QUESTION AND ANSWER SESSION

To have this opportunity to to have this close conversation with you. I think I'm going to get my phone. There are some questions some of my leaders will want, how did it start aposto. Zaria and not London. You didn't come from London. You didn't come from not even Legos. If anybody will have thought that a global ministry will emerge, uh, maybe we'll have connected it to some of the biggest places Legos so the biggest ministry connections. But from Zaria. Zaria is a part of Kaduna. I was born there and Katuna has been very central in the move of God in this country. With our Bishop friend Ado from Kaduna. We've had Bishop Boyd, we moved from Carduna, We've had some people move from Kaduna. Talked to us about you were in Zaria. You were sent to school. That's what borders a lot of us. Your parents actually sent you to school, and you went to school and found something else to pursue and you gave yourself to that. What really drove you, what drove you to pursue in what you began to pursue in Sarah? I mean, what did you see what captured your heart? Thank you very much. Rovin Sam Jeremiah chapter one, from verse five, when you read to twelve, he said, before now came as fourth, whilst you were in your mother's. Womb, I ordained you. And I sanctified you to be a prophet to the nation. Yes, so before he was even born. I don't consider myself to necessarily have done anything that is outside of a divine script. I think, by the mercy of God, I. Just stumbled into what I believe had been preordained for me, and that for me, it just so happened that Zaria was the place, by the spirit of God that allowed for that incubation, allowed for growth. I guess because of I would say the northern hostility and the environment. It was just conducive. There's something about the North. With all due respect, I think there's a greater sense of authenticity spiritually speaking, there's there's nothing to show for show off, you. Know, and all of that. Souh that that's what I would say. I'm not I'm not as concerned about where as it is about the fact that it was a drive that had been in my spirit way even before Zaria days. So people, okay, well, Zaria was where the vision for ministry was birthed. But the call of God upon my life way before Zaria days, I was already involved in so many things that had to do with evangelism, that had to do with so winning hospital visitations, you know, and all of that. So we used to have those days. They got us a like a discipler. So weekends, myself and a few people would go over to his house. He would teach and train us. Sometimes we visit hospitals. So these things were already ongoing. We used to hold concerts. Even before Zariah. We had produced with a group an album. You know. We used to travel for a lot of things. So I think that Zaria just came as the birthing point, particularly for coin only. I get frame and definition to what we're doing. But I would say, responding to your question, that I believe it's just a preordination from God that I found my place in life and destiny and just walk through it by messy and grace. Wow, I'm sure I've got to give you. We've got to give some money to us to apostle here as money, so we need some sound here, you know, apostle. Yes, we thank God for preordination. There are many of us who have been preordinated. I meet my English years, so many of us have this call. I've heard people tell me that Roged, the kind of drive you have, the way you study, the way you pray, there was something about you people always. Talk about as to do with some passion. Talk to those of us who have this same preordination. We we all have this call. How important is discipl plane and dedication to the first train. Of god'spel pers our life? I mean, okay, so yes, I have the call of God? Is it going to happen? Not autumatically? What is my role? There's a planting, there's a watching. Speak to the issue of our role in making sure that what God has shown us. I can tell you things people have said that you did, and I was like, really, and you share part of it. Yesterday you will go to rent her Bonker's conference. You were not invited, you're not part of the committee. You get crashed. You've got involved in pushing whil together. So talk to us about this, the place of drive, dedication, the place of discipline. Talk to us about that. In truth, it's a very uncomfortable conversation, but I think it's a very important one. I call it the God man partnership reverence. So God gives the vision, but there is always a role that we have to play in making prophecy manifest. And it's not just a straight line. It's a combination of many things, from prayer, to study, to diligence and so on and so forth. And I would be I would not be sincere with you if I told you that all happened, all that happened was just the grace of God. Like Paul, I would say, I am what I am by the grace of God. But he said, disgrace was not showered on me in that I labeled more than ye. All. Yeah, So I will tell you a few things. The place of prayer, the discipline of prayer, consistent prayer, the discipline of learning the world. Remember those times, my money was largely spent, didn't have much of it, but it was spent buying books. I was always at the library getting books, Christian book, Christian cassette, you. Know, and all of that. Then we used to have the rechargeable landon, you know, rechargeable London. I think it just came out. I remember I was so happy to have a torchlight that now had you know a place where you can slot in a cassette. So it was, and I explored across different ministries. You see, I didn't limit myself to just one ministry. In fact, the first time I encountered Bennie Hint for an example, you know the video, it was at a studio in jos We went to do something and then I sat there for a moment. You know, it was late into the night, and then I'm watching this man and I'm seeing miracles on miracles and I'm saying, who is this? You know, got the name. And the next thing, I got every material I could find, every material. They didn't have much, but I could get everything. You know, everything I found I devoted, I learned. I used to go to cafes. They didn't have much, so I would spend a night vigil. There's what they call overnight browsing, and. So that's what I