AMBASSADORS FOR CHRIST      4TH – 5TH MAY 2024

Following the successful completion of the year 2023 Special Weekend Meetings in November, which brought together our brethren from different regions in Germany and other parts of Western Europe, we deemed it fit to repeat the same exercise in 2024.

The purpose of this year’s retreat was to enable The Apostolic Faith Mission, Germany, as a group, to take a step back from the weekly virtual meetings to strategize, harmonize processes, and spend time to refresh while building a strong team bond needed to achieve our calls as a good representative of the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.

The retreat was scheduled to take place from Saturday 4th to Sunday 5th May 2024 at Konstanz, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The theme for the retreat was Ambassadors for Christ! 

“Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God” (2 Corinthians 5:20)”

Therefore, this programme served as a clarion call to everyone – people of all ages and at all stages to wake up from spiritual slumber and moral laxity to answer the call of God.

As Christians, we are Ambassadors for Christ; heaven is our home and Jesus Christ is our Lord who has sent us with a message to the world. A Christian is God’s Diplomat of the highest ranking, bringing His message to the world and representing His kingdom here on earth. As Ambassadors of Christ, although we live in this world, we are not of the world.

Arrival Day and Prayer Meeting

The Regional Director for Mainland Europe, Reverend Francis Odudu arrived from the UK in the early hours of Friday, 3rd May while all other participants from different regions in Germany, Italy, and the UK arrived later that day.

Shortly after the dinner, all delegates returned to their lodging in preparation for the Friday evening prayer meeting. The prayer meeting, led by Esther Oladipo, from Italy, was held virtually between 8.00 pm and 9.00 pm.

Day 1: 4th May 2024. – Symposium/Perspective Sharing, Distribution of Gospel Literature and An Evening of Music.

We held our Day One meeting at Cherisy-Straße 15-17, 78467 Konstanz.

The morning session of our special weekend meeting opened with an organ prelude followed by a violin duet “Jesus, I my cross have taken” by John R. Sweney performed by Joana and Janet John. There was then a session of choruses led by Esther Oladipo and Jessica Abioye. The choir also presented “A Volunteer for Jesus” by Charles Gabriel, after which Lanre Idu, a delegate from England in the UK, led the congregation into singing some hymns, while Johnson Oladipo led the opening prayer. Dare Abioye gave a short welcome address and a brief overview of the day’s activities.

Another choir rendition as 2nd special was a solo titled, “Jesus Use Me”, by Jack & Billy, and performed by Titus Oyedokun, one of the delegates from Germany.

The perspective sharing was in the form of a symposium whereby facilitators talked on different areas and dimensions at which as Christians we could serve as ambassadors for Christ.

The four areas of discussion were education & career, music, family, and digital media.

Abena Abioye, who currently leads the group, made us understand the importance of education in fulfilling our role as good ambassadors. “Education is a means of knowledge acquiring either by receiving or giving; knowledge is power and by knowing, one will appreciate God the more”, she said. Furthermore, through critical thinking, we can challenge existing polluted knowledge and create pure and undefiled knowledge that benefits the souls of humanity. 

She further gave a briefing on the German Academic system, stressing how we should live our lives as ambassadors in schools, the challenges of living for Christ, and how to overcome them while standing our ground as Ambassadors for Christ.

She quoted from 2 Corinthians 5:18-21, emphasizing that God hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation. Therefore, as ambassadors, education is a ministry through which we reach out to reconcile others to God. According to her, knowledge through education is not limited to the classroom.

While concluding, she, as a way of encouragement, cheered up those facing challenges of peer pressure that they should not see themselves as ODD, but rather as EXCEPTIONAL.

Anthony John, from Scotland in the UK, brought to the limelight, the importance of music as a means of evangelizing. In a world filled with evil music genres, one must not underestimate the damage and resultant effect upon the life of every Christian and society, necessitating a deliberate focus on music ministry in church, at home, and at school. It cannot be overemphasized that we must adequately represent God’s kingdom here on earth (home, school, play, and church).

