The Chairman of The Church of Pentecost, Apostle Eric Nyamekye, as part of his working visit to the church in Benin, has met with officers of the church in the Kploukanme and Zogbo Areas in Benin. The meeting was also attended by ministers and their wives in the two regions.
Addressing them, Apostle Nyamekye quoted from 1 Samuel 12:8 and explained that God always listens to the cry of His people when they ask for a leader. He, however, said that it is difficult to determine God’s criteria in selecting a leader since He chooses anyone He wills.
“God puts His best gifts in the church, and we are the church of God. Therefore, no one is useless in the house of God,” he said.
He added: “God selects a leader who has a particular gift He needs at a point in time.”
He mentioned that the main purpose of his visit was to share the church’s vision with them because as officers, they are one of the main pillars of the church.
He stressed that The Church of Pentecost would not have reached almost every corner of Benin and other nations, numbering over 109 without the hard work of unpaid leaders of the church.
The Chairman then took the officers through the highlights of the five-year strategic vision of the church, dubbed ‘Vision 2023’ with the overarching theme, “Possessing the Nations.”
“To fulfill this vision, the Church’s leadership must embrace the process of bringing righteousness and light to the world’s systems (i.e. the family, government and politics, chieftaincy and culture, business and economy, education and science, sports, media and the world of entertainment) by equipping the church with kingdom values and principles,” he stated.
Reading Deuteronomy 7:1-2; 8:1; 4:5-7; Ephesians 3:10, Apostle Nyamekye brought to light that Israel was strategically and purposefully chosen by God to reveal His manifold wisdom and character to the world, thereby causing the other nations to return to God. In a similar context, he said, the Church, which is the spiritual Israel, has been given the mandate of fulfilling the intent of God in these times.
“Everywhere you are, you must be the hope of glory,” he stressed.
He explained that the overall goal of Vision 2023 is to raise a church where members go to possess nations by transforming every worldview, thought, and behaviour with values, principles, and lifestyles of the kingdom of God, thereby turning many to Christ.
The Chairman further explained that the nature of the Vision requires three strategic approaches to its efficient exhaustion. For each strategic approach, key areas of development are being addressed: Equipping members with the required resources. This approach seeks to empower and build up the local church through intentional discipleship.
The second approach is strengthening and realigning existing structures in the church to propel the transformation agenda. The key areas considered in this approach are the re-organization of the ministries, the introduction of Gospel Sunday, and effective Bible Study sessions in services. He said that the Home and Urban Missions (HUM) and the Ministry to Persons with Disabilities (MPWDs) have helped establish a lot of local assemblies in seemingly ‘forbidden’ places, saying, “If we can’t tell them to rise up and walk, we can lead them to Jesus and when they see Him, they will be like Him.”
He added: “The Schools Outreach Ministry is to basic schools, the Chieftaincy Ministry and Chaplaincy, among many others, are in full force and changing lives in the church in Ghana and must be implemented here too.”
The third approach, he mentioned, is transforming society. The key areas addressed in this approach include the deployment of members as agents of transformation and community transformation.
According to the Chairman, as part of the projects being undertaken under the third approach, the Church has purposed to build standard prisons, of which one has been commissioned at Ejura in the Ashanti Region of Ghana. It will also embark on the Environmental Care Campaign, construct CHPs compounds, which have been adopted by the Government of Ghana as full-fledged clinics, tree-planting exercises and many more.
Concluding his message, Apostle Eric Nyamekye stated: “We are not to be only hearers of the good news but we must also join in possessing the nations for Christ. We must ask God to show us our part in this vision so that we can contribute our quota and become relevant in this generation.”
After Chairman’s presentation, the National Coordinator for the Home and Urban Missions (HUM), Apostle Emmanuel Agyei Kwafo, addressed the gathering on the progress being made on the field.
PENTECOST NEWS.