Pastor Wale Adefarasin, the Senior Pastor, Guiding Light Assembly, GLA. In this interview, he speaks on the International Coalition of Apostles and how it would complement the work of PFN, CAN as a body of Christ.

What is the essence of International Coalition of Apostles?

The International Coalition of Apostles, ICA,  started in America with Peter Wagner as the presiding apostle. He came to Nigeria about 20 years ago because he was interested in starting a Coalition of Apostles. I joined the coalition seven years ago and started attending the international conference in Dallas. Sometimes later, I was approached to help convene a coalition of Nigerian Apostles. That was the beginning of a journey for me. The conference has exposed so many things issues that are critical for the church across the world.

One of it was the subject of generational succession which effectually inspired me to write a book about generational succession. The other was the discussion about seven mountain geology. In other words, the gospel is not only about preaching and getting people saved. But, disciplining nations, disciplining the culture of nations. The seven mountain include education, economy, sport, art & entertainment among others which the church is obliged to influence.

Many Nigerian ministers have come to understand that they are not only called to minister the gospel to individual but nations. I think, people are beginning to understand the essence of generational succession in order not to fail. It was at the Coalition, I heard that, there is no success without a successor.

Four years ago, the coalition started in Nigeria and last year about 25 Nigerians church leaders were in Dallas for the conference. I have been consulted to set up National Coalition of Apostles across Africa. So, we are hoping to have a conference of African Apostles next year in Johannesburg.

Who is an Apostle?

One of the gifts Jesus left for the church is Apostle which is the first, then Prophet, Evangelist, Pastors and Teachers. Jesus Christ said, the church is laid on the foundation of Apostles and Prophets. An Apostle is someone who is gifted to start a work. His calling is not basically to stay in a place. He is to move around for the sake of the gospel. The word Apostle means, “Sent one”.

We have tried to disabuse people’s mind that the building is not the church but the people. And that the work of the ministry is not limited to being a chorister or usher.

Wale Adefarasin

How is Coalition of Apostles constituted?

We don’t have many members because we are being careful to have the right Apostles. We have invited lots of pastors because the message is not only for apostles but also pastors as well. We have registered about forty people in Lagos. We are taking our time because it is not about number but ensuring that the message is undiluted. We have a council of seven and anybody who applies must be attested to by two existing members before he could be considered a member of the Coalition.

…African Coalition of Apostles?

I have appointed someone in Rwanda to oversee the East and Central Africa, as well as South African to look at Southern Africa, and someone to take care of the West Africa.

Acceptability?

It takes time and persistence to establish the basis of the coalition with the people. We have held different seminars to get people acquainted to the vision of the coalition and the responses have been impressive. Our mission is service oriented.

Do you see the coalition competing with organizations such as PFN or CAN?

It is to complement the work of PFN and CAN and I am a member of PFN and national advisory committee of CAN so, there is no competition.

Let’s talk about generational succession. How would you describe a pastor who has failed successor?

The first thing he ought to have done is raising a successor from the first day of his ministry. By, the time he is old enough to die, he would have at least three of the people who possess his DNA including value, vision, experiences so they can step into his shoes. It is always best to have succession take place before you die. Hand over to somebody while you are around to watch them established in the office so as to help them.

How would you react to children succeeding their fathers in ministry?

According to Nigerian law, if a church is registered under Part ‘C’ of government and Allied Matters, it cannot be owned by anyone. We may have a pastor or founder. The closet people to the owner of the church are the trustees who are the custodian of the asset. I believe the person that should succeed is the person that God had appointed, not necessarily the biological sons or daughters of the founder. Sometimes, the best would be the son of the founder and we have seen that happened in the advanced world. If the successor is of God, there would be no regret.

The role of church in nation building?

The church has the captive audience of about 80million Nigerians, if we coordinate our members and speak the right things into them, there would be difference. But, you cannot regulate a religion.  If you owe a church and registered it, then you must conform with the financial standards. Your books should be audited and the audited account should be put in the public domain.

And that is what the government has introduced for churches to practice. And if that can be regulated, we will sanitize the church to a large extent. Nigerians should be honest even if they want to acquire wealth. We should change our value system. A child’s value system is formed within his first ten years of existence and if we do not get it right at that stage, we will sending wrong people to the nation.

What is your take on pastors who preach in the buses at the same time beg for money?

There is nothing wrong with preaching in the bus but it maybe wrong for the person to beg for money. The problem in the church is the same in the society. We complain that Nigeria is corrupt but the people that make up the church are Nigerians.

Through the Apostolic Coalition, I have learnt that there are five spheres of government according to the bible. They include, self, family, church, commercial and civil government. Once we are unable to get it right in the family, the society would be negatively affected. A child’s first exposure to values, discipline starts in the family. If it goes wrong there, the family is going to release a dysfunctional person into government and other areas. So, we need to focus on the family.

As a nation, we have lost our ways when it comes to family life. This is a generation where people see divorce as nothing. 90 percent of children with behavioural disorders come from a family which there has been no fatherly input. The culture of Nigeria is now becoming the culture of my “Baby Mama”.