Sustaining the Move of God by Mike Okonkwo

The apostle Paul had a special relationship with his protégé, Timothy. Timothy had become an essential link between Paul and the future. At one point, Paul said to Timothy, "The things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also" (2 Tim. 2:2).

A STRUCTURE FOR CONTINUITY

In order for the move of God to be sustained from generation to generation, it goes without saying that there must be a structure for continuity. Paul knew that his generation must pass the baton to the next and that was why he mentored Timothy until he was confident that Timothy could represent him as a true "son" in the gospel. Not only did he mentor Timothy, but he also gave Timothy the tremendous responsibility of passing on to others the truths that Timothy had received.

This principle can be traced back to Genesis. Genesis 18:19 records God saying, "For I have known [Abraham], in order that he may command his children and his household after him, that they keep the way of the LORD, to do righteousness and justice, that the LORD may bring to Abraham what He has spoken to him." God literally was saying that Abraham needed to make sure that the generation coming after him would be aware of and continue in the move of God that began with their father, Abraham.

We also can take Moses, as he was leading the children of Israel out of Egypt, as an example. God gave clear instructions that everything the children of Israel experienced must be documented and frequently recited so that the generations to come would understand God's commandments and obey them (see Deut. 6:6-9,20-25).

Look at Elijah and Elisha. In the account of their ministry, we discover that Elisha simply followed Elijah everywhere for several years. Elisha was an understudy; he had no desire or intent to take over Elijah's ministry. I would venture to speculate that all Elisha had in mind was to assist Elijah in being everything that God had called him to be. However, in helping Elijah, he arrived at his own destiny (see 1 Kings 19:16, 2 Kings 2). When you help someone arrive at his or her destiny, you open the door for ultimately arriving at yours.

A challenge facing the Body of Christ today is that we must not lose our grip on the biblical concept of mentoring. Too many people who are called by God tend to run off to do their own thing, submitting to no one and believing that they personally have all that they need. Is it not amazing that the world has tapped into the principle of networking to the extent that large companies are merging one with another and forming conglomerates, but the Body of Christ, rather than networking, is running solo? If there was ever a time that the Church must come together and speak with one voice throughout the nations of the world, it is now! For too long the Church has been singing diverse tunes, confusing the upcoming generation.

THE POWER OF THE WORD

I can say without fear of contradiction that, during the period of time when I came to know the Lord, knowledge of the Word of God was scarce in Nigeria. Revival had just begun seeping into the country, and there were many distorted interpretations of the Word of God. At that time, the Pentecostal movement was largely known as a mushroom movement, meaning in Nigerian terminology that it was insignificant. That was because many Nigerians believed that all the Lord is interested in is our salvation. Once we are saved, our only focus from then on is getting into heaven. Few thought of their salvation as producing abundant life here and now. Another misperception was that pursuing excellence in any area should never be attempted; pursuing excellence was seen as carnal or worldly. Our slogan was "Repent or perish," and nothing more was to be added.

When I became a Christian, I continued for a time in the ignorance into which I had been indoctrinated. However, as I studied and prayed and matured, God began to open my eyes to the deeper truths of His Word. I began to realize that God's thoughts toward us are thoughts of peace and not of evil (see Jer. 29:11). I saw that every good and perfect gift comes from the Father of lights (see Jas. 1:17). 1 began to understand that the Word of God was powerful enough to put food on your table, clothes on your back and a shelter over your head. I discovered that the way to prosper and succeed in any area of life was by obeying the Word of God. Little wonder that God said to Joshua:

This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success (Josh. 1:8).

Having made these discoveries in the Bible, I developed two key principles that have continued to guide my life:

• Whatever the Word of God cannot give to me does not exist as far as I am concerned.

• Whatever the Word of God cannot give to me I obviously do not need.

A MENTOR FOR YOUNG LEADERS

With this understanding in the back of my mind, I earnestly began to seek the face of the Lord concerning the move of God in Nigeria. I heard the Spirit of the Lord say that Nigeria would be pivotal in the end-time revival to come. As a young minister, I learned, with the apostle Paul, what it was to be abased and what it was to abound. I discovered the secret of success, and I came to realize that there is no glory without a story and no star without a scar. I committed myself to helping the Christian leaders of the upcoming generation maximize their potential and be all that the Lord has called them to be. This was born out of my conviction that no person can get the job done alone but that only together can we do it successfully. I began to interact more and more with the younger ministers, inviting them to my office, encouraging them and creating as many forums as possible to interact with them, to rejoice in their successes and to help them through their failures.

