Wale Oke, Oyedepo, Adeboye, others Grace 17th PFN Conference

• Delegates Urged To Tap From Spiritual Leaders, Be Involved In Politics
• Faithful Must Reciprocate Genuine Love To Conquer — Adeboye

Spiritual Fathers of the different Pentecostal Churches across the 36 states of the federation, high profile Christian leaders, the political elite, general overseers and church founders in the country, last week, converged on Yenagoa, Bayelsa State for the 17th Biennial Conference of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN).

Started on Tuesday with check-in and registration, the National Executive Council (NEC) and the State Executive Council (SEC) meetings, the Bayelsa State Governor, Douye Diri officially declared it open.

With the theme, “More Than Conquerors,” the event had the 10,000 sitting capacity of the Ecumenical Centre, Igbogene fully occupied. On Wednesday, the National President of PFN, Bishop Francis Wale in his address urged the delegates to tap from the fountain of knowledge of the spiritual fathers, while assuring them of a great turnaround at the end of the four-day programme.

Oke noted that participants would receive unprecedented blessings as a result of the gatherings of the spiritual fathers, and charged them to look up to God who will meet them at their point of needs.

Disclosing that Bayelsa State was privileged to be the host of the programme, he affirmed that the state will continue to stand out in the country, particular in the Niger Delta region.

Appreciating Governor Diri for his support and also for approving the use of the 10-thousand seating capacity Bayelsa Ecumenical Centre for the programme, the PFN National President commended the Local Organising Committee (LOC), the National Advisory Council (NAC), National Executive Council (NEC) and other stakeholders for painstakingly making the event a success.

Speaking on the day-two of the programme, the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), Pastor Enoch Adeboye called on Christians to reciprocate the genuine love of God to conquer at different facets of life.

He said Christians must always be holy as a show of genuine love for God, adding that being holy is one of the of manifesting the theme of the conference, which is the desire of God for every Christian. 

For the Presiding Pastor of the Living Faith Church, Bishop David Oyedepo, nothing can be compared to God’s divine presence, as all human troubles tremble at God’s presence. 

He said: “When we succeed in carrying out God’s presence, then we come to that more than conquerors realm. And how do we get there? He that dwells in love dwells in God and God in him (1John 4:16). We are in love with God when we are dwelling in God and God in us, so we carry his presence wherever we go. It was because God was amid Israelites that the sea saw the people and parted. It cannot wait. Obstacles cannot wait. Barriers cannot wait, just as the sea saw them and parted. (Psalm 114:1-7).

“Everything that troubles us will begin to tremble when we are in genuine love with God. There is love, which is from him to us and there is another from us to his presence. The word says that when we grow in love, we are filled in all the fullness of God. That is the more than conquerors realm filled with all the fullness of God. And it is something to learn.”

The former National President of the body, Bishop Mike Okonkwo, in his session charged churches in the country to be true believers and to always pray fervently. He also implored the leaders not to allow the spirit of manipulation to adulterate their vision and mission to raise vibrant young people to push the frontier of the Christian faith forward, saying that the church must be bold and strong to speak the truth to power at all times.

Also speaking, the General Overseer of Living Stream Chapel International and the National Director of Politics and Governance for the PFN, Femi Emmanuel, said that the church must not just be comfortable with prayers without being involved in politics without which their prayers will be a nullity.

He said that Christians must be involved in politics to direct the flow of affairs as no one can change the system without being involved in it.
He said: “The Bible says that we are the salt of the earth. If you apply the salt into your cooking, it changes the character of the cooking. The church must be involved and the involvement is not just at the polling centres, but also from the grassroots. Politics in Nigeria is at the grassroots. 

“The wards are at the grassroots that produce the delegates. The delegates produce the candidates and the candidates are those that the people will vote for. This is what most of the churches do not know and we are training and encouraging them to know this.

Nigeria will not change until good Nigerians, God-fearing Nigerians and committed Nigerians are involved in politics right from the grassroots to the top. There are good, competent and committed Nigerians that can fix this country. This group of people love Nigeria, but they are not where the decisions of who the people should vote for is taken.”

Earlier in his remark, the South-South Vice President of PFN, Apostle David Zilly-Aggrey, described the timing of the conference as apt, saying it will serve as a spiritual prelude to the general election, and also to generate the spiritual energy that will culminate into the presidential election. 

Zilly-Aggrey who said he felt elated that the 17th biennial conference is hosted in Bayelsa, which has a lot of outstanding spiritual landmarks, advised Bayelsa people to key into the programme for breakthrough in their lives.

Before now, Governor Diri had appreciated the national leadership of PFN, for the preference of Bayelsa as the host state, saying his administration will continue to support churches in his state.

Diri who noted that the state would not remain the same again after the gathering of the fathers of faith, also called on Christians to be actively involved in politics in order to change the political narrative of the country.

Delivering the first lesson, the National Secretary of PFN, Bishop Cosmas Ilechukwu, called on the younger ministers to take advantage of the visit of the spiritual fathers to enrich their spiritual wellbeing.

PFN National Prayer Coordinator, Rev. Mercy Ezekiel, who ministered in songs created avenue for some people to receive their deliverance, healing and breakthroughs.

Dignitaries that graced the event included the PFN National Deputy President, Archbishop John Praise-Daniel; PFN National Deputy Vice President, South West, Archbishop John Osa-Oni, and his FCT counterpart, Rev. Victor Ogunkanmi and Bishop David Bakare.

Also at the event were the Bayelsa State Chairman of PFN, Pastor (Dr.) Tam Seth Eyedoude, his Delta State counterpart, Bishop Kingsley Jonny and Pastor Femi Emmanuel, among others.