Reverend Carol Ighele of Lagos-based Holy Spirit Mission Church and Reverend Fola Achudume of Victory Life Bible Church, Abeokuta, have called on couples to pray more, noting that one challenge the home front is facing is getting the men to sit and to listen to marital talks.

According to Achudume, men are always like “I’m going out looking for money”, and are not available to join wives in talks and marriage seminar. She said, they believe it’s women that should attend such event.

“That’s where we need to strike a balance,” Rev Achudume said.

They spoke to newsmen at the annual conference of When Mama Prays International Initiative, convened by Reverend Carol Ighele in Lagos.

Speaking earlier, Reverend Ighele said: “We organise ‘When Mama Prays’ every second Saturday of the month.

“But in August, it’s the third Saturday and it’s our International Conference, where everybody comes from America, Australia, all over the world to just gather for that conference.

“The theme for this year’s conference is ‘Rise Up’ and it’s gotten from Romans 8:11: ‘If the spirit that raised JESUS up from the dead dwell in you, that spirit that raised up Jesus will quicken your mortal body through the spirit that dwells in you’.

It is the most important topic for now as I can say. You’ve all heard of the global recession, the famine that is coming like in the days of Pharaoh, if not worse. It has started in Europe, it is happening in Nigeria, it’s going to be more severe.

There is the need for the woman to take her position economically, financially and spiritually. She has to intercede for her children so they don’t get lost or astray. They are looking for money, follow men, and ‘Yahoo Yahoo’ is all over the place.

We need to call our children back spiritually. We need the power in us to be activated, to work, so the mama must rise up; she cannot sleep.”

On her part, Reverend Achudume noted that “The church is a place of healing when you consider every aspect of life. And so definitely, the church rises up to ensure that there is peace at home, not minding the fact that there are a lot of challenges when it comes to our home today.

“We are teaching the women. We see that every time you go to churches, you will see women gathering for one meeting or the other, and not just to impact them with knowledge or insights, but also understanding of the place of the woman in the home.

“And by the grace of God, a lot of us as women are taking to it. I think one of the extra things we could do is to get men to also listen.

“I do a lot of meetings with women that I teach and bombard and they’ll come and tell me that you need to get our husbands to talk to.

“And so, one challenge we have is to get the men to sit down and to listen to marital talk because a man will tell you I’m going out looking for money.

“So many times they’re not available. Once they hear that it is a marriage seminar, they believe it’s women that should go. So that’s where we need to strike a balance.”