Pastor Michael Folorunsho Ohilebu is the Assistant Pastor in charge of Region 46 and the PICP of FCT 11, Abuja. He spoke with The BeautifulDay Testimonial team on Pastor-congregation relationship pattern and the essence of trust. Excerpts.
Can we meet you, Sir?
I’m Pastor Michael Folorunsho Ohilebu, the Assistant Pastor in charge of Region 46 and the PICP of FCT 11, Abuja.
Now you have been just one year in Abuja, what has been your experience?
The experience has been wonderful. Abuja is a wonderful place and with different territories. By the grace of God, I have worked in the west, south, at least in the south-south in the past 16 years; worked in Port-Harcourt, Rivers States, and worked in Akwa-Ibom. I started from the west.
Abuja is a very interesting place, you have a different kind of people. One thing that I have discovered in Abuja is that you don’t try to assume. There are different types of personalities among members and Pastors. Anywhere I get into, I really want to see how things are moving there, how can I get result, from there I move on. So that is what I can say. There are people who love God, and that is my finding in Abuja.
In a clearer term, what are the roles of Pastor in Charge of Province, and how do you relate to the structure under you (Zones, Areas, and Parishes)?
The role of the Pastor-in-Charge of Province is an executive and administrative role, because most policies are being implemented by pastor-in-charge of province. The region will always receive the information from above and disseminate it. It is the province that will carry it out to the Zone, Area or Parish. Pastor-in-charge of Zone doesn’t work with pastor-in-charge of region but with pastor-in-charge of province. So, the pastor-in-charge of province is an executive arm that implements policies and sees to the welfare of the province. It is the role model of the church because whatever any Area or Zonal Pastor has done may not go viral but whatever any PICP does, will.
The way pastors react in Abuja is different from the way they react in Edo State as well as Rivers and Akwa-Ibom. So those four places have different issues. By the grace of God, I have found out that if you are in Edo, tell them what we are doing and once they believe in you, it is done. Getting to Port-Harcourt, once Port-Harcourt can trust you and the way you carry yourself because if you carry yourself as if you are interested in their money, as a matter of fact, you will lose focus but when you stand your ground and have something to offer, you will have your way. Then in Akwa-Ibom, you must add a little force to be able to achieve something. In Abuja, you have big people, big ogas in Abuja, they look at you and check ‘are up to somebody I give assignment to in my office?’ But I won’t tell you lie, God has been faithful. Up till now, we continuously have plus, even though we have not met the target.
With regards to that effect, as a province, how do you ensure that the different levels under you work together in a coordinated and harmonious way?
The first thing you need to do is that you must be somebody they look up to, because once they can’t look up to you, you can’t bring them together. For instance, when I got here, I discovered that everyone there had a specific class of their own. And by the grace of God, I was able to follow up with everybody irrespective of the social class, which allowed the people to view me as a father and open up to me on certain matters. I was able to develop a relationship with the people that allowed them to trust me. You must first win the trust of the pastor in charge of zones, areas and parishes because without their trust, you can’t achieve anything.
You also mentioned that information gets to the parishes, areas and zones through the province. How do you ensure that this is effectively done?
If the Region wants to pass across information, it communicates with the PICP. Then the PICP holds a meeting with the area and zonal pastors. But what I do is that, I make sure that at least twice in a year, I hold meetings with both pastors in charge of parishes, areas and zones. For instance, at the beginning of the RCCG calendar in September, I hold one of such meetings to start the Redeem year. During the course of the meeting, I ask questions such as whether there has been proper dissemination of information and in some cases, I eventually find out that there has not been proper communication of information. When you see that a zone is not functioning, it may be as a result of poor communication and until the issue is solved, you may not be able to perform your functions properly.
As the PICP for FCT 11, what are your priorities?
My priority number one is to make sure that we have more people that live for God because heaven is the ultimate goal. Everything I want to do, I want holiness and righteousness to be the bane of it. For instance, for the past one year, there is nothing that we have been asked to do that I kept a secret or added information to it. I was on leave, it told my assistant he is going to be in charge for 2-3 weeks because I would not be around.
The way we address people is very important. I found out that some of them want honour and if you give such people honour, they will give it back to you and that is in my nature. I have noticed that if there are issues among the areas and zones, the first thing I do is to see if there is any ego issue and if there is any, I’ll go there to settle it. By the grace of God, I have a platform for zonal, area and parish pastors in order to communicate with them on different scales. That’s another thing that we are doing to bridge the gap.
You have been the PICP for FCT 11 for about 11 months. How can you assess the achievements looking at it from when you first resumed and where you are now?
By the grace of God, we have been able to make a lot of impact. Number one, I met pastors that were divided, hurt and injured emotionally. During my first meeting, I saw that they were not hiding it. So I had to call a meeting of zonal pastors because I noticed that there was no cooperation and we discussed at length about their issues and I reassured them that I will take responsibility for whatever has been done. I then asked them to give me some time and today, all issues are settled.
By the grace of God, there is a level of familiarity between my pastors and I have grown to earn their trust and respect. If I wasn’t able to resolve the initial conflict, I don’t think we will be where we are today. The provincial headquarters, in terms of infrastructure, is different. I have made up my mind to take it one step at a time because there will be a lot of projects, issues, and the likes.
It will soon be one year since you resumed as the PICP of your province. What are your prospects? What do you intend to achieve in the subsequent years?
By the grace of God, we are going to be the province that people are going to envy. I was sharing with someone earlier that I have never pastored a province and after one year there is no envy and I don’t know why. God once said to me that if I back up a man, he can’t be at the back and that has been my testimony everywhere I go. During this one year, I have done two Go-A-Fishing and during those programs, I ensured that we bought land and that erased the issue of rent payment which was an issue with some of the parishes under the province. By the grace of God, we have five of such lands that have developed into churches. I do not struggle to be known because I have discovered that if you appear before your time, you will disappear before your time. And God has been helping me along the way.
We know that the economic situation in the country has not been favorable. What do you have to say to your members and Christians in general that are going through one challenge or the other economically?
Number one; trust in God. When you have trust in God, whatever you lay your hands on shall prosper and be blessed. When I got to Abuja, I discovered that Abuja is costly to live in. Fueling alone, I spent nothing less than N60,000 in a week. But God has been so gracious to me and I don’t stress about things like that. Let’s learn to depend on God. Our God is a faithful God. He can still connect you with the economy of heaven where He will make sure all the loopholes are blocked and that is what God has done for me.
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