… as CSN concludes the maiden national Catholic Bible quiz
By PJ Usanga
Acknowledging the contributions of the Catholic Church towards the growth and sustainability of the Christian faith, an American-based Nigerian Pentecostal cleric, Dr. Emeka Agwu, commended the church for preserving the Christian heritage for ages. He noted that at Jerusalem and other holy places of pilgrimage, the Catholic Church erects a church at every unique spot of memory of the works of Christ.
Dr. Emeka, who is the sponsor of the just concluded maiden edition of the National Catholic Bible quiz competition on the theme “Remain in my word,” at the Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria (CSN), Abuja, and also the President of the Voice of Evangelism International (VOEI), disclosed that his motivation to sponsor an event of this nature, even as a non-Catholic Cleric, is born out of the church’s contribution to the Christian faith and the mandate of the Holy Spirit to go into the world and spread the Gospel.
“The Catholic Church has made significant contributions to Christianity. Sometimes when we travel on pilgrimage to Jerusalem, at some unique spots of memory of the works of Christ, you will always see a Catholic Church there. So the Holy Spirit motivated us even before we came to the Catholic Church to go into the world and spread the Gospel. So the word of God needs to be reinforced into the system so that we can have a community that is word-based and we can conquer the world with the word of God.”
Furthermore, Dr. Emeka explained that his vision for founding Voice of Evangelism International, situated in Houston, Texas, is to reach across the globe with the message of Jesus Christ. He also disclosed that the ministry also carries out outreaches, like the “End Hunger Initiative.” He explained that since Christianity is a practical thing, without action, one cannot be a productive Christian, and since the basis of Christianity is action, one must carry out needed actions to backup the gospel message.
The President of the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria (CBCN), Most Rev Lucius Iwejuru Ugorji, who was represented by the Secretary General of the CSN, Rev. Fr Zachariah Samjumi, commended the sponsor, who, though not a Catholic, has single-handedly sponsored the program in the Catholic Church. He noted that coming together like this signifies that there is something uniting them as Christians.
While welcoming all to the grand finale of the exercise, the Cleric affirmed that through the competition at the various levels, many people have deliberately engaged the scriptures and that the exercise will open their minds to what the word of God can do in their lives.
The Chairman of the Competition Planning Committee and Director, Department of Mission and Dialogue, CSN, Rev. Fr. Joseph Nomhwange, disclosed that the event, which is the first of its kind in Nigeria, started with the 2023 National Bible Quiz of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN). He commended the sponsor, Dr. Emeka Agwu, for his passion for the scripture and, though not a Catholic, graciously decided to sponsor the event in a Catholic Church. He also disclosed that the program is also designed to encourage Christians everywhere and Catholics specifically to fall again in love with the scriptures.
“It all started with the CAN National Bible Quiz that we had last year, and we challenged ourselves and said if we can do it at the level of CAN, why can’t we do it at the level of the Catholic Church? So we decided that we would look into it, and pleasantly, we were happy to have the support of Dr. Emeka Agwu, who graciously accepted to be the sponsor of this event. The bishops have accepted it and given their blessings; that is why we are here today. He is not a Catholic, but his passion for the scripture pushed him to support a project like this within the Catholic Church.”
“We have also organized this to encourage Christians everywhere and Catholics specifically to fall again in love with the scriptures. The word of God is everything to us; it is what directs our lives, it is what directs our actions; it is everything to us; it is life itself. So we thought that if it is that important, we should give it the space, time, and commitment that it needs.”
The chairman of the planning committee, who explained that the contest is in three categories: the teens, the youths, and the adults, emphasized that the categorization is to show that there is no one that is too old or too young to study the word of God. He admonished that the word of God is active in the life of everyone and that as it speaks to the youths, it continues to speak to the adults as well. He also disclosed that the exercise hopes to continue as an annual thing that will continue to grow bigger and better as the year goes by.
The competition, which was organized by the Department of Mission and Dialogue in collaboration with the Biblical apostolate unit of the Pastoral Affairs Department of CSN, had contestants from Abuja, Calabar, Ibadan, Jos, Kaduna, Lagos, Onitsha, and Owerri provinces contesting in the various categories in the competition. While Onitsha province, represented by Okoli Chioma, came first in the teens category, Abuja province, represented by Madu Madu, swept the board in the youth category, and Owerri province, represented by Izuegbu Sylvia, came top in the adult category.
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