RCCG 2023 MINISTERS’ CONFERENCE (DAY 3: AFTERNOON SESSION)
THEME: BEYOND EXPECTATIONS
MINISTERING (TALK 9): PASTOR BOLAJI IDOWU (GLOBAL LEAD PASTOR, HARVESTERS INTERNATIONAL CHRISTIAN CENTER)
DATE: 5TH AUGUST 2023
TOPIC: STRATEGIES OF REACHING SOULS IN YOUR LOCALITY.
BIBLE TEXT: 1 CORINTHIANS 3:5-6
Praise the Lord – Hallelujah!
Shall we Pray?
OPENING PRAYER
Our Father we Thank You for the opportunity and the honour to serve in a Ministry: This is an honour that no man can take unto himself, except he is called of God.
You saw us before we were born and You chose us. Thank You!
And Lord, we are here because our deep desire is to be effective, our deep desire is to make an impact, our deep desire is to do something lasting for the Lord.
I Pray that in this Meeting – Just as You have been working all through this Conference: You will renew, You will revitalize, You will expand our Capacity, You will inspire us to New Visions, in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ!
We trust You that what we need to know for the Next Level would come to us.
The Bible says the Letter killeth, but the Spirit giveth Life.
Spirit of God, do only what You can do!
In Jesus’ Name we Pray – Amen.
Praise the Lord – Hallelujah!
Please, we may have our seats.
Before I start Teaching today, I want to really appreciate Daddy and Mummy. And that is the Persons of Daddy GO and Mummy GO, for the opportunity to be able to be here today.
… Please, let’s celebrate them!
Every time I look at them, I always say, “I am looking at the future.” And they are Ministers in whom we have found our future, and I am grateful to them.
I am grateful to our Intercontinental Pastor also.
Praise the Lord – Hallelujah!
Alright! Let’s dig deep into the Word of God today. Are we ready? Amen!
Today we are going to talk about: PLANTING CHURCHES THAT IS ABLE TO REACH LOCALS.
… When I say “Locals” – I mean the People within that Vicinity.
I want to start the Teaching by reading 1 Corinthians 3:5-6.
One of the things you must know is that, Church is God’s Dream – No human being thought of creating a Church.
Jesus Christ said Himself, “… I will build my Church and the Gates of Hell shall not Prevail against it.” (DMC NOTES: Matthew 16:18)
And one thing you must know about Church is that: One of the most effective ways of reaching and Nurturing People is Church Planting.
You know, by background I am quite Evangelistic. So I would tend to do a Crusade in a Place, and do Guiding another Place.
But, anywhere you do a Crusade and there is no Church to assimilate the fruits of the Crusade, it is like Pouring water into a basket. And that is why Church Planting is very, very strategic; very, very important.
Because Church Planting is one of the easiest and the most effective ways of reaching and Nurturing Souls.
… Crusades without Churches would be a total waste!
But in this Teaching today, I know that as a Commission; one of the beautiful things that the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) has done for us, is to inspire – Not just the Redeemed Pastors to Plant Churches. Even Independent Ministeries, we are inspired, because of the work of this Mission, to Plant Churches.
But my Core Teaching today is: How do we Plant Churches in a Neighbourhood and affect those in the Neighbourhood?
If we go to South-East Nigeria (for example) – because when you start Planting Churches, you would Naturally attract People like you. But you have to be very Spiritual and very Strategic to attract People that are not like you.
And that is the crux of what I am talking about today.
1 Corinthians 3:5-6, Paul speaking said:
5 Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every man?
6 I have Planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase.
… I want you to notice that this is very Symbolic here.
There are two (2) Dimensions to the Work of the Minister, that Paul highlighted in the Text above;
I. Paul said there is a dimension of the Minister’s work that is called “Planting.”
II. Then he says that there is another dimension of the Minister’s work that is called “Watering.”
I want to focus on those two (2) Things as Fundamentals.
What is the Planting Work Of The Minister?
