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By Newspeddlers
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| Pastor Sarah Igbego Ogwuche |
The Co-pastor of Army of God Ministries and Author, Pastor Sarah Igbego Ogwuche, has urged Nigerians to be integral in their dealings on a daily basis, in order to become a winning nation.
In an interview with Newspeddlers on Sunday in Abuja, she identified Nigerians to be strong and resilient people, stating that such traits shouldn't be taken for granted as this could help them navigate the current hard times in the country. She also urged clerics to be more selfless and to give back to their communities.
Pastor Sarah Igbego Ogwuche a devoted servant of Jesus Christ and pastor at Army of God Ministries, whose faith-filled journey extends beyond the pulpit and into the realm of creative leadership and authorship. Alongside her role as a pastor, she is also a mother of three and a creative director and brand strategist. Pastor Igbego recently penned a powerful book titled "Praying for Our Children," a 52-week devotional prayer guide designed to nurture and fortify the spiritual lives of our precious children. Alongside her husband, Fred Ogwuche, who serves as the Apostle for Army of God Ministries, they exemplify a partnership grounded in faith and a shared mission of spreading the gospel. Together, they inspire others to walk in faith, empower the next generation, and serve the kingdom of God through prayerful guidance and spiritual mentorship, while continuously seeking new creative avenues for growth and impact.
What is your understanding of Christianity and how has it affected your choices?
I believe that Jesus has impacted our society in such a beautiful way, but the religious aspect of Christianity has not. That is where we have the disparities, because when you talk about the religious aspect of Christianity, it's almost as if they've extracted the heart of Jesus from it. They've extracted the personality of Jesus, so when you extract the personality of Jesus from Christianity, what we have left, is a very biassed and unfair system. So when you now incorporate and censor Jesus around being a Christ follower, that's when you're going to have an impact in a generation, in a society, because now you're implementing the ways of Christ. And what did Christ come to do? He came to save us, he didn't just come to save us, he came to be present with us. He was present with the people. It wasn't about building some kind of hierarchy system, it was about drawing the people to him and meeting the people where they were.
So until, as a society, we can begin to meet people where they are as well, and not just center it around the four corners of the church, going out into society, being the example of Christ, we're going to see more of the impact that we desire to see.
What can you say to people who are currently facing hard times?
I do want to offer hope, but I want to offer hope with practical steps. If the people can see where the change is, it can be implemented. And the change is first going to start with yourself, you sort of have to peel all of the layers that our society has impacted on us. The limitations that came with our mindset, okay, maybe because you're from a particular area, you're never going to be able to cross the border. Or it's not even about crossing the border. We have so much, this is such a wealthy nation, an enriched set of people with just an innate ability to stand the test of time. When you look at a Nigerian, you see strong individuals who have the ability to overcome many challenges; And not that you should just take the challenges and keep overcoming, but how are you turning it into a blueprint for our world?
Yes, we're impacted with everything. But if we look at ourselves, we look at God, and we find ourselves in God, we begin to find the innate ability to create something with what God has put in the inside of us. So if you say we're facing so much, that's true, but we're never lost, there is never a void of hope. So it's about your perspective. What is your perspective on life, That perspective on life will take you from where you are to where you need to be. And then you apply the system of the word of God, which is your prayer, your fasting, your consecration with God, dealing with the spiritual aspects while you prepare yourself physically, and then you now take yourself to where you desire to be by the transportation system of faith.
What can you say about monetization of our Christian faith, and why do people see the church as a means to make money?
I would say church is a structure and not a business. God is a God of order. Now people will automatically consider the church a business when it comes to money. They are churches that are turning it into a business, but it is unfortunate, but there is a structure of money that is needed for a church to become stable, so there is a system that, if the system is done well in the ecclesia of the church, the church is not only supposed to be able to be sustained, but it's supposed to sustain the community. So as people are bringing their tithes and offerings, those tithes and offerings are not just for the church, but is to be used to impact the community of people that we have in the church. I feel like if more pastors are selfless, the church will have a working system. It may look like a business from the outside perspective, but when it is beneficiary from the charity perspective and a functioning perspective, that's when you have a holistic church, because there were also people who funded the ministry of Jesus in the Bible. So these things are things needed for the church, but if we become selfish as ministers, we'll forget the people that were called to impact, and that's what the church is about; You know, there's no I in church. So I feel like we have lost it somehow as a body, but I do want to say that there's still genuine men and women of God out there that are completely selfless. I feel like if we just look at things from different perspectives and encourage one another to see how we can look beyond ourselves and be open-minded enough to build more of a community, I feel like we will be a bit more progressive as a body.
How can a person benefit from the Christian community?
There is so much enrichment in the word of God; I feel like sometimes we just read the words so that we can prevent ourselves from going to hell' meanwhile, there are some things in a Bible that if you feed on, and apply them, you will be rejuvenated, it gives light inside of you. There were times when I was lost in identity, I found myself in the word, and you keep meditating on that word, and it becomes life inside of you, and then you're operating on that life, If your foundation is the word, you begin to build on that, acquiring more knowledge and developing yourself, and with that, you can win anywhere in the world.
How can we navigate the current situation in Nigeria?
Find your niche as a person, you don't have to sound like anybody else. Being yourself is enough. We Nigerians are strong and resilient people, and I don't want you to take that for granted. You don't have to depend on anyone, God has given you what it takes to take yourself out of the place where you are and to where you need to be by the grace of God.
To encourage Nigerians in these trying times, I would say, get grounded in Christ, find yourself in Christ, find out what makes you, meditate on that through the Word of God, receive a download of the next directions, and apply it. If we can be diligent as Nigerians and have integrity, be integral, let your word be your bond. If we have those natural ingredients, there's no way that we will not be the winning nation.