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…Apostle Aeba Urges Members on his Sendforth Service
By Christian George
It was a Sunday of celebration for members of The Apostolic Church, Hilltop Assembly, Rumuokwurushi Area in Maritime Territory, as they bid farewell to the district and assembly clergymen, Apostle Precious Aeba and Pastor Emmanuel Jackson on the territorial general transfer, as it has been the culture in the apostolic fold.
The event which took place at the church auditorium in Port Harcourt had dignitaries from all walks of life to add colour to the day as many attest to the clergymen’s contribution not just to their spiritual growth but to the upgrade of facilities of the church including renovation of the pulpit to be in line with what is current and modern, setting up the musical instrument and media to the 21st century standard inter alia.
In a brief homily, Apostle Aeba encouraged members to lay off their garment in service to God. He described garment to be one’s title, rank, position or status; using the story of Jesus washing his disciples’ feet for illustration.
With text taken from Luke 22:24-31, he reiterated that those who serve God without looking at their status in the society do that with humility and were highly blessed and lifted by God, encouraging the members to be humble and steadfast in the faith even as he and the assistant pastor move on for a higher responsibility.
It could be recalled that on his first message on the mount on January 2018, he preached on the theme ‘connecting to time of life, referencing 2Kings 4:16.
He stated that though many might be in church but they had been spiritually disconnected from God, pointing at loss of interest in the things of God as a major sign of disconnection.
On how to get reconnected, he said that members should identify divine needs, referencing the woman in the scripture who was able to identify the accommodation need of a prophet as stated in 2 Kings 4:8-10; this should be followed by satisfying the need and then specify your need to God with expectation of it to be met.
Apostle Aeba, an offspring of the former vice president of The Apostolic Church Nigeria, late Apostle A. N. Aeba, in his four years of service with Pastor Jackson, had seen to the purchase of a parcel of land worth several millions of naira within the church premises and immediately erected a structure for children and created space for car park.
Their four years of service at Hilltop Assembly had also led to the ordination of 15 deaconesses, 11 elders and 6 deacons. Also, not fewer than 22 children have been dedicated as well as 12 marriages blessed. It has also seen to the call to ministry of four brethren as assistant pastors and the creation of two new assemblies.
On the spiritual angle, their regime had seen to the revival of the prayer arm of the church, bible study and elders’ fellowship had been revived. The creation of weekly men’s fellowship, monthly new wine service led to the increase in new converts to the assembly. Even Sunday school and the children ministry also witnessed a boost in their activities.
On the area of infrastructure, it is also on record that the regime saw to the renovation of church hall with model LED lighting fittings, expansion of the church entrance with pedestrian gate, upgrade of the church vestry with tiles as well as band/media department with state of the art musical equipment. Others include the construction of additional convenience for women and the opening of church project and women fellowship accounts.
In an address presented by the presbytery and members on the send forth service in honour of the duo, the assembly appreciated God for the safety of the clergymen for the past four years.
The chairman of the event, Elder Anietie, in his opening remarks also appreciated God for equipping the pastors to be able to deliver God’s word to the assembly as received from God. He encouraged the church to always be of good service to the Lord by blessing the clergies as they step up to a higher call so that they can also take part in the fatherly blessings as it happened between Elijah and Elisha in the scriptures.
In their remarks, Apostle Aeba thanked the people for their support to him and the assembly Pastor for their period of stay and also prayed that God should bless them.
