By Emmanuel Kwada
The Evangelical Church Winning All (ECWA) has called on its over eight million members across Nigeria and beyond to approach the 2025 Christmas celebration with spiritual vigilance, fervent prayer, and prudent financial management.
In a pastoral letter signed by the ECWA President, Rev. Dr. Job Ayuba Bagat Mallam, the leadership warned that the current economic realities in Nigeria demand extraordinary wisdom from believers.
“Christmas will come and it will go,” the letter stated, “but January will surely meet our children needing school fees, books, uniforms, and transport money. Let us not eat tomorrow’s bread today.”
Quoting Luke 21:36, the President admonished members: “Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man.”
He described the season as spiritually charged, noting increased occult activities, road accidents, and moral compromise during December.
“Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour” (1 Peter 5:8).
The leadership particularly cautioned against wasteful spending on perishable items while neglecting lasting family needs.
“See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil” (Ephesians 5:15–16).
The letter urged members to prioritize school resumption needs over lavish celebrations, reminding parents that “if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever” (1 Timothy 5:8).
ECWA also encouraged believers to remember the less privileged during the season. “Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world” (James 1:27).
Churches were directed to organize modest Christmas outreach programs focused on sharing the Gospel and providing essential support to vulnerable families rather than expensive carnivals.
On security, members were reminded of Jesus’ words in Matthew 10:16: “Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents and harmless as doves.”
With rising cases of kidnapping and night travels during the festive period, the church advised members to avoid unnecessary journeys and to travel only when absolutely necessary, preferably in daylight and in groups.
The letter concluded with a call to deeper consecration: “Therefore let us not sleep, as others do others, but let us watch and be sober” (1 Thessalonians 5:6).
ECWA members have been directed to intensify prayers for the nation, the Church, and persecuted believers, especially in northern Nigeria.
As Christmas approaches, ECWA stands firm in its timeless message: true celebration is found not in fleeting pleasures but in honoring Christ through obedience, wisdom, and love for others.
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