Pastor (Mrs.) Titilola Adebara, the wife of Rev. Solomon Adebara of Fountain of Grace Church, Ibadan, speaks with TEMITOPE DAVID-ADEGBOYE on how to raise Godly children, among other issues.
It is assumed by many that it is not easy for a woman leading women. How has it been leading women in a church setting where everybody professes spirituality?
For me, it has not been difficult. God has given me the grace to handle almost all situations that I have come across. The women that God has brought under our care have not been problematic. They are easy to instruct and they obey, which I attribute more to God’s backing. We pray with them and teach them the truth of the word of God.
When you expose people to light, then, they will tend to work in the light. Also, we don’t take the ministry work as a do-or-die affair. Since there is no hidden agenda and because they are seeing the passion with which we are doing it, they are also following without any problem.
Another thing is that we are not running this ministry like a social gathering; we follow biblical injunctions.
Must a general overseer’s wife also be an ordained pastor?
If a woman has a call upon her too, then she should be ordained as such. This is not to say that we should put titles upon ourselves, if we are not called. Ordaining the wife of a general overseer without a call is ceremonial.
There is an allegation that some pastors are failing in child upbringing, as their children turn out bad examples in the society. What can be done to halt this trend?
It begins with the parents because the Bible makes us to know that the children that God has given unto us are for signs and wonders. Even as there is so much peer group pressure and what is happening in the society is so alarming, parents must work together to ensure that on the Day of Judgment, when they are asked to give account of them, the children, they will not fail God. If parents have the understanding of the purpose why God has given them their children, they will be focused to ensure that they turn out well.
Parents must show good example, pray for the children, be firm and instil discipline in their children.
Proverbs 22:6 states: “Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.” The use of the rod is also very important. At the same time, the parents must be principled. They must know what they want and where they are going, just like Abraham in the Bible.
We must create time with them; so we can have understanding of who they are and how to guide them.
We also have to know the company they keep. We should get interested in what interests them. Let no parent have rest unless their children have found Christ. So, every parent must aim for that.
