By Odogwu Emeka Odogwu
As soul-winng is said to be at the heart of the Diocese on the Niger, Anglican Communion, the Diocesan, the Rt Rev Dr Owen Nwokolo, has, without mincing words, challenged evangelists in the diocese against resting on their oars but, instead, for them to continually launch out for effective soul-winng.
The bishop frowned, regretting that the diocese seemed to be lagging a little behind of where it was expected to be found in soul-winng, saying, “What we have achieved is not anything close to what is expected of us”.
Bishop Nwokolo who handed out the challenge in the homily he gave during a special Maundy Thursday church service with the evangelists at the Episcopal Calvary Chapel, GRA, Onitsha, mandated the evangelists to accord soul-winning a prime position in their daily activities.
He emphasized the need for deepening evangelism in the diocese and entreated the evangelists to learn the art of capturing and leavening up soul-winning with the vision and mission of the diocese in their routine search for souls in order for them to be able to effectually impact their environment.
While encouraging the evangelists to always cultivate the habit of translating the spirit and the letters of the vision and mission statements of the diocese into practical reality, Bishop Nwokolo, in part, reminded them of the contents of the statements.
According to him, the core of the statements is to make the diocese “a leading Church that wins souls, impacts lives and dominates her environment for Christ”.
He therefore appealled to the evangelists to use their present calling to cause objective positive changes in the diocese, stressing the need for them to always underscore the number of souls they collectively or individually win for Christ on yearly basis.
“For Jesus will eventually, check how far we impacted lives and served others”, he told them, adding that Christ showed by example what he wanted His disciples to emulate in the form of humility and service to humanity.
“Therefore understand that you have a share in Jesus for which you should stand to claim. For that reason, you ought to effectively co-work with Him in order for you to know how to manage your own portion of the share,” Bishop Nwokolo solemnly admonished the evangelists.
In a brief vote of thanks shortly after the church service, the Chaplain, Evangelists on the Niger, Ven Kperechukwu Nwankwo, appreciated the bishop for what he described as the bishop’s unbroken fatherly, spiritual and material supports to the organisation, pledging the body’s unalloyed support to his Episcopacy.
In the same vein, the President of the organisation, Evang. Peter Azumbe, had while expressing profound gratitude for “the bishop’s unmatchable concern for soul-winng”, disclosed that the organisation had drawn and completed strategies to revolutionise the diocese evangelistically via one-on-one, door-to- evangelism.