The leadership of the Youth Ministry of The Church of Pentecost has organised a three-day national retreat for youth workers in the Church.
The event, which took place from October 9 to 11, 2019, at the Pentecost Convention Centre (PCC), Gomoa-Fetteh, was under the theme, “Grounding Young People in Christ and Unleashing Them to Possess the Nations” (Colossians 2:6-7).
The intensive retreat was attended by all members of the National Executive Committee of the ministry, Pentecost Students and Associates (PENSA) Travelling Secretaries and their wives, Area Youth Pastors and their wives, Area Youth Leaders and their executive committee members, among others.
Speaking at the opening ceremony, Apostle Samuel Osei Asante, Patron of the Youth Ministry, gave exposition on the theme. He explained that the four-year vision of the Youth Ministry was carved out of the five-year vision of The Church of Pentecost dubbed Vision 2023 which has the overarching theme of “Possessing the Nations: Equipping the Church to Transform Every Sphere of Society with the Values and Principles of the Kingdom of God.”
With several references from the Bible, Apostle Asante tasked youth workers to ensure that they are grounded in Christ and help the youth to be grounded as well. He cautioned them against self-indulgence and further inspired them to be living examples of Christ.
“As a youth worker, be mindful of your morality. If you have moral issues, confer with leadership before it damages your ministry. Your life must be a living example like Jesus did,” he said.
Outlining the details of the four-year vision, the Youth Director, Pastor Ebenezer Hagan, explained that the vision has three main mandates namely, the Discipleship Mandate, the Holistic Development Mandate and Unleashing Mandate.
The Discipleship Mandate is aimed at helping young people to develop deep roots in Christ by forming habits that will grow their spiritual lives, effective mentoring by various youth workers and the Church, provision of needed resources (such as devotional guide, Bible study guides, small group as well as personal leadership training and capacity building). The focus of this mandate, he explained, is to help ground young people in Christ.
The second mandate, which is the Holistic Mandate, as the Youth Director explained, focuses on developing young people holistically by meeting their physical, personal, intellectual, spiritual, emotional and social needs.
The Holistic Development Mandate also lays emphasis on the different contexts of the Youth Ministry (campus and ‘home’ ministry contexts), and the two components of the Ministry (Teen-all COP members from 13 to 29 years, and Young Adults (all young adults – CoP members aged from 20 to 35 years) and the appropriate interventions that have been put in place to meet their different needs.
The mandate particularly captures, among others, renewed attention on Adolescent Teens Ministry and Young Adults Ministry, Resource and Leadership Development, Guidance and Counselling, Transition Between Youth Ministry and other Ministries of the Church, Innovative Use of Information Technology, Apologetics, Holistic Programming and Interventions, among others.
The third vision is the Unleashing Mandate, which is aimed at releasing equipped young people for evangelism, the building of the Church, societal transformation, volunteer chaplaincy, outreach to primary schools and Junior High School, Home and Urban Missions (HUM), and ministry to People With Disabilities (PWDs).
Pastor Emmanuel Agyei Kwafo, the National Coordinator of HUM and Probationary Overseer Alexander Nyame, the National Coordinator of PWD, took time to explain the HUM and the PWDs ministries and the collaboration the Youth Ministry had reached with them to supply their manpower needs in effort to achieve Vision 2023.
Other speakers at the conference included Elder Amos Kevin-Annan (Deputy Youth Director), Pastors Daniel Sackey, Godwin Arko Addo, Elders Dr Emmanuel Omari Siaw and Makafui Nyamadi, Mrs Gifty Appiah and Mrs Gina Asante who are all members of the National Executive Committee of the Youth Ministry, among others.
Report by Pastor Gordon Ansah.