Pastor Moji Alawiye is a woman with a mission. Her mission is to encourage people to come closer to God by opening their hearts to find deliverance, holiness, joy and fulfillment in the worship of God. In this interview with TAYO GESINDE, the Music graduate of The Polytechnic Ibadan says there is a vacuum in every man and that there is nothing wrong when women worship God with uncovered hair. Excerpts:

WHEN were you called to the ministry?
I gave my life to Christ in 1987 and I just love the Lord with all my heart, the urge was there to work for him and do anything that would just make me be on His side. So, in 1989, I began to feel this urge in my spirit wanting to move closer to God, wanting to do something for God. However, I felt it impressed on my spirit and also saw a revelation where God spoke to me through the book of Jeremiah that “behold from your mother’s womb, I have called you and ordained you. I have called you to be one of my ministers in the end time.” That was in 1989, since then, it has been from one level to another. I am grateful for the call.

What is your ministry all about?
It is about making everyone everywhere experience worship; it is all about awakening the spirit of Christians to God. It is also about emphasising the importance of communicating with God in worship. There is a vacuum in every man, for every creation of God; there is a vacuum in the heart that desires to connect with God. That vacuum can only be filled and I have often emphasized that it can only be filled through worship.

So, when that vacuum is not filled, people look for what to worship. It could be Ogun, Obatala, football, music, it could be anything, but that vacuum is looking for something to connect with.  Without worship, the life of man is incomplete. So, my ministry is all about encouraging people to come closer to God through worship, to open their hearts and find deliverance in worship, to find holiness, joy and fulfillment in worship.

My pastoral ministry is about worship and I am also married to a pastor. We have a church, Watchers of Praise for all Nation; we call it WOPFAN. The vision of the church is to bring hope to our world. My husband always calls it a hope to the hopeless, so the two ministries merged together to bring hope to our world through faith in Jesus Christ so that everyone everywhere can experience God in worship.

What were the challenges you faced when you started your ministry?
Wao! There were so many challenges, of course people might not believe in what you are saying, they don’t really understand what you are saying. I used to have challenges with my pastor then, he felt that I was already a member of the choir and didn’t understand why I still wanted to go into music ministry.  Many people also didn’t really understand what my intentions were. There was this challenge of peer group pressure; do you want to spend the rest of your life singing? What is this singing ministry stuff all about? Another challenge was from the parents who did not want you to go and study music, when you have all the potentials to be whatever you want to become in life. I wanted to be the first family lawyer, but I could not follow my dream because God caught me early in life and I did not know what would have happened if I had not yielded to His call. So, challenges are for a reason, which is why everybody has challenges in one aspect of life or the other. One word that was ringing in my spirit all through this challenging period is if God gives the vision, he will give the provision. There are challenges everywhere, but God is up to the task.

These days, there is no difference between gospel singers and those who sing worldly songs, what do you have to say about this?
I have answered this question at different occasions. It is a big challenge and I want to be part of the solution, not part of the problems. You know these days the flesh is glorified, and the flesh is always fighting against the spirit. I was just talking with someone recently, and I want to say this on paper today that when you stay one hour under real worship and stay another one hour under just an ordinary song, you would see the difference.  Back to your question, it is partly as a result of the economic situation of the country, I always tell people in my worship school, that if money is the reason why you sing, you will soon sing for the highest bidder. So, if people have financial problem and want to sing for the highest bidder, little by little, the devil will take you out of the body of Christ. Look at the lives of Cece Winas and late Whitney Houston both of them started in the church but Whitney wanted something more, look at what happened to her. Look at Donnie McKurklin and Michael Jackson.  It is an unfortunate situation but I want to be part of the solution. By the grace of God we are planning in a year or two to come up with the Voice of Africa, it is a talent hunt show for worship leaders within the body of Christ. It is a vision that God gave us and we are still working on it. So, I want to be part of the solution.

Your ministry takes you all over, how do you combine your ministry with the home front?
God is wonderful and we are all creative people. God put people around us, whenever he gives you a call; he puts people around you to help you. So, you must be able to recognise the people he puts in place to help you. And those people at times would be for a season, while some are for a reason, just to fulfill one purpose or the other. But not everybody would be with you forever, so, when people come around you, you should be able to discover the purpose you have them around you at that particular point in time. That helped me to recognise a helper, intellectual friends, an aunty, a member of my church and all that. So, when you are able to do that it is just an icing on the cake.

It also works for career women out there, but one thing I want to emphasise here is, we should not be too much in a hurry. God is not in a hurry, He has plans, so ministry would definitely wait for you. There is a time to raise your family, follow your career and also to blend the two together, so, don’t be too much in a hurry running after something that would make you spoil what you have.

What would you like to say concerning your dressing?
Well, am not a religious person and I have tried as much as possible since I was young to make myself know to people. You see me wear trouser pants today, that is me, that is what I would do if I go to Atlanta Georgia, or  the United Kingdom, come to my house, you see me as I am.  I teach my students something, I call it the characteristics of a worship leader, which include character, custom of the people which determines the mode of dressing in the church, and if you work in that church you should abide with their custom; if you are not comfortable you can move out. God is happy with you whether your hair is covered or not, what God is sad about is the decadence in our relationship with Him. God is not happy when we see neighbours passing through a difficult situation and we do not help. If I work with a church where their custom is against the opening of hair, I will definitely abide by it, we need to make sacrifices sometimes, but that does not change who I am. I love Jesus with all my heart and I am a free woman, I am not being be hypocritical about it.

What is your definition of style?
Definition of style to me is freedom. Be free with what you wear, there are sometimes you wear what you are not comfortable with. I believe in comfort, be comfortable in what you wear and not a fashion-freak. I create my own style, and give my dress maker what I like and she creates that for me.