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.