I would use a flower pot to illustrate – You can see that a flower pot has flowers coming on it. But before the flowers came out, a seed was Planted into the soil.
If a seed is Planted right now and Nobody tells you anything is Planted there; you will walk past it to the front, walk past it to the back, and you will not know anything is Planted because something had been Planted there.
… So when Paul says, “I Planted.”
Planting refers to the Work of the Ministry that you do, that Nobody sees.
The Scripture (1 Corinthians 3:5-6) says, “Paul Planted, and Apollos Watereth.”
(Using a brother to illustrate):
Let’s say this Brother is the tree. And I pour water from the head. What happened? Everybody that sees him would say, “why are you wet?”
What is Watering? Watering is the Work of Ministry you do that everybody can see.
Planting is the work of the Ministry that you do that Nobody can see!
The Major Problem is that when it comes to Ministry, Ministers can see the Watering; but they cannot see the Planting. So we keep Copying Watering activities of Ministry, not knowing that something was Planted.
So we say: This is how RCCG does it; this is how that Church does it, and we are copying them! But we do not realised that what we are copying is that, we are copying the Watering, and there is no Planting at all.
So we go back to our own Local Church; we go back to our own Regions, and we begin to Water. And you will now say, it’s not working!
It is not that it is not working; it is that nothing has been Planted – Before you water, something must be planted.
There are two (2) Activities of the Minister –
I. There is the Planting Work of Ministry;
II. There is the Watering Work of Ministry.
Most of the time when you hear Ministers share their Testimonies, they share with you the Watering but there is a Planting Work.
You must understand as a Minister, when you hear Stories, hear Teachings, you must understand that: “this thing that they are saying seems to be the Watering Work of Ministry; where is the Planting?” So that you don’t fall into the trap.
And this is why a lot of Ministers say, “everything they taught us we did!” But everything you did was the Watering; the Planting you did not know, so you did not do!
So, there are two (2) Works of the Ministry, according to 1 Corinthians 3:5-6 – The Planting and the Watering.
ACTIVITIES OF PLANTING WORK OF A MINISTER.
… So I will give you Examples;
- As a Minister, one of the important activities is PRAYER.
And one of the Prayers you should Pray when you come to Meetings like this is:
- Lord, help me hear more than what the Speaker is saying;
- Lord, help me see more than our father-in-the-Lord is teaching us;
“Lord, help me see, help me hear.” There is a Communication of the Spirit. You will sit down in Meetings like this and you will be hearing in a Deeper Dimension. Because all of a sudden, your Spirit will be caught up.
The eye and the ear of your Spirit will be open, and you will tell somebody else, “didn’t you hear when they said this?” And they will be saying, when did they say that? And the reason is that in the Meeting something happened that others did not catch.
Every Meeting has a catching up moment!
My Prayer for someone here inclusive those reading now on the Label of DMC; is that you will not just hear Teachings, but you will catch the Spirit – Amen.
And the Mantle would fall upon your Life, in the Name of Jesus Christ – Amen.
So you must note something: There is the Planting and there is the Watering.
What are the Planting Works of the Minister?
Some times you go for Meetings and you are like: I love how the Redemption Camp is, the Ministration was right, I love how Daddy GO would dress, I love how the Intercontinental Pastor would dress. And you would go back home and start dressing like that.
All those things you see are are Watering. There is Planting – What is done behind the Scenes!
I will give you some Examples of Planting:
Planting refers to what you are doing in the Place of Prayer and Nobody sees it.
Sometimes, before they wear nice suits and nice tie and come here, several hours have gone into Prayers. Because the Bible says that the flesh Profiteth nothing, it is the Spirit that giveth Life.
I remember many years ago, I was attending the Holy Ghost Service – This must have been (maybe) year 2000 or 1998. And I believed it was in the Old Auditorium. Daddy GO was Preaching and he said, “all my friends on the Wheelchair, bring them forward.”
I remembered he said accurately, “anyone that his Spirit can catch Fire would just find out that he is getting out of the Wheelchair. And before you know it, People began to walk out of the Wheelchair.
