are dissatisfied with either the policies or the condition of the facility. Management also has the right to withdraw a trainee on grounds of infringement of the rules and regulations of the facility.
8. The Unit from its inception, has graduated over Eighty-six (86) trainees spread across different parts of Nigeria with various skills.
9. Prior to June 14, 2022, the property accommodated twenty-four (24) trainees with a list of pending applicants waiting for space for enrolment.
10. The ECWA Church-Related Ministries Department was shocked over the false allegations said to have emanated from the “escapee” Abdulrahman Hussaini that the trainees at the property are citizens that were forcefully brought to it for the purpose of forcefully converting them to Christianity.
11. These allegations are complete falsehood because the trainees being persons of age, are available at any time for Government Officials to interact with, to hear their respective stories, just as was done by the Department of State Services (DSS) recently.
12. Following a report by the JNI in Jos as we later understood, the DSS visited our facility and accordingly interviewed the occupants who freely disclosed to the security agents that they enrolled on the program at their own volition and were not forced, except Abdulrahman Hussaini’s brother who opted to leave with his brother Abdulrahaman and were released to the DSS without any excitation. What is clear in this drama, is that the Hussaini brothers were planted as moles for the purpose of discrediting the good works of the church unit where thousands of trainees have benefited and are now living as responsible members of the society. What is more, Trainees are given two weeks break six months after their stay in the facility to get back and prepare for the final lap of their training. It is of the moment to note that the Hussani brothers have gone on this break and returned on their own volition.

ECWA, as an organization, has a widespread nationally and internationally and believes in the Rule of Law and will not involve itself in the infringement of the Fundamental Rights of any Nigerian to his freedom of religion, movement, or association.

The above are the facts the Evangelical Church Winning All (ECWA) has offered. Any other insinuations and/or accusations such as has been made viral on the media space are FABRICATED LIES to dent the good works of ECWA since the past 129 years of its existence.

Rev. (Dr.) Stephen Baba Panya is a Chartered Accountant and former Banker turned Missionary. He is the Evangelical Church Winning All (ECWA) President. Before his election, he was the Evangelical Missionary Society (EMS) Cross Border Mission President, as well as ECWA Television Coordinator. He is a called missionary who breathes Missions, speaks Missions, lives Missions, and can sacrifice anything for Missions.

by†Rev. Sunday Bwanhot

Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it. Isa. 30:21

Many believers will admit that if God would speak to them in the manner this verse portrays, they will always walk in the will of the Lord. For many years up to date, workshops on “Knowing the Will of God” in any Christian gathering have always registered higher attendance than other workshop topics. The will of God that we are eager to know and His guiding voice that we desire to hear is ever near us. The Bible is God’s Road map that will take us anywhere within His will. The Holy Spirit is the voice that interprets the map for us as we journey through this life.

We are to enjoy the journey just as much as we hope to enjoy the destination because God walks with us along the way, and when we arrive at our final destination, He will be there with us. His presence, therefore, is what matters. The more I dwell on the Word, the easier I can discern the voice of the Spirit.

Author:†Rev. Sunday Bwanhot
Rev. Sunday Bwanhot is a missionary with EMS/SIM. He pastorís ECWA Chicago, serves as ECWA USA DCC Chairman and Team leader of SIM Culture Connexions.

by Rev. Sunday Bwanhot

Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as God forgave you. (Col. 3:13)

The mere fact that we must bear with each other underscores how easily self-centered we can be. We all want others to bear up with us in our weaknesses, but we are reluctant to do the same for others. We forget the golden rule that we do to others what we want them to do to us.

To bear with someone is to accept their weakness and readily stand with them to give help rather than stand as a judge ready to condemn them. When a person acting in weakness offends you, this becomes personal, and this is where God wants us to forgive. There are many reasons believers must extend forgiveness to those who wrong us. One reason our passage for today gives is that God has forgiven us, and therefore, we are obligated to forgive those who wrong us. When we refuse to forgive, we invariably indicate that we do not cherish and appreciate God’s forgiveness of our sins against Him.
 
 
Author: Rev. Sunday Bwanhot
Rev. Sunday Bwanhot is a missionary with EMS/SIM. He pastor’s ECWA Chicago, serves as ECWA USA DCC Chairman and Team leader of SIM Culture Connexions.