The Church Should Prioritizes Discipleship of the Youth – Bishop Olurombi

Bishop Ademola Olurombi is a man of many parts, specially blessed by God to be who and where he is today. He is the presiding bishop of Kingdom Family Church (KFC) with headquarters in Ijanikin area of Lagos State. He hosted the church 2023 annual Global Convention, themed, “Enlargement” with majority of the 5 days camp meeting convention participants are youths from various higher institutions of learning across the country. He spoke with Providence News about the church vision, the goals and how the church in general can harness today’s youth for the kingdom purpose. Excerpt:

What gave birth to KFC?

Few years ago, God showed us a vision of God’s kingdom from heaven coming down to earth and there was a voice that came along with it, saying, go and prepare the people for my kingdom to come. That was the exact word given to us and that was what gave birth to establishing Kingdom Family Church; the primary purpose of the ministry is to prepare people for the second coming of Jesus. Whatever other things we do, it’s towards the vision and around it. Since the inception of the church, to a large extent and to the glory of God, we can see it happening that God is in it, increasing, enlarging it and expanding it from time to time. And we are happy, God is with us.

Considering the turnout of youth participants from different parts of the country, how are you able to achieve this?

I got born again and gave my life to Christ at the age of 21 years and that gave me the opportunity of what I am today in life and what I am doing today. The youth are the future of the church and it is better to train the children than to repair the adult. We believe the youths are instruments in the hands of God, likewise in the hands of Satan. Those becoming armed robbers, hoodlums, kidnappers and others being used to cause mayhem in the society and around the nation are youths. Therefore, if the devil is available to use some of them, we also should be available to allow God to use us to bring some of them up in a positive way and without the youth, there will be no tomorrow. Any society or nation that plays with its youths, is playing with the future of its generational development. Same way, for the kingdom of God and the church to keep expanding, we must work on our youth and children. That is the drive behind the vision. We focus more on the youth, bringing them up, teaching them the pattern of God’s kingdom and helping them to live for God, so that they can be able to do better than we are doing now.

What is missing in today’s youth?

What is missing in today’s youth, especially in our churches, is discipleship. We only preach and teach them how to make it, be successful and well established in life without in-depth principles of godly discipleship. We believe discipleship of the youth and teaching them the pattern of the kingdom is very important. Teaching them how to live for God, love and serve God passionately, then they will be more useful to themselves, their family, the society, the church and the kingdom of God at large. The discipleship of youth should be the primary objective of the church today, because they are the leaders that will take over from us tomorrow, and if we neglect them today, we are neglecting our tomorrow. Some of us are already getting old, the young shall grow and the old shall die, and this assignment must continue. Some people have gone back to be with the Lord and leave the assignment for us, we are also going one day. Therefore, we also need to be preparing those to take over from us when we go to be with the Lord. Whether we like it or not, we are going one day, so there is a need for us to prepare the people that will take over the assignment from us after we take our leave. This is what men of God and the churches should be doing now, to invest into the lives of the youth and build a solid foundation for tomorrow’s Christianity.

What advice do you have for today’s youth?

Generally, I will advise the youths to follow the Lord. There’s nothing they want to become that they cannot in Christ and in God. They should be focused in whatever they are doing, follow the part of righteousness and the pattern of God with the way of Christ. This way, there’s no height they want to reach that they won’t be able to reach. Because God is our glory, His blessing makes us rich and adds no sorrow. With Him, all things are possible. The idea of youth going abroad to make it cannot be of any help or solution, if God has not planned you to be there and the thinking of going into occultism, crime, yahoo plus and diabolical means to make quick money is not the best and right way, it won’t take them far in life. Because, what you don’t labour for will not last and every way that seems right to a man, the end is always sorrow, sadness and death. Why then pursue what will end you up in sorrow, shame and death. Today, there are many youths languishing in the jail and mental home with others roaming about the street confused as a result of wanting to get rich quickly through diabolical and criminal means. Youth should diligently follow God, His pattern and ways. They should be patient with God, there’s nothing they desire and aspire to become that He will not help them, if they follow Christ and the right part.

How do we relate enlargement to the present situation in Nigeria?

