Peter Uzoho
The Senior Pastor of Shepherdhill Baptist Church, Obanikoro, Lagos,
Rev. Dr. Israel Kristilere, has urged all politicians across the country, especially the elected public officers recently sworn in, to ensure that they fulfill their campaign promises to the citizenry as they take up the responsibilities of their new offices.
Kristilere made the call at a press briefing organised to mark the beginning of the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the church which comes up on July 13, 2019.
“My message to them is that whatever they promised they should fulfill.
I want them to know that the times are over when you just campaign and think you can take the people for granted. Even though the people cannot fight for themselves, we would see God fighting for the people either through government system or divine arrangement,” he said.
The cleric added that the church has a role to play in the nation’s development, saying “as a church, we will continue to teach the truth and teach members to be upright and we shall continue to maintain our stand when it comes to government policies that are inimical to the wellbeing of the citizenry.
“I believe the church has a lot to play in the modelling of this nation, raising men and women of godly standard, and speaking out when we feel or when we note that the people are being maligned, oppressed. So, the church will continue to be the voice of the hopeless, the voice of the oppressed in the nation,” he noted.
Kristilere stated that the people should expect the people of God to celebrate truly what the Lord had done, adding that there was nothing wrong with celebrating.
According to him, “people should expect us to take giant steps in our
cause as a church in terms of ministering to both the physical and the
spiritual needs of humanity. That is, not just preaching, but meeting
the needs of the society is part of our programmes”
Also speaking, the Chairman of the Anniversary Planning Committee,
Prof. Idowu Sobowale, said the church had planned a two-month
programme of events to commemorate the epoch event.
“Among the activities lined up by the church to celebrate the fiftieth
anniversary include anniversary lecture and gala night, visit to old
people’s home, a float walk, a novelty football match and a thanks
giving service,” he explained.
