The report of this quarter shall be presented under three subheadings
1. Congregational development
2. World bible school activities
3. External evangelism and edification
CONGREGATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
The church at Ukpagada only recorded two baptism during this period and it is not unconnected with our desire to build the inside to be strong through leadership development. We therefore started the Leadership class with men that will be taught to handle the congregation and grow into eldership. The congregation also led the WBS Team to carry out extensive evangelism in one of the Ukpagada villages. We hope to repeat there in May 2018.
WORLD BIBLE SCHOOL ACTIVITIES
During this period under review, World Bible School Great follow up worker workshop took place in Nigeria and I did this summary report below as the director of the workshop.
WBS GREAT WORKSHOP – A TOOL FOR EFFECTIVE EVANGELISM
The world Bible School great workshop is a four day gathering of preachers who do follow up work for world Bible school and those who use world Bible school materials as evangelism tool. In Nigeria the annual workshop holds once every year and was introduced by an American missionary Doug Wheeler in the early 90s and it has survived till today. This workshop is designed to be a capacity building workshop to develop men to be able to face the challenges of following up on WBS prospective students. It is also a platform for a coordinated evangelism within the location of hosting.
The great workshop is the biggest WBS organized workshop not to discuss with students but to discuss with the follow up workers. It is sponsored by congregations in the USA who have WBS follow up workers here in Nigeria. Between 2015 and 2018, over 30 souls have been won to Christ through this workshop. In Warri 2017, a Muslim was converted into the body of Christ. In 2018 a Pentecostal pastor was converted and a strong follow up team is keeping an eye on him and his denomination.
Another important aspect of the Great Workshop is the equipment of the follow up worker for greater service and functionality. At the end of the workshop participants are usually equipped with a pack containing, Bibles, books, tracts, DVDs/CDs and other study outlines. The pack is accompanied with the workshop book containing lecture notes of the conference. As the director of the WBS Great Workshop, my responsibilities include coordinating the entire activities before, during and after the workshop. From selecting the theme to appointing the speakers and ensuring that the workshop goes well lies on my table.
This year’s workshop had 8 speakers taking topics within a theme REPOSITIONING THE CHURCH FOR HIS SECOND COMING. An American missionary and president of African Christian schools foundation Chad Wagner was one of the guest speakers. 649 participants were registered. Two of the participants came from the Cameroon.
7 souls accepted to obey the gospel and were immersed into Christ. The high point of the 2018 Great Workshop is the unveiling of the newly constructed Nigeria Gospel Chariot. A
lot of brethren were excited knowing now that we can storm the rural area with the gospel. The 2019 Great Workshop is scheduled to hold at Mbaise in Imo state of Nigeria.
Beyond the workshop I introduced WBS to the school where I teach and as at today, we have over 350 enrollments. Bibles have been shared to those without Bibles who have passed the first introductory lesson.
EXTERNAL EVANGELISM AND EDIFICATION.
Between January and March I had speaking appointments at the Oron Leadership seminar, WBS Great workshop Abakaliki, Orodu Gospel meeting in Lagos and the 1st Men’s seminar held at Ogoja Town.
God has been faithful to me and my family. One major challenge I have fueling to travel up and down across the country to speak at seminars. Between April and July, I have over 6 speaking appointments. I am willing, Able and ready to do his will.
God bless you
Mike Udam