But I was in another Place, where another Minister tried to repeat the same thing. You know there’s a way Daddy GO speaks with this low voice, with a lot of Gentleness. And the other Minister repeated it, an Nobody got up!
You know, when Nobody gets up, you become agitated, you start putting Pressure. And the Anointing is not in Volume, I hope you know that. The Anointing is not in shouting. If Power is there – Power is there! If Power is not there – Power is not there!
Long and short of it is that: The same thing was done, different results because of Planting.
So, there is Planting! And when it comes to the Planting Activities of a Minister, there is Prayers.
- The Second Activity of a Minister is GUIDANCE:
… What is the Holy Spirit saying to you over time?
There would be many opportunities and Counsels in Ministry; but what is the Holy Spirit saying to you over time? The Bible says in the Book of Joshua, “And they heard Counsel not is the Lord.” – Very Touching Story.
For Example, you may see one of the Youth Churches going in certain dimension and you want to copy it. The Question is, “Is that what God wants you to do?” That’s Part of Planting!
- The third one is MINDSET.
Because we all work from Mindset. And when God wants to Change a man (I have noticed it); He brings him Revelation that transforms his Mind.
- The fourth one would be GRACE.
Paul said in 1 Corinthians 15:10, But by the Grace of God I am what I am: and his Grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the Grace of God which was with me.
I have spoken about the Planting; now I want to speak about the Water.
SOME PRACTICAL THINGS WE CAN DO.
Let me give Example: I don’t know if you have noticed it – Most of the time when we Plant a Church, the difficulty can be in attracting People that are not like us.
If you are not careful, you will just see that the People in your Church are from your own Ethnicity, from your own kind of background. But Jesus Christ wants us to go and reach the whole world.
If the Church is going to grow; and let me say this here – Maybe in the Southeast, we are going to have a Church full of South-Easterners People. In the Northwest of Nigeria, we are going to have a Church full of North-Westerner People. In Europe, a Church full of Purely Europeans.
What must we Change? We must deal with Fear.
Fear is a major thing. So, most of the time when a Leader is resisting Change, it’s because the Leader is afraid. We must deal with fear!
What is the Major Fear when we want to raise Multi-Ethnic Churches?
The Major fear is the Fear of corruption of the Message – That is the Major fear!
And I am saying this upfront, so that by the time we begin to delve into the rest of the Message and you begin to see how we can raise a Purely European Church or Purely Africa Culture in South Africa.
To raise a Purely small Church full of the People of the Indigenes, we can see that we must Personally deal with Fear!
Most of the time, when we are about to do something that we have never done (Please take note of this), the fear is that, “In trying to reach these People, hope we would not lose our Message?” That is the biggest Fear!
And this Fear was in Acts of Apostles. And that’s why you’ll notice in the Acts of Apostles, from time to time, that they would always have to come back to Jerusalem. Because the Jewish Christians always thought they were going out of line.
… So, Paul would always have to come back – There’s that fear!
One of the Major things we have to deal with is that fear that our Message would be lost.
Instead of thinking that if we reach them we would lose your Message; Can we believe that there’s a balance? We would reach them and we will keep our Message.
Somebody say: We would reach them and we would keep our Message!
We would reach them and we would keep our Vision!
Praise the Lord – Hallelujah.
HOW TO PLANT CHURCHES THAT REACH LOCALS.
- VISION
When we are Planting Churches, we need to have a clear Vision – Let me use those Churches we are Planting Abroad:
- Are we Planting in Netherlands, in France, in North America for Nigerians in Netherlands and North America?
- Or we are Planting the Churches to reach the People in Netherlands?
- Is it a Church for our Community or it is a Church to reach the People?
When we go to Ghana, are we looking for Churches to gather Nigerians in Ghanaians? Or we are looking Churches to reach Ghanians?
Let me ask you: Are we Planting Churches to reach the world or Churches for Nigerians?
Since we all agree that the Vision is not a Church that will Predominantly reach Nigerians alone; it’s a Global Vision, it’s a Global Church.