I was determined to follow the examples of Paul, Abraham, Moses and Elijah.

Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria

My convictions about discipling and mentoring young Christian leaders gave birth to the idea of a relationship-based networking organization. In conjunction with a few other friends, Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN) was born. Today, the membership of PFN has grown from fewer than a dozen churches to thousands. People have asked me how I cope with my responsibilities as the presiding bishop of The Redeemed Evangelical Mission, with numerous branches around the world, and as the president of PFN, with thousands of churches under it, and yet still find time for young ministries. To the many who ask, my answer has remained the same: I derive great personal satisfaction from watching young ministries grow in power and influence and seeing their fruits, not only in Nigeria, but also around the world. To me, this confirms the parable of Jesus in Matthew 13:31-32:

Another parable He put forth to them, saying: "The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field, which indeed is the least of all the seeds; but when it is grown it is greater than the herbs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and nest in its branches."

What approach did I take toward establishing PFN?

Not surprisingly, the initial reaction of the younger ministers toward the new PFN was one of caution. A good number of the ministers were uncertain as to what I was hoping to achieve. They believed that they had little or nothing to offer an older, more visible leader like me. So I felt that the Lord was directing me to attend their conferences, not as a guest speaker, but simply as part of the audience. They were astonished. To their amazement, I would take copious notes while they were teaching, because I truly believed that through them God could speak fundamental truths to me that I had not heard before. When they saw me taking notes, they could hardly believe that there was something I could possibly learn from their teachings.

As time went by, however, these younger ministers began to discover that laboring together could release a power that would increase the corporate anointing on our different ministries. Gradually, the generational gap began to close, and they began to feel more comfortable in approaching me, knowing that I was more than ready to listen to them no matter what their challenge was.

Communion of Covenant Ministers International

I took the time to encourage and minister to the younger ministers even when they felt like failures. I showed them from personal example that errors and mistakes were not meant to be tombs but rather stepping-stones to greater heights. I started Communion of Covenant Ministers International (CCMI), inviting men and women with callings in different ministries to interact with me on a one-on-one basis and to fellowship together. I began to organize leadership seminars to provide opportunities for them to ask questions and to share their challenges. Today, CCMI continues as a network, bringing together various ministries in order to demonstrate that our strength lies in our diversity.

THE CHALLENGES OF PIONEERING

The desire to impact the upcoming generation became a driving force for me. In every one of the conferences I organized, I made it a point to emphasize the fact that obedience to God does not guarantee a challenge-free life. Jesus never promised a bed of roses; rather, He said in John 16:33, "In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world." I would regularly share my personal experiences with them in order to encourage them to take decisive action whenever they were certain of what the Word of God was saying in their specific situation, irrespective of the popular opinion of the day.

The Ordination of Women

A clear example of this was the challenge I encountered when God began speaking to me about the ordination of women. At that time, the general belief was that women must remain silent in the church; only men could qualify for positions of leadership. However, I knew that God had spoken to my heart. There were many examples of women leaders in the Bible, which, to my mind, validated the ordination of women. However, many people within the Church were not ready to accept it.

I knew that I needed to stand firm on the Word. I trusted God to bring to pass all that He had said concerning the ministry of women, especially since I saw clearly the hand of God on some of the women around me, including my wife. I knew the call of God was strong upon her, but ordaining women was not permitted. In spite of this, I took a bold step and publicly ordained some women to the gospel ministry. This, as might be expected, generated a lot of controversy, but I truly believed that if it was of God, it would stand. Today, the ministry of women remains. International Women's Prayer Conference, which started as a small gathering of women in our ministry, has now spread to other parts of the country and, indeed, to other nations of the world. The rest is history. Women now stand at the helm of both churches and ministries of great repute.

Prosperity

Even while I was still dealing with strong opposition to women in leadership, I received a further revelation from the Lord: Pastors do not have to be poor simply because they are pastors. I soon began teaching pastors from the Word of God about this. It was not long before I discovered that the more we taught this truth from the Word, the more we actually prospered materially. This provoked a new wave of opposition. But suddenly, pastors who had previously been disparaged as "mushrooms" (poor and insignificant) were now accused of being extravagant. I like to say that today, instead of being "mushrooms," we pastors have become "much-rooms."

