HELPS MINISTRY TRAINING by TOPE A. BANJO

“And he went up on the mountain and called to Him those He Himself wanted. And they came to Him. Then He appointed twelve... and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed Him. And they went into a house.” Mark 3: 13-19. To be called by God is a privilege, to be anointed an advantage, but to be found faithful is a strict prerequisite. The prerogative to choose and anoint is solely God’s, but the choice of faithfulness is totally yours. Scriptures show us that after prayer, Jesus called and ordained twelve apostles including Judas Iscariot. Indeed this name brings displeasure to many within and outside Christendom and this is perfectly understandable. He betrayed Jesus Christ. But before you throw your stone, please step back a bit. I believe that there a few lessons we can glean from this character and his time on Jesus’ crew. If you concur that God chooses in line with His purposes and plans for us, then Judas’ calling was no different. Jesus chose him just like the others after a night

"And it came to pass, when he was come nigh to Bethphage and Bethany, at the mount called the mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples, saying, Go ye into the village over against you; in the which at your entering ye shall find a colt tied, whereon yet never man sat: loose him, and bring him hither. And if any man ask you, Why do ye loose him? thus shall ye say unto him, Because the Lord hath need of him." Luke 19:29-31 Has it ever occurred to you that you may possess certain qualities that the Lord needs? There is a service gift within you which is vital and necessary for many people to contact their destinies – if only you put it to work! This gift positions you to be used by God. Many have heard a lot about the end-time move of God. My concern here is with God’s ministers who occupy the pews. You are also God’s flame and you play a vital role in God’s end-time move by reason of the duties you fulfill within your departments in your church. God wants to pour out H

"And in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplied, there arose a murmuring of the Grecians against the Hebrews, because their widows were neglected in the daily ministration." Acts 6:1 Growth has two faces – the good and then the ugly. The good we love to talk about, but the bad we prefer to turn away from. But when it comes to human resource development in the church, you can’t avoid having the ugly except you prepare adequately to avoid it. The ugly face of growth is what you get when no systems have been prepared to meet the needs generated by growth. For example, space in the venue of worship. If you carry on without a plan to increase or acquire more space, you may find yourself frequently resolving space issues among members of the congregation, and it won’t be because they are not ‘spiritual’ enough. Another ugly face is dwindling commitment of members to spiritual service in the church. Without excusing or endorsing this, there are a number of

I recently read a news report about a recruitment agency boss who was warned that litigation could result from how she worded her vacancy advert. According to the report, “Nicole Mamo, director of Devonwood Recruitment was stunned when a job centre in Thetford, Norfolk, said she could not include the phrase 'reliable and hard working ' in her advert. When she ran the ad past a job centre, she was told she couldn't ask for 'reliable' and 'hard-working' applicants because it could be offensive to unreliable people. 'In my 15 years in recruitment I haven't heard anything so ridiculous,' Mrs Mamo said. 'If the matter wasn't so serious I would be laughing out loud.” (Source: Ryan Kisiel and Andrew Levy, http://www.dailymail.co.uk) I feel this is extremely ridiculous. Should employers require permission from indolent and unreliable persons before wording their job vacancy ads? It is however quite interesting to note that Reliability and Co

Serving in the Helps Ministry is giving a hand of service towards the fulfillment of your Pastor's God-given vision. And being effective makes you relevant. It makes your leader consider a job "well done" just because it was committed to you. Through your service, a public image or impression is also created of your church family to the outside world . To be 'Effective' is to be, 'Efficient, able, capable…etc'. It is the definition of your results. Effective people impact the lives of others positively. It was the transportation that drove Joseph into political prominence in ancient Egypt. It is God's tool for touching and blessing others. However, effectiveness is a product of character and not a spiritual gift. Let's consider some qualities of an effective church worker. WALKS IN LOVE Practicing strife, hatred, jealousy, envy, murmuring, grumbling, complaining and every other vice is an exercise in self-reduction. Walking in love, however

“And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” Roms 12:2 One thing common to every kind of industry is work practice. There's a way every professional works. There's a pervading attitude. There are things that others know them for. Medical personnel are known for saving lives and caring for the sick and infirm. Teachers provide knowledge, instruction and mentorship. Church workers are known for… What are Church Workers known for? Spiritual or ministry service cannot be defined as secular occupations are. The ministry paid or volunteer worker's motivations are godly, not monetary. His reward system is divine, not management's standards. His basis for improving and doing better is to ensure better lives for others. His requirement for enlistment is willingness and obedience. His work tool is faith. His hope is unseen but real. A church worker's

"Now it came to pass in those days that He went out to the mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God. And when it was day, He called His disciples to Himself; and from them He chose. Luke 6:12-13 NKJV The Lord Jesus is our example in teamTbuilding. This was one of the very first things he did in ministry. You must realize that He had quite a large number of followers, but a time came when he hand­picked disciples. In other words, he raised and built a team. Now, building and maintaining effective church workers' teams is a time consuming and sensitive process particularly in ministry where the pressures of the moment are often intense. Most attempts at ministry team building don't work well, simply because leaders and workers fail to appreciate the effort that has to be invested in time and attention to detail. The truth is, when done well, teamwork contributes considerably to greatly improved productivity and reduced costs in the local assembly. R

“Therefore, brethren seek out from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business;.." Acts 6:3 [See also Acts 1:4,8; Exo 31:1-3; and 1st Corinthians 14: 4] From these scriptures we see how to achieve more powerful service in God's House. BAPTISM IN THE HOLY SPIRIT The In-filling with the Holy Spirit is prerequisite for effective spiritual service. Jesus said wait until you are endued with the Holy Spirit's power. The in-filling is the door to true, powerful and irresistible ministry. Without divine empowerment, we are left to struggle in the flesh. We will be left at the level of what our natural senses can achieve. Without the Spirit's empowerment, Stephen would have achieved nothing more than merely serve tables. "And they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit..." Acts 6:5 But that was not all about Stephen, for, "Stephen, full of faith and power, did great sig

“And he told the crowd to sit down on the grass. Jesus took the five loaves and the two fish. He looked up toward heaven and blessed the food. Then he broke the bread and handed it to the disciples, and they gave it to the people.”   Matthew 14 v 19 (CEV) A little portion from VISION BUILDERS' “Understanding The Helps Ministry” Manual reads; “Had Jesus never appointed people to work with him, would we have anything left of the ministry of Jesus today? Had Paul never had men and women work with him, would we have had anything left of the ministry of Paul today?” It is amazing to us how this particular message, in both the manual and audio forms have blessed so many lives. After attending one of our seminars, this particular Pastor said to me, “Please come and tell my people 'You are important!' Everybody wants to know that he or she is important, and that they are vital for certain things to move smoothly. Even nature attests to this. Scientists say plants are sensitive

Some years ago, I was invited to speak at a Church’s Worker's Training Programme. One of the questions during the interactive session was, 'How does a church member help the Pastor fulfill his God-given vision?' I would like to share  with you what some simple steps to fulfilling your Pastor's vision. Step 1: Understand the Pastoral Office The pastoral office is one of the leadership ministries appointed in the Body of Christ by the Lord Jesus in Ephesians 4. The Pastor is the chief administrator of the local assembly. According to Pastor Taiwo Odukoya, “He is the one who gets the blame when things go wrong.” God has made him (or her) responsible for the well being of the church community. This responsibility applies to both pioneer and supporting pastors. Step 2: Change 'the' Pastor into ' My Pastor' People go to great extents to personalize their gifts and property. Anyone Personalizing anything not given to him is labeled a thief. You nat