Posts in category: Evangelism Ministry

The 2021 Evangelism Conference (EVACON 2021) organised by the Evangelism Ministry of The Church of Pentecost was formally opened yesterday with a clarion call on Christians to aggressively preach the gospel and intercede for lost souls in prayer.

Hundreds of patrons clad in EVACON’21 branded T-shirts from selected areas of the church in the Greater-Accra region thronged the auditorium of Pentecost International Worship Centre at Atomic in Accra for the much-anticipated event, whilst others joined in via Zoom at the various satellite centres situated across the nation. 

The three-day event, which is under the theme: “A Revived Church in an Aggressive Evangelism and Informed Intercession” (Ezekiel 37:1-10), was opened by the Chairman of the Church, Apostle Eric Nyamekye, with assistance from the General Secretary, Apostle ANY Kumi-Larbi, the International Missions Director (IMD), Apostle Emmanuel Agyemang Bekoe, and the Evangelism Ministry Director, Apostle Dr. Amos Jimmy Markin.

Apostle Dr. Jimmy Markin, in an opening address, said the season presents a good opportunity for contemporary Christians who have a desire for greater effectiveness and fruitfulness in ministry.

According to him, it is an opportunity for believers to rise for two basic activities – reaping (positioning) and weeping (petitioning).

“That is, making petitions through informed intercession to the God of the harvest to make ready committed labourers and grant access to reach people and places with the gospel,” he explained.

Apostle Dr. Markin said the urgent call for action is illustrated through the book of Ezekiel 37, where prophet Ezekiel is shown in a vision a state of people, who are non-responsive and completely dead, as dried bones in a valley. The people, he noted, were in a state of death, decay, lifelessness, and complete hopelessness – a physical state very impossible for any human intervention. ​

“When asked whether the dried bones could come back to life, the prophet’s answer was very human and expected. He responded that the answer is with God, but God in turn responded that the answer was instead with him (Ezekiel),” he said.

Putting this into context, Dr. Markin said that the whole world today is languishing in a valley of despondency because of sin and evil. It has become a postmodern society driven by secular human ideologies and other forms of human-centred philosophy, he added. ​

“The nations and their people have posited themselves away from God and godliness and are dwelling in all forms of unrighteousness and ungodliness. Due to this, the world today is abiding in a state of sin craze, untimely death, decay, corruption, lifelessness, and absolute hopelessness. They are like a valley of dry bones without hope and life. Can this awful situation be changed,” he quizzed.

The Evangelism Director continued that, just like God’s response to Ezekiel, the remedy lies in the Christian’s willingness to rise to the challenge as the mouthpiece of God and proclaim life (the gospel) to the dying world. 

The Chairman, on his part, reiterated the call for aggressive evangelism and intercession for the salvation of lost souls by charging Christians, who possess the Spirit of God, not to look on unconcerned as people perish.

He encouraged church members to actively participate in the evangelistic efforts of the church especially in November, which has been declared an ‘Aggressive Evangelism Month’ by the church.

“We should not just pay lip service to the ‘One Member, One Discipled Soul’ initiative. Rather, every member must make it a point to win a soul and disciple him or her for the Lord. This is our duty as Christians,” he urged.

Apostle Nyamekye, therefore, charged participants to go back to their various local assemblies and districts to teach members and rekindle their passion towards aggressive evangelism and informed intercession.

The Evangelism Conference, which also marked the official launch of the ‘One Member, One Discipled Soul’ project of the church for this year, is being held at various centres from Wednesday, November 27 to Friday, October 29, 2021, and would be climaxed on Sunday, October 31, with a Gospel Sunday Service at the various local assemblies of the church.

PENTECOST NEWS

The Evangelism Ministry in the New Tafo Area of The Church of Pentecost has embarked on a seedling planting project at the catchment area of Lake Bosomtwi as part of the Environmental Care campaign.

The exercise was aimed at boosting the Asante Kingdom Landscape Restoration Programme initiated by the Overlord of the Asante Kingdom, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, where 3million trees have been targeted on 4,000 hectares of land around the Lake Bosomtwi over a five-year period.

As part of the “Possessing the Nations” agenda of the church, the Environmental Care campaign was introduced to enlighten Christians on the need to be concerned about the environment.

The Area Evangelism Ministry, led by the Aboaso District Minister, Pastor Martin Kyeremeh, on May 15, 2021, planted 500 seedlings to support the initiative by the Asantehene.

According to Pastor Kyeremeh, it is the responsibility of every Christian to protect God’s creation since creation reveals God’s divine nature and absolute authority and ownership over all things.

He disclosed that the Area is embarking on the exercise in fulfillment of God’s word, preserve and restore lost forests, repair damaged ecosystems and mitigate climate changes.

“It is our mandate as believers to protect the creation of our Father and make sure that the water bodies and plants are safeguarded. Therefore, per The Church of Pentecost’s mandate, we were directed through the Chairman to take this step as part of the Environmental Care campaign to keep our environment green,” he said.

