Seasoned evangelist, Evang. Segun Ehinmisan says his heart bleeds any time he remembers the old good path of Christianity in Nigeria compared to what is happening today. The deliverance minister shares his evangelistic mission and his thoughts on Christianity today in this interview with Christian Benefits’ Wole Olarinde. Excerpts
Please, let’s meet you sir.
My name is Oluwasegun Ehinmisan.
Briefly share with us about your call into ministry
It was by divine call from God several years ago. In 1985 precisely the Lord spoke to me clearly, “Son go and set my people free”. And that is what I have been doing since then till now.
Please, tell us what Segun Ehinmisan Outreach International is all about?
It is purely an evangelistic outreach set out to reach he unreached. What we have discovered is that several churches now are no longer reaching the unreached, except people that migrate from one church to another. We have discovered too that a lot of things are missing in the Body of Christ, so through this evangelistic outreach we are bridging the gap to bring the unreached to the Lord Jesus Christ.
Many preachers talk about the unreached; who exactly at the unreached?
The unreached are in different categories. The categories we are concentrating on are the rural people and the unreached in the cities; that is people who don’t go to church at all; and who have probably not been to church before all their lives. We want to go into market places and football fields etc to meet such people who on every Sunday play football on the streets instead of being in church. By way of making friends with them we would be able o share the gospel tracts with them and also speak to them one on one. If we can get at least one of them to know the Lord, he would become a pointer to others.
As a renowned deliverance minister, what informed your interest in going to the market places and the streets preaching the gospel to the unreached?
Deliverance is not meant for the city people alone, but as many as are under the captivity of hell; under satanic captivity. We have discovered that in rural areas we have several lives and villages that are under the captivity of the devil. And it is only through deliverance and the power of Jesus Christ that they can be free. That is why we are also taking deliverance to the market places and the streets.
You have been around for a while now with proven integrity and consistency. Tell us your motivation in the deliverance ministry over the years?
The fear of God and honesty are my motivations. I don’t pretend to be what I am not. I try as much as possible not to forget to ask for grace because it is not of him that runneth or him that willeth but of the Lord that showeth mercy. So I always ask for grace and mercy.
Generally, what is your view about Christianity today in Nigeria?
From the year 90s Christianity started having problems in Nigeria. In the 60s, 70s and 80s, Christianity was good in this country. Then you can trust Christians. When you say you are a Christian people want to have dealing with you. All we knew then was holiness and how to make heaven. But from 1990 when modern day Christianity entered everything just turned upside down. If you were to be an old Christian the case of what is happening today will be like what happened when the second temple of Ezra was being dedicated. The Bible says some were weeping, some were rejoicing. Those who saw the former temple were weeping, while those who knew little or nothing at all were rejoicing. But those that knew that the glory of the new temple is not as great as the old were weeping. It’s a mixed feeling! If you were a Christian of the 60s, 70s and 80s and you see what is happening today you will have a cause to weep. Does it bother you when last altar calls were made and people started weeping? There is no more weeping in churches anytime souls are being called to the altar! This grieves my heart to weep.
How can the old good path you just talked about be restored?
The message and messenger must be changed. Several people come to give their lives to Christ today not because they want to, but because of the sermon that you have preached to them. If you talk about prosperity and make altar call people would come out because they want to prosper. And that is what preachers have not noticed. And they are rejoicing that some souls are giving their lives. Even those that actually gave their lives to Christ are not grounded because the issue of sin was not addressed before they came out. It is a burden in my heart. I hope we could see again those old good days of Christianity when sinners sincerely come with broken hearts to the altar and genuinely surrender their entire lives to the Lord Jesus Christ.
#First published in Christian Benefits in 2008