To wind up, he used scriptural references to buttress the purpose of music ministry in our church, home, and society.  Music is for worship (2 Chronicles 29:28); for thanksgiving (Psalm 147:7); for consecration (Psalm 139:23); for edification (Colossians 3:16); for evangelism (Psalm 40:3); and the preservation of faith (Psalm 145:4–5). He ended his talk by stressing that a successful music ministry demands consecration. 

Victor Idowu, a delegate from England in the UK anchored this third discussion point, which centered on the family and marriage. He made the participants sit in family clusters just to ensure the points were taken.

He quoted from the Scripture in Matthew 18:19, as the basis for unity in any family. Major points were on raising godly children, which he noted could only be achieved by demonstrating love to children and being available as parents. He further encouraged couples to incorporate love trips, outings, and celebrations into their activities to keep the marriage bond. 

He ended his talk with an admonition to pray for our children, as it is never too early to help them pray through to their life partners.

The last speaker, Titus Oyedokun spoke on “Digital Media: An effective tool for Evangelism (Ambassador for Christ)”

He started by outlining the effects and impacts of digitalization on our lives as ambassadors for Christ. He stated that the world is very much digital now, with unlimited access to information via the Internet.  His talk centered on the information we carry and how it affects our commission as Ambassadors for Christ here on earth. Therefore what we say, what we post online and what we portray, what we share can either lead souls to Christ or cause doubts in the hearts of many.

He later put it to us all in question: 

• Whom does your life represent? Christ or you?
• Who are you representing when you sit down at the computer or use social media? 
• Is your role as an ambassador for Christ part-time or full-time?

He reminded us that our actions speak volumes more to people around us than what we say; hence, we must be a good example to the people around us. A Scriptural reference from 1 Cor. 1: 11 “Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ.” was quoted to draw the point home.

Francis ended the service, after a short review. He urged everybody to go on their knees to pray. 

A lengthened session of prayer, with individuals seeking God’s face to search our hearts and renew a right spirit within us, brought the morning session to a close.

After the prayer, a couple of brethren went to the inner city of Konstanz to distribute gospel literature, which was printed in the German language, and to invite souls to the Evening of Music. 

Total attendance for the morning session was 36 (21 on-site; and 15 online).

EVENING OF MUSIC

All thanks and praises be to God for the success of the Evening of Music which was the main event for the afternoon session.

Francis Odudu gave the welcome address followed by a congregational hymn – “Guide me, O thou great Jehovah” led by Victor Idowu and an opening prayer by Lanre Idu.

The full choir rendition opened with “He is a Wonderful Savior to Me” by Blanch Brock. This was followed by a mixed quartet titled “The Sweetest Song I Know” by Albert E. Burnley.  The orchestration session began with “Ode to Joy” (Tune: Glorious Things of Thee are Spoken) by L. van Beethoven and “March of the Bowmen” by John Caponegro.

Another round of full choir renditions was “Get All Excited – Solo/choir by William J. Gaither” and “The Battle Hymn of the Republic by Julia Howe & Anon”, which brought the programme to an intermission. 

At intermission, we listened to a testimony by Lanre Idu and his salvation and how the Lord has faithfully kept him on the Christian race. There were also some musical performances from Jessica and Joy Abioye.

Just after the intermission, we had some instrumentations including a violin duet “Violin Duet – Six Easy Duets by I.J Pleyel”, a flute duet “Marsch der Priester, from Die Zauberflöte by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–1791)” both performed by Joana and Janet John, while the full orchestra played “Men of Harlech, trad.”

The concluding part of the choir rendition had songs like: “Just A Little Talk with Jesus, by Cleavant Derricks” rendered by the male quartet; “A Volunteer for Jesus by Charles Gabriel” sung by the Choir: and “Christ is the Answer.” Arrg by Mary Tim, Andrae Crouch & Sandra Crouch as an altar call song ended the evening of music for the day.