would do. Some people know that, oh they do. So I would stay overnight and you know, just browse, get this fluffy disc and get materials, download materials and then go back and study. I had a lot of Bibles, concordances. It was a huge sacrifice. But I would say the discipline of prayer, the discipline of study, and then the sheer determination to become all that I found from scripture that I could become everything God said I could become. I believed it. I really did. I believed it, and I learned. Early the responsibility dimension of becoming anything. So for me, I knew that my destiny was not in anybody hands, and I needed to lay hold of it and to press, to push, I would say in summary, these were some of the disciplines prayer, particularly the spiritual investments. We didn't have so much to do. I wasn't involved in so many. Extra curricular activities, movies and the rest. In fact, those times it was zero movies, zero visitations. They didn't have anything. You see, if it's not school, then it's just study and that's it. And I think that again, the growth was enhanced because there were people. We were always teaching, Okay, so there were people. So as you build people, generally you answer questions and all of that. That helped to strengthen our convictions because they looked up to us in various ways, and so we needed to always be, you know, at the cutting edge of what we believe God was doing. Wow, you kept repeating I didn't have much, but you were talking about buying books. You didn't have much, Raven. Sammy, was a lot of sacrifice it came. I remember those days, so I used to have There were no phones yet, so it was it was just phone book. You know, you buy a card and then there were points where you slotted, so there was nothing like phones as we. Know it now. And what I would do was to write on pieces of papers books that I would buy. I would set it as a goal and put that so as people blessed me, opportunities came, you know, whatever money came my way, I would just head straight to a Christian bookstore just to get to get these materials to you know, just edify myself. I was all about growth. I knew early enough. I think it was a. Book by was it Bill Johnson? The supernatural Power of a Transformed Mind. And I learned that if I invested in transforming my mentality like I taught earlier on, every other thing would come. So I wasn't particularly interested in things like wealth or fame or notoriety, as it was about growth. Growth for me was the focus, and I knew that if I contended for growth. Every other thing that should come with growth will eventually, you know, follow through zone. The power of focus. How important is you said, a very very focused. You're very focused. My little interaction with you, you're very principled and you're very focused. How important is focused in the evolution of a leader, a past or, whoever I want to become. How important is focused? Reverent? Some, some you cannot overestimate. The power of. Focus is as powerful as vision. In fact, it is what drives vision until it fully delivers. It says this one thing I do there should always be one thing. There are many things, but there must be one thing. If a pilot is to fly to three cities, you would start with one city. The goal on paper would be three cities, but upon execution it will be one place at a time. And vision is very powerful because focus, for instance, gives you the legitimacy to say no to many things. When you lack focus, you will not have the legitimacy to say no to so many things. So focus prunes your desires. It helps to aggregate your strength so that you invest it in achieving a common goal. And I think that, honestly, it is at this point I can say it was the grace of God, the grace to be doggedly focused. And I think not knowing too many things can help a man to be focused. That the versatility of useless knowledge can distract your mind. This is one problem particularly, you know, with the Internet age, it provides so many informations. So something is conflicting something. You are learning. Somebody gives a health idea, another person is counteracting it, and eventually you don't know what to believe. Again, see someone say eat eggs, someone say don't eat eggs, you will die. And then so once you know all. Of those things, so we didn't have so much access to knowledge, you needed to go for the knowledge you wanted. You get the idea, So it wasn't knowledge flashing at your face. You needed to look for it. So it gave you the liberty to look for useful knowledge, and it helped to guide yes, to guide the focus. Also, we have quite a number of us who have a great call of God on our lives and we have great assignments to carry out all we've had mistakes. So we've had. Missteps, take wrong steps, takeing wrong terms, and some are still wallowing in the memories of past failures, past disappointments. Like Moses, some have since run away. They've run away from the assignment. So to say that God had called them to because like Moses, we made some mistakes. Failures could be moral, it could be Anyhow. What do we do. To you were talking about cybernetics? What do we do to find our way back? Can God still use us after after a lot of failures mistakes? It's any hope for a past or what missed this way before? What is the hope? How can we come back? Absolutely? I think we can learn from the story of the prodigal Zone. The story of the prodigal Son is a very profound story, Reverence Sam because it shows how to go from grace to grass. Then it shows how to go from grass to grace. So the prodigal Son, the story starts with a young man who is doing very fine, enjoying wealth, blessings and whatever, and then it gives him the liberty to make his decisions. It shows the power of decisions, the declining power of wrong decisions. And the Bible says the gentleman spent his life ryo tossy. I don't think that his ryots leading. He did not make the friends outside of. His father's house. The same father who had the wealth, had the blessings. I'm sure the father mentored him and taught him a lot of things, but he had other friends. He had other people outside of his father's rich and eventually they led him, advised him, ill advised him, and you know, he made a poor decision and he declined. But the profound part of that