Marketing and Media

Those weren't the only innovations I felt were needed in the Body of Christ. For one thing, I did not believe that the gospel was spreading fast enough in Nigeria. What could be done to speed it up?

As a first step, I began an aggressive marketing campaign so that people would become more aware of what God was capable of doing if they served Him faithfully. I believed that we owed the world in which we live a more accurate and appealing picture of God. This led to our putting up billboards and using various other forms of advertising. The driving force behind the marketing campaign was that none should go to hell out of ignorance. Even if someone had never heard a preacher, we tried to be sure that he or she would have at least seen an advertisement. With that, the opposition increased once again. Many who did not understand the move of God believed we had gone off the deep end. However, today almost 30 percent of billboards in major cities throughout Nigeria advertise Jesus. The Word is getting out!

We also realized that there was still an untapped medium through which we could gain access to homes: electronic media. Even though its use as an evangelistic tool was not yet widely accepted in Nigeria, I decided to step out in faith and exploit television with Power in the Word Network. This was during a time when the general belief that living the abundant life implied becoming entangled with the world still prevailed. I was severely verbally attacked for using television as a medium, but I knew that God had spoken. I also knew that all I needed to do was to stand my ground and that others would soon follow because the fruit of the ministry would speak for itself.

It was not long before testimonies of men and women who were saved, healed and delivered through Power in the Word Network began to filter in. Many other ministries then came to realize that, rather than being the devil's box, television could actually be a powerful tool of evangelism. Today, television ministry in Nigeria is aired by satellite and it reaches millions across all of Africa. Thousands are testifying of salvation and healing that have come through this ministry.

Relevant Music

As a lover of music, I encouraged the introduction of contemporary worship in all our services. While I am fond of hymns and we include the traditional organ in our services, I quickly embraced vibrant praise of contemporary worship with musical instruments such as drums, congas, kickers, trumpets and saxophones. The initial reaction was resistance, but we persisted, knowing that a lot of young people felt that traditional music was a bore; they preferred to go to clubs and discotheques for the kind of music they really enjoyed. And as a result of adding contemporary worship, many young people were drawn to our churches. Today, they are happy to express themselves in the language they understand within the confines of the church, rather than on the streets. Most Bible-believing churches in Nigeria are now filled with these same young people who are on fire for Jesus Christ.

I have come to a major conclusion through all these experiences: Whatever can be validated with the Word of God can be done. No matter what the challenge is and how uncharted the waters may be, God is in the business of using the foolish things of the world to confound the wise. However, I must sound a note of caution here and say that rather than running with every new idea, we must test every spirit (see 1 John 4:1). Every word from God must be validated with the Word of God. That is the litmus test.

TRANSPARENCY BEFORE THE NEXT GENERATION

In sustaining the move of God, there is a need to be aware of the next generation. There is a mighty army looking up to us, ready and willing to walk in our steps. If there is anything that we should endeavor to do for this group of people, it is not just to show them our glory but also to go a step further and tell them our story. We must tell them about those times when we were discouraged so that they may know that truly "Elijah was a man with a nature like ours" (Jas. 5:17); this will no doubt encourage them.

There is a tendency for people to think that they have done all that there is to do and that they have nothing else to contribute. There is also a tendency for the young up-and-coming ministers to feel threatened by the successes of their mentors. This is not a new thing; it happened to Joshua. Joshua had followed Moses over the years. He had seen Moses strike the rock and water come gushing out. He had seen Moses part the Red Sea. He had seen incredible miracles, and then suddenly Moses turned to him and anointed him to take over (see Num. 27:2223). The logical thing would have been for Joshua to pray for Moses to live long enough to finish what he started. After all, God Himself testified of Moses that of all men who lived, there was none other with whom He spoke face-to-face (see Num. 12:6-8). So Joshua had good reason to feel intimidated by the achievements of Moses.

I believe that God saw Joshua's fear and his seeming insecurity when faced with the challenge of leadership. That was why in the first chapter of Joshua, God kept encouraging Joshua not to be afraid and reassured him that as He had been with Moses, so He would also be with him. If the record set by Moses had not intimidated Joshua, God would not have needed to continually remind him that the miracle worker was not Moses, but God Himself. What matters is not who you are but whose you are and what He can make out of you.