Let me say something quickly: As much as this is what you want, not everyone is given this Grace. That’s the truth! Some People, because of the Grace that God has given them, they cannot go Global. Because you know you cannot do more!
As easier as it is for the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), you can’t do more than the Grace that’s given to you.
For RCCG to be here, it’s because the Grace is given, and this is lovely. Because there are other Ministries that God has called, but they do not have that Grace like we do in this Place.
The Vision of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) is a Global one!
Earlier today, we were having a discussion and Daddy GO shared with us about VISION 2032.
And the Global Vision that RCCG has is a Church of the whole World: everyone being gathered together.
The first thing is to have the Vision. So you must have it somewhere, that we are a Global Church.
Can you say with me: “We are a Global Church, with a Local Expression.”
What Vision does is that Vision affects the way you think. Once it is clear (that we are a Global Church) we need to cast the Vision before the People.
- PRAYERS
The Second thing is that we would begin to Pray.
Why do we need to Pray? Because the Bible says, as the Apostles began to Pray, the heart of Lydia was open.
Everybody Please, listen to this: One of the Strategic Prayers of every Church Planter is that “God would open the heart of Gatekeepers in the City to you.”
That’s one of the most important prayers!
The reason being that every City has Gatekeepers.
Gatekeepers can be in the Business Sector, in the Media Sector.
The Bible says, “And God opened the heart of Lydia”.
You would Pray if you are in France; if you are in the Southwest of Nigeria, for the People that are the Culture Melting Point here; that God would open their Hearts to you.
That is important for two (2) Reasons;
I. Once the Hearts of Gatekeepers open to you because People follow them, they will follow them into the Kingdom.
II. The Second thing that would happen is: The Gatekeepers would help you shapened the Message, so that you can reach the Locals.
… How to Plant Churches that reach Locals;
- The first thing is Vision: and we must have a clear Vision of Penetrating the Locals.
- The Second thing is Prayers.
- DEFINE YOUR TARGETS
The Third thing is: Can we define our Targets? (Using corn to illustrate).
If you see me as a farmer setting trap and I am putting corn – Who do you think I want to catch? Antelopes, Grasscutters? No – Birds. Oh! Because I want to catch birds, I know what to use.
What happens in the Church is that, most Churches want to catch Locals, but what we put out is as if we are looking for Nigerians.
So you say (this is you in Germany) “Special Love Feast today: Jollof rice, Ofada rice, Asaro (Porridge) is available.” And your Church is in Germany. Do the People in Germany know what Ofada rice and Jollof rice is? No!
That alone shows who your Target is. Because most of us always say, we are targeting the Core People in the Country. But your Strategy does not align with what you are saying.
Somebody shout hallelujah – Hallelujah.
So we need to understand who our Target is: Are they Young People? Are they Old People?
For Example, if you want to reach Young People, what would the Music be like?
Have you noticed, anytime we are singing Hymns, the Older People are always in the Spirit? Oh! “Then sings my soul…” They will be in the Spirit. Look at the Younger People, they will be looking around, “when will they Change the Song?”
… There’s nothing wrong with them; they were just born with another kind of Music in their ears.
And as soon as you Change the Music to that of the Younger People, they will come alive! “Whose report will you believe? We shall believe the report of the Lord…” Music that is faster. The Old People will be like, “can we become more Spiritual?”
And the reason is this – It is not that there’s something wrong with the Song in itself. It is that “different kind of Music appeals to different Generation of People.”
I love what Daddy GO and the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) have done very well – That is the Creation of Model and Classical Parishes. And the Creation of Youth and Young Adults (YAYA) Churches.
And sometimes it is very difficult to have a Church that would reach Multiple Generations – That’s the Truth!
Even when you think of Coca-Cola: When you are Young, Coca-Cola has Coke, Fanta, Sprite for you. As you grow Older what do they have? Bitter Lemon, Sweps, Tonic Water, Juice, Eva Water.
