OJO/APAPA REGION

The Okokomaiko Zone Grand Opening!
...Ojo/Apapa Opens Okokomaiko Zone
posted 04-10-07



Disciples in the Ojo/Apapa Region of the Lagos Church were in joyous mood last weekend as they rolled out drums to inaugurate the Okokomaiko zone... more








A Celebration of Love
...The Ojo/Apapa Day Celebration
posted 04-10-07


October 1 is our National Holiday but in the Ojo/Apapa Region of the Lagos Church, it means something different every year...
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CHILDREN'S DAY WORSHIP SERVICE



The Children's Day worship service in the region is one that would linger on for sometime, especially, for those who were privileged to be in service that morning, which included the Lead Evangelist of the Lagos Mission, Chris Ogbonnaya.

The service flagged off with a workshop for the singles titled, "Christian Conduct", which main purpose was to see how the singles would 'charge and encourage one another towards good deeds'-Heb.10:24-25 and Phillipians 4:9. The workshop, led by Charlie Davies and Frank Okodugha, also had a practical guide on the Basics of Casual Dating and also the need not to miss church meetings.

The speakers emphasised the fact that people are like coal and would burn collectively when they are together but would fizzle out when alone. At the end of the workshop, the singles identified areas in their lives in which they needed to imbibe the basic principles on dating and that they needed to take casual dating seriously. They also learnt that encouragement and friendship should be the goal for casual dating.

After the praise and worship session, the service started with Charlie Davies sharing the Communion thoughts in which he stressed that," It's time we celebrate our unity in Christ". Stating further, he spoke on the fact that ''the love of Christ must be the driving factor in our Christian life. It should compel us each day to give our best to God because God first demonstrated that love by His gift of His only Son."


The guest speaker for the day, Chris Ogbonnaya, started his sermon by challenging disciples that the Church of God " is all about people". Speaking on a very convicting message titled, 'Nuggets of Christian Living', he said that, " As disciples, the values we live determine our ability to reach out to people and how much we impact people's lives will stand the test of time." He shared the life of Enoho Emeka, who slept in the Lord recently. "She was a great example of the Christian faith," he said, "one who always had a ready heart for service."

He shared about how hours before she slept in the Lord, all Enoho wished to do was to pray and sing to God. He called the rest of the Church to emulate her heart in service and to fight the good fight of faith.
He also challenged parents to be faithfully committed to their children. In rounding off, he asked a rhetorical question if, "is our major calling as christians the way we live or the way we sound?" Our Christian life comes to play when we step out of the Church premises.

He further stated that " our christian life should be based on the positive changes we make and that we should not have God on our lips alone but in our hearts."
The service was concluded with a drama sketch by the children which showed how pride destroys relationships and called on the leaders to be humble in their jugdement. The standing ovation the children recieved after the sketch showed how well their message was recieved. The Children's Day service was one of a great lesson for all that were there that day. God used the children in an incredible way to call us back to being hospitable and useful to everyone. "Be humble," they said, "and make an impact in the life of people."












Sunday Thanksgiving Service
...this is a day of Good News!




Sunday 29 April

It was a double impact Sunday Service as close to 500 people gathered for what turned out to be a Sunday with a difference at Gamezone Garden, FESTAC Town for the tremendous Bring-Your-Neighbour Day Service of the Region.

The stage was beautifully decorated in sky blue and orange drapings contrasting against a white background. A lovely coloured bouquet hung above the pulpit as the well organized Service started off, after the opening prayer by Pitu Roopani, with a great Praise and Worship session put together by a combination of Ojo/Apapa and Ogba/Agege Choir and led by Richard Efunbote of the Ogba/Agege Region.

Everyone in Church that morning was jubilant and set alive by the renditions from the Choir as they sang with intense passion. It was indeed earth shaking as Worshippers were taken to a new and incredible dimension. After the singing, there was a fellowship break that lasted for close to 10 minutes. The Communion Talk picked up from where the singing left off as Gordon Isiakpere shared some thought provoking insights from Luke 22:14-21 were he asked the question if "Jesus would see us as brothers, friends or a betrayers... ?"



Charlie Davies, Leader of the region, then gave the message of the day titled, " This Is A Day Of Good News". He touched mainly on two most important points:Instead of a Siege, rather surrender and Instead of starvation, rather salvation where he encouraged disciples with the Scriptures (2Kings 6:24 till end) that God still rules nations no matter who is elected to preside over a nation.

