Rev. George Adegboye, the Apostolic Oversight of Ever Increasing Word Ministries, also known as Rhema Chapel International Churches (RCIC) ignited a renewed passion in the hearts and lives of Ministers, leaders and workers alike in the just concluded annual 2022 International Ministers, Leaders and Church Workers Conference, held at the different zones and branches of the church, within and outside Nigeria.

The 5 Days program, held September 7^th-11^th, was a time of explosive teachings and anointed worship. The Theme, Working with Our Mandate, characterized each message that was preached by the Apostolic Oversight and pastors in charge of the various Rhema Churches.

Rev. George, fondly called “Baba” by his pastors, leaders and workers alike, spoke extensively about the importance of the local church and the right attitude and behaviour to have in the local church. Christians should not assume they know how to behave in the local church because they are Christians, or because of age, qualifications or because they know how to behave in their family, work, and school.

“The church is a divine institution. It’s not a family or academic institution. Home training is different from church training. I know people who behave well at home, but mess up in the church.” In what sounded like a warning, he went on to say:

“The most important institution to God is the church, if you tamper with it, you can mess up your life permanently. If you’re going to be part of the church straighten up your attitude and stop taking things for granted.”

He emphasized the importance of having the right attitude when it comes to the local church, “Attitude is a small thing that goes a long way. It is contagious, that is why you have to be very careful. If you’re going to get the best out of the local church, you will need to change your behaviour. If the attitude changes, the atmosphere will change. When the atmosphere changes, the anointing will change.”

The right behaviour is evident by joining the membership of a local church. For “Until a tree is planted, it can never suck the nourishment in the soil.” Other proper behaviours have to do with being familiar with and committed to the general and specific vision of the church, attending all normal and special services of the church, being financially committed to the local church, and submitting to the church authority unconditionally.

“Attendance edify and encourage people who attend. It encourages the leader that what he is doing people appreciate it. It also creates a stronger pull on the anointing by the crowd.”

On the issue of submitting, he said, “If you find it difficult to submit to that authority then you don’t belong in that place.”

In all, the 5 Days conference was truly a revealing and refreshing one, Pastor Dolapo Olapoju, the Minister-in-Charge of Rhema Surulere church, reportedly said, “It was an inspiring and soul-lifting meeting.

In one of the sessions, Baba (Rev. George) taught every worker’s duty and that they must protect the church.

The reasons he gave will continue to ring in the ears of the participants for a long time.

He said, We protect the church because it’s part of God’s agenda, the gate of hell is against it, the church is fragile and delicate; a church of 5000 can dissipate within a week…many Churches are museums now, not everyone loves the church and everyone is protecting what they have, so we should preserve what we have.”

In a tone that was laced with emotion and evident passion, he went on to say, “If anything happens to the church, we would not escape judgement, for the church is the hope of the people. The Lord will preserve His church, but His method is still men, and we will do well to bring glory to Him and carry out his will as Jesus Christ did. What matters most to God, must matter to us. So the local church is vital to God and it’s vital to us.”

Minister John Ifezuo, the Chapel Administrator and Minister at the same church, recounted his own experience.

He said, “The conference was very impactful and enlightening. The messages were profound, as they outlined solutions to the challenges of the present day Church.”

It was obvious that the conference got a lot of the workers and leaders pondering on the words of Rev. George, words that they would not forget in a hurry.

Tony Badmus, the team leader of the Publicity Department said, “No doubt it was a word in season. In his usual fashion, he gave us a full dose. But one thing that is resonating with me is that one of the problems we have is that we assume we know, yet we don’t have a clue! Baba opened our eyes to see that one of the problems we have is that we don’t understand what the local church is, hence we don’t know how to behave in our local church.”

There you have it, the successful completion of the Rhema Chapel International Churches (RCIC) 2022 Conference.

In the words of ‘Baba,’ “I pray that we translate the words into actions because that is the purpose of the conference. If you take what I’m telling you and begin to use them, in a matter of weeks you will see changes in your life, for they are principles of God that work.”

Efe Lisa Ifezuo

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