At the just-ended 2017 G-Youth All Leaders' Retreat which took place on 21st January, 2017, about 70 leaders converged at the Phenomenal Faith Cathedral for sessions of upliftment and harnessing of focus. It was indeed a time of refreshing as leaders were taken through moments of earnest prayer, glorious worship and praise and a mighty impartation of the anointing, right from 9 am in the morning.
"This is not a club; it's a spiritual group. Everything must be done from the Spirit...With prayer and good organization, we can get to the top," Pastor Kufuor, the National Youth President said in his welcome address.
Reverend Deo Donney led participants in the second session of prayer. Supplications were made unto God for the Ministerial Council and the National Youth Executives, prayers were lifted for more labourers, fruit bearing and a host of other very pertinent issues in the ministry.
Rev. Mrs. Mingle began, *"The growth of the ministry depends on you and I."* She taught that God has given us stewardship as leaders.
The woman of God run leaders present through the programmes for the year 2016 in order to review them and receive feedback for improvement upon the programmes.
First on the list was the Retreat; it was suggested that subsequent retreats should be held in a new environment aside the Phenomenal Faith Cathedral.
Leaders were also cautioned to be present on time.
Secondly, the 2016 Love Soirée was discussed.
Issues including securing an easily accessible venue for the programme and maintenance/reduction in the cost of tickets were suggested.
In response to that, Rev. Mrs. Mingle disclosed that the committee is working hard on securing an easily accessible venue, and advised leaders to seek support from their branches to support those unable to pay for the tickets.
She also charged leaders to use their WhatsApp platforms to sensitize members on the need to attend such a programme: to obtain sound Biblical counsel on how to conduct their intimate relationships.
It was also suggested that the content of the programme be structured such that attendees are able to get the most out of it: hearing the message being sent out.
On the Worship Night, it was suggested that leaders should see such programmes as avenues for soul winning and thus bring in the lost so that they receive salvation when they attend.
When it came to the Leadership Summit, it was suggested that we maintain getting testimonies such as that of Pastor Kufuor and Minister Nak from our own members.
Concerning Camp, many have agitated for a new venue. Thus, there will be a new venue for this year's camp. In addition, the Youth Ministry has plans of acquiring land to develop a Retreat Centre for the Church.
As well, it was suggested that Camp should be an opportunity for reaching out. Pastor Kufuor quipped, "Camp is not for fun but for you to spend time with God."
After such an engaging session, Michael, PRO of Madina G-Youth shared their experience from last year.
He shared that they conducted some evangelism that led to the establishment of the Agboba branch of Gospel Light. In addition, they had a movie night which was very successful.
According to Michael, their branch believes in giving equal opportunities to each person to act. Delegation is very prevalent is very prevalent there.
Jennifer also hinted that among Madina G-Youth, there is a strong bond among the members such that they are a family.
She added that the programmes at the branch are streamlined for for the members based on feedback received from them.
Rev. Mrs. Mingle challenged branch leaders to build good relationships and work together in organising District programmes.
As the discussion went on, Apostle Henry Dodoo-Amoo walked into the auditorium. He shared a riveting message on 'Self Improvement.'
Taking off from the background set by the previous discussion, he said, "If leaders engage, there's dynamism in terms of the people we lead. We should be focused on bonding not programmes. Don't talk to your people when it's only time for programmes...you can have a kenkey party in your house and invite them. Find out the point of interest of the people; get what excites the people."
The man of God shared 6 out of 8 things on his Self Improvement List.
He noted that life is about progress. The following are the six tips he shared:
*1. Cultivate a spirit of excellence (see Daniel 6:3)*
Desire to excel. Have a passion to excel in even the smallest things. Do things the perfect way.
*2. Choose life (see Deuteronomy 30:19).*
Who I am today is a result of the choices I made in the past. It's the painful choices that teach us a lot in life.
Choices impact your life in three dimensions:
# _Spiritually_
Pray more, participate in spiritual things, study more of the Word, fast more.
# _Emotionally and Intellectually_
Don't choose friends that make you talk unnecessarily.
_Physically_
Don't eat late in the night. Have good rest.
(Study Proverbs 3:1,2,7,8)
*3. Turn your faith loose (see Hebrews 11:6; Mark 11:23)*
He said, "Faith is the THING for any child of God."