story was the fact that the Bible says. He came to himself. I teach a lot on restoration, and one of the principles of restoration is the power of self examination. Every man has the power to come to himself. You say, we don't choose consequences. We make decisions, and the decisions decide the consequences. And if and when you find out that you have taken a step that is outside destiny, the first thing you do is to run to God. You don't run away from God. No one else can help you. You run to God. One of my best psalms in the Bible is Psalm fifty one. I believe some fifty one the Salm. Of David was a declaration of his brokenness and repentance before the Lord. So I think that People don't miss it in life just because they fail. They miss it in life because they remain there. Remaining there is really where the failure is. The ability to get up, retrace your step, find the God of your salvation, and begin to make your way back. I think for me that's where the power is. And in getting up to go back to God, you'll leave back with two things. Number one, the memory of how not to do it again, and then you are able to comfort others in the future with the same comfort that you have received. There are many reasons why people fail. Sometimes it's not a product of rebellion. It can be a product of known or poor mentorship, lack of information, and then sometimes they just yield to temptations from the devil. You know. So regardless how those feelings come, whether it's moral feelings, whether it's technical feelings, in terms of executing your assignment, the point is you will always need to return back to God if you must find your bearing. Wow, you'll put our hems together for that. You lot about relationship, and I've seen you build relationship across I've seen people in the. Corporate industry, business governance. I've seen all kinds of people around you. You talk so well about the importance of building strategic relationship. Can we all please make welcome this excellency place welcome to thank you, sir. So you talk about building strategic relationships. And like I said, I've seen around you. I've seen people who are business owners, CEOs, ave seen people who are in government. I see that you mentor a lot of these people. And for whatever reason, I see that you are able to build relationship across board, and you are so non judgmental. I think it makes it easier for people to come around you talk to me about building strategic relationship. For those of us who are pastors, who are leaders, business. Owners, those who are involving governance, how important is building strategic relationship in this twenty first century. This is a very powerful question and it's an important issue, Reverence Sam. I think that for relationships, the first way to build relationships is to build yourself. Is the greatest gift you can bring to any relationship. I build yourself, to build yourself, the gift of transformation, the gift of preparedness, is one of the greatest blessings you can bring to any kind of relationship. Marital love, relationships, business, relationships because you are giving of who you are before you give of what you carry. You see, So. Most people are not able to build relationships, not because they lack the technical novel. They are not just good people. So when I talk of being. Valuable, there are two things I look at. Number one is being virtuous a person of character. Then number two having your technical or transactable skills. So in my world, when you say you are valuable, I don't look at your technical skills. I look at who you are in terms of your character first, then I look at your transactable skill. One of the most visible expressions of God's glory in the Bible is is goodness. And one of the greatest cheese I have found out in building relationships is to be a good person. And whveen some Being a good person is an aggregate of many things. It means you have to be thoughtful, you have to be kind, and you have to be compassionate. When you say someone is good, it means you. Are thoughtful, you are kind, and you are compassionate. It's impossible to say you are good if you are not thoughtful, you're not compassionate, and you're not kind. So in dealing with people. You spoke about being not judgmental. The truth is that I love Jesus and I love people genuinely. I see when you love people genuinely, you are able to navigate through their limitations. You are able to see from an eagle's view, the motivation behind the things they do, good or bad, and sometimes it gives you the staying power, the strength to overlook certain things. Yes, someone can act solishly, but he's responding to ignorance. It's not a wicked person, you know, and so on and so forth. So in dealing with people, I seek the greater good of every everyone who comes around me. My position for people is always to have their best interests. And if I do give them an investment of my time, my emotional space and they abuse it consistently, I would love them and respect them, but I'll create a distance that allows me respect. They have a right to keep to their. Value system, but if it's inconsistent with where I'm going, I don't let it become a distraction. But fighting tearing down it's not something that It's not a part of me at all. And honestly speaking, honestly speaking, you don't find me gossiping about people, saying whatever I talk about people, but not to smear them, not to destroy them, not at all. I give people the benefit of doubt. And I think the idea is to love people. My name means the way to love, and it's a good name, and I try to live up to it, just to love people sincerely. And when people don't it right, I'm not too quick to point fingers. I try to look what would have been the motivation behind this. And then one of the keys again in maintaining relationships is honor. His excellency just stepped in. It's my first time seeing him. God bless you, and we honor you, sir, but we all stood up to honor him in that capacity. Honor, I define, is the discerning, the celebrating, and the rewarding of men for their distinctive difference, for their uniqueness, and for their value. And it's a powerful law. It's changed my life. And you cannot build relationships if you do not understand honor. When you trivialize people's