The Abuja Zonal Headquarters Church auditorium of the Foursquare Gospel Church Nigeria built at over N65 Million is ready for dedication. The Abuja Zonal Superintendent and Senior Pastor of the Church, Rev. Babatunde Idowu spoke to Chukwunwikezarramu Okumephuna on the journey made to complete the church, about the church and commented on other salient issues of spiritual and national importance. Excerpts.
The name of the church sounds mathematical. Why?
The name Foursquare Gospel Church has a biblical background in the book of Ezekiel Chapter 41 wherein the prophet had a vision. It was a vision that showed a face of a man, face of an Ox, face of a Lion and face of an Eagle. And our foundress, that is the international foundress, Aimee Sempe McPherson, a woman of God while preaching from that scriptural passage had this revelation of God wherein she now said ‘with this four images described in the passage, it must be the Foursquare Gospel’. So that is the origin of that phrase ‘Foursquare Gospel’. It is a gospel that preaches salvation to the man. It is a gospel that lightens the burden just like the Ox is used as a burden-bearer animal in those days. It is the gospel that preaches the baptism of the Holy Ghost power just like the Lion is the most powerful and king of animals. And it is a gospel that preaches Christ the soon-coming king and the Eagle is the bird that soars highest of all birds and our God is coming back again from the Heavens. So when we talk about the Foursquare Gospel Church, we are talking about the four full square gospel ministry of Jesus the Saviour, Jesus the Baptiser with the Holy Ghost, Jesus the soon-coming King and Jesus our Healer. That is basically what we mean when we say the Foursquare Gospel Church.
Tell us about the foundress of the Church!
She is a woman of God and actually had her foundation in Assemblies of God in the United States. But in 1922, she had this vision because she was an itinerant preacher and evangelist and that gave birth to the Foursquare Gospel Church in the United States specifically where we have our international headquarters in Angelus Temple in California. So the Foursquare Gospel Church started in the United States in 1922 but it did not come to Nigeria until 1955 when Rev. Harold Curtis, his wife and two sons came as pioneer evangelists bringing the Foursquare Gospel Church to Nigeria. Their first point of call was the Yaba-Sabo axis and that’s where we now have our national headquarters church precisely at 62/66 Akinwunmi Street, Yaba, Lagos. That’s how the Foursquare Gospel Church started in Nigeria in 1955.
How did you begin the journey that culminated in this big church auditorium?
The Foursquare Gospel Church in Abuja started in 1988 and the pioneer pastor then was Rev. Nathaniel Oke. I came in 1997 and by the time I came in what we had as a structure was nothing to write home about. It was something that could be described as an old hut. That is just the best description I could give. So as I came in 1997 and prayed and waited upon the Lord, I thought, that structure should be changed for people to come in and worship the Lord like the Scripture said ‘it must be in the beauty of holiness’. And there is an aspect of physical in the holiness we talk about which is more spiritual. So that is in a nutshell what brought about the issue of re-building. We started by faith. We had no money stocked anywhere but by faith we laid our foundation. We started around January 2002. There was no funfair. There was no ceremony at all. We just prayed and then prayerfully laid the foundation and there is it. That church building whose foundation was laid with faith is today to the glory of God Almighty ready for dedication.
What is the cost implication of the structure?
So far conservatively, I have to say conservatively because we have not called in any contractor to work for us. It is like a direct labour thing. The building committee comprises of structural engineers, architects, quantity surveyors and estate managers and others. So all we have done is to bring up these professionals who are members of this church. They came up with their advice and we have to carry it out here and there on direct labour basis. So conservatively so far, we have spent about 60 million Naira on the structures and may be another 5 million Naira on equipment so far.
Do you have any intention of putting up further structures?
You know, looking at what the town planner will call the land use, I think with this structure we have, we need a very large car park and that’s what we are trying to do. Later we intend putting up another one storey structure building to serve as both children church and kindergarten. If the Lord provides another big land in the future may be we can begin to talk of a full blown school system.
What is the population strength of the Foursquare Gospel Church in Nigeria today?
I think in Nigeria, speaking conservatively we should be, eh…am not sure. But in Abuja district, I know for sure that we should be between six and seven thousand. But our major strength is in Lagos. So I think we should be talking of something like a million but am not too sure.
Do you see any need of including religion in the forthcoming population census?
Well from my own point of view and it should be taken as a personal view, I think religion should be included in the census exercise. This is because we need to know who you are, who you serve and of course you know that whatsoever a person serves has an effect on the way the person behaves, his concept of ideas, his philosophy of life, his way of doing things. Except we know all these things we may think they are minute but they do go a long way to create a lot of impact. So it is quite important that we know what you are doing. Are you a believer or non-believer or even an atheist. They are important, so that while talking with you, I will have all these background at the back of my mind and easily expect what your reaction would be to a situation and that will also go a long way to help me know how to react well and then we will have less friction. But where we say, we shouldn’t have that and if we dare to initiate dialogue without knowing who you are talking with, that will only create room for more frictions. I think we will be running away from a particular problem today but creating a bigger one for tomorrow, if we don’t include religion in the forthcoming census.
Churches are springing up every day in Nigeria. Could that be the sign and work of the Holy Spirit?
