In an unusual act of community service, Living Faith Church, Ugbowo, Benin City, Edo State, Nigeria on Sunday, the 31st July 2022 gave palliatives worth hundreds of thousands of naira to church members who belong to the striking academic and non-academic unions (ASUU and NASU) of the University of Benin (UNIBEN) and have been affected by the impasse between the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) and ASUU which has resulted in non-payment of salaries for the last 5 months.
The ASUU and NASU have been on strike for about 6 months due to a dispute between the FGN and the ASUU over the implementation of a collective agreement of several years.
While presenting the palliatives on behalf of the Church to about one hundred members of the various unions, the Resident Pastor of Living Faith Ugbowo, Pastor Edwin Ogelenya remarked that the Church was carrying out this gesture to the members of the church who are also members of the ASUU and NASU of UNIBEN who, as a result of the on-going ASUU strike, have not been paid for the past five months.
He said in recognition of the plight of these men and women and to demonstrate the love of Jesus Christ which He showed to the world, that the church in its own little way decided to come to the aid of the striking workers. Pastor Ogelenya stated that, the foundation of Christianity is love because God so loved the world and He gave his only begotten son, Jesus Christ, that whosoever would believe and receive Him as Lord and Saviour should not perish but have life everlasting (John 3:16) and by extension, we have to show love to one another, particularly to those who are in difficult situations and in need of assistance.
“We are aware of and understand what you are going through and with a genuine sense of concern for your welfare, the Church has decided to offer some measure of assistance to you to cushion the effect of the burden at this very moment and to further demonstrate what Christianity is all about” he said to the workers.
Quoting further from the Bible, 1 John 3:16-18 “Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. [17] But whoso hath this world’s good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him? [18] My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.”
Pastor Ogelenya said love is to be demonstrated and not just to be sermonised.
He concluded his address with a prayer for the quick resolution of the impasse between the striking workers and the government, noting that the on-going strike has disrupted the academic pursuit of many students thereby prolonging the completion of their programmes.
He also prayed that the little token distributed to the workers will not be exhausted until their salaries are paid, after the order of the encounter of the widow of Zarephath with Prophet Elijah in the Bible (1 Kings 17:14).
Present at the ceremony were some officials of ASUU, the Secretary of the Union in Edo State, Dr Abusomwan Success and the immediate past chairman of Edo State Chapter of ASUU, Professor Julius Iyasele.
In his remark, Dr Abusomwan on behalf of the Edo chapter of ASUU, UNIBEN Branch, thanked the Leadership of Living Faith Church, represented by Pastor Edwin Ogelenya, for this first of its kind noble gesture to members of the union.
He said: “This is not just a gesture to members of the church alone but to the entire members of the striking unions and we will forever remain grateful.”
Professor Julius Iyasele also expressed his appreciation to Living Faith Church for this initiative and unprecedented show of compassion to its members. He said: “We on campus know what the situation is right now. It is not only that there isn’t money, but even when the money is available, it cannot put food on the table because of the hyper-inflation in the market. This act of generosity is highly appreciated.”
Some of the very excited beneficiaries of the cash gift thanked the management of the Church for this act of magnanimity as they took turns to shower encomium on the church for coming to their rescue.
It is so cheering and worthy of note to see a Church at a very critical time like this in the country come to the aid of its members who are in dire need and put smiles on their faces.
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