So a Ministry like this, we need to have Churches that are Fanta, Coke – That are sugar – sugar. You have the Youth Church (with loud shouts). As they grow Older they’ll look for another kind of Church; then they come to Eva Water.
And when you are at Eva Water Stage, you would just be saying, “To God be the Glory, Great things He has done…” Then your children are saying, “Daddy/Mummy, why is the Church not very active?” And they would not understand: it’s been there for Ages!
… Somebody say Hallelujah – Hallelujah!
Identify your target – Who are we called to reeach? How do I know my Target? Who are you teaching currently?
Do you know that if I want to catch big fish and I also want to catch small fish; what I will use would be different? If you see me using small fishing hook, it tells you the kind of fish I want to catch.
So your Target would determine who you want to reach! And I want you to notice that, “the Gospel would not Change, but the Strategy would Change.”
And let me tell you something: “The Church would lose if the Strategies are not Effective.
Everybody listen: The Armour of Saul is not what David used to pull down Goliath.
Every Generation is going to come up with its Armour. The target is still the same: “Goliath must come down!” But Saul had Armour, David had Stones and Sling.
The Message is still the same, the Vision is still the same, but the Strategy must be involving.
I am Challenging us, because we need to open up our Minds a little. Some of you, the Holy Spirit has begun to tell you things, but you are Struggling. You are afraid that you don’t want to miss it.
… How do you reach Locals?
- YOU MUST LOVE THEM.
One of the first times I went to do Mission Work in South Africa, that was maybe about ten (10) or twelve (12) years ago. There was one thing I noticed about my fellow Ministers in South Africa – So I began to ask them, the Churches you Pastor, they seems small. I was worried!
And one of the things I kept on hearing was that, they did not speak very good about the South Africans. And I noticed a Problem of Superiority Complex – That you really think that your Culture is Superior to other People’s Culture.
I would say something: Our Cultures are different, and not Social Superior. Each Culture has what is Good and what is bad. As it is here, it is there!
Why am I saying this? If you don’t respect People’s Culture, they will not respect and embrace your own.
So what we need to do is to love them. We need to love them!
Recently we had a Crusade with thousands of People. As I was Teaching, I was going to give an illustration. I said: if your child does something and you smack your child; Then I remembered that I was in the United Kingdom, that you cannot smack your child. So I said, if your child was doing something and you correct your child.
… And when I said that, everybody began to laugh because they understood that I had made Structure Adjustment.
Choose to understand them. How do you understand them?
I want to give you some Counsel; Anywhere you Pastor, read their History: Their History will help you understand why they behave the way they behave.
It doesn’t Change what you believe; but it helps you understand them. And the more you understand someone, the more you can influence him.
Praise the Lord – Hallelujah!
You must love and be opened to adjustment.
A lot of you think that your Language is the best. But the truth is that, you think your Language is the best, because that’s the Language you speak.
If I go and Preach in a Country where they don’t speak English, I try to pick one or two words of the Locals. So when I get there and I speak the few words, they are so blessed that this Pastor understands us.
Can I say some Powerful things? I am Yoruba, my first name is Bolaji. In my Culture, when we see our Elders we Prostrate and greet: and it’s a wonderful thing. But there are Places that when they want to greet me, they would say, hey Pastor, how are you? And when they shake me, they are not being rude – That’s their Culture.
Infact, there are some Cultures that if they get very close to you and you come close to them, they don’t even think they should call you by a Title. They think they should call you by your first name. But that’s their Culture.
How do I understand and become very open to Culture?
1.The areas that open you up – If you are young, go to school in that Country. You will know the Culture better.
- Do Sports in that area.
Because we stay in the Church morning and night, we don’t interact with them. We must be open. If you are in a City, try their food (if you can). Be open!
Sometimes I ask my son, what Music are you listening to right now? The reason is that I am trying to understand their world.
Let’s read a Scripture together, 1 Corinthians 9:20-22, And unto the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews; to them that are under the Law, as under the Law, that I might gain them that are under the Law; To them that are without Law, as without Law, (being not without Law to God, but under the Law to Christ,) that I might gain them that are without Law. To the weak became I as weak, that I might gain the weak: I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some.