sacrifices and when you make it all about you. But I'll be honest with you. I also had to study on building relationships as far back as two thousand and four two thousand and five, I took and a comprehensive study on their kenne Is books How to Win Friends and Influence People. And one of the things I learned from that material as far back then is always focus on. People's needs, not your needs. When you become selfless, when you become intentional about helping people meet their needs, you find out that you are programming. You are planting a seed that becomes a harvest to you. So when it becomes all about you, you use people all about you. When you are around people, it's all about you. You can't build friends that way. You must become an active contributor to the growth of that relationship. So this has been some of the principles that I've used. I hope that that with justice, But you know, you know, I see them, I see We've been admitting together in some places, and I've literally. Watched how you relate. And I must say that everything you said reflects what you do. Before we leave. You are in a position where you lead a great global organization Collinonia, and you're doing amazing things in the United Kingdom, in Canada, and I'm privileged to interrupt with some other people there, and it takes a lot. I've been with you in Manchester to see what happened there. It takes a lot to bring all of that together. What are some of the qualities that a leader needs? And I see people working and they do so joyfully. What you may not know is that the woman that does that did the souvenir for the conference, who had last year how was to be a member of our church and. The dedication she put into it? And she told me, she said, Paso, I also want to add my own stuff to what they asked me to do. What is it about you and what you want to say to leaders? What are the qualities that we need to possess as leaders in order to be able to gravernize people together to pursue a common course. What is that thing a leader needs to know? What is that thing a leader needs to do and even be in order to be able to influence people in that manner? Okay, a number of things. First, I would say, people. Don't care how much you know until they know how much you care. You need to be genuinely invested in people. And it's a culture that I have sold to our people, you know, across all our expressions. I love them genuinely. I care about people. I take everybody around my life as I assume that position of a father. There's nobody who is around my life who is treated like a victim. If I can take the risk to bring you close to my space, then I immediately become interested and invested in your destiny. So when people know that you genuinely care for them, not just that you want to use them as tools to achieve a goal. When people know you want to use them, you will not have their loyalty. And the truth of the matter is that they will not give their best because they know that you are only using them as the most available option. At that time. I am a builder. This is what I do for a living. I build people. I build destinies, and so God has given me the unique grace to harness. I can see potential in people and take the risk of investing into the people until they are built to become people of capacity. And so I think it's one thing that has helped that every leader must have. I define leadership as the ability to harness and to coordinate human and material. Resources so as to meet a common goal. One It's an ability number two, you must be able to harness, meaning to see potentials, two to coordinate, to aggregate together so that it produces profit. And then number three a common goal. You must cast a vision before the people that unifies the people. It is vision that unifies people, not sentiments. If you cannot give them a vision that is greater than their sentiments, you will find a divided people. And then you must be the first model of your convictions. It is one of the greatest ways to lead. So if you tell people first, lead the way. If you tell people who give lead the way. If you tell people love God, lead the way. If you tell people show honor, lead the way, people will watch you and see that you are a testament of your convictions before they follow suits. And I think it's one area leaders fail. They put the rules and then they think it the rules don't apply to them. Every rule you put forth as a leader, it applies to you first. In fact, it should be stricter on you because you become the model for the people to follow. Well, okay, thank you so much. You know I still have to bring you another time again. I want to dig deep again into some other thoughts that I think and shape minds and help us develop quality leaders because imagine what will happen if we have more of appost Joshua salements across the country, and one is happening in Legos, another one in Jaws. Just imagine what will happen in this country. It is absolutely true that everything rises in force on one leadership. Everything rises in force on leadership. And from what I also have just shared with us, all of you are graduates who are. Leaving here today, there's something I wanted to take away from this conversation, he kept repeating, I care for the people. You cannot lead well if you are disconnect from the people you live by. The way is their leadership if you're not in relationship. With the people, And how qualitative is your leadership if you don't care about the people that you seem to. Be given an opportunity to lead. So as we live here. Today, I hope we all leave with the determination to provide care for the people that we lead. I love the Construct in terms of its concept of what leadership is. First of all, it talks about your ability to be able to. Harness all right potentials and you are able to use this potential to accomplish common goal. All right, those of you are in the who are graduating, you know that we always define leadership as the ability to exercise special influence within a group in order to be able to move the people towards the accomplishment of a common goal. I hope that adds to your definition. Would you help me appreciate that pursu salement? Thank you so much, saying here from desirements. Please have me celebrating my sagos. So sit down,