ECWA Headquarters administration consists of not less than 10 departments; one of which is Church Related Ministry (CRM). Church Related Ministry is headed by a Director who is responsible for coordinating and providing leadership to the followings three units: 

• Prayer and Church Renewal Units 
• Discipleship unit
• Pastoral Affairs units

Church Related Ministry is the brain child of Rev. George O. Swank an S. I. M Missionary. George O. Swank midwife the birth of the then Church Growth Ministry in his quest to see the organic and Spiritual proliferation and expansion of the body of Christ, especially among the predominantly Muslims of the core – north; it is worth mentioning’s that Rev. G. O. Swank midwife the birth of Church Growth Ministry alongside. “Plateau-Zaria, for Jesus” (Plato – Zaria – Ga Yesu)  In 1964 which later metamorphosed  into New Life for All.

NLFA (Sabon Rai Don Kowa) SRDK. It is worth mentioning’s that Rev. G. O. Swank could not have succeeded without the support of Rev Dr. Simon Ibrahim during his stewardship as the General secretary of ECWA. 

In the course of time, Church Growth Ministry became a Section (the equivalent of unit) and Rev. Victor Musa, the then ECWA President appointed an administrative Assistant, Rev. Gaius Musa and later Rev. Zamani Sankwai both served as Admin Assistants of the Church Growth Section at the ECWA headquarters Jos. 

1985 the office was rebranded “Church Growth Unit” with Rev. Zakariah Salihu as Administrative Secretary. Rev. Zakariah Salihu served as the Church Growth Secretary between 1985 – 1987 thereafter the nomenclature Church Growth Administrative Secretary was changed to personnel officer.

During ECWA constitutional Review. When Rev. Danjuma Jacob was elected as “Vice President of ECWA” the office of Church Growth was upgraded to “Church Relations Department”, that was when Rev. Dr. Panya Baba and Rev. Dr. Yusuf Turaki made public relations office, Church relation and media as departments during the constitutional review of 2000, the name was changed from “Church Relations” to “Church Related Ministries. 

Therefore, the first director of Church Relations was Rev. Danjuma Jacob, who served for twelve years (2yrs as Church Growth Officer and 10 yrs as Director).  The second on the list was Rev. Dr. Ayuba Bako who took over from Rev. Danjuma Jacob as a result of retirement; he served for a year and half and was transferred to ECWA Theological Seminary Kagoro. Rev. Gyubok Choms was appointed and served for 3years until his retirement in December 2008. Rev. Zakariah Salihu was again brought over as Director till his retirement in Dec, 2012. Then Rev. Alex T. Ibi assumed the office from January 2013 – June 2018. 

Besides the constitutional provision of the constitution and Bye-laws of ECWA of April 2010 Article IX sub section 1.a, the Church Related Ministries was founded as the only Core – Gospel department at the ECWA Headquarters for the Growth and Expansion of the Church – all other departments were seen as supporting departments. 

The activities of the Prayers and Church Renewal Unit, Discipleship unit and pastoral affairs unit lends credence to the aforementioned supposition.

• Pastoral Affairs Units: 

1. To supervise and administer examination for all candidates seeking licensing and ordination in ECWA.
2. Working with the Director to ensure that all Pastors seeking licensing and ordination in ECWA undergo Pastor’s induction course and pass to be qualified for licensing and ordination.
3. Make available the licensing or ordination form for all candidates and ensure the proper filling of the form, which involves the candidates, LC, LCC, and DCC. 
4. To communicate through the Director to the DCC Secretary, that applies and the outcome as decided on behalf of ECWA G.S. for either approval or disapproval of candidates. 
5. To see the production of the ECWA Minister’s handbook. 
6. To organize and conduct workshops and seminars for Pastors and Church administration at all levels. 
7. To promote the training of pastors and Church leaders in discipleship.
8. To be involved in the regular evaluations of all clergy. 
9. To serve as Pastor’s Resources Centre.
10. To prepare curriculum for Licensing and Ordination and Pastor’s seminars and Conferences. 
11. To cater for the existing Ministries in the Church.  