… Paul said, by all means that I may save some.
Please listen Pastors, it is difficult to reach People that you don’t love. It is difficult to Pray for People that you don’t love.
Sometimes you are in Europe during Summer and you see them coming out naked – Don’t judge them.
Let love drive you to Pray for them. You get into your Closet and say Father, this is why you sent me to Germany, to Switzerland; I am here to bring a Revival – that’s why I’m here!
And let me tell you something: The People you Pray for, you will find it hard to criticise them. Because the Holy Ghost would make your Heart to be Compassionate towards them.
Somebody say: Father, break my Heart with what break Yours.
We need to really be compassionate to them.
HAVE A GOSPEL CULTURE
What Culture does your Church have? Is it Yoruba Culture or a Gospel Culture? Can we begin to establish a Gospel Culture? Is it an Igbo Culture or a Gospel Culture?
One of the reasons why the Church is not growing is that the Culture from where we came from is very Strong – It’s a very strong “Igbotic” Culture; “Ngbati gbati” Culture.
Let me ask you a Question: Is your Church a Gospel Church or a Yoruba Church? Is your Church an Igbo Church or a Gospel Church?
The last time I checked, this Church is called the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) – Not The Redeemed Christian “Igbo” Church of God. Not the Redeemed Christian “Nigerian” Church of God. It is The Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG).
So, we don’t have Nigerian Culture, we have Gospel Culture. We must develop Gospel Culture. When People say we should do some things, ask them, “Is that Gospel Culture or Nigerian Culture?”
This is what the Apostles did when People were fighting. They said, let’s do the Fundamentals – People should not fornicate, they should not eat meat offered to idols. We must maintain what is Gospel Culture.
I want to ask you a Question: So if I greet you, and I don’t bow down to you because I am a Whiteman from New Zealand and in our Culture we don’t bow down; does it mean I’m rude? But what would you say? The concept is honour; how honour comes out differently depends on who you are.
If Daddy GO walks in here, I will drop the Microphone, Prostrate and greet Daddy. Because that is how I was raised! One of my friends said recently, “why do you People lie down on the floor when you see other People?” I said, we don’t lie down on the floor, we are only Greeting them.
The way we do it is Gospel Culture. And People want to do it if they understand it.
Let me explain that to you – Sometimes the Gospel Culture would Challenge Real Culture but let’s take time to teach and explain before we Change things. Alright?
Do you want to Build Churches that will reach Locals – People in the Locality?
- Whatever is on the Stage is what would bring the Congregation.
Let me explain what that means: If on the Stage, all you see are Igbo men, Igbo women. The Congregation will have Igbo men, Igbo women.
Why? The Law of Representation: “Whatever is on the stage determines what is in the congregation.”
So you are Pastoring in Netherlands, you cannot find a White Person to take the Announcement. Infact, you don’t even have Ghanians, Congolese or Jamaicans, all of them are Nigerians.
If you put Nigerians in front, what will you see in the Congregation? Nigerians! Because the Principle is in the Book of Zechariah, “like the Priest, like the People.”
And when you are Preaching as a Pastor, all your examples (here you are in Netherlands ooo) “When I was in Lagos, when I was in Abuja…” And everybody is wondering Please, where is Lagos, where is Abuja? Because your Examples are not reaching the People!
… So, what do you put on the Stage?
- If you want to have a Multinational Church, it must start from the Staff.
If you are afraid to have Staff from different Races that have different skin tone; you should be afraid of having Church Members like them.
The beauty of having Staff with a different Race is that, when you are deciding on Planning, they would bring their background into that Plan. They would help you with the Vision within the context of the People of other Nations.
So, that Church in Germany that said, “we want to give them Jollof rice.” If they had a German Lady there, she would have said “Pastor, which one is Jollof rice?” – He says, “it’s rice that Nigerians eat.” She would have told him, “we that are Germans, we don’t even eat Pepper, talk more of Jollof: can you give us something else?”
