The Redeemed Christian Church of God, Royal Assembly Parish, Ogba, Lagos on Sunday commissioned a 144-metre road project as part of activities to mark its 13th year anniversary.
Commissioning the project, the Pastor-in-charge, Lagos Province 60, Pastor Ephraim Osunde, said the church believes in giving back to its host society, adding that the gesture is in line with the ministry’s vision on Corporate Social Responsibility.
Osunde said: “We believe in giving back to the society where our church is located.
“We thank God for the completed project and we are also grateful to the community and those who supported in making the project a reality.”
The Assistant Pastor-in-charge of Province, LP 60 and host, Pastor Rotimi Davies, revealed that the suffering of their host community ignited the desire to embark on the road project.
According to Davies: “When I was transferred to this parish, the road was not motorable, completely bad; neither residents nor church members could use it.
“People were parking outside, on the other street, which wasn’t encouraging.
“As a result, I approached the PICP and asked that we executive a CSR project in collaboration with the street’s landlord association and as you can see today, the road has been constructed.”
While stressing the need for churches to contribute positively towards the development of their host communities, Pastor Davies revealed that feeding of the less privileged in the community is also done every week by the church as part of its CSR activities.
According to him: “CSR programmes like road construction, feeding of the less privileged, construction of boreholes, etc are some of the initiatives that communities can benefit from.
“Churches should look for needs in their community and explore ways that they can attend to them.”
Chief Samuel Afeni, Chairperson, Babalola Street Landlord’s Association, said: “This July will make it 42 years that I have been living on this street.
“There has been no touch of government whatsoever.
“Whatever little we do as regards the road is usually destroyed by erosion.
“But by the divine grace of God, the RCCG, Royal Assembly parish approached us and intimated that the church would like to construct our road in collaboration with us and we agreed, did our part, which was to repair the drainage on both sides, and the church tarred the road.
“We are grateful for what the ministry has done for us and pray that God will continue to bless the pastor and every member of the church.”