Discipleship Unit

• ACHIEVEMENTS:

To achieve the goal of discipleship in 2021, we embarked on the following activities:

• DCC DISCIPLESHIP TRAINING:

The purpose of this training is to provide training of trainers (TOT) in ECWA DCCs. We usually invite various groups of people such as Discipleship Coordinators, Christian Education Organizers, Pastors, Church Elders, Fellowship Group leaders of all levels, Sunday School Teachers, and all Church Members with passion for discipleship. The aim of the program is to give the participants basic training on how they should go about carrying out discipleship programs in their respective Local Churches and groups.

We intended to visit 23 selected DCCs for the TOT training, but we ended up visiting 10 of them as others were not ready for the training in the fixed period. 

The following are DCCs where the training was carried out:

1. Zabolo – DCC
2. Damakasuwa – DCC
3. Abaji – DCC      
4. Katari – DCC
5. Akwanga – DCC
6. Bwari – DCC
7. Garki – DCC 
8. Pyakasa – DCC
9. K/Musa – DCC

10.Shomgom – DCC                                             

• LOCAL CHURCH DISCIPLESHIP TRAINING:

Apart from the ‘Training of Trainers’ (ToT) carried out in the aforementioned DCCs, discipleship training was also conducted in the following Local churches which invited the Unit:

1. ECWA Saburi LC, Garki DCC – 18-21/02/2021
2. ECWA Goodnews Gwagwalada, Kwali DCCC – 19-21/03/2021

• ECWA CAMP YOUTH ALIVE:

Our Unit was instrumental in facilitating the ECWA Camp Youth Alive program in the months of August and September, 2021. “Equipping the Saints” material was used in order to provide proper discipleship training for the youths with a view to enhancing their spiritual growth. For some it was even a moment of understanding the gospel and receiving salvation, which experience they never actually had before.

• PASTORS’ WIVES:

The Unit carried out discipleship training for Pastors’ Wives in Bukuru DCC from 11th to 13th February, 2021. This is strategic because Pastors’ Wives have access to women, Youths, and Children in their Local Churches. Therefore, training them in discipleship would go a long way to promote discipleship ministry amongst the said groups of people and, thus, enhance church growth. 

• WOMEN FELLOWSHIP:

The Unit organized training for Kaduna South DCC Women Fellowship members from 22nd to 24th July, 2021. The aim of the training was to meet the peculiar spiritual needs of women as they struggle with issues that lead many of them to run helter skelter to “prayer houses” where they are often taken advantage of.

• ECWA PASTORS INDUCTION COURSE:

We carried out discipleship training during the ECWA Pastors induction course as well as Ordination course organized by Church Related Ministries Department in the months of March, June, July, September, and October, 2021. We trained the Pastors on how to disciple Church members using “Equipping the Saints.”

• PRINTING OF MATERIALS:

It is part of our duty to provide discipleship materials for participants. In this respect, we had, within the period of report, produced the following discipleship materials: 

1. ETS Introductory Guide – 1000 copies
2. ETS Bk 1A Hausa 1000
3. ETS Bk 1B Hausa – 2000
4. ETS Bk 1B English – 4000
5. ETS Certificates – 1037

Total – 9037

1. CHALLENGES          

Presently the office is faced with three basic challenges: 

1. Lack of adequate mobility is another factor that is affecting the ministry.  The only car for the Unit was donated by SIM about seventeen years ago.  Therefore, we find it difficult to embark on long journeys with it.
2. Lukewarm attitude in the part of some DCC Executives is making it difficult for us to visit those DCCs for discipleship training as they keep postponing the program whenever we send them notification of visits.

III. RECOMMENDATIONS

1. There is need for new office vehicle and driver to facilitate transportation to target areas for training.
2. There is need to sensitize the DCC Executives to see the importance of discipleship and embrace the program in their respective DCCs.