IS COVENANT UNIVERSITY A MISSIONARY SCHOOL?
Before we answer that, let’s take an unbiased look into what a missionary school is and what purpose it was created to achieve.
A mission school is an educational institution owned and operated by a Church. The primary aim of establishing such a school is for grass root evangelism. It was a success story in Nigeria during the colonial days because it helped the church to Christianize the people thereby expanding its missionary frontiers. Despite the fact that it was challenging running such schools, the missionaries were determined to succeed, focusing not on monetary gains but on their goal which was to win converts. The missionaries literally made sacrifices to fund the schools.
The missionaries came to spread the gospel; they established mission schools solely for that purpose. Through school evangelism, many converts were won and the missionary work thrived greatly in Nigeria, and eventually transformed Nigerian societies.
Recall that after the Nigerian Civil War in 1970, the federal government took over schools founded by religious groups because education was thought to be a huge government venture and no longer a private enterprise. Prior to this time, Nigerian leaders, including some of our fathers of faith benefitted from the free education offered by missionaries, which became the bedrock for Nigerian nationalism and independence.
If we consider the purpose of mission schools carefully, then we’d all agree that having mission schools with that purpose at this time is absolutely unnecessary. Today, English is our primary language in Nigeria, which means the average Nigerian can comprehend the message of salvation without needing to be taught English first. There are free government schools in almost every town today, why should pastors or churches invest in educating people for free when the government is already doing that? Is that competition necessary? Is it even wisdom? Are we not supposed to be wiser in our dealings?
So if pastors are to build schools in this time and age, what purpose should the schools fulfill for the body of Christ? I’d tell you, societal and economic relevance! Churches or pastors can have schools, but with a more futuristic purpose. Although the purpose of the mission school was grass root evangelism, but it gave birth to leaders who transformed the nation economically.
The purpose of the mission school has since changed from grass root evangelism to global evangelism. Spiritual Relevance is the new order for evangelism. The world is waiting for the manifestation of the sons of God, and that manifestation can only happen when we begin to influence the values and economy of our nation through spiritual principles.
How would you feel when you watch a renown engineer on TV giving glory to the name of Jesus? The world isn’t looking for our charity, it’s looking for our unique manifestations. Doing charity works isn’t the way to show the world that we’re better, it has to be through outstanding results in this world.
While you may want to say it is faith that distinguishes people, remember that faith without works is dead. Men of God like Bishop David Oyedepo understands this, and they are putting in the work to ensure our proffession of faith remains relevant in this world. Take away the results of these fathers from this land and tell me what Christianity will be reduced to.
If they make their school fees cheap or free only to give an education that is not competitive, won’t the Christianity of the students become a nuisance? I’m even surprised that the same person who complains about pastors being charlatans isn’t appreciating the efforts of a man who is raising Christians with quality education. Look around you, the most intelligent and coordinated preachers in the world today are products of these fathers of faith. The only coordinated preacher that would have given him a plus has denied having an impactful relationship with him. You’ve been in ministry as long as some of these fathers, where are the pastors you’ve raised? Better yet, where are the global figures you’ve raised?
Back in the days when mission schools began, the level of education from a free school was still the best education, but today, no free or cheap school can compete with international standards. Try to relocate abroad and register your children in school, you’d be amazed how hard they have to struggle to measure up at first.
Before you start telling me that Jesus and the early church took care of everyone, we both know that there were situations that surrounded their actions. For instance, the only reason why Jesus fed five thousand and four thousand people was because he had compassion on the people. They had been listening to him preach for days and he didn’t want them to go back hungry, lest they faint or even die of hunger on the way.
In the early church, we’re told that the people sold all that they had so that everyone of them were comfortable where they were. Read Acts chapter 4, they had just been seriously threatened, which meant that they were no longer safe where they were. They knew that staying together was the best thing, just incase they had to move away from where they were. So owing properties and houses would be a waste. Hence, they sold all they had. Think about it, why would someone sell his house or houses only to come and stay in a camp? The bible says they were all together in Solomon’s pouch. It wasn’t just love for the brethren, it was a wise decision to monetize their possessions so they could have enough to sustain themselves just incase a religious war broke out.
Let’s think nau, why did Jesus ask the disciples to sell their garments just to buy a sword? Would it make sense to you if I tell you to sell all you have and buy guns, then move to a camp site with Christians – sharing what you have amongst everyone? It doesn’t make sense, and that’s because we’re now at peace. We’re no longer in a physical battle, but in an economic battle. The church needs to prepare and fight in that wise.
Back then, they sold all they had for the Gospel’s sake. Today, if we sell all we have, Christians will have no place in this world. If Christians want to remain relevant, then we need not only spiritual power, but economic power.
Finally, you said the church used tithes and offering to build the school. Why do you stand on the pulpit and lie like that? Do you have proof of that? All the tithes and offerings you’ve been collecting, have they successfully ran your church building in one day, let alone a school like Covenant University? And if we’re to agree with that lie, there are results to show for it. But you, what did you do with the tithes and offerings you collected before your self acclaimed conversion? Anyway, I’d analyze this much later.
Dear Emeka Anslem followers, please do not let my responses to this matter offend you. The scripture is clear about how children would stand at the gate defending their fathers from enemies. This is just me being a child. It’s not human worship at all. It’s a honor we all owe our fathers.
Remain ever blessed!
#EmekaAnslem