To turn your faith loose, talk faith talk. Have faith conversations. Sing faith songs.
You turn your faith loose by your language.
"Don't eat their tails," he said, admonishing leaders to confess well about the brethren.
Don't assign physical reasons to negativity.
You will have what you say if you believe it.
Speak good things concerning your members.
*4. Seek the knowledge of the holy (see Proverbs 9:10).*
We belong to a holy family. Identify with it by being holy. Provide a strong example to the people.
When we seek the knowledge of the holy, we attain spiritual understanding.
*5. Discover people and build excellent relationships (1 John 4:18-21).*
Be authentic in your relationships not because you are a youth leader but because you are a person.
Jesus led through association. That's what created the bonding, passion and loyalty in His disciples. He was with them in every situation. Give up your ego and invade their privacy in a loving way.
*6. Leave your comfort zone to possess and live on the mountain top (see Joshua 14)*
Forsake a lot of your comfort for the same of the people and the cause for which you were called.
Sometimes you have to die a little bit for the people.
The Chief of Staff said, "You cannot lead in comfort if you want to succeed in leadership. If you want to see apostolic results then you must apply apostolic methods to the work."
He taught leaders present a very critical protocol in the House of God: *If a Bishop or an Apostle enters the room, stand.*
He answered questions ranging from rising early to living a holy life.
He ended his message with this solemn remark: "The moment we think we've arrived, we've lost the battle."
There was yet another powerful prayer session led by Pastor Frank.
Apostle Nana Yiadom-Boakye then shared a definitive message challenging participants to seek the Kingdom of God first.
He taught that any leader who does not have a good successor has failed.
He urged us to have a great yearning for the Holy Spirit and His gifts.
He said, "No elephant gives birth to a chicken," alluding to the fact that God has ordained that we walk in the steps of our man of God Bishop Matthew Addae-Mensah and achieve even greater feats in the Kingdom.
He hinted that whoever you are you are an evangelist.
Reading from Genesis 26:12-14 and Luke 2:52, the man of God prophesied, releasing an uncommon and blessed unction upon the congregation. The auditorium was rent with the glory of God as people's faith were turned loose to receive the grace being released.
There was an awesome anointing Service conducted right there that which energized leaders present with great power and great grace!
Pastor Samuel shared a presentation on Excellent Reporting in the 21st Century. He shared with leaders on how to write reports by having a simple introduction, body and conclusion; keeping accurate records of members of the youth ministry at the branch level, gathering Camp records and gathering attendance information of meetings.
He hinted that reports of programmes must be sent to the National Secretariat (info.gyouth@gmail.com) within two weeks after the programmes and that updates must be sent using the reporting template.
The presentation is available on the G-Youth Leaders platform and can be consulted for further details on how to digitally gather data, gathering feedback and writing of good summaries.
The Retreat climaxed with an exposition of the National Programmes for 2017 by Apostle Albert Bartlett-Mingle, our National Youth Pastor. He disclosed that the Retreat, Prayer Festival and Love Soirée have been given approval by the Bishop. Nonetheless, the location of the Outreach will be determined by the Bishop; we may even labour with him in one of his Crusades.
Thus, this outline of National Programmes is tentative viz.:
*Prayer Festival*- New Date to be confirmed
*Love Soirée*- Saturday, 11th February, 2017
*Worship Night 1*- 17th March, 2017
*G-Youth Outreach*- 27th May, 2017 (subject to Bishop's review)
*Leadership Summit*- 24th June, 2017
*Entrepreneurship Programme*- likely to begin from the branch/district level - 15th July, 2017
*Next Level Conference*- to be spearheaded by Campus Ministries- 8th July, 2017
*Pre-Camp All-Night*- 4th August, 2017
*G-Youth Camp 2017*- (An outreach/ Crusade will proceed from this Camp)- 7th August, 2017 to 11th August, 2017
*Youth Day*- 13th August, 2017
*Worship Night 2*- 20th October, 2017
Daniel Ofori, a member of the G-Youth Prayer Directorate received his certificate of recognition for his dedication and service during Camp 2016.
What a glorious day it was!
Oh... And there were delectable 😋 pastries to munch on and wash down with some Beta Malt.
Gloryyyyyy!!!!
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