Deacon Iyke Kanu, a businessman, philanthropist and politician, recently decided to build a church, ‘Behold He Cometh Pentecostal Church’ for the kingdom of God in Ajah, Sangodeto part of Lagos. In this interview with ORUKPE NELSON, he shares his passion for God, reason for embarking on the project and sundry issues…

What motivated you to erect such edifice for God?

Thank you, all that I have been in my life is by God’s grace. So, in order to appreciate and show my gratitude to Him I have to put my resources together and invest in the kingdom of the Almighty God. This is just a little appreciation to God for all He has done in my life, that is what motivated me.

Why the choice of Ajah, Songodedo to appreciate the goodness of God in your life?

I have been living in the mainland for a very long time now. So, I have relocated down to the Island part of the state, I have built a new home around here (Ajah). So, it will be easier for me to have a church where I worship around me, instead of going far to the mainland to worship

Sir, David said in the bible; he will not give to God what cost him nothing, indeed this edifice might have cost you a lot to put together, can you give us a raw estimate of what you have invested here?

First of all, I want to tell you that there is no amount of resources you commit to the hand of the almighty God (house of God) that is enough. Infact, we all owe the totality of our lives to Him. I would not quantify or give you what I have put in here. But, what I did was to make sure that whatever I put into the house of God was the best, better than in my new home, because God deserves the best.

Why the choice of ‘Behold He Cometh Pentecostal Church’ to invest?

We have churches everywhere, but I have been affected by the gospel of this particular church. Just like I said earlier, I have had to overcome very difficult encounters that were very difficult for anybody to solve. But when I ran into this church the unadulterated world of God in this place gave me the solution to survive those situations. Like my people would say in Igbo land; ‘you don’t live where you see the power of God been manifested in your live to another place’. So, going by the gospel of religion in different churches today, I found really religion, unadulterated word of God in this place. This is why I made a choice to establish this church here in Lagos.

Are you now going to quit Pastor Tom Samson’s Christ Royal Family Church where you worship?

Christ Royal Family Church is my church, that’s where I belong, it’s where I started my Christian life when I first came to Lagos. I am not going to quit there. But I want you to understand that my building or establishing a church for the kingdom of God does not change anything. The body of Christ is one; my vision is to invest/contribute to the kingdom of God without segregation. As long as this is the house of God and they need certain assistance, which I can provide I will gladly and unrelentingly do it. For your information, I have helped so many churches that I’ve never even attended their service before. And this is not the first time I am building a church, I have built a church in my home town, Saint Simon Spiritual, Arochukwu, I have built more than two churches in Lagos which I am not a member of those denominations, but I have found out that this is what I have to do to promote the kingdom of God.

How do you feel today dedicating a church? Everybody here today, have come to celebrate with you…

First and foremost I want to tell you that I am the happiest person on earth today, if you look at my face and what I am wearing, it depicts how happy I am. It’s a pity you can’t enter inside of me to see how happy I am. This is a memorable day for me, it is the greatest day I have never experience before.

You said you are call to build churches, do you see yourself becoming a pastor or preacher someday?

Who am I if God decides to send me to that part. Like I told you, I owe my total life to Him, if I am called today by the spirit of God to be a preacher; I think that it’s the best work for me right now. I would say no if God call me to propagate His gospel. But, right now I am a businessman.

Sir, I know this is not the headquarter of this church, are you willing to build the headquarter in Umuahia?

If they need something like this, why not; if I can do this in Lagos why not uplift the headquarter. But I think they have a better structure there than what you see here today.

Are you saying that with the passion you have for God you can go ahead to preach the word without being called?

Let me make this clear that we can serve God in different capacity, we cannot all be preachers, God is one. Some people are called to be preacher, some prophet and some evangelist. I have a deep passion for God. If I don’t have passion, I wouldn’t build this for God, but it doesn’t mean I must be a pastor or preacher to exhibit my passion for God.

Aside churches, do you have other philanthropic gestures to give to the society?

Yes, I have a foundation called Toks Foundation, I have scholarship scheme, I have widows who come around me, other time for help.