In the book of Deuteronomy (which can be considered Moses' transfer-of-power document), Moses took time to analyze all the events of the previous years, highlighting even his own weaknesses so that Joshua and the children of Israel could learn from them. We must not hide our battle scars from our successors. Our testimony of moving through difficulty might provide just the strength they require to arrive at the destiny God has mapped out for them. Moses was not ashamed to explain the reason why he could not enter the Promised Land, because he knew that someone would learn from it and would not have to die in the wilderness as he did.

The sooner we realize that we have failed in our task if the generation coming after us does not do greater exploits than we do, the better. The reason why we waded through our mighty rivers and were not drowned was so that we could make a path for the people following us on the road to success. Many have Unwittingly painted a picture of ministry as bliss so that today many leaders are falling by the wayside in search of bliss without the blisters. Nowhere in the Word of God is this promised.

WOUNDED SOLDIERS

There is a dire need in our generation to assist our wounded soldiers in getting back on their feet. The fact that believers fall is not the greatest challenge; the greatest challenge is whether we are able to help them get back up. Micah 7:8 states: "Do not rejoice over me, my enemy; when I fall, I will arise; when I sit in darkness, the LORD will be a light to me." While I agree that we must not endorse a license to sin, this Scripture encourages us not to die in the error we may commit. Proverbs 24:16 says, "For a righteous man may fall seven times and rise again, but the wicked shall fall by calamity."

Obviously then, the problem is not simply in falling; it is also in not rising again. Many people today have killed the wounded soldiers in an attempt to maintain an appearance of holiness. Beloved, step back and take a journey in your mind's eye along the road you have traveled so far. You might be shocked to discover that some of the things for which you are criticizing others are the same pitfalls you encountered on your road to success and for which God restored you.

We have been called into the ministry of reconciliation. This call has caused me to draw close to many ministers of God to the point where they could confess their faults to me and receive godly counsel, knowing that their secrets remained safe. I knew that if they trusted me enough to share their challenges with me, I had the responsibility to cover them, counsel them, pray with them and help them get back on their feet so that they could continue what God had called them to do. To the glory of God, testimonies abound of many who might have fallen away from ministry but who, through our relationships, became strong once again and who today are on the forefront, doing exploits for the Kingdom.

Paul, writing to Philemon, admitted that Onesimus had missed the mark-he had done what was wrong. But Paul said,

I appeal to you for my son Onesimus, whom I have begotten while in my chains, who once was unprofitable to you, but now is profitable to you and to me (Philem. 1:10-11).

We could easily say, "But, Paul, Onesimus should be punished. Don't you know what he did?" Yes, Paul knew, but Paul also remembered how far the Lord had brought him. In 1 Timothy 1:12-16, he did a brief recap:

And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord who has enabled me, because He counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry, although I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an insolent man; but I obtained mercy because I did it ignorantly in unbelief. And the grace of our Lord was exceedingly abundant, with faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief. However, for this reason I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might show all longsuffering, as a pattern to those who are going to believe on Him for everlasting life.

If you remind yourself from where you've come, not to wallow in self-pity, but to motivate yourself to move ahead, you will discover that there is nothing others have done for which they do not also deserve forgiveness.
Let me finally illustrate this point with the following verses in Galatians. Paul expressly says,

Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted. Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ (6:1-2).

In other words, clean up the wounded soldiers, bind up their wounds and help them recover quickly. When they are strong, you will also be strong.

PRINCIPLES TO TEACH THE NEXT GENERATION

Take time to disciple the people God has brought to you. Impact their lives and be sure to deposit in them all that God has put into you. You are only a success when you have a successor. Like Paul, we can say, "I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith" (2 Tim. 4:7) only when we have successfully trained men and women who can take to a higher level our work of allowing the gospel to impact people's lives. The following are some principles about sustaining the move of God that you may want to teach your disciples; these principles will benefit them greatly.

