On Tuesday, January 14, 2024 at about 4:00pm I previewed a video recording of an interview on AGTV's Inspire programme, hosted by Mr Abraham Asare. The guest was the Global Chairman of the World Assemblies of God Fellowship, Reverend Dominic Yeo.
The exercise was purposely to grab an exclusive news for AGTV. Indeed that interview was engaging and informative. The information that was elicited from Reverend Yeo by Mr Asare who doubles as the General Manager of AGTV was also deep and inspiring.
Apart from the transformation that took place in Reverend Yeo's life and how he got saved by Jesus Christ, one thing that caught my attention was the bit about how churches can establish solid or workable structures to win souls as well as care for them by ensuring that they grow both spiritually and physically in order to retain them in the House of God.
Strategic leadership
Don't forget Reverend Yeo is a renowned Man of God known for his visionary, strategic leadership and has a wealth of experience in providing appropriate recommendations that supports churches to experience transformation and break into new levels of growth.
Reverend Yeo told the host that a healthy church must have essential ingredients to grow including consistently giving to missions, engaging in prayer, evangelism and must be a Bible-believing church.
Indeed, he also talked about branding and how to market a church to be attractive for new souls to remain and stay in the church.
Shock
Well I got the shock of my life some where in December last year when I was gathering information to produce a documentary on streetism around the Circle overhead bridge for AGTV.
Some of the street girls and boys told me that they were disappointed in churches and that they will no longer go to church for anything. I was curious as a cat to find out why they took that decision.
They told me it was because when believers come for them to attend their respective churches they fail to care for them and abandon them eventually and that's why they have decided to remain on the streets and not to go to church. One night while I was with my cameraman shooting a video on how the street people survive at night, I met a group of believers who had come to preach to the street people around Circle to win souls.
I later saw the Street Chairman Prince Akwasi Boateng and a group of young men having a confrontation with the believers asking them to leave the place. The Street Chairman was furious because apparently he(the street chairman) complained that some churches preached to them but as soon as they attended the churches the believers allegedly abandoned them.
I asked the Street Chairman what he meant by they being abondoned and he explained to me that in the initial stages the believers cared for them both physically and spiritually but as soon as they started attending church, the believers allegedly stopped all those practices and nurturing of their souls including praying for them and teaching them the Word of God.
Persuasion
My cameraman and I persuaded the Street Chairman to stop being confrontational and we succeeded in convincing him to move away from the scene.
This situation brings into sharp focus Reverend Yeo's recommendations for churches to establish structures to sustain souls won. It is very thought-provoking and the earlier churches implement his suggestions the better it will be in terms of sustaining church growth.
What the Global Chairman sort to address is simple. If we win souls we must not abandon them. We must continue to nurture them until they grow spiritually and physically.
Winning souls, caring
Indeed there are some key Bible verses that teach us how to win souls and care for them to grow spiritually:
In Mark 16:15 of the Holy Bible,Jesus instructs us to "go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation."
In 1 Corinthians 9:22-23, Paul writes, "I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some."
In Hebrews 10:24-25, the author encourages us to "consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing."
Then in 1 Thessalonians 2:8, Paul writes, "We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired of life itself... but we were gentle among you, like a mother caring for her little children."
Impactful ministry
But come to think of it, Reverend Yeo had had a profoundly impactful ministry, marked by remarkable achievements in church growth. Here are some of his notable accomplishments:
Transformational leadership: As the Senior Pastor of Trinity Christian Centre, Rev Yeo led the church to experience significant growth, expanding its membership to 10,000 and establishing regional centres in Australia, Indonesia, Thailand, and the United Kingdom.
Global impact: Under his leadership, Trinity Christian Centre developed a robust missions programme, reaching over 40 nations and establishing an accredited multi-disciplinary Christian college.
Strategic church planting: Rev Yeo has been instrumental in promoting church planting globally, with a goal of establishing 1 million churches by 2033.
Mentorship and training: He has mentored numerous senior pastors in spiritual and organisational leadership, providing consultations to churches to help them experience transformation and growth.
International recognition: Rev Yeo has been elected as the Chairman of the World Assemblies of God Fellowship, becoming the first Singaporean and only the second Asian to hold this position.
Author and speaker: He has written books, including "Potential to Fulfillment," and has spoken at conferences, sharing his insights on church growth, leadership, and discipleship.
Wayforward
I will therefore suggest that this is a man we should all listen to and implement his recommendations for church growth.I must conclude that Assemblies of God,Ghana and indeed AGTV were excited to host such a renowned Man of God and further featured him in AGTV's news bulletins and the special programme, Inspire which is yet to be telecast on the station.
