God can’t give women dominion just to sit in kitchen - Bishop Priscilla Otuya, UGCAN President

By JOSEPHINE IGBINOVIA

The Founder of Christ Mega Church Nigeria & Overseas and current President, United Gospel Churches Association of Nigeria- UGCAN, Bishop Priscilla O. Otuya is an interesting woman who is enviably grounded in all fronts. As an entrepreneur, Otuya handles the administrative arm of Swan Dredging & Marine Limited, a dredging company she co-founded with her husband. As a mother also, she has 12 biological children to her credit; some of whom are already toeing her footsteps in ministry. Otuya who is of Kwale extraction in Delta State was recently consecrated as Bishop at the Chapel of Christ the Light in Lagos. Vista Woman had an encounter with her.  Enjoy!

[caption id="attachment_411709" align="alignleft" width="250"] Bishop Otuya[/caption]

Now that you’ve become a Bishop, what should we expect?

Service, service and more service. I hope to use this office to be a blessing to people. I’m aware there are lots of misconceptions in the society about the position, especially as most people begin to see you as a leader and head. I however believe that your being a leader is to serve others and lead by example.

I understand you’re the first female President of UGCAN; how do you hope to open doors for more women to head the association?

I’m going to work towards that because I believe women are natural leaders. According to the Bible, women have been endowed with opportunity and power to take the church of God to the next level in Christ. The last one year as UGCAN President has actually been very fulfilling. We have done projects that include civic education to sensitize ministers on their rights and responsibilities because when I came in, I realized that there was need for reorientation so that we could be better representatives of God and the people.

We have also had the women’s program aimed at sensitizing them about their role in nation building. One other area that I am passionate about is the future of our youths. In this vein, we did a youth program aimed at mobilizing them about their role and how they can carve a niche for themselves. We are embarking on a campaign crusade for the restoration of the ideals that we stand for, with less emphasis on prosperity. We are focusing more on things that would foster unity and oneness.

But do you realise there’s still controversy over women holding leadership positions in church?

I think it is more of ignorance and misunderstanding. I personally did a research on women and I discovered that God has given women dominion for this end-time. You can go to the book of Micah chapter four. Dominion means power to control, rule and lead. God cannot give one dominion just for her to sit in her husband’s kitchen!

So, I think that controversy is a product of ignorance. In UGCAN, we’re working towards a campaign to create awareness amongst men of God to help them see the truth from the scripture. The problem is that most of us pastors do what I call ‘second hand gospel’- what you hear, you preach; not what you discover by yourself. So, we want to correct that.

You said UGCAN is working towards changing the system?

Yes. That’s why I’m a Bishop today. In fact, you need to see all the men of God that came to consecrate me as a Bishop. The list included Archbishop (Prof)Magnus Atilade, Archbishop George Amu, Bishop J.C.Okose, Bishop Johnson Ibodeme, Archbishop David Robert, Bishop Samuel O. Fadeyi, Bishop Rafiu, Bishop V.O.Okojie and Rev.Pastor Mike Utih. If they didn’t believe, they wouldn’t have been there to perform the consecration.

Can you share with us how your journey into the ministry began?

It was very rough. I had very terrible experiences. My oldest sister got missing, and the one after me also got missing! I prayed and cried to God and He told me He wanted to teach me to understand people’s pain so I would know what they’re going through when they cry. That was how I began getting closer and closer to God until He called me to serve Him as an agent of salvation. Today, I am very happy that I took that call seriously. This is actually the 25thyear.

Let us into your educational background…

I did nursing but could not practice because of marriage. I didn’t have kids on time, so, when they started coming, I had to abandon everything to take care of them. I actually waited for four years before God finally blessed my marriage with children. Now, I have 12 biological children! I had 13 but actually lost one. When I asked God why He gave me so many children, He said He wanted to prove to the world that He’s the one who takes care of children. True to His word, we’ve always lived a comfortable life. Each delivery actually brought me a new breakthrough. Some of my kids were even ordained before the age of thirteen because of the gift of God in them.

Taking care of them all must have been very challenging…

Whatever you have grace for cannot be challenging. Even if you have just one child, unless you have the grace, taking care of that child will still be challenging.  My children are my best friends and when you see us together, you could mistake us for sisters and brothers because of the way we relate. Three are engaged and will be married very soon.

How do you cope with taking care of them, running the ministry and playing your role as a wife?

Like I said earlier, if you have grace for something, it will never be challenging. First and foremost, the Lord taught me to work with Him. One thing I first did as led by the spirit of God was to resign my appointment to stay with my kids. The first is now about thirty years old and the younger ones are now being taken care of by the grown-ups.

When I began my business, I put my first son, right from when he was fifteen, as the head of the business and began to mentor him. Right now, he heads the business. My second son is an engineer working with my company, Swan Dredging & Marine Limited. It all has to do with planning and as a mother you owe it to God and to your family to raise your children. God really helped me achieve that.

Newly-weds and baby pressure

By Helen Ovbiagele

I was admiring this couple at their wedding reception, marvelling at how well-matched they were; not only in their good looks and easy smiles, but also in the way they reached for each other’s hand unprompted from time to time, as if ensuring that they were connected all the time.  As the chairman of the occasion made his speech, they smiled at the same time, giggled at the same time, and as if on cue, they would turn to smile lovingly at each other.  I was mesmerized by the sight.

