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Missionaries
listening attentively to series of lectures at their orientation
The Chairman,
Apostle Dr. Opoku Onyinah, has called on missionaries of the Church to be good
leaders by humbling themselves so as to be accepted by the people they lead.
He
said good Christian leadership requires living exemplary lifestyles that would
serve people in their own context. He called on the missionaries to study the
existing policies of The Church very well and to change some of them to make
them suitable to their congregations. He noted that it is only when the
missionary respects the culture of the people that his work would penetrate the
people and win souls.
The Chairman was this message at the Pentecost University College, Agogo Campus,
during the 2009 Missions Orientation course organized by the International
Missions Office for the newly called missionaries designated for both internal
and external missions’ fields of the Church.
The Chairman debunked the notion that some people are superior to others, noting
that all are equal before the Lord and everybody, in one way or the other, has
some kind of potentials to serve in God’s church. Apostle Dr. Onyinah therefore
urged the missionaries to tap the potentials among their congregations as part
of their responsibility to disciple them for Christ.
He, however, observed that in the quest of pursuing their burning desire to
serve the Lord, the tendency for leaders to become dictators over the people
cannot be ruled out. To forestall this, he required of the missionaries to know
how the burning desire to experience Christ could be shared effectively to with
others to bring them to the saving power in Christ as well as make Him very real
in their lives as their God for today.
He noted: “Just as the leader has to explore potentials and delegate powers,
there are things you have to do for them yourself as a leader, while others you
must teach them to do.”
He admonished the missionaries, “You are not going to chaplain the Church’s
members in your respective stations of posting, but to win new souls for Christ
and disciple them to become useful for the Church.”
Touching on the missionaries’ personal lifestyles, the Chairman appealed to the
leaders of The Church to have quality times for themselves. He intimated that it
was only when the missionary as a leader had time for himself that he could
adequately prepare and deliver the right message to the members, reiterating,
“If you prepare well, that preparation alone gives you confidence; and
confidence comes through prayer and reading of the word of God.”
Notable among the personalities present were Apostles Dr. S.K. Baidoo, the
International Missions Director; Rigwell Ato Addison, New Tafo Area Head and his
wife; Ekow Badu Wood and his wife; Ousmane Zabre and his wife; Rene Coco and his
wife; Sylvester Arhin and his wife; David Tekper; and Pastor Dr. Peter Kyei
(Rector, PUC) and his wife.
Earlier on, Apostles J.S. Gyimah Takoradi Area Head, Apostle (rtd) S.K. Ansong,
and Prophet J.O. Amaniampong, Dansoman Area Head were among the facilitators.
During a prayer ministration led by Apostle R. Ato Addison, apostalization and
impartation was administered for the missionaries and their wives by the
apostles.
Some of the topics treated were; Ethnographic Research, Leadership, Indigenous
Church planting, God in each Culture, Church Growth Principles, Understanding
People’s Culture in the North, the Missionary’s Wife, Reporting, Financial
/Audit and Holiness. Case studies about the missions’ field were also taken from
both some serving and veteran missionaries.
Report by Rev.
Vincent Anane Denteh
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