Being a missionary is great honour- Rev.Toyin Kehinde, as four-day Global mandate conference ends.
Inner view of the Agape Generation International Church on Sunday while the closing ceremony is going on
The four-day Global Mandate Conference which held at the Agape Generation International Church, Mende, Maryland, Lagos formally came to a close today February 23 with a charge to the over 200 missionaries to be proud of their calling.
The charge was given by Rev Toyin Kehinde who has been playing the lead role in hosting missionaries annually from across Africa for close to 12 years.
About 80 percent of the missionaries came from across the states in Nigeria. The 2020 conference was supported by the Lagos Chapter of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria and a host of volunteers and organisations who labored throughout the four-day event.
Rev Kehinde in his message on Sunday said missionaries should count themselves blessed for being chosen to carry the banner of Christ to the nook and crannies of the world.
According to him, working for God is a great privilege and honour.
While noting that the call is for all believers to go into the world, he said God is the one who bestows the honour on those who obey the call.
“God has called us to an assignment to go the world. It is the great commission not the great suggestion. It is a divine assignment not a human assignment. Being called to carry out the great commission is a great honour. No man bestows the honour on himself. God is the one who bestows the honour on us.” He said.
Don’t look down on yourself
Rev. Kehinde who is also the General Secretary of the Lagos chapter of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria said it is wrong to pity missionaries or for missionaries to go about with a low self-esteem.
“Don’t look down on yourself. God has honoured you already when you surrender yourself to obey him and carry out the great commission. It is the assignment and the person who sent you on the assignment that are the issues here not your person. So it does not matter your physical or material condition. What matters is that you are doing the bidding of the king of Kings and the Lord of lords.”
He insists: “don’t allow men to look down on you. But then it does not even matter if men look down on you. But don’t you ever look down on yourself. It is worse if you look down on yourself. You are honoured not because you’re from a particular tribe, or because of your education or non-education. You are honoured because you are representing the almighty God here on earth.”
Quoting copiously from the Bible, Rev Kehinde noted that God is more interested in the faithfulness of his children than their fruitfulness. “In the parable of the talent, Jesus presented a master who is more interested in faithful servants. The master told the owners of the talents well done, good and faithful servants, not good and fruitful servants. It is your faithfulness that comes first before fruitfulness. God is more interested in you being faithful. If you are faithful, with time you will be fruitful.”
He said it should not be the worry of the missionaries that they are not seeing fruits of their efforts. “What should be your concern is that you are faithful. It is Paul who plants, Apollo waters, but it is God who gives increase. It is our own responsibility to obey God by planting and watering. We should then wait on God for the fruit. Unfortunately many are killing themselves because they are not seeing fruits.”
While urging them to always be ready to serve and to serve faithfully he said, “God who is the owner of the work will not allow his work to suffer. Something comes across as a shock to me. Jesus said he is sending us as sheep in the midst of wolves. Ordinarily what do you think a sheep can do in the midst of wolves?
“From the human standpoint the sheep is a prey in the hands of wolves. But God in his wisdom is strategic. While he sends the sheep to confront the wolf, He already goes ahead of the wolf to fight the battle. He is the Lion of the tribe of Judah. Be assured that the Lord is with you in all your endeavours.”
The missionaries on Saturday had the opportunity of going through medical examination. The medical exercise was supervised by Dr. Sylvanus Jato, who is also very passionate about missions. Some of them with ailment were treated freely while free drugs were given to those who needed them.
The Sunday service was well attended by church leaders from other denominations. As the missionaries prepared to leave Lagos after the service, Dr. Jato counseled them to take care of their health. He urged them not to embark on any form of self-medication while praying that God will continue to keep them in good health.
The missionaries who came from different missions’ agencies were given supplies and equipped according to the available resources at the disposal of Agape Generation International Church.
Appreciation
In a later chat with Church Times, Rev Kehinde expressed hope that more churches and individuals will come to support the project in the coming years. He said the 2020 Global Mandate Conference has once again attested to the fact that God’s business done in God’s way gets God’s support.
“We really do appreciate all those who took time to be part of the project and gave both moral and financial support. The project could not have been successful without the support of men and women who love God. We appreciate all churches who donated their vehicles for the transportation of the missionaries to and from their accommodation throughout the four-day event. Many churches and individuals also supported financially. We are indeed grateful to them and to God who put it in their heart to support the work.”
His wife Pastor Mrs. Sade Toyin Kehinde had earlier in the church service expressed profuse appreciation to all those who supported the four-day conference.