He also stressed that " the role we have today as disciples is the same with the Prophets of yore - turning the hearts of people to God." Charlie reminded the gathering that God demands maximum commitment if He must continue to be first in their hearts. "When we are hemmed in on all sides by the hustles of life," he added "we have no place else to go but to surrender to God." He also explained how "God sometimes deprives us of the things (idols) in our lives that have replaced the devotion to Him that we had earlier so we can turn back to him". He summed up his message by admonishing the congregation that, " God can use anybody if we have a heart that is willing,submissive, forgiving, humble and pure"

Many were moved, as evidenced by the sharing and fellowship after the closing prayer and thanksgiving procession."I was personally impacted and challenged by the message." Ruth, a first time visitor, remarked. "It was a wakeup call for me to work much more in the area of my faithfulness to God.The message was like a cue that the Lord sent at the right time. How grateful I am that we have a God who truly knows what we need".

Special Easter Mid-Week Service
...the heart of Christ

A Special Easter Midweek service, which had both Sectors of the Region meet together, was a night for the Remembrance of the Lord's Supper.

Just as it was on the day our Lord was betrayed, it was a night of deep sober reflections and prayers.The highpoint of the night was when Charlie Davies, Leader of the Region, exemplified the Heart of Christ when he tied a towel round his waist, sat down on a stool and washed the feet of all who were present at the service! He spoke afterwards that disciples should not see what he did as a show but must emulate the Heart of Christ by serving others.

Afterwards, everyone partook in the Lord's Supper as they ate from a loaf of bread and drank from a single cup in memory of the night when Satan entered Judas Iscariot. And as you would have guessed, the service rounded off with the movie 'The Passion Of The Christ'.

EVANGELISM CAMPAIGN 2007!

Daniel 12:3 “…those who lead many to righteousness will shine like the stars for ever and ever.”

With the churchwide Evangelical Campaign in full swing, the Ojo/Apapa Region of the Lagos Church, under the spiritual guidance of Charlie Davies (top left and part of the team from London that planted the Lagos Church in 1989), recently had a 'trial run' to create awareness for the upcoming campaign. Every morning, a good number of disciples meet at different parts of the Region to sing, pray and go for some evangelism break. Much later, they assemble at a particular location, have a devotional, pray and then leave for their respective work places. It has been going on for sometime now and after just days this started, God has blessed them with multiple studies,two people have been baptized and two others restored already! Below are quotes from some of them:

“For sometime now, my evangelical lifestyle has been non-existent. Had doubts initially that no one will give me a listening ear, our locality is filled with too many religious practices. But, God, most times wants us to take a leap of faith and to me, it feels so different and I'm so much alive again. To my greatest amazement, no one turned me down. I keep meeting lots of interesting women each day and I know one day, God will lead me to someone who desperately needs him." - Mom Showolu

"It's rather better witnessed than seen! For me, it’s like reaching out to people like never before. I signed up for this Campaign because I wanted to rekindle the passion I once had for evangelism. As a movement, we need to be a lot more outward-focused because there are tons of people out there who need to hear not just what God has done for us but how much more they need to be saved. I'm so excited because of there are so many warm and receptive people God has been placing in our paths since we started this mission. Personally, I have more than seven people I'm studying with and two of them have gone beyond sin and repentance. My home has become a temple court of a sort and you need to see the joy and the impact this has brought to me and my family." – Michael Bolajoko




“I believe since 2003, this is the first time a lot of us are having everyday studies. It’s been a complete blow-out with an incredible amount of people giving commitments. The scripture that readily comes to mind is Acts 18:9, and it's so encouraging knowing that God has placed a lot of people in our Region to be saved. All we have to do is go look for these people. It's God who saves people, not us. It is barely a week and we are talking 2 baptisms already! God really can do immeasurably more if we can just follow His lead."- Frank Okodugha




“I just wanted to be restored to the mission and what better way to start than to be a part of this dress rehearsal? Although a bit ill lately, but I don't see that as a stumbling block. I needed the fire of evangelism to help restore my faith again. Met lots of intense and religious women; including one who proved rather difficult but when we did some studies, she asked to come to my home for some more studies. It’s like being a new disciple all over again. Nothing compares to that joy you feel knowing you are doing God's work". - Joy Essien