There must be a vision for enlargement and it starts from the mind. Your mind must be enlarged with a picture of what you see, what you want to do and want to become. Before God enlarges you, you must first see it. Same way, in our personal life, community and nation, we must have a mental picture of what kind of nation we want to build, the kind of family we want to build and the kind of business we want to do. A wise man sees with his head, before he sees with his eyes and whatever you can’t see in your head, you can’t see with your eyes. You must first perceive and sense it first before you see it. Another thing is the force of your light, that is what you know about the area you want to become great. To be great in any area of life, it will depend on what you know concerning that area. Your level of exposure, knowledge and education in that area are the forces of your light. If you don’t see it, you need to go and know more about it. To have enlargement in any area of life, go and know more about that area to have more capacity. Fact is, if you don’t know it, you can’t do it. It doesn’t matter if you have the vision, it goes beyond having vision. If you see it, then go and learn about it, develop on it and expand in that area. Then, the third one is, you must be ready to work towards it. It is not enough to see and not enough to know, but what you do with what you have seen and what you are doing with what you know. You must combine the three together, the power of what you see, the power of what you know and the power of what you do. This is what brings enlargement and you must be consistent in labour to what you have seen and keep learning about what you have seen, so that you can do it well. Lastly, for us to be enlarged in every area of our lives, we must see it, learn it and do it.

Are you satisfied with the present state of Christianity in Nigeria?

The state of Christianity in Nigeria is not getting bad. If you understand the history of Christianity in Nigeria, you will understand that it’s getting better and stronger. Many people are coming to the Lord, souls are being won for Christ and the church is spreading on a daily basis. The only problem we have in Christianity is that people magnify little errors, the little shortcomings and little mistakes they see in the church or with some ministers. The Church is not a perfect place and not a coming together of perfect people. No one is perfect and no church is full of perfect people. The church in Nigeria is not perfect and no denomination around the world is perfect, including the church in England, America or anywhere in the world. Because the church is full of human beings and wherever you have human beings, you can’t have perfect people, the same way you can’t have perfect organization. Therefore, the church is not doing bad, despite all the attendance controversy. The church is doing greatly well and not backward as imagined. God is helping the church, He as the owner of His church is building it to sustain it, maintain it and to keep it strong against any gate of hell that will rise against it. Absolutely, nothing is wrong with the standard of Christianity in Nigeria. The only thing is that, as pastors and ministers of God, we just need to be sure we are doing it right and follow Christ accordingly. Wherever you have the original, you will also have the fake. Even during the time of Jesus Christ, there was a Baal Jesus and other fake prophets. When Moses’ staff turned snake, Herod magician’s rod also turned snake, but the original snake swallowed the fake ones. From generation to generation, there have always been fake people doing fake things to imitate the original. More so, there are genuine people who are committed to serving God faithfully with all of their heart. God had to tell Elijah when he was complaining, I’m the only one that remains, and God told him I have reserved 7000 others who have not bowed their heads to the Baal. There are thousands of Men and Ministers of God in this country who have not bowed their heads or sold their hearts and soiled their hands to the evil of Nigeria, who are still doing wonders for the Lord. Just the very few bad ones, that’s what people capitalize on and magnify to make noise across the social media to misinform people that the church is bad and rotten. Yet when all hope is lost, it is the same church they will run to for direction. The church is doing great, growing every day, getting stronger and stronger; spreading more, far and near, and will continue to be till Jesus comes.

What is your assessment of the present administration in Nigeria?

They have started well on a good note and it will get better. Let us support them, cooperate with them, encourage them and pray for them to succeed in their plan for Nigeria and her people. What will be better will first look as if it is not going to be better and the problem of 20 years cannot be solved in 20 days, also Rome was not built in a day neither a day a child does not start growing on the day he is born. The current president has a track record of good performance when he was the governor of Lagos State, he has a good spirit, drive and tenacious mind, and his work is still speaking for him. Now as the President of Nigeria, let us give him the chance with necessary support needed to perform creditably to the satisfaction of Nigerians. I definitely know and sure that, irrespective of any circumstances, God is going to use him to transform Nigeria. Let us be patient with him and his team, he will be more focused and concentrate to do well. Also, it is good for the government to feel what the masses are feeling and they should treat it gently with the masses, so that we all can flow and grow together. I believe, with our prayers and cooperation, God will help the president and his team, He will also help us as citizens.