The reason why it is important to bring Leadership and Staff from other Races is because, there is a dimension of Prospective they would bring, that if they are not there, they would not bring.
And let me say this also: There are Churches that want to reach Younger People. It’s not enough to do Youth Programs; you must bring those Young People into Leadership.
The Major Challenge with Older Churches with Younger People is this: Older People would design Programs for Younger People and say Younger People should come and do them.
And the Younger People would be like: This Program does not work for us! This Program worked in 1985, it worked in 1990 but we are in 2023. Instead of you struggling with them, say Young People, come to the table let’s do this together.
Everybody Please write this down: “A Church grows Old Naturally but stays Young intentionally.”
So if your Church is going to stay Young, Vibrant And Growing, you have to be very Intentional.
You need to do a Leadership Team Audit – Ask yourself, “My Top Twelve (12) Leaders, does it look like what I want our Church to be like?”
Then ask yourself: “Every Sunday when I look at the Stage, does it look like what I want our Church to be like?”
Some Churches when you go there, the average Person that climbs the Stage is over fifty (50) years old. Just watch the Church; after one or two years, everybody in that Church would be over fifty (50) years old. Because, “like the Priest, like the People!”
- Another Adjustment we have to make is Communication.
If you are a Pastor in a Country where the Predominant Language is not English, you may think of learning the Language.
What is Communication?
There is a certain way to it. If you grew up in Nigeria, most of our Communication is very Verbal. If you grew up in Western World, a lot of the Communication is documented.
How do we Communicate? These are the things that become barriers to the Gospel.
- Our Music
How do you have a Church in Switzerland and they walk to you on a Sunday morning, and all they are hearing is: “Oyigiyigi ooo, Alagbawi Eda ooo… You even have talking drum in Switzerland!
When you invite the Locals, they are wondering: “Are they insulting us?”
The Music must reflect who you want to reach.
We are not trying to reach the Pastor (we have reached the Pastor already. We are trying to reach the People, our music must reflect who we want to reach.
Put this down: Does our Music reflect who we want to reach?
When we are bringing Music Ministers, do we bring Music Ministers of those we want to reach; or we bring the one the Pastor likes?
- The Media
Every time you want to do Video Promo; you want to do Social Media Adverts, why do you keep putting Black People in a White Man’s Country?
You even put People who wear Agbada in a White Country. You say it’s a Thanksgiving Program and you use somebody wearing Agbada; in a White Country.
Sometimes you are in Northern Nigeria, all the Pictures of the People you put on the flyers are People wearing Yoruba Agbada.
Ha! The Media, what do you show?
If you are Abroad, show a White man and a Black man. Show things that the Locals can relate with. Don’t show something that would be like, “Oh! This is an African Church, this is a Nigerian Church.”
- Timing
There’s Nigerian Time!
So when you go Abroad don’t go and do Nigeria Time. Leave Nigerian Time where? In Nigeria!
You that in Nigeria, either you go to work or not you get Paid; Abroad, they work Per Hour. So they have targeted that, “when I come to Church, two (2) hours, I am done.” I am going to meet Bus 503 that leaves the Bus Station 11:05. When Service finishes at 10:45, I would walk to Bus Stop for fifteen (15) Minutes.
So, when the Pastor does not regard time, and you just keep Preaching, they’ll say Pastor, the one I have heard is enough. “To your tents O Israel.”
And you say they are not Disciplined -They are! But their Bus needs to leave.
Because if they miss that Bus, the next Bus comes in thirty (30) Minutes time and they would get late to work.
Timing! These are some of the Problems we have as Nigerians.
… Why am I sharing these with you (as I Close)?
- Programming
There are some Programming that are very Good if you are in an African setting but not very Good Abroad.
For Example, the other day I saw Pastor Leke’s Video; one of the Members did not come to Church, he said “we are going to surprise her at home.” They just went to her house to surprise her – That’s Great in Nigeria!
Abroad; you’ll hear “Pastor, why are you coming to my house? What’s the Problem? Are you okay?”
