Wife of the Provincial Pastor of Lagos Province 71 of the.Redeemed Christian Church of God Prof. Ronke Bello has charged counsellors in the province to go back to Christ for refinement and pruning while also noting that what matters most in a counselling session is its final outcome.
She made the call while addressing counsellors in the province at their biannual conference which took place at the headquarters of the province at Ayobo Lafenwa road ,Itele, Ogun State.
She spoke on the topic, the making of Jesus counsellor and vision 2032.
Counselling to for all
Bello a Pharmacist and lecturer at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital noted that not everybody is qualified to be a counsellor in the church.
‘The first place to start is for the counsellor to know Jesus. You can’t counsel without experiencing Jesus.’ She said.
While noting that many claim to know Jesus, she said there is a need for all counsellors to go back to God for refinement and pruning so they could effectively be a blessing to those who come their way.
She explained further that a Jesus’ counsellor is a person who has been formed by Christ to minister to others. :
The counsellor is made in the place of prayer. When we talk about the making of a Jesus counsellor we are talking about what goes into making a counsellor effective for the kingdom.
The starting point is salvation of the would-be counsellor and then the refinement. We need to go back to the quarry where God will remake us. We need to be chiselled into the shape that God wants us to be.
‘Let’s go back to the holy spirit to remake us. You cant carry a stone on your neck and want to swim you will sink. God needs to refine us and purge us of all weights that will make us ineffective.”
While noting that God is the one who equips the called she charged the counsellors to make the word of God their watchword
“Jesus is the word of God. He came to show us the way. He surrendered all to us. We should surrender to him so he could effectively use us for His glory.’
She said further that a Jesus counsellor must learn from Jesus and counsel the way Jesus would counsel. ‘We learn from Jesus. We lead people to Jesus. We should end up with taking the person to Jesus’
She compared the counsellor to the midwife who takes delivery of children.
‘The delivery point of a child is so critical. The counsellor is the person who takes over after a person is born again. Counsellors have to be patient with the counselees and prayerfully lead them to maturity in Christ. This has to be done with compassion and patience.’
On vision 2032, she noted that the RCCG has a vision to reach 40 million souls for Christ by year 2032.
She urged the counsellors to have a projection of how many souls they will lead to maturity as the year approaches. ‘You have a role to play in making Vision 2032 a reality. We also need to have our own projection.
‘We need to have a focus and prepare many more people to be like Jesus in the counselling business. Our focus in making Vision 2032 a reality is to prepare more people who will counsel like Jesus.’
Awards
The event also featured practical sessions, praise and worship.
The coordinator of counsellors in the Province, Pastor Mrs M.O..Akinloye earlier at the event expressed great thanks to God for his mercy and making the conference a reality .
She appreciated the Provincial Pastor, Prof S.A. Bello for his commitment and love for the counsellors in the province.
The counsellors honoured Pastor Oladele Rabiu, Prof and Prof Mrs Bello with awards for their love and sacrifices in province.