THE EVANGELICAL CHURCH WINNING ALL (ECWA)
The Evangelical Church Winning All (ECWA), previously known as the Evangelical Church of West Africa, is one of the largest church denominations in Nigeria which has also spread to other African countries, the United States of America, United Kingdom and also Israel.
ECWA is a partner church of the International Christian Mission
Organization: Serving In Mission. (SIM, formerly Sudan Interior Mission). It was founded in 1954 when the SIM-related churches came together to form one indigenous body. Since that time, mission
stations, Bible Schools, academic schools, and medical programs have been transferred to ECWA leadership.
The history of ECWA began with the vision of three young men named Walter Gowans, Ronald Bingham (both from Canada) and Thomas Kent (from United States). They landed in Lagos Nigeria in 1893. They heard about the region of Sudan in the continent of Africa and its desperate need for the gospel. This heroic effort gave birth to the Sudan Interior Mission (SIM).
The SIM missionaries eventually handed over to the indigenous leaders and it was incorporated as Evangelical Church of West Africa (ECWA) in 1954. In line with the Church’s vision to reach the entire globe with the gospel of Christ, the name was changed from Evangelical Church Of West Africa to Evangelical Church Winning All. As at today, ECWA is now one of the largest Church denominations in Nigeria with millions of membership in its fold.
The primary goal of ECWA is to bring glory and honour to the Almighty God and this goal is been fulfilled through; Evangelism (reaching the world with the gospel of Jesus Christ), Discipleship (teaching individual believers to become less self-centred and more like Christ), Praise and Worship (acknowledging God for who He is and what He has done).
Throughout Nigeria, especially in the central regions, ECWA churches are growing rapidly. Some churches have experienced as much as 400% growth in the last several years. Churches in the Northern parts of the country are also growing. There are currently more than six thousand ECWA congregations with more than ten million members. ECWA has over ninety District Church Councils (DCC’s), hundreds of Local Church Councils (LCC’s), thousands of Local Churches (LCs) and hundreds of Prayer Houses (PHs).
The Church has a strong spiritual base with a lot of prayers, praise, worship, evangelism and sound teaching of the Word. Also, there are various departments for catering to the needs of her members such as the Welfare Department; Hospital Ministry; The Prison Ministry; Elders/ Old People’s Outreach, Schools and colleges.
ECWA has become a strong force and keeps growing in strength and number to the Glory of God. The Church of God shall keep waxing stronger and the gates of hell will never prevail over it.
Sources: Ecwanationwidegist, Ecwaline page
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