Overall, the total attendance for the musical concert was 40, (25 onsite and 15 online). 

Day 2 – Sunday Service

Sunday service was held at Luisenstrasse1. The saints gathered early enough for a pre-meeting prayer session. 

The Sunday school service opened with an organ prelude and was immediately followed by an opening song led by Victor Idowu, who thereafter gave the opening prayer. 

The elementary children then presented a short welcoming skit titled “Ambassadors for Christ”, highlighting how we as ambassadors for Christ could take advantage to exhibit the righteousness of God and proclaim His power to save wherever we found ourselves just as Noah, Moses, Joshua, and many others in the Bible.  They encouraged all to follow the example of Joseph and Daniel, who kept their integrity and sinned not in the presence of kings in foreign lands. Thereafter, the Sunday school lessons were held.

Ijeoma Nwosu, one of the German delegates, taught the Primary Class on the topic “God calls Moses”, taking her text from Exodus 3:1-15, and emphasizing the call of God on every one of us to be an ambassador for Him.

Dare Abioye handled a joint class for both Answer & Search on “God’s Power on Elisha”. He began the lesson with the key verse and texts taken from 2 Kings 2:1-15. The lesson highlighted the concept of baton exchange in a relay race, its significance and relation to Elijah-Elisha, and the expectations. The lesson focused on three major discussion points; namely: Promptness of Elisha to leave all and follow, the Dangers of following God afar, and Personality Differences – explaining that, God can use any type of personality, but only if we promptly obey His Word and follow His will closely.   

The Sunday school session ended after a short review by Abena, stressing the resilience and determination attributes exhibited by Elisha. A challenge was thrown to everyone that another Elisha could be in our midst, but that could only happen if we asked God. She read from John 14:14 “If ye shall ask anything in my name, I will do it.” She then led the congregation on their knees to ask God for the grace to answer His call and walk with Him faithfully.

The morning devotional service opened with a String Trio, “Erstes Quartett. Minuetto Mov.3 K80-177 by W.A. Mozart.”  Thereafter, a choir rendition followed “Joy Unspeakable by Barney Elliott Warren”. Victor Idowu led the congregational singing on some inspiring selection of hymns and a congregational prayer was said by Abena.

The choir sang a first special titled “Follow On by Robert Lowry”, while Titus Oyedokun read the Bible reading from Matthew 5:13-16.

The second special, a solo titled – “The Power of God is Just the Same Today” by Frederick Graves” was rendered by Seun Idowu.

Francis Odudu brought the message titled, “Ambassadors for Christ”. Citing the text of the sermon from 2 Cor. 2: 18-20. He gave an analogy of what is expected of any ambassador representing his country in another foreign land, as to how his effectiveness would reflect in the relationship between his home country and the host country. He added, “Equally we are to represent Jesus Christ, and in representing Jesus Christ, we don’t just do it with mere words, we must represent Him in all ramifications.”

Drawing from John 20:20-21 and Matt. 10:7,8, he stated that we are commissioned by Jesus to bear His life-giving message to the world; and that our main focus must be to win souls for the Lord. Referencing 1 Tim. 4: 11, 12, he added that to do this effectively, our life must reflect the light of Jesus in the darkness of the world. 

He assured that our work as Ambassadors is backed by power from our Lord Jesus Christ. He concluded the sermon assuring all that great rewards await us if we serve faithfully, and challenged everyone to live a life worthy of emulation and be good examples to others, as the Scripture enjoins us to “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.”

The song “I am thine O Lord, I have heard thy voice” was sung by the congregation to end the devotional service, after which we went down on our knees to pray.

The morning devotional service attendance was 33 (20 onsite and 13 online). 

We thank God for His manifold blessings and the divine manifestation upon all. 

All the attendees have since returned safely to their respective places.