Because what you call Love can mean something else in another Culture.
For Example, in our Culture in Nigeria; if one child doesn’t do well you can say: Come here! Didn’t your mother teach you to greet Elders? So greet. You can’t do that somewhere else!
You can’t say, I am the Pastor, so I must discipline everybody.
Please, we must be careful. But it has to do with we trying to understand the People.
Last thing I want to say – Please pay attention to this: The World is taking Children more importantly than ever.
I think if you want to Plant Churches that are effective, Plan for “An Effective Children’s Church.”
And when you Plan for an Effective Children’s Church, you must have big Conversations.
There area things called LGBTQ. There are things called Pornography.
DMC NOTE: LGBTQ is an acronym for, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgendered and Questioning Individuals.
All our Senior Pastors may not know all these things. But the Younger People know what I am talking about. You must be able to have those Conversations.
In case you don’t know: Sexual Abuse is always done by Someone close to the Parents. And most of the time, the children can’t talk about it.
So, we must begin to have very effective Churches!
You know, when we were Younger – Thank God for Redeemers University and all other Christian Universities. When we were Younger, everybody used to do Bible Knowledge and Christian Religious Knowledge (CRK). Yes or No? Yes!
But in the New School Schemes now, there’s no more Bible Knowledge and Christian Religious Knowledge (CRK). So we must have a Step by Step way of Teaching the Young ones. Because there’s a New Generation that may not know who Moses is.
And the reason I’m saying so is this: The Greatest Opportunity to win Souls is when People are below eighteen (18) years.
Most People that caught the Ministry, got Born Again first when they were Below eighteen (18) years.
It’s Operation Catch them Young!
And the reason why I am emphasizing on Children is this – Some People you want to reach them, they are already too old. Sometimes, Racism is in their Mind.
But when they are Young, they have not built up all those Structures -:You can help redirect their Mind, you can help Change their Mind.
The Lord will cause us to be effective – Amen.
I want us to Close by reading Zechariah 4:6. The Bible says, it’s Not by Might, nor by Power, but by my Spirit, saith the LORD of Hosts.
And that’s what I am believing God for – That in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ:
- We would see People that would raise Churches in Europe – Two thousand (2,000) Membership; Purely Europeans (Amen).
- We will see People who would raise in Canada, Purely Canadians – Five Thousand (5,000) Membership (Amen).
- And Several of such Churches: in Israel, the Middle East, in Quatar, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, in the Name of Jesus Christ – Amen!
Can we Stand on our feet and Pray?
Were you blessed today? Yes for the DMC FAMILY MEMBERS!
There’s a lot to say: Please, whatever you do, use Social Media, it’s very Good – With Social Media, you can reach a Church in Pakistan without going there.
I have a friend that started a Church in Pakistan. The first time he went to Pakistan to see the Church they were two hundred (200) People – He was reaching them through Social Media.
And you know in Pakistan, they don’t speak English. So he was using Google Translator to translate. And that was how he won many Souls for the Lord.
… So the Internet and Social Media has made it easier for us.
The Prayer is this: LORD, use me to make a Difference in the World.
Let’s go ahead and Pray!
CLOSING PRAYER
Heavenly Father, once again we want to Thank You for Your Goodness and Kindness.
I am Praying that the Power of Your Spirit would be released upon Your People.
You would use us to Change the World, Oh God.
They said, ‘these are the men that turned the world upside down for Christ.”
Lord, use us to Change the World for You. Use us to Change Europe for You. Use us to Change North America for You.
Oh God, put Your Hands upon our lives Mighty Father!
Oh God, in this Meeting, double Your Hands upon our lives – That’s our Prayer!
Oh God, use us to turn around Middle East.
Oh God, send us to China, to Japan, to to the Middle East!
Use us as Revival Catalyst, to turn the World around for You, Oh God!
That’s our Prayer today: Use us Mighty Father!
We Thank You because You will do it.
In Jesus’ Name we Pray – Amen!
Thank you so much for staying all through to read.
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