Pastor Mike Ayanbode has been a full-time pastor in RCCG for about 30 years. He is Pastor in charge of Region 45 of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, FCT, Abuja.
His knowledge of the workings of RCCG is not in doubt. The region is celebrating one year of its existence. But Ayanbode believes the one-year celebration should be about winning more souls for the kingdom.
He talks passionately and realistically about the church. While conceding that RCCG is perhaps the most popular Pentecostal Church in Africa, Ayanbode believes the reality on ground is nothing to cheer about. He says, “If I’m being sincere with you, in reality, in terms of the number, maybe we have not done much. That is why this vision 2032 is very critical. Apart from the name and branches that we have, when you pull our population together, how many are we? That is how we know where we are.”
As part of the region’s drive for growth, Ayanbode says it has started identifying churches that are less than 100 in attendance. And these churches less than 100 in attendance are more than churches that have population that is above 100. We have identified those churches and we have given the Pastors in charge of Provinces the mandate to work on a certain percentage of that number; the number of churches that are less than 100 and make sure that they take them to 100.”
It is believed that if this is done effectively for one year, there will be a great difference in attendance far better than how it used to be.
Ayanbode says many of the parishes are working assiduously towards the target while quite a few are lagging behind.
The region itself has just one parish; but the provinces have majority of the parishes that make up the region.
He explained that what the region does is to provide an enabling environment for the parishes and encourage the pastors in charge of provinces and people at the provincial level to embrace and pursue the vision while they are being given strategies.
At inception, Region 45 faced the challenge of infrastructure and putting of structures in place for its running. “But by the grace of God, we are over that now. Largely, we have covered more than 80% of those initial challenges.” Ayanbode says.
The region is also said to be blessed with people of the same mind, who are willing to work, who are committed and dedicated, who share the vision of the General Overseer and want the growth and the development of the church.
“We are working as one family, and they’re giving their very best; the best of their abilities and knowledge. We have everybody within the system working together and that makes it a lot easier; when you have people you give instructions and they carry it out despite the challenges they face.”
He noted that it will take some time for people to grasp what Vision 2032 is all about. “There is a law we call ‘Law of Emphasis’. The summary of that law is that people are not going to understand you because you have spoken about something once. You have to repeat yourself over and over again until everybody understands what you’re saying. Because when you say something to a congregation of 1,000 it is likely that only 20 people will understand what you are saying. So, you still have 980 individuals who are still trying to understand what you are saying, and when you repeat it, maybe you gain another 400 or 300 who will understand you; then you still have outstanding 600 people who are yet to understand you”
He says, “talking about Vision 2032 is like watching advert every day without paying attention; then a day comes, you get familiar with the advert. You were able to get that because it’s being repeated every day.
“Until people see why they have to do something, they won’t see any need to do it. So, the WHY and HOW must be provided; it must become a song. Now, the question is, in all our churches every Sunday, is vision 2032 part of our announcement?
“So, for every service held in church, Vision 2032 must be part of the announcement and it must be explained in few minutes. People also need to reflect on the role they are to play in making the vision a reality. If one person brings one soul every month, that will be 12 souls in one year from one person.”
People must also be taught the benefit of soul wining rather being given human incentive. “Nothing pays like serving God; nothing pays like winning souls to the kingdom. When you win souls, you experience good health, promotions, breakthroughs, miracles, signs and wonders.”
He cited the example of a church who prays all the time every morning. 95% of their prayer point is about church growth and soul winning and their testimonies have always been about winning souls and that church is growing. I noticed they only spend less than 5 minutes to pray about their personal needs and then, they teach the word of God. But they make it a business to make people understand that, there are more than enough incentives when you forget about your problems and you make God be your focus. That is what Matthew 6:33 says.”
The region, according to him, ‘should be expecting greater drive for God, expecting more responsibilities, because, there will always be more to do for God. They should expect programs and events that will impact lives, that will address issues of life. We’re going to be intentional and deliberate about addressing issues. They should expect a lot of positive things.”
Doing God’s work also comes with a lot of wisdom. “I’m a realist and I believe in practical Christianity; balancing everything. Do the work of God as at when needed. Personally, I go on leave; I spend my full leave. I have pastors under me who told me that since they became full timers, they have never gone on leave. But for me when it is time to do the work, I do everything that needs to be done; when it’s time to rest, I rest fully. Once I’m out, I don’t bother myself about what is going on again; whoever is in charge is given full authority to carry out the assignment on my behalf, that’s the way I balance everything.”
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