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By Christopher Oji
Apostle Opuaya Agha is the founder of When Women Pray International, a non-denominational female group. In this interview with Daily Sun, she said Nigerian women should be leading examples to the world and catalysts for change to help men make the world a peaceful place.
Agha warned women who bring shame to their families to desist from doing so because the wrath of God would not spare anyone, no matter how highly placed.
She said that moulding children to become good citizens and shun violence as well as other vices was the main focus of her group,
When Women Pray International.
How would you describe women?
They are catalysts for positive change in the socio-economic development of Nigeria and that is why there is need for women to take their place in prayer and exhibit good character, in order to create an atmosphere of peace in their homes and, by extension, make Nigeria a better place.
What is the concept behind WWP?
The concept behind the non-denominational Christian women ministry, WWP, is to gather women to take up their God-given assignment in the place of prayer, thereby transforming them from ordinary to praying women and agents of progress and long-term development.
We are celebrating the 13th year anniversary with the theme “The Supernatural Woman,” It is aimed at reminding women of their divine assignment and the need to break through their natural limitations and be impactful to their families and others. God said in Genesis 2, verse 18: “It is not good for a man to be alone, I will make him a helpmeet.” But some women don’t know that they’re on assignment, rather, they make trouble.
Women carry life. There is nobody who came into this world without coming through a woman. Therefore, there is a need for them to empower themselves in the place of prayer because they are the bridges and rallying points.
What do you make of marriage as an institution, especially in these modern times?
Marriage is our core focus because it is an institution established by God, but some people don’t know what marriage is all about. I appeal to women to forgive their husbands and make their spouses succeed as a must-do agenda. That is what God wants women to do. Making you a helpmate to a man is not to pull him down. It is a divine mandate that your marriage must succeed. Some people think that prayer is for their miracles, but prayer changes individuals. It changes the individual before it blesses him. Marriages are under the devil’s attack because people don’t pray.
Women have everything to do to make Nigeria better. They can make the country better through prayer and their character. They also have a major role in child training and that training must be done properly. If you are unable to call your child to order as a woman, that will create problems not just for the family but the nation.
The essence of inculcating unmarried women into our programme is to change their wrong perspectives about marriage. Some of them enter marriage for the very wrong reasons. Our young women need mentorship about marriage so they don’t get disappointed when they get married, because it is for better or for worse.
How did the vision for this programme come about?
WWP started 13 years ago with just four women in our sitting room. Now, we have membership spanning hundreds within and outside Nigeria. I always have people I pray with. One day, when I got to Lagos, I started a prayer meeting in my sitting room. Before then, I used to go for exercise and whenever I was going, I prayed and women came to me. They would just come and meet me to ask who I was and requested for my phone number and I would oblige them. I was shocked the way things were happening like that. I didn’t understand what was happening but, eventually, when God told me to start the prayer meeting and I said I didn’t know anybody, he said I should call those women who were asking for my phone number. I called them and they were all excited to come. They started inviting other people and things kept growing so fast that I was scared, to the extent that I didn’t want to invite people anymore because it was my house, but they kept begging me and all that. My husband was transferred to Abuja and I started there again, and it began to grow again.
Looking at Nigeria now, is there anything women can do to make the country better?
Yes, the women can, in the place of prayer and in their character, actually make Nigeria better. Apart from their character, they can raise their children properly, because these miscreants that are doing all these bad things were born by women, and if you’re not able to call your child to order, there’s a problem.
Do you have testimonies of what WWP has done and what it is aspiring to do?
We have testimonies. We have had women drug addicts who just walked into our meeting and they stopped taking drugs. Back then, we did not have social media. The women would open up and talk. But today, because of social media, they are not talking very much. They would tell you the evil things they have done and how they have changed; how they used to frustrate their husband’s life but now they have changed. Their marriages have changed. So, our testimonies are mostly changed lives. You see the changed life of a woman who stopped shouting at her children, or a woman who stopped stealing from her husband.
What is the socio-economic advantage of what you do?
If you train a woman, you have trained a nation. We have produced women of integrity. I am happy that men are sending their wives to the ministry because they know the benefits of joining the prayer group.
With rampant divorce these days, what should women do to change the narrative?
Normally, we mentor younger women, including the ones that are not married yet, because some people enter marriage for the very wrong reasons, and that’s when problems begin. So, we now mentor them on how to marry right. If you start from the beginning, it’s powerful; and for those that have entered marriage for the wrong reason, we try to talk to them and, before we know it, they are doing well. So, one of the things that we love is when our husbands prosper. I think, if people understand themselves better and know the essence of marriage, the issue of divorce will be minimized to a reasonable level.
What do you expect of a woman?
A woman should see herself as a supernatural being on a divine assignment to bring positive change to wherever she is. She should be a living example such that, even when she is not around, people will feel her impact. She should be responsible and respectful. A supernatural woman is a prayer warrior who prays for her husband, her children and the nation. She should not separate her husband from his family but should be a unifier, a bridge-builder and not a destroyer. She should be a light and a pillar. If all women should be prayerful, Nigeria and the world in general, will be at peace.
What is your advice to the world, women and men alike?
My advice generally is that we should be winning people back to God. God needs these people, and he needs people to carry out the assignment. The world is evangelizing very fast, and there are many people going, even from the church. The social media is a distraction. We are trying to talk women out of social media.
Even now, men are evangelizing. I also want to advise our women who expose their cleavage, especially their breasts, to know that they are making some men to commit sin. God gave Adam and Eve something to cover their bodies. So, it is no more fashionable to be naked. Jesus also said that he who looks at a woman lustfully has committed adultery. When a woman exposes her breasts, she is making some people to commit adultery. Your breasts are to feed your child. I don’t know whom you are advertising them to. Indecent dressing is condemnable by God and man. Men should always respect their wives, while wives should be submissive to their husbands.
