Senior Pastor of Fountain of Grace Ministries, Ibadan, Rev. Solomon Adebara, is in very high demand at home and abroad, across denominations for marriage counselling/teachings, conventions, seminars, outreaches and healing meetings. The University of Lagos (UNILAG) alumnus, who recently clocked 57, speaks with Woman Editor, TEMITOPE DAVID-ADEGBOYE, on his journey into the ministry and national issues…
Call into ministry
Rev. Solomon Adebara
It started when I went into UNILAG. I became an officer, holding various posts from my second session in school with a guy I met at the polytechnic. The call came about that time. We started with a magazine. Eventually, the ministry was born. I was the general secretary for about 12 years. In 1989, the church started in old Ife Road. That same 1989, I was ordained a pastor. During my stay, I had taken up notable pastoral roles. But in 1992, due to the happenings around, I had to leave that ministry. A month after I exited, precisely on March 4, after about five to six hours of praying, the Holy Spirit asked me: “Where do you write this period of inactivity: a teacher teaches, a pastor pastors?” Before then, I was just doing house fellowship with my family, after which a few other people were coming. That same year, the Fountain of Grace was born.
Sustenance
The book of 1 John 5:4 says: “For everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith.” If it is God that called me, definitely, I will always overcome. He says: Many are the afflictions of the righteous but the lord delivereth him from them all. All the things that happened when we started the ministry were just to deter me; but we were not deterred. God will never forsake his people. So, ours is to remain upright and he will keep His side.
Christians and the security situation in Nigeria
First of all, we should pray. I know that people say that we have been praying. But if we have not been praying, what would have happened? Many people in this nation do not carry the consciousness of what prayers have done over this nation; they just focus on the bad things. There are nations, even in Africa, that did not see one-tenth of the things happening here, and they are in war. So, people should see that prayers have done wonders in this nation. If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land (2 Chronicles 7:14). The Bible also says that prayer and supplication should be said for those in authority. So, the church must keep praying and appreciating God that our prayer is working. If you take a look at the security situation, you’ll see that the South is still relatively peaceful, but they (terrorists) have made a lot of attempts. So, prayer has worked. The only thing is that people think once we have prayed, then nothing should happen again. That is not the way it works. Even America could get Osama bin Laden until after 10 years and till now, terrorism is spreading all over the place.
So, God has been faithful to Nigeria. God has heard the prayers of the saints and we must be encouraged to keep praying.
Secondly, the church must start to live true to its commission. If we had been able to reach most of these people that are becoming terrorists with the gospel, some of them would have been converted. We must do aggressive evangelism.
In the heart of everyman is wickedness. But when the gospel of Jesus brings light into a life, then that life is transformed. I know that the enemy is fighting tooth and nail to make sure that we do not carry through with this mission, and all what we are seeing in the North is a great reaction to the spread of the gospel. I make bold to say that. They just discovered that what they thought they had as theirs, even in Borno State, is not theirs entirely. It is an onslaught from the gate of hell to stop the spread of the gospel of light. And whether they like it or not, darkness never has answer to light; light would always prevail.
The Christian community in terror-prone areas
Everything that is happening has emboldened the Christian over there, and what they are saying is that they cannot be converted. Right from the days of the bible, when there is persecution, the church waxes stronger. I also like to say that the blood of the martyrs is never shed in vain. Nobody can suppress the church because Jesus said: “I’ll build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” It is just a matter of time, Boko Haram will fade away, whether the devil likes it or not.
Church’s role in corruption war
Corruption in Nigeria is endemic. Someone once said if you study it, you will find out that it has entered into the whole fabric. I will also like to say that it seems the system in Nigeria is set for it. When you have a situation where mediocrity is rewarded and the best are left out, corruption will set in. That a man graduates does not mean he has a future in this country, with the level of unemployment we have. Some 30 years ago, there was scholarship; but today, it is for the rich. They corner it from the top despite the much they have in their kitty. It means that the poor will keep getting poorer.
So when a man has three or four children and he knows that education is vital and he thinks of sending them to the best of schools, you discover that he may end up stealing. Also, the standard of living is so high that an average person without the fear of God cannot survive in Nigeria. So the whole system is set for corruption.
Also, decades ago, when a man was chosen for public office, the family members would call him and warn him not to soil the name of their family. Today, the reverse is the case. And if you don’t become rich, you are stupid. A man who is upright and retires is not guaranteed a future here, so you see the problem is multi-level.
Unfortunately, some people in the church have joined them. But what I know is that whatever a man sows, he will reap. The church’s role is to keep teaching the right thing to the members. The Bible says godliness with contentment is great gain. We have to preach righteousness to the people and teach them that if you join them, then you have joined them to hell.
And as a church, we must not be crazy about money. If all we are saying is about money, people can go and steal to bring to church. We must teach the people that everything is not about money. Our assignment as pastors is to prepare a people for a prepared place; so we are concerned about the lives of the people. It is not just business-as-usual in the church. It is not just bringing blood money to church because if you do that, you and the money are rejected by God. In Christianity, you cannot use money to buy God. Righteousness is the yardstick for making the kingdom. In fairness, money is important but it is not all about it. In those days, it was said that money is the wheel of the gospel; but today, it is the jet. Everything has become exorbitant. Recently, they were talking about church paying tax and that the men of God now have jets. I ask: the MDs of banks, how old are they? How long have they been at work? Some of them equally have jets. Some of these men of God have been labouring for God for 50 years. Some of them have Ph.Ds. If they were to be vice chancellors, by now, they would have retired. Not only that they didn’t attain this level by stealing, some of them are great givers. And the jets that they are having are for them to run better and do the job better. If you get to the airport and you meet with disappointments, you’ll give heart break to those you want to preach to. Based on this now, people are saying the church have money, some pastors are thieves and so on.
So, money is much needed. However, as ministers of the gospel, we preach holiness because only what God releases can a man gather.