Well I want you to know that whatever churches are springing up, if it is of God, it will surely stand. And if the Holy Spirit is there really, it will achieve a purpose. But let me tell you for the end of time that will definitely come, you will see more. What you are seeing now will not be compared with what you will see in the future for the Holy Spirit of God will saturate everywhere. And that has not happened. I think what is happening in Nigeria today is that God want to build believers not just for Nigeria because one of the things you will not see is the fact that Nigerian preachers and pastors have been able to make mark all over the world. A Nigerian in Ukraine, Pastor Sunday Adelaja, today pastors the largest church in the whole wide world. A Nigerian, Pastor Mathew Ashimolowu today pastors the largest church in the United Kingdom. I can go on and on like that to give you statistics without break. Also in the United States precisely in the State of New York a Nigerian also pastors the largest church there. So I believe that what God is doing is to build up materials for his end time move and Nigeria may just be the starting point before He scatters them all over the world.
Churches tend to lay more emphasis today on tithes and offerings. Why is it so?
Now tithes and offerings are biblical principles and biblical principles must be upheld by anybody who says he believes in the bible. So the issue is that God says that one tenth of your gross income belongs to me and if you say you believe in Him, then you give it to Him. It is like the Federal Government has come and said for every item you buy you must pay Value Added Tax (VAT) of 5% and nobody is arguing against that. So the issue is that, if you are a believer, the issue of paying tithe should not be a problem. It is a biblical principle and if you believe in God you need to do just that. Be reminded also that payment of tithe goes with conditions and the conditions are that ‘I will bless you. I will open the windows of Heaven for you’. You know God is not just saying bring your tithe and that’s that. No! He says if you are faithful to it, the blessings that follows it will follow you. So it is now left for you to believe God and hold on to him or disbelieve him and face the consequence.
Some churches also over-tithe their members. What do you have to say about that?
Well the terminology over-tithing is out of it. Tithe is one tenth of your gross income. May be you meant offerings but even at that when you look at Scriptures, the bible said you must not come to God’s presence empty-handed. So there is a difference between your tithe and your offering. And it must not be mixed together. So your tithe is one tenth. It belongs to God and you have to bring it. You know in the olden days when they do not have these coins and paper money, they come with their harvest. Now the offering is what you are giving to appreciate God for one thing or the other. For instance, you see people coming with their offerings to thank God for what he has done for them in the past week and at same time asking him to bless them in the coming weeks. So offering has its place. You are offering something to a deity. A God whom you believe in. Just like our forefathers, when they were worshipping other idols, they go with offering and you see in those days just like my senior pastor will always say, nobody goes to a deity and gives an offering to the deity and then go and complain ‘Oh! I gave so much to this deity’. Nobody talks about that. But when it comes to the Almighty God, people in their wisdom, so to say, come up with a lot of things and I think it is a matter of re-orientation. It is a matter of knowing whom you believe in. It is a matter of accepting by faith to walk with the God whom you profess to belong to.
Do you agree that our pastors are becoming too materialistic today?
Well! What is materialism in the first instance? I think we’ve got to define what materialism means. Because the truth of the matter is that there is an average life that everybody must be able to live up to and when you say Nigerians are poor, quoting you, then all you are saying is that basic necessities of life are not there. So materialism would be living in affluence and getting those things that you really don’t need. It means not being prudent with your spending and so on and so forth. If that is what you mean, it is not only Christians or pastors that should be cautioned. I think every human being should be cautioned. I think it is because pastors are supposed to be role models and that is why you see so many clamouring. But I think the issue is that nobody should actually live a materialistic life. If I have so much I should be able to help that brother or sister that has less or nothing. That is what the bible meant by fellowship. We are fellows in the same ship.
What is your view on the recent hike in the pump prices of petroleum products?
Well, if you look at what the Federal Government is saying, trying to let us know that they have deregulated and that they have a palliative committee to look into ways of cushioning the effect of the increase and soon. The Government have given us their views. It is now left for every other person to look at those views and be able to say I support those views or I do not. And over the time, there have been various reactions. For example the issue at stake is that the Federal Government is saying that they are importing fuel at high price and that Nigerian National Petroleum Cooperation (NNPC) is loosing its credibility amongst insurance companies and so on and so forth. So I think the Federal Government should look at this issue. We have a crude oil here. What can we do to make sure that every crude oil we need is refined in this country? So the issue of taking crude oil out for refining, buying at the international market as a finished product in order to sell here should be curtailed. And if we are able to do just that, then the issue of having our prices based on the international market would be out of it and I think that is where the Federal Government, some private individuals and businesses should come in together and be able to partner to see what can be done. They may think of having mini refineries here and there to solve this problem or more so come up with something bigger and with that all these problems would be solved once and for all. But our main question on the present stand of the Federal Government is how sure are we that this will be the last time for this increase. Nobody actually knows what will happen in the next few months. So I think that should be the area we should actually look at and see how we can find a lasting solution to this big problem looming on our face.
How about the feud between the President Olusegun Obasanjo and his Vice Atiku Abubakar?
Well am not a politician but if I must say something, I will only say or advise that if a boss has a score to settle with his second in command, they should do that by giving us good examples because the world is looking at us. Nigeria is the giant of Africa. So whatever we are doing, the whole world is looking at us. So when you look at it from that perspective of being good for democracy or not, it is not the issue. The issue is how would the world look at us. So I think we should be able to put our house in order and get ourselves settled such a way that we don’t become a laughing stock to the world. That’s my word for both of them!
As a man of God, do you see any future for Nigeria?
Nigeria has a future. Just like I told you before God has been raising giants from this country and putting them in position of authority in different parts of the world, telling you that God has interest in this nation. And whatever nation, God has interest in will have a future. You know Israel went through a lot of things. There was a time it was in captivity. They went into exile but because that mission is of God means Israel is still existing today. And I tell you because God is still interested in Nigeria, Nigeria has a future. A very good future for that matter!
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