He entreated other ministries of the church to get onboard to combat global warming as trees help to absorb carbon dioxide, remove and store carbon while releasing oxygen back into the air.

“We are entreating other organisations, churches, and NGOs to support the Otumfuo’s afforestation project to help preserve God’s creation.

The Amakomhene, Nana Adu Mensah Asare, who represented the Asantehene, commended The Church of Pentecost for the gesture and encouraged other churches in the region to come onboard.

“We are grateful to The Church of Pentecost for helping to fulfil the dream of Asantehene to plant trees to sustain Lake Bosomtwi.

“It’s a good step the church has taken and we commend them. They have planted 500 seedlings at their own expense and we believe this will help to sustain the lake.

“Through this medium, I am calling on other churches, NGOs, and individuals to participate in this project,” the chief said.

Report by Owusu Dennis, New Tafo.

The Pentecost International Worship Centre (PIWC) – Sakumono in the Teshie-Nungua Area of The Church of Pentecost, has won 52 souls to the glory of God during a rural outreach to Tsopoli in the Tema Area.

The outreach which took place on Saturday, April 17, 2021, began with intensive prayer upon arrival at the community. The team then embarked on house-to-house evangelism, dawn broadcast by the advance team, a film show, medical screening, and sharing of clothes, toiletries, shoes, and other non-perishable food items to the community people.

The District Evangelism Ministry Leader, Nana Obrempong Owusu, was full of appreciation to the Almighty God for the success of the outreach. He admonished churches to continuously share the word of God even in these difficult times of the global pandemic, saying, “During these difficult times, the love of God is what people need to share and God will glorify Himself.”

The Tsopoli District Minister of the church, Pastor Frank Mensah Tandoh, who was elated by the exercise, said that it has further enhanced the presence of The Church of Pentecost in the communities. “It’s been an inspirational outreach which has met both the spiritual and the physical needs of the people,” he said.

He expressed his gratitude to the leadership of PIWC–Sakumono for the outreach and prayed that the Lord would replenish everyone who helped and supported it.

The medical team attended to over 500 community members with about 300 being children below the ages of 15years.

According to the leader of the medical team, Dr. Mrs. Mercy Obrempong, it’s not enough to bring the gospel to the people and not attending to their health needs, hence the coming on-board of the medical team. She indicated that the medical team delivered health care in the area of deworming the children, dental care, eye screening, and also provided toothbrushes and paste to the kids. The blood pressure and sugar level, as well as some drugs and counselling services were provided to the people free of charge.

Praying for the team before they left for the outreach, the Resident Minister of PIWC-Sakumono, Pastor Anthony Owusu Sekyere Kwarteng, encouraged them to be bold and confident as missionaries of the Lord Jesus Christ.

“As a mission-minded church, our duty is to preach the gospel,” Pastor Kwarteng said.

Report by Yaa Asantewaah Adu Boahene.

The Evangelism Ministry Director of The Church of Pentecost, Apostle Dr. Amos Jimmy Markin, has said that the Church of God exists primarily for the salvation of souls and that any other assignment or responsibility comes to augment this core duty.

For this reason, he stated that the Church must not relent in her evangelistic efforts because sustaining the life of the Militant Church on earth depends on soul winning.

Apostle Dr. Markin made this assertion on Wednesday, January 28, 2021, when he gave a presentation on the topic, “Possessing the Nations through Personal Evangelism” at the Greater Accra Regional session of the ongoing Ministers and Wives’ Conference at the Pentecost Convention Centre (PCC), Gomoa Fetteh.

In his exposition, he indicated that the prime aim for Christian evangelism is to give every person or peoples the valid opportunity to make the decision to accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour irrespective of their personality, gender, race, nationality, place of residence, social standing or any such barrier. 

He categorised the various types of evangelism into two – mass and personal evangelism. He explained that mass evangelism involves proclaiming the gospel to more than one person or a handful of people (Eg. rallies, crusades, Gospel Sundays, Digital Evangelism), whilst personal evangelism entails sharing the gospel of Christ with one person at a time.

He asserted that although both types of evangelism strategies should be employed by the church in pursuit of the Great Commission, personal evangelism (personal witnessing) is non-negotiable because it is the first calling of every Christian and the evident mark of a true discipled Christian. “It is the duty of every believer to preach the gospel message of Christ,” he reiterated.

Apostle Dr. Markin further noted that personal evangelism is important for every believer because it enables the believer to prove to be responsive or obedient to the Great Commission of Jesus Christ (Matthew 28:19-20, Mark 16:15-16).

Citing Daniel 12:3, John 4:36, 1 Corinthians 15:58 and Ephesians 6:8 as scripture references, he also stated that soul winning determines the eternal value of every Christian because the rewards of the soul winner are both on earth and in heaven. 

“Every believer should win souls because there are special rewards and crowns for all who win souls into the Kingdom of God,” he said.

