Empowerment: Cleric Advocates Religion Without Borders

Rev. Fr. Philip Egbuniwe, Parish Priest, St Mary’s Catholic Church, Isolo, Lagos State, has urged religious organisations to look beyond their domains in reaching out to the less privileged.

Egbuniwe gave the advice during the 2024 Widows’ Empowerments Programme of the Confraternity of Christian Mothers of the church, on Sunday in Lagos.

According to him, caring for one another is critical in achieving a better society.

He said that it should remain the guiding light of a true Christian.

He said that impacting lives would make the world a happy place for all.

“My advice to Christians generally is to allow the Christ in them to see the Christ in another person irrespective of where we worship.

“If the Christ in me can see the Christ in you, I will come to your assistance in the same way.

“The church you attend should not be the parameter for assisting others.

“What should be our priority is how to add value and show brotherliness,” he said.

The President of the Confraternity of Christian Mothers of the church, Mrs Carol Okwara, said that there were endless blessings in charity, especially to widows and other less privileged.

“I personally feel very happy that, at the end of it all, especially in the face of the current economic hard, we could come together, reach out to some kind-hearted Nigerians and put smiles on the faces of widows among us.

“We started this empowerment on a zero budget. We had very huge support from people who believe in this cause,” she said.

The President said that at least, 67 widows would have benefited from the empowerment since 2022, when she assumed office.

“Our target is to do more in assisting many people in need among us as parishioners and those around us.

“Being a widow is not the end of the world. Personally I was raised by a widow.,” she said.

On her part, Mrs Esther Abuah, Coordinator of the 2024 Widows Empowerment Committee of the church, said that items worth over six million Naira were presented to 40 widows from the church and its environ.

She listed the items to include industrial burners and 12.5kg cylinders, grinding machines of various sizes and food items such as bags of rice and beans, as well as fish, crayfish and stockfish.

Others are vegetable oil, sewing machines, cartons of Indomie noodles, packs of soft drinks and hair dressing accessories, among others.

“Our assignment is basically to look at the needs of parishioners especially the widows among us and see how we can enable them through this sort of initiative.

“We do not want to see them beg, we want to equip them so that they can be self-sufficient,” she said.

She noted that a screening committee was put in place for the selection of the beneficiaries.

“The empowerment was strictly based on their needs.

“Today, we will be empowering 40 of them. This initiative started in 2009 in this church before I became a member.

“Our expectations are that they put all we are giving out to them to optimal use and ensure that they improve their livelihoods.

Earlier, an entrepreneur and the guest speaker at the event, Dr Obiora Madu, urged the beneficiaries to be focused.

“We all know that the loss of a partner, supposedly the stronger partner, is a challenge to every member of the family particularly the mother.

“I want to commend the organisers of this initiative.

“Even the Bible said that God is the husband of widows. That tells us how God values widows.

“Don’t rush into any business because others are doing it. You need to understand it before you start,” he said.