PFN: Champions are indeed unstoppable

For Pentecostals resident in the Plateau State capital, Jos, the inauguration of the new officials of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN) chapter at the Living Faith Church on Richard Road on August 27, 2023 should elicit some concerns.

Being one of the biggest auditoriums available in the city, it lived up to its billing by accommodating as many as those who were guests at the history making event of the Fellowship.

The lyrics of ‘To God be the glory’, great things he has done by Fanny Crosby first published in 1875 echoed all through the inauguration service. Later as the event progressed, members got to know more of why they had to sing the song.

The efforts in mobilisation certainly paid off. Buoyed by the successes the out-gone officials had built in the last eight years, the Bishop Dele Olokotun-led Planning Committee put in all that was needed to bring all that matter in the Fellowship from the national headquarters; north central zone; state and local government areas of Plateau.

As colourful as it was planned to be, top on the list of guests was Mrs. Josephine Piyo, Plateau State Deputy Governor, who represented Governor Caleb M. Mutfwang; PFN National President; Bishop Francis Wale Oke; Prophet Dr Isa El-Buba; National Vice President North Central; Rev Dr Akinnola Damilere National Administrative Secretary, Apostle Chris Bature, chairmen and representatives from states that made up the North Central Zone, Rev Fr Polycarp Lubo, state CAN chairman, who Bishop Wale prefers to call PenteCatholic chairman and Rev Dr NC Thompson, patron of PFN Plateau State.

Other leaders of the Fellowship who registered their presence included: Immediate Benue State chairman of PFN, Bishop Joseph Orinya, Archbishop Kurudu, Benue, Rev Promise Yohanna, Bauchi, Apostle Patrick Ifechukwu, Nasarawa and Rev Dr Femi Adetunji among others.

On account of what organisers wanted to achieve, more than just bringing guests from all fronts; they hardly forgot the labours of their past chairmen. Not all may have made it to the event; the fact that Rev Dr Kenneth Ononeze, Rev Dr Wilson Ezeofor, Rev Dr Sam Alaha, Rev Davou Chuwang were on hand was a signpost that all was well in the house.

It was a way of saying, the labours of PFN’s leaders since 1989 cannot be in vain. No wonder, they were asked to come forward to be appreciated the more, while the out-gone chairman read his speech. Equally appreciated for service rendered which has kept the Fellowship united are members of the Advisory Council as well as zonal vice chairmen and chairmen of the local government areas and members.

If you were Rev Dr Steven Dangana, Senior Pastor, Citadel of Peace Assembly, Jos; the out-gone chairman of the chapter, the joy written all over him, was indeed palpable. For the first time, the National President of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria, Bishop Francis Wale Oke was guest speaker at an inauguration in Jos. That underscored the importance attached to the event, but more importantly how Plateau State chapter is considered in the Fellowship nationally.

At the heart of good leadership is the sacrifice to involve all by making sure they all played their parts in building the Fellowship in the state. No wonder, each time he called on members for financial support, they ‘responded with great joy like the Corinthian Church, whose generosity compelled them to give out of their deep poverty for the work of the Lord’.

For the eight years during Dangana’s reign from 2015 until it happily ended Sunday, August 27, 2023, the basis for the success of the team was in the unity that pervaded the Fellowship membership and other churches through the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN). The journey of the Fellowship found an encompassing and workable theme to drive its mission, by building and strengthening the structures from the ward level to the state.

To underscore the unity and togetherness of the Fellowship, one programme after another was churned out; starting with buying a property in Munchongopyeng; 35th Year Anniversary Celebration, where a number of fathers of the faith were honoured; the State Thanksgiving Service that brought the then Nigeria’s number two citizen, Prof Yemi Osibanjo; the State Recognition Award and Fund Raising Dinner; and humanitarian interventions in Bassa and Jos North.

The choice of the guest speaker, Bishop Francis Wale Oke was not lost. Being the fiery preacher that he has remained over four decades, the message was the word needed for the season. For him, champions are unstoppable; therefore, the time has come for a North-South Partnership where Christians in the south would be of help to their counterparts in the north in the spread of the gospel and other areas that would enhance the Great Commission work.

To bring this to fruition, a land that will serve as a citadel of prayer has been acquired to serve as the Fellowship’s headquarters. For the purpose of raising a prayer altar, and to get things running, Rev Dr Steven Dangana’s first national assignment, which was announced by Bishop Oke is to coordinate the partnership between Christians in the North and South.

The National Leader of the Fellowship paid tribute to the foundation laid by the Dangana-led executive committee. He affirmed that Dangana carried every leader in the course of his tenure; and that was evident by the presence of past leaders at the inauguration. That is the mark of distinction of a man who remained in front with a vision for the Fellowship.