Among other reasons, the Evangelism Director said that Christians must evangelise because their Master, Jesus Christ, is a passionate soul-winner (Matthew 4:19, 1 Timothy 1:5), the harvest is very great and the labourers are few (Matthew 9:37-38, John 4:35), the blood of the unconverted will be required from their hands (Ezekiel 3:17-18), the horror of hell (Luke 13:5, John 3:16-18, Revelation 20:10), and the unfulfilled prophesies concerning Christ’s return (Matthew 24:14, Romans 10:14, Galatians 2:7, Revelation 7:9-10,)

Concluding his presentation, Apostle Dr. Markin observed that “during individual personal evangelistic engagements and in organised personal evangelism outreaches, people come to a place of frustration at certain points mostly after outreach when the fruits or converts are being followed up for discipling – either the individual (soul winner) hang their boots or express some frustration.    

“The first truth is that unlike some other Christian endeavours, Christian Evangelism is of the heart and not of the mind. It must, therefore, become a lifestyle for any person who dares to undertake it. It is not a festival, nor a periodic one-touch programme, but a life-driven course as a permanent lifestyle.”  

He, however, recommended some add-ons that are needed to make Christian evangelism more effective. He outlined biblical intercession (personal and corporate prayers for lost souls) and social interventions and social action (meeting the physical or social needs of new or potential converts) as some of the add-ons that facilitate the soul-winning enterprise of the church.

PENTECOST NEWS

The Teshie Nungua Area of The Church of Pentecost has donated a heavy-duty truck to the Evangelism Ministry,

The truck was handed over to ministry by the Area Head, Apostle Dr. Alfred Koduah, in a short presentation ceremony on Thursday, December 17, 2020, at the premises of the Teshie-Nungua Area Office.

In an interview with PENTECOST NEWS, Apostle Dr. Koduah noted that the truck was purposely acquired by the Area to assist in conveying heavy equipment to and from event grounds especially during occasions like Christmas and Easter conventions. However, the leadership of the Area have realised that it is being under-utilised because it serves no purpose at all after the conventions.

Apostle Dr. Alfred Koduah hinted that initially, the Area had wanted to donate it to the Church’s headquarters, but after several deliberations, have chosen to hand it over to the Evangelism Ministry where its service is direly needed.

The Director of the Evangelism Ministry, Apostle Dr. Amos Jimmy Markin, who received the truck on behalf the ministry, thanked the Teshie Nungua Area for the kind gesture and promised to put it to good use for the benefit of the Kingdom business.

Present at the presentation ceremony were the Area pastorate and their wives.

Report by Gina Akua Padi

The Director of the Evangelism Ministry of The Church of Pentecost, Apostle Dr. Amos Jimmy Markin, has cautioned Christians not to neglect the great salvation that they have received from the Lord Jesus Christ.

“It was purchased not with money but by the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ,” Apostle Dr. Markin said, adding, “We should never underestimate the sacrifice He made, but share with others.”

Apostle Dr. Markin said this when he preached during the second service at the Pentecost International Worship Centre (PIWC)- Sakumono, on Sunday, August 9, 2020.

Reading from Hebrews 2:3, Luke 2:11, John 3:17, Romans 6:23, among other Scriptures, he told Christians that the salvation that they have received is authentic and that it does not depend on man’s capability, but rest solely on the Lord Jesus Christ.

“The name Jesus is authentic and powerful. He is the ancient of days, and He has not changed. He still remains the Saviour even in turbulent times,” he said.

According to Apostle Dr. Markin, the greatest canker the world is facing now is the sin of all dimensions and forms. He, however, encouraged Christians to be steadfast in their faith, saying, “God has reserved salvation for you irrespective of the magnitude of the perceived sin you have committed. Do not be despaired or give up on yourself, for liberation has come to His children and that He has His children factored in His salvation plan.”

During the first service, Elder Felix Adu, the Financial Committee Secretary for the district, ministered on the theme, “Fortifying your faith in the Lord.” He indicated that for Christians, fortifying themselves in the Lord is a must in their quest to walk with the Lord in their Christian journey.

According to Elder Adu, Christians ought to fortify themselves in the Lord to overcome the enemy and preserve their faith in the face of trials and challenges (James 5: 11), honour God in the midst of unbelievers (Daniel 3:17; 28-29). It will also help believers to mount a higher ground in the face of trials (Genesis 39: 8-10) and to solely trust in the Lord wholeheartedly, just as Abraham did (Hebrews 11:17-18).

He urged Christians to bear the mark of the Lord Jesus in whatever they do (Galatians 6: 14-17) to transform the world.

“Christians should be outstanding in all their endeavours,” he said, adding, “As Christians, if we have any boast to make, we should boast in the blood of the Lord, for by so doing no amount of destruction from the enemy’s camp can break us; we will still stand strong if we fortify ourselves in the Lord.”

The Resident Minister, Pastor Anthony Owusu Sekyere Kwarteng, was grateful to the Evangelism Director for visiting the district.

Report by Yaa Asantewaah Adu Boahene.