James Barde got born again at his teenage, and later received the divine call for ministry in his early 20s. He is a passionate teacher and preacher of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and a pastor with the conviction/focus for family and home ministry from Kaduna state of Nigeria.

He is a full time church pastor with the Evangelical Church Winning All (ECWA) since 2016, just immediately after his seminary study at ECWA Theological Seminary Kagoro, Kaduna state. He has been a Children's church teacher since 2005, and was trained by the Children Evangelism Ministry (CEM) in 2009/2010.

He has been a counsellor with years of successful experience in reconciling marriages that are at the verge of divorce or have divorced. He has been a mentor and a guide to the youngsters on choice of life partner, career or future ambition, and helping them discover their true identity as designed by God.

In addition to his ministry experience, he has undertaken various professional and personal development trainings and courses that continue to strengthen his impact in leadership, counseling, and family ministry.

He is married to Priscilla and they are blessed with two great boys (Jedidiah and Pinnacle).

Welcome to 12-Minute Converse with Jesus Believers.

God chose first to have a conversation with us, his creation.

Our prayer is that this listening space brings growth and transforms your life forever.

Praise God for you, Pastor James.

It's a great pleasure to connect with you.

What part of the world are you in today?

Thank you, Angel.

It's a pleasure meeting you too.

I am from Nigeria, precisely Kaduna State in Nigeria, and I serve God as a pastor from that very vicinity under ECWA, that's Evangelical Church Within All.

How long have you been a pastor?

Yes, I've been a full-time pastor since the year 2016 January, and that is 10 years and 5 months today.

How did you come to meet Jesus?

As a young person growing up, I had privilege to hear the gospel, to hear about Jesus, to hear a lot about the Kingdom of God and how to get into the Kingdom.

But I couldn't grasp the understanding of how this can be done through grace.

I had always understood it from the perspective of works.

That's my ability.

Until the time after we got graduated or sent off from the Children's Church, and then some of us were asked to return as adjunct teachers to the facilitators of the Children's Church.

So within that period, we had a program that was organized by a neighboring church.

Then we were invited from our own end, and I was part of those that took the young people.

It was in that program that I encountered the Lord, and the topic of the program was what it means to be born again, the true meaning of born again.

We used to think born again simply means to stop doing bad and start doing good things.

Anybody can do that without understanding the grace of God that comes through faith.

And until that day, I got that understanding that I am a sinner.

I always thought I wasn't, because I had tried my best to live a good life by the works I was doing.

So I used to think I'm righteous by those things.

Until that day, I discovered I had been born a sinner indeed, and I need grace through the death of Jesus Christ.

I grabbed that by feet, and I went in, and I became a child of God.

So you're doing God's work.

You've gone to school.

Did you get married?

Yes, I married just about a year after I started the work with ECOA.

I had two children at the moment, though we had three actually, but one passed on just after he was delivered.

So we had two boys today with my wife.

What specifically in your ministry do you believe is your life's purpose?

I believe in the fact that church is a continuity.

Jesus called his disciples and said, make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to observe everything that I have commanded you.

So I believe in the continuity of the church and the calling of God to all people that come into the field.

So I believe in the next generation, and that has been my burden.

So as a result, I focus on the children, I focus on the young people, and I focus on the family.

I believe that the family is the bedrock to sustaining the church of God, and if marriages are stable, the children will be well trained, and then they will grow to learn and know about Jesus, and to love Jesus to the end.

So even in the church, I realize again, if the church must continue, then we must focus on the young people, be a blessing to them, and then grant them the opportunity to discover their calling, to discover what God has for them, to discover their identity in God, and to serve God as young people, not waiting until they get old.

And if we don't use them at the right time, if they are not used to serving Jesus while they are young, they may not find the joy and the appetite or the desire to continue in serving Jesus in their old age will be very difficult.

So I believe in the family and the young people that is focusing on the next generation.

Who in the Bible is your favorite character?

I believe in two, that is the person of David and the person of Apostle Paul.

These two persons for me have a conviction for the future.

They believe in future, they believe in continuity, and I saw them setting a peace for continuity.

When David was called by God, he wanted to establish the kingdom of Israel, and to also establish the kingdom of God to the nation of Israel by building the temple.

So he created peace and freedom from the nation of Israel against all enemies.

And after making them to believe that they are heroes as a nation that belongs to God, he didn't stop there.

He wanted them to also see the need to continue in their fellowship and relationship with God.

So as a result, even when he was about building the temple, the Lord had to tell him, no, I don't want you to do that.

I will have someone that will do it the generation after you.

David didn't stop there.

He made sure that he made every arrangement to ease the work and to make everything necessary that is available for the child to come and continue.

So he had the spirit of continuity.

The future was his focus, and I saw that again in the person of Apostle Paul in the New Testament.

And of course, he had young people, he had people that he kept advising and encouraging to see the need to serve the Lord and pass it on to the next generation.

Like in 2 Timothy chapter 2 verse 2, he told the young man Timothy that the things you have had me say in the presence of many witnesses, pass it on to reliable men who will in turn commit it to those who are reliable to be able to continue.

So the continuity spirit that he has to make Timothy not to end what he has seen him do, that's Apostle Paul saying what you have had me do it to the next generation and pass it to those people that are reliable like you are reliable and make sure that they also do it to others.

Of course, the Lord Jesus Christ is the all in all and the one who has the general peace for me.

Five years from today, if you're listening to this conversation and you've heard the evolution of James, where he became a pastor because he listened to God, he got married, had two children, even after losing one of his children, continues.

What's a message you'd leave for future you?

I would like to encourage the people in the future to understand that serving the Lord is never a thing to feel is a loss.

It's not a loss.

It's rather a blessing and a favor.

I had never regretted being a pastor.

I've seen lots of blessings that come with it and I want to encourage the ability to listen to God, understand his voice, understand his dealings and principle with you as an individual is very key.

And then above listening and listening or understanding his voice, the key of it is obedience.

If you can obey him, it comes with a great joy.

I remember B, for there is no other way to be happy in Jesus than to trust and obey.

So if only we can do trust and obey him, that is the best way to be happy and to enjoy life.

That is my advice to every young person, even in the future, that you should trust in Jesus and obey him as you listen to him.

Pastor James, this is a pleasure that I treasure.

Thank you for being on What Is Inspired by 12 Melancholies.