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By Agatha Emeadi
Bidemi Mark-Mordi is the pastor in charge of The Well Apostolic Ministries in Ikoyi, Lagos. She is also the MD/CEO of Verbatim Communications Ltd and an author of 30 books.
A wife and mother, she recently invited a select group to the private viewing of a short film entitled Still here, of which she’s executive producer. The storyline is about the Biblical Leah, whose life shows that life could happen to anyone, including believers.
She noted that Still here is the beginning of a series involving other Biblical characters which she is committed to produce. The goal, she informed, is to encourage men and women as they face life’s challenges.
Could you please tell us about the short film which you and your team produced?
The short film is titled Still Here. It is a modern adaptation of the account of Leah in the Bible which tells that even those in God’s plan are not immune from tough decisions and choices.
I am trying to use the medium to tell stories about life. The point of the film and others to be produced is to help people think about life through the lens of Biblical women’s stories.
Still Here is therefore an account of the impact our choices and decisions have on our walk of faith. I want people to think because the way we view the word of God is that most people think God always decides for us, and we have no responsibility. Meanwhile, the reality is that God has given us free moral agency, and expects us to take responsibility for our choices and decisions.
More importantly is that I want us to understand that being believers does not exempt us from life and its processes. Instead, it means that believers have an edge to have divine wisdom to lean on when they face life challenges. In a nutshell, life happens to everyone, believer or not.
Again, worthy of note is the fact that no one begins their journey in God perfectly. We all started from somewhere and are processed until we become children of God. In our wrong stages of life, God does not blacklist us based on those things. Instead, He invites us to reason it out with Him and make the best healing decisions. This is how God processes us.
The short film, Still Here, unveils a character in the Bible that we do not necessarily pay attention to because her account is less prominent. For example, in the Leah, Jacob and Rachael account as recorded in Genesis, everyone focuses more on Rachael because she was always in the forefront, but it is not the same with Leah.
The idea is to draw us out to pause and think a little deeper about what Leah’s experiences may mean to us today. Those emotions are the everyday dynamics of life and relationships that Still Here tries to explore.
If we pay attention to accounts of Leah, we may be encouraged to think about what makes a good or bad decision? All of those emotions prove that life and relationships can be chaotic and sometimes, we can find ourselves in such messy situations of life. Then, what do we do?
What inspired you to produce the film, especially the character Leah?
A few years ago, I wrote a book I titled ‘Camou; The Thing behind the Veil,’ which is a retelling of 16 stories of biblical women retold in contemporary language and circumstances. I made the effort to step in their shoes while using their peculiar circumstances. I tried to factor in what it would have been like if they lived in our day. The goal was to help readers find themselves within those accounts. Leah’s account was one of those women’s accounts.
Therefore, when I decided to do short films, I went back to the Camou and collaborated with a script writer to bring it on the screen. What we did was to produce something that everybody who lives today can relate with.
Then again, I also run a communications and media company; therefore story telling is part of me. Using the words of the scriptures, on the pages of my books and by my understanding of life, including my podcast is just an effort in answering a divine call while carving a niche for myself in the process. I simply wanted to tell a wholesome story that represents life; then allow people draw their conclusion.
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You have also been the convener of a popular annual conference ‘Return of The Helper’ (ROTH), with this year’s event being the 19th edition. Please tell us about ROTH conference 26.
ROTH is a place where God assembles His people for a convergence yearly intervention in their lives and situations. What happens at ROTH conferences is more about how we prepare ourselves to come to God. People need to understand that they are involved in what God does with them. At the various ROTH conferences, how we present ourselves to Him matters. Do we come with righteousness and expectations? Do we come knowing that the glory of God falls where people are in unity? Our theme for year 2026 was ‘ASCEND.’ That was an invitation and a command to come closer, higher and deeper with Him.
The worship, selected speakers, ambience, elaborateness of the venue, food are all included during the conference. With a great line up of speakers, the attendees were encouraged to come prepared to meet with God. Over the years, ROTH has taught that being a child of God is not a spiritual bubble. The 2026 edition which was held on July 18th was not different, but glorious as usual.
You have been quoted as saying ‘the way we see God is not the way He works.’ Kindly throw light on this
Yes, a lot of us think that God is up there, while we are here. Then God roars and we fall in place. No. One of my favourite scriptures is Isaiah 1:18, which says, “Come let us reason together.” God of Heaven inviting us into a room to reason with Him on how our life unfolds? For me this is exciting! This invitation assures us that God will fix them, but it takes our contribution and acknowledging how limited we are without Him.
We must understand this and make the commitment to do our best and get the best offer from God. Believers who fold their hands to blame God and complain about what the church is doing right and wrong lack understanding, and this needs to change.
If you want to be better, obey the commandments of God in the scriptures. Be considerate about others and be a good human being. Christianity is a lifestyle and relationship with God. When one has the right relationship with God, it will flow into the relationship with other people. Note that if one has a great relationship with God, but keeps malice, living an unforgiving life; such a person does not reflect Christ. The highest manifestation of God’s care for us is his love. That love-manifest is why He sent His son to die for us. Having received that love, it should reflect in our everyday character, and how we treat others.
Church leaders have been castigated for not speaking up on the state of the nation. What is your view about that?
I am not political. I know my responsibility to both the government and polity. First, my responsibility to government, according to the instructions of the Bible, is to pray for my leaders, which I do consistently. Again, my responsibility to everyone else is not to cheat, steal, or defraud them which I maintain. It is also my responsibility to pay my taxes and civic responsibilities which I do. Well, one can ask, when you do all these and government is not responding positively, what do you do? I think that all of us need to come together and be the citizens that can make demands on government. My vote is one just like yours. Now, we are faced with pre-election year, if I do not like what is happening, my civic power is my vote, and I have my voter’s card ready to exercise my civic power. My power as a believer is to intercede and I will not step away from that.
Citizens make such demands because they feel that church leaders somehow exercise authority over their congregants…
I agree, but do all leaders belong in a congregation? What I think we should demand from church leaders is to be accountable and live lives that match their confessions. What the Bible wants us to do is to be the light because when light shows up, darkness cannot comprehend it. It is not about becoming antagonistic to the government; it is about setting the standard.
In our daily lives, what do we do? Do I cheat even as a minister of God or do things as simple as driving against traffic? If I do such, I do not have the moral authority to talk to the government. So, if you ask me, before a lash at the government, I want to make sure that I am following the standard that Heaven has set for me. I will do what I am expected to do and teach people within my influence the right thing to do, according to the Bible. Then, what they can hold me accountable for. Since I am not an appointee of the government, I will keep praying for them because that is the instruction I have from the scripture. As an individual, do the right thing.
Many women now find it difficult to raise children in an internet age. What is your take on this?
The Bible clearly states it; ‘Raise a child in the way that when he grows, he will not depart from the word.’ We should begin with showing them a relationship with God, which is possible and important. Once that foundation is properly laid, the rest even though might not be easy, will work out in the end.
Secondly, we must model what we demand of our children even as their parents. We must create a safe place to come to in times of trouble. Again, I can also tell that children usually do what they see their parents do. So, if we begin by being the right kind of parents, then our children will learn from us.
Agreed, it is an internet age, a lot of things are happening in the online space, but if we can raise our children in God’s way, and ensure we maintain a trusting relationship with them; we have succeeded. Finally, and most importantly, the children are not ours, they are God’s own and we are stewards, which mean we should always call on God in prayers on their behalf. In my experience God hears when we cry out to Him for our children.
