Gov Eno Stresses Importance Of Rest, Restoration In Lives Of Clerics

By Bassey Nkponam
UYO
The Akwa Ibom governor has stressed the need for pastors to take into consideration the aspects of rest and restoration while in the ministry.
Pastor Umo Eno, who bared his mind, Wednesday, at the 25th International Pastors Conference, themed:“Participating in the Harvest”, which took place at Insight Bible Church, Uyo, observed that pastors in this clime engage in series of programmes in their churches without resting and getting restored, saying lack of consideration of these two things has sent a lot of pastors to their early graves.
Eno, while instructing them to take the two things as important and serious, recalled that years ago when he used to travel to Columbus, Ohio for conferences, pastors would relax, recreate and be restored, urging them to take these aspects seriously.
  “Many years ago, I used to travel to Columbus, Ohio for a conference like this with Pastor Rod Parsley and it was always a wonderful time for pastors to relax, recreate and be restored. Two things that pastors in our clime rarely have time for is rest and restoration, and it has sent a lot to their early graves.That aspect is something we really need to take seriously.That as pastors we can rest. Restoration is important too, and restoration happens when we come to conferences like this, where we have several gifts put together.”
He acknowledged the contribution of the church in the development of human capacity in the State, noting that the contribution of the church community in that regard has furthered the human capacity development component of the ARISE Agenda blueprint of his administration.
Eno lauded the consistency of the senior pastor of Insight Bible Church, Dr Sylvanus Ukafia, in convening the annual capacity building conference in Uyo which, he noted, has impacted greatly on the Akwa Ibom church community and by extension, the State over time.
He commended Ukafia for gathering Christian clerics across Africa in Uyo, yearly, for the programme without government support, pledging the state government’s support for the annual event, going forward.
The governor urged church leaders to take advantage of the restoration and capacity building that such programmes offer byutilising the opportunity maximally, rather than live in a false mentality of self-sufficiency.
  “This is full conference for the body of Christ and this has been on for over 20 years, not expecting any reward, not expecting government to come. You’ve done this for over 20 years and you’ve been very consistent about it, impacting our pastors, developing capacity, which is also what we campaigned on. Thank you for what you’ve done.
That is why I support this programme and, for me, honestly, I see it as human capital development. This is our Christian Harvard. We’re coming together, you’re talking to us, teaching our pastors.And, so long as I remain governor, by the grace of God, we’ll support you every year”.
While restating his resolve to deliver on the good governance placed upon him by the people, Eno said since it was impossible to reward all the people that voted him individually, his administration would, through life-touching projects, ensure delivery of dividends of democracy with integrity to Akwa Ibom people.
  “I believe that if we put a school or hospital in your community, do the road and fix certain things in your community, these are the things you voted for and we had campaigned on connecting the dots and take government to the rural communities and supporting them. I believe we are doing that. That is why we are pouring out ourselves to ensure that we do all we can and do it with integrity”.
The senior pastor of Insight Bible Church and convener of the conference, Dr Sylvanus Ukafia, welcomed Pastor Eno, both as head of government in the state and a stakeholder in the church community, lauding him for making the church proud with his good governance strides.
Ukafia said the 25th edition of the International Pastors’ Conference has drawn participants from 25 African countries, adding that he was committed to complementing and supporting the Godly regime of Pastor Eno through training and building capacity in the Akwa Ibom Christian community.
Pastor Simeon Afolabi of First Love Assembly, Port Harcourt, who spoke on “Pastoral Soul Care”, with text taken from 11 Kings 4:1, stressed the need for ministers of God to acquire financial literacy to help safeguard their moral authority and be well positioned to transmit doctrine and Godly components of culture to the next generation.
Afolabi said it was imperative to address the issue of financial literacy of pastors properly to safe the ministry from being ridiculed, and future generation of believers being distaste.