In this interview, Rev. Emmanuel Ngene; the Enugu District Superintendent of the Assemblies of God spoke to Gabriel Agbo on some national, political and religious issues. And also the celebration of his 31 years of ministry and 25 years marriage. Excerpts:
Who is Emmanuel Ngene?
I hail from Ugwuaji, Akwunanaw in Enugu South Local Government Area of Enugu State. Currently, the District Superintendent of the Assemblies of God Nigeria – Enugu district. We have 190 branches in our district. Born on the 28 day of June 1954, at Markudi – Benue State. At the northern bank of the river Benue. That was when my father was working with the Nigerian Railway. I went to Methodist Central School Utonkon – Benue State. And later came back to East to continue my education. After my education, I worked with some construction companies. I was in the construction sector until I was called into the ministry in 1980.
Do you think that the Nigerian church is doing well in evangelism and ministry?
Yes, the church is doing very well. Look at the growth of the membership. Number of churches. How many Christians we have now compared to the 70s and even 80s. The gospel is rapidly spreading to every nook and cranny, the challenges not withstanding. When Christianity came newly to this part of the world, we were using virtually no instrument, or very local ones to preach, but today, you can see that we have so many good and sophisticated gadgets, and so many means of mass communication that can reach millions of people instantly. The modern media has helped a lot to spread the gospel to in our generation. Take Assemblies of God Nigeria for instance, we had fewer churches in the early 80s, but today, there is no part of the country we have not covered. Between then and now, we have established thousands of churches in different parts of the country. Go and check, there is no part of the country where you will not find a branch of our church, even in the hitherto ‘unreached’ areas. We took the gospel to the Fulanis, Kanuris, etc. And these church are filled with converts, human beings. So, the church is growing. We have even gone beyond our shores. We have foreign missions in Cameroon, Gabon, Benin, Israel, and Germany. We just concluded the transferring of Assemblies of God Cameroon to the indigenes, after so many years of missionary work over there.
What of social ministry?
Well, we are trying our best for now. In our church we put so much importance to the social ministries. We minister to the prisoners, the sick, less privileged, the disabled. We have this school for the deaf and dumb called EVAMI in Enugu. We take care of these little kids, their education and even vocational training. And I know that other churches have theirs also. We have ministers in charge of this aspect of the ministry at the national and district levels. We believe God will help us to do more.
Is the country really feeling the impact of the expansion of the church?
Yes. The church is impacting the our society. Just imagine how it could have been without the church. The little light you are see in the nation is just because of the presence of church. Though the enemy is seriously threatened by this. All the commotion we constantly witness is the reaction of the enemy to the spread of the gospel of the kingdom. The enemy is not happy with that at all. No matter how you look at it, the Nigerian church is very powerful, large, dynamic and influential. Individually, Christians are also making impact through the various positions they occupy.
What’s your view on Pentecostalism?
Pentecostalism is a good omen and one of the best things to happen to the church here. Look at what God is using it to do today. The great awakening, the expansion. Today, Nigerian churches are among the fastest growing in the world. In fact, we are at the forefront of world evangelism. This was made possible because of the coming of Pentecostalism. It came with the power, zeal, anointing to fully utilize the power of the spirit of God to spread the gospel, and we all see the result today. We now have living Christians filled with the power of the Holy Ghost and doing exploits for the kingdom of God.
On proliferation of churches
It is good. Every church or ministry has its own special gifts and operation. No church is basically the same with the other. So, it’s good that people have a lot to choose from, according to their spiritual needs. Do you know that many people wouldn’t have given their lives to Christ if not for the charismatic churches? Most times it is the spiritual gifts in these new ministries that attract people, and consequently, lead them to accept and serve Jesus Christ. So, to my opinion, God allows this to fulfill the great commission – to take the gospel to the whole world. Now, when people open new churches and begin to put efforts to bring in members, they are also directly or indirectly winning souls for the kingdom. Having said that, we also know that there are fake ones. By their fruits, operations and discernment of the spirit you will also know and avoid them. » Read more: Emmanuel Ngene
