I gave my wife much work patching my torn trousers — John Praise

John Praise

To clock 50 years old, celebrate 30 years as a pastor and to have spent 21 years pasturing one of the largest churches in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, is no mere feat for Bishop John Praise, as reported by KEMI ASHEFON It is a beautiful experience and only God could have done that in the life of any man,” he

enthused. To even think that nobody ever wanted him behind the pulpit, not even his late father! That was almost 20 years ago and as a graduate of engineering from the Federal Polytechnic, Kaduna, Bishop John Praise revealed that he chose the pulpit rather than his father‘s dream profession — engineering. “I was the first graduate in the family and my father had looked forward to having an engineer. Then, there was nothing attractive about pastoral job, but my mind was made up.

“The year I heard the call, I lost my father. If he were alive, he would have taken a cutlass and chased me away. He was a Christian; he sponsored my education to be an engineer and not a pastor. When I told my mother and step-mother about my dream, they wept. To them, I had registered for suffering. I would not blame them because the pastor in our village had 12 children and his monthly salary was N100! Everyone pitied me and I had to fast and pray for two weeks so as to get courage to tell my wife who had expected me to practise as an engineer,” he reminisced.

Born and raised in Kaduna, Praise confessed to have come to Abuja in pursuit of a lady! ”She was transferred to Abuja in 1982 and I visited. We married in 1984 and we now have four kids. She told me she would not stand in the way of what God had called me to do and she weathered the storm with me. I am from Southern Kaduna and while growing up, I had a passion for the things of God. I gave my life to Christ in 1976, but I never knew I would be a preacher until 1986. I was committed to what I heard, despite the odds; and I knew I had to die and give up everything to be somebody. We started from zero but today, the church has grown in leaps and bounds.

After his Higher National Diploma, the young graduate went for his youth service. “I was posted to Ondo State in 1988, but I was already a chaplain for the Christian community in Kaduna Polytechnic. I married early (after my OND in 1984) and I asked God to give me the highest position wherever I find myself during the youth service to confirm the call. I was made the president of the youth corps members‘ fellowship and I knew it was for real. I got a job with the Federal Capital Development Authority, but I resigned after a year. My boss thought I was crazy and wondered why I would leave an engineering job to be a pastor. He wondered how my family would be fed; but I went ahead and in 1989, Dominion Chapel International Churches was established.”

Then, nothing was attractive about his vocation. ”For four years, I was trekking about the city of Abuja and our church was under the Wuse Bridge. We were there for six months and it was tough. I was going about with a pair of shoes and trousers that were always torn by the trucks that were like cabs. There was no good means of transportation in Abuja then, and I gave my wife a lot of work patching my torn trousers! But I knew what I saw. I knew what God told me and I persisted.

“The problem with many people is their lack of vision. You are propelled by what you see. I knew I would pastor one of the largest churches in Africa and I saw the crowd. Even after we got a place, one of our churches was demolished thrice in Kubwa, but I was not deterred. The land was allocated to another church and we went elsewhere. The challenges of pioneering a church in Abuja are numerous. You have to get a place of worship. I was told by one of the former ministers that our under-bridge church was a security threat and the then minister of the FCT wanted to arrest me. Imagine if that had happened when I was such a young man in ministry. There was no good means of transportation and living in the FCT was quite expensive,” Bishop John Praise recalled.

The former national vice-chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria, Abuja, Praise holds a PhD in Church Growth and Management. There are over 20 awards in his kitty and he is still counting. To have stayed on the turf in the FCT for almost 20 years would have meant huge sacrifices. When challenged that some men of God do compromise to have bread on their tables, Priase refuted this vehemently, saying: “I don‘t believe any man of God should compromise, because the government does not feed us. We are called of God and he backs our vision. As long as the government does not feed me or pays my bills, I don‘t think I have to compromise my stand. Truth must be told, but being the national vice- president of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria, I have to be careful about what I say, so as not to destabilise the polity. There are times you would not say anything that could cause mayhem. As members of CAN andPFN, we say the minds of the organisation and we allow our heads to talk. There are times we say things as it is.”

Revealing that pastors are also human too, the bishop would not hide the fact that they are also exposed to temptation. He explained that: ”Pastors are first human beings before they are men of God. No one is above temptation, but you must take precaution and know what would deter you from achieving whatever vision you have.”

Just as the New Year is ushered in, Bishop Praise revealed that: ”A lot of young ladies would get married. Singles who thought they would never get married would get their spouses in 2011. It is a year of possibilities.”

Wondering how he merges his spiritual life with family life despite his many outreaches worldwide, he said, ”The family is an important aspect of a minister‘s life and demands commitment and dedication. You just have to know how to balance up because if you must really be successful in ministry, you have to carry your family along. You can‘t be a successful pastor and have a shattered home. You must dedicate time, even when you don‘t have all the time for them. My wife was telling a pastor that I was hardly around. He then asked her: ‘Do you want a 10 per cent husband or a 90 per cent husband?‘ According to him, a 90 per cent husband is one who has all the time and spends it with you at home, he does all that his wife wants in the house, but be sure the bills would not be paid. The 10 per cent husband would spend 10 per cent at home but is 90 per cent busy with whatever he is doing to make sure you live life at its best. Of course, she agreed for the 10 per cent!”

Source:Punch