In my mind, I projected the union into the future, and saw a home in which love, peace and unity were in abundance to make a very happy marital life.  And yes!  Children!  As many as they want; to gladden their hearts as products of the love and joy they share, which was evident to all and sundry that day.

I was jolted out of my reverie by the hooting and laughter of the audience, at what the chairman must have said, or was saying.  In contrast to the reaction of the audience, for the first time that day, the couple weren’t smiling.  They just sat up rigidly, staring at nothing.  I wondered what was responsible for the drastic change in their countenance. Accustomed to the usual jokes and advice by whoever chairs a wedding, I had tuned out  when the chairman was called upon to make his speech, as I didn’t think it would be different from what I had heard at other wedding receptions.  When the laughter wouldn’t die down, I asked a lady at my table what was going on.

‘The chairman is praying that the couple would have triplets in nine month’s time. One baby for each mother-in-law to look after on her own, and one for the couple themselves. He’s advising that they should all come to live together in the same house, and he would go visit them from time to time   to assess their care of the babies, and award marks.  Isn’t that funny?  An impossibility, don’t you think, ma?  Can you imagine two mothers-in-law each assigned a grand child to look after, and in the same house!  Imagine the chaos, the meddling and the quarrels.  It can’t happen.  Never! ‘

‘Of course, it can’t.  He was only joking, anyway. But why are the couple frowning?  They don’t seem to see it as a joke.  I’m sure they don’t really expect  his wish to come true, and they would start with triplets.’

At the night party for the taking-away-of-the-bride, I asked her mum who’s an acquaintance of mine what she thought of the triplets joke.

‘The man, God bless him, meant well, but it was the wrong thing to say because my daughter and her husband, who are both still under 30, don’t want to start a family yet.’

It was on the tip of my tongue, as an African, to ask why they got married now when they’re not willing to start having children yet, but I held my tongue.  Times have changed.  The young of this  generation have their own ideas about marital life.  In our days, having babies right away, if you can, was part of the deal of getting married.  If you didn’t get pregnant the first month, tongues would start wagging about the possible cause; to the embarrassment of the couple and their parents.

The newly-weds would begin to run from pillar to post in search of a solution. In most cases, there’s nothing wrong with them both.  The anxiety for the woman to get pregnant takes the joy out of their relationship and intimacy, and if the situation persists even for a year, reactions from friends and relatives may put a strain on the marriage.  A few more years of this, and the union could be headed for the rocks.  Couples who stick together, and disregard unsavoury comments from other people, find that they become relaxed and they go on to have as many children as they want from God.

My friend must have known the question that I wanted to ask, because she went on to explain that her daughter and the husband are born-again Christians who want to avoid temptation of doing what they shouldn’t do while single.  So, they decided to get married now and begin to live together.

“ They both work,” she added, “but they’re also pursuing post degree courses in their professions, and they agree that having children now wouldn’t  be in their best interest.  On both parts, we parents  tried to talk them out of  that decision, but in the long run, we had to respect their wish.  It’s their life.  They have many years ahead of them to have babies.  I noticed that they were a bit upset that the chairman made that remark about triplets, but we couldn’t have told him not to mention babies, could we?”

“Of course not!  It would have been as if there’s something wrong with them.  Maybe if he had merely prayed that the union would be blessed with children, the couple wouldn’t have minded.  But to go on and on about triplets in nine months’ time, must have been seen by them as pressure for them to start  breeding right away.  They would feel that people would look out for pregnancy, and begin to pity them if it didn’t happen.  This generation hates pressure of any sort.”

“Auntie, you’re very right,” said the bride, who had walked up to us and had been listening to our conversation unnoticed.  “That was why we wanted a very quiet wedding in our own church, but our parents would hear of it.  Our pastor agreed with us that it’s best to start a family when it’s convenient for us, and he praised us for wanting to wed now in order to avoid temptation.  Can’t people pray for couples without expressing an immediate supply of babies?”

“Jums!” exclaimed the mother.  “What are you doing here?  You weren’t meant to hear that.  Anyway, maybe it’s good that you heard.  We respect your decision, as you heard me say to your Auntie here.”

“I knew she would support our decision.  Thank you, auntie.  Maybe you can write on the need for our people to stop putting baby-pressure on newly-weds.  It’s so unsettling when a couple have other things to do first.  Some people would even start telling one about the number of children that a couple who had wed at the same time as you, already have.  That makes one feel a failure, doesn’t it?  It isn’t fair.”

This young lady is very right.  Most young people who get married, do so because they want children in the union; just like it’s always been since the world began.  But these days, they may have other priorities first, which the rest of us should respect.  We shouldn’t put pressure on their union by giving them a time at which they should present the world with babies, even though this is said jokingly most of the time.

We don’t know those who may experience some delay in starting a family.  So, since babies and the time they come are in the hands of God, I think it’s best to pray that a couple would have a harmonious union blessed with all the good things of life, including babies, and not mention any specific time, or the sex or number of the children they will have.