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More than 700 people were inspired inside the main auditorium of the University of Ghana in Legon, Accra as the 2010 ICOC West Africa Missions Leadership Conference (WAMLC) came to an exciting and outstanding end.Leaders from the West African bloc of the ICOC had earlier converged on Accra for the 4-day conference which would go down as one of the best organized and most memorable leadership conferences in living memory. A colourful opening ceremony set the tone and the theme “As I Have Loved You” – a call to brothers and sisters to shepherd and love God’s people as Jesus did - totally summarised the 2010 WAMLC.
After the arrival of various participants, registration and room allocations, the event officially began with a rendition of praise and worship by the Accra Church Choir which preceded a colourful opening ceremony and the welcome address by Evangelist Jide Ojo of the Accra Church.
The first general class, “As I Have Loved You” by the lead evangelist of the Lagos Church, Chris Ogbonnaya, was a reminder to love as Jesus did.
As with major conferences of this scale, diverse classes were taught to meet specific needs in the church. (To view the program of events and classes of the 2010 WAMLC, Click here to download in PDF Format or Microsoft Word Format).
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John Beene, left, visiting leader of the Staten Island Region of the New York City church, delivered the theme sermon of the conference, “As I Have Loved You, Love One Another”, an unequivocal expository on Jesus’ kind of love especially with the apostle Peter and how disciples today can benefit from such a graceful relationship. The apostle, John Beene said, was very rash and unstable but Jesus focused more on his potentials than his mistakes. John called on leaders to have the same attitude as Jesus‘s. He further stated that leaders should not be quick to rebuke or condemn their flocks, emphasizing that Jesus even washed the feet of his would-be betrayer, Judas.
John also stated that the apostles were not afraid to make mistakes in Jesus’ company because Jesus himself was very vulnerable. He called for vulnerability in leadership as one sure way to love as Jesus did. John Beene further illustrated, using John 13: 1 -11 as a guide, how Jesus left his heavenly throne and glory to stoop low in becoming a servant to his disciples—an example, he stressed, of genuine and godly leadership. Sounding off, he encouraged leaders that the litmus test of their leadership is not merely on the pulpit but in how much they sincerely love as Jesus did.
John’s points were certainly not lost on the congregation, as his message was greeted with a rousing round of applause.
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A stimulating closing ceremony brought the curtain down on the 2010 WAMLC in Accra Ghana but not without the mantle of hosting the 2011 edition being passed on to the Banjul, Gambia Church in what would be the first time the conference would not be hosted either by Nigeria or Ghana.
To those privileged to be part of this year’s conference, no doubt this was four days of some serious soul searching. If nothing else, what the conference has exposed in fine points is that there is a vast difference between what we think love is and what loving as Jesus did is...and that is our true calling as his disciples.
A big thank you to the organizers and disciples in Accra who worked tirelessly and selflessly to organize a truly remarkable and inspiring conference...let’s do it again in Banjul 2011!
For more pictures from the conference and more exciting news from the West African churches, click here: www.icocnigeria.org
After the arrival of various participants, registration and room allocations, the event officially began with a rendition of praise and worship by the Accra Church Choir which preceded a colourful opening ceremony and the welcome address by Evangelist Jide Ojo of the Accra Church.
The first general class, “As I Have Loved You” by the lead evangelist of the Lagos Church, Chris Ogbonnaya, was a reminder to love as Jesus did.
As with major conferences of this scale, diverse classes were taught to meet specific needs in the church. (To view the program of events and classes of the 2010 WAMLC, Click here to download in PDF Format or Microsoft Word Format).
John Beene, left, visiting leader of the Staten Island Region of the New York City church, delivered the theme sermon of the conference, “As I Have Loved You, Love One Another”, an unequivocal expository on Jesus’ kind of love especially with the apostle Peter and how disciples today can benefit from such a graceful relationship. The apostle, John Beene said, was very rash and unstable but Jesus focused more on his potentials than his mistakes. John called on leaders to have the same attitude as Jesus‘s. He further stated that leaders should not be quick to rebuke or condemn their flocks, emphasizing that Jesus even washed the feet of his would-be betrayer, Judas.John also stated that the apostles were not afraid to make mistakes in Jesus’ company because Jesus himself was very vulnerable. He called for vulnerability in leadership as one sure way to love as Jesus did. John Beene further illustrated, using John 13: 1 -11 as a guide, how Jesus left his heavenly throne and glory to stoop low in becoming a servant to his disciples—an example, he stressed, of genuine and godly leadership. Sounding off, he encouraged leaders that the litmus test of their leadership is not merely on the pulpit but in how much they sincerely love as Jesus did.
John’s points were certainly not lost on the congregation, as his message was greeted with a rousing round of applause.
A stimulating closing ceremony brought the curtain down on the 2010 WAMLC in Accra Ghana but not without the mantle of hosting the 2011 edition being passed on to the Banjul, Gambia Church in what would be the first time the conference would not be hosted either by Nigeria or Ghana.To those privileged to be part of this year’s conference, no doubt this was four days of some serious soul searching. If nothing else, what the conference has exposed in fine points is that there is a vast difference between what we think love is and what loving as Jesus did is...and that is our true calling as his disciples.
A big thank you to the organizers and disciples in Accra who worked tirelessly and selflessly to organize a truly remarkable and inspiring conference...let’s do it again in Banjul 2011!
For more pictures from the conference and more exciting news from the West African churches, click here: www.icocnigeria.org