RRC Assemblies of God responds to call to mission work

Rescue the perishing,
Care for the dying,
Snatch them in pity from sin and the grave;
Weep o’er the erring one,
Lift up the fallen,
Tell them of Jesus the mighty to save.
Rescue the perishing,
Care for the dying;
Jesus is merciful,
Jesus will save.

The above message is captured in the lyrics of a popular hymn that makes a passionate appeal to Christians to respond to the call of a cardinal divine charge for them to keep – mission work or evangelism.

The lyrics of the hymn give a sound, compelling reason why Christians must gird their loins and embark on mission work or evangelism to take the gospel to all corners of the world, as the Jesus Christ instructs them to do in Matthew 28: 19-20;

“Go ye, therefore, and teach all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:

“Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen” – KJV.

It, however, appears that today many Christians have lost their way from the noble path that Peter, Paul and other forebears of Christianity charted to propagate the gospel across the world to win souls for Christ and ensure the dominance of Christian religion in the world.

RRC response

But the Revival Restoration Centre (RCC) of the Assemblies of God, Ghana, has endeavoured not to abdicate that divine charge, and for the past 16 years, it has undertaken mission works in many parts of the country, especially deprived communities, which could be described as ‘thirsty lands’ as far as the gospel is concerned.

Apart from sharing the word of God with the people, the RRC, during such missions, leaves behind a legacy by putting up church buildings for their host communities so as to ensure the growth of whatever seed they plant.

In March, this year, the mission team of the RRC visited the Afram Plains to have fellowship with some deprived communities in the area.

The church also organised free medication for the people during the mission, spending about GH¢42,000 on the health outreach programme.

As a follow-up to that visit, and upon a needs-assessment of the people, the church last Sunday donated a number of items to those communities in the Afram Plains with the view to enhancing the work of God.

Items donated

The items included five motorbikes, bales of used clothes and food items, all estimated at GH¢22,000.

The motorbikes are to be used by pastors of the Assemblies of God in the Afram Plains to enable them to cover the expanse of the rugged, inaccessible terrain to propagate the gospel.

The items also included pieces of wax print for the wives of five Assemblies of God pastors in the Afram Plains.

The General Superintendent of the church, Rev. Dr Paul Yaw Frimpong-Manso, presented the items to the Eastern Regional Superintendent of the church, Rev. Alex Ofori Amankwaa, and charged the recipients to use the motorbikes for their intended purpose.

The Head Pastor of the RRC, Rev. Dr Alex Nkrumah, said the church chose to undertake the mission work in the Afram Plains after much prayer last year.

“The impact has been so great. Since we went there in March, we have had some of them coming down here just to thank us for the impact that we have made in the area,” he said.

Rev. Nkrumah said following the church’s intervention, many people had received Jesus Christ as their Lord and personal saviour, while others had also received healing from various ailments through the free medication exercise.

“We are expecting that God will use the items to really help them in their day-to-day lives,” he said.

The essence of mission

With its annual mission work for the past 16 years, the RRC has long taken the lead in a task that the leadership of the Ghanaian church has recently declared as a major vision in the short term, as it seeks to double the membership of the church in the next five years.

Rev. Dr Frimpong-Manso said there were three implications of mission work: people who go to the field to do the job, people who pray and people who support the cause with their money.

He said given the rise in secular religious practices, moral decadence such as homosexuality, wars and false prophecy, it was time for Christians to take up the mantle of mission work.

“Any church that forgets this mandate, any Christian that forgets this mandate will answer to our God,” he admonished.

Rev. Dr Frimpong-Manso said it was unfortunate that many pastors were not placing emphasis on evangelism and mission work, adding, “Now, everything is double-double, prophecy and materialistic religion.”

He said it was mandatory for Christians to do mission work, and urged members of the Assemblies of God to commit their resources to that cause.

“It can be done; it must be done, and it must be done now,” he proclaimed.

Gratitude

Rev. Amankwaa, who received the items on behalf of the beneficiaries, thanked members of the RRC for the gesture, and appealed to philanthropists and institutions to also support such initiatives for the propagation of the gospel.

The Afram Plains District Pastor of the Assemblies of God, Rev. Joseph Baidoo, also expressed gratitude to members of the RRC for their support.

Having lived in the Afram Plains for about 23 years, out of which he has devoted 13 years to pastoral work, Rev. Baidoo has a good appreciation of the Herculean task of mission work in the area, but he is content with results so far.

“When I look at how many souls and churches we have now, compared to the past, I’ll say that we have made a great impact,” he said.


By Kofi Yeboah, Accra
Writer’s Email: [email protected]
Daily Graphic/graphic.com.gh/Ghana