Perhaps one of the happiest leaders during the inauguration was Prophet Isa El-Buba. There are many reasons; but having received a clean bill of health for stabilising the zone to become one of the most admired from Bishop Francis Wale Oke was enough for El-Buba to walk and speak with a broad shoulders.

El-Buba praised the efforts of the out gone leaders represented by Rev Dr Steven Dangana, who, together with his team built and worked on what was positive for the chapter.

The handover after inauguration by him of the Rev Dunka Samuel Joseph Dechi Gomwalk-led executive to Bishop Francis Wale Oke was emotional by every stretch of the action on the podium. His wife, Pastor Elizabeth Dunka Gomwalk is women coordinator of the Fellowship.

They were given an elaborate charge: Hit the ground running following the road-map and vision set at the national level. The tasks are enormous, yet they are able to be surmounted because ‘God will fulfil his divine will and purpose for PFN’.

Prophet El-Buba, speaking matter of fact, told guests Rev Dunka Gomwalk ‘represents a generation. His father laid the solid foundation of the defunct Benue-Plateau State. He represents in many respect, a movement in the spirit realm; that a new face shall come upon the earth’.

At this point, from where yours sincerely sat, Rev Dunka Gomwalk’s handkerchief must have become wet from drying the tears that dropped from his eyes. Who wouldn’t, after just being reminded of the pioneering efforts of his late father, Commissioner of Police, Joseph Dechi Gomwalk whom he knew for only eight years and the work he has been entrusted with by the Fellowship?

The late JD Gomwalk without a second thought was the path finder of the aspirations of the people of the Middle Belt. He paid the supreme prize for efforts directed towards lifting the people of the zone from emasculation and domination in 1976. He has since remained a reference point by the people he once superintended, and indeed governments that came after his.

For Rev Dunka Gomwalk, he has his work well cut out. He served in the last executive committee as state General Secretary; and would therefore wish to make a mark as they have been fired to do more. After receiving the blessings of a father with his team, he spoke to the guests as a leader should.

The Fellowship had prayed for Rev Gomwalk and his team. His church, Covenant Word Christian Centre International members were resplendent in the colour they chose to come and celebrate their spiritual father.

Rev Dunka Gomwalk told the Fellowship and guests that an honour had been bestowed upon him; as such he would build on the foundation that has been laid by past leaders. He therefore solicited for support from member churches of the Fellowship.

He promised, God helping his team, to unite the church while working closely with the Christian Association of Nigeria on the Plateau as well as drawing inspiration from the zonal and national leaderships of the Fellowship.

Six days after the inauguration, his sons and daughters at the Covenant Word Christian Centre International (CWCCI), which he started in March 2004 and he is Senior Pastor, were not done with the celebration. Hence, on September 1, 2023, the church held a befitting reception in his honour in the church auditorium. They showed that a prophet is with honour with his people.

The organisers made sure that almost all the leaders of the Fellowship that witnessed the inauguration came around to honour the new leader and servant of God. They came in large numbers, his family, even as his church members swarm around wearing grateful faces of the honour done them.

Speaking at the reception, a man known for shooting from the hip without missing and Anglican Bishop of Jos, Rt Rev Dr Benjamin Argak Kwashi said the gospel is in the family’s blood; having received it from their grandparents.

As a result, Kwashi prayed that Dunka will live and teach the gospel in season and out of it, even as the gates of hell shall not prevail against his work until Jesus returns.

Rev Kwashi praised the efforts of the past chairman, Rev Dr Steven Dandana, who, according to him has used his capacity to know people and relate well with them; in his quest to show the light of the gospel.

At the reception, an elated out gone chairman PFN Chairman, Rev Steven Dangana noted that the task of leadership is not in completing the tenure, but in finding the right successor. In this context that PFN has succeeded in the transition to have a new leader; and thus successfully retiring him; thus giving him the peace he thought should.

While praying that Rev Dunka would perform ten times better than what the old exco did in eight years, Dangana prays that ‘he will do spiritually what his father was not permitted to do physically, even as Prof Nenfort Gomwalk insisted that people did not understand that CP Joseph Dechi Gomwalk was way ahead of his time; a clear 47 years after he was dispatched from the face of the earth in circumstances that have continued to haunt those who carried out the act in 1976.

Nenfort Gomwalk, a Professor of Microbiology and former Vice Chancellor of the University of Jos; which Dunka’s father helped found noted that it was a thing of joy that God does not make a mistake as he usually picks certain families to carry out responsibilities in serving the people.

A new phase and chapter have been opened for the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria, Plateau State chapter. It is hoped that the prayers of members and the team’s commitment would drive its activities in the next four years.