God Demands Excellence

In sustaining the current move of God in Nigeria, we must remember to conduct ourselves in an appropriate, businesslike manner. In the early days of the Pentecostal movement in Nigeria, everything was taken for granted. Everything was based on a loose system of verbal trust; very little, if anything, was documented. This fell short of the excellence that God demands of us. Just as all secular professions (medical, legal, accounting and so on) have standards for members of their professional bodies to uphold, so God also has a standard for His servants. This truth is especially relevant today, since some believers have taken hold of an exaggerated principle of liberty, concluding that they do not need to be accountable to anyone. But liberty is not a license to sin: "For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another" (Gal. 5:13).

Seeing this need, I began to organize management seminars in which we took a business approach to the corporate side of ministry. I began to require that each ministry have an established corporate office. Each leader needed to schedule and allow time for appointments. Every minister had to show up on time for all scheduled programs, setting an example in this and in everything else he or she did. Excellence became the watchword.

Initially, because of the influences of our culture, this level of discipline appeared difficult to apply, particularly for the new move we were experiencing in the country. Many sought reasons for me to relax the rules, but I have remained firm. Today, having waded through some turbulent waters, ministries that learned and practiced these principles are grateful to me for that training, and their leaders would not have it any other way.

Character Must Balance the Anointing

So much emphasis in modern ministry is placed on the anointing. People seeking an increase in their anointing are willing to make almost any sacrifice to attend seminars and conferences in order to receive it. While I have no problem with that, we must also realize that there is a fine balance between anointing and character. May I suggest that though the anointing will open the door, it is your character that will ultimately sustain you and your ministry. No matter how great you are today in the kingdom of God, get ready, because without integrity, you are going down! Too many who have emerged in ministry have been written down in history as good starters, but when they were catapulted into the limelight, they suddenly ceased to exist. This has become a regular occurrence in the Body of Christ and has brought with it a great deal of reproach.

God is a good God. He is not planning to use you today and dump you tomorrow. He is a consistent God. He delights in the prosperity of His servants, and His joy is to see us increase in that which He has committed into our hands. God is not intimidated by our successes, nor is He paralyzed by our failure. Paul, writing to Timothy, his son in the faith, considered it a privilege to be a minister: "And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord who has enabled me, because He counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry" (1 Tim. 1:12).

Every Member Is a Minister

The call to ministry is not just for the fivefold minister (see Eph. 4:11), nor is it restricted to people with nice-sounding titles. Rather, it is a call that includes every believer. Once this idea became clear, I joined with others to organize National Ministers' Conference (NMC). The purpose of NMC is to impact the upcoming generation. We specifically desired to counteract a fast-spreading error in Nigeria. Some Pentecostal leaders were
teaching that just about everyone who wanted to serve the Lord as a minister of the gospel needed to be either an apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor or teacher. Titles became a major emphasis, overshadowing the actual work of the ministry. To win a soul, therefore, you had to have the title "evangelist"; and to pray for the sick, you had to be recognized as a healer.

The craving for titles became so inordinate that we began to teach two sessions on ministerial ethics in all of our conferences so that the ministers would recognize that servanthood and changed lives-not titles-validated their ministry. I am a firm believer in the fact that God wants all things done decently and in order (see 1 Cor. 14:40). However, the Word of God states clearly that signs should follow every believer, not just those with titles (see Mark 16:17-18).

Each One Is Unique

In light of this overemphasis on titles, we began to remind believers that each of us has a specific assignment and that God has given us the necessary tools and gifts to carry it out. So rather than trying to be like Brother Mike, we each need to maintain our unique individuality and be who God made us to be. This is the path toward becoming the greatest achievers of all time. I also began to teach a new definition of success: doing what God has called you to do, and doing it well. These principles have gone a long way to help the younger generation thrive in their God-given strengths, rather than wither in the fruitless process of imitating another person.

We Are Accountable to God for Our Talents

In Jesus' parable of the talents in Matthew 25:14-30, the master gave talents to each of his servants according to his ability. This shows us that God is not a taskmaster and will not overload us with something we cannot handle. If God has called you, it is because He already knows that you have all that it takes to succeed. He knows you much better than you know yourself.

The master also gave his servants free will to do as they wanted. When the master returned from his journey, he called the servants to give account of their activities while he was away. In the same way, there will be a day for each of us to give an account of how we have conducted ourselves and carried out our assignments. The first two servants gave their report to the master with joy, while the third one blamed the master for his woes rather than looking inward and repenting. My prayer is that we will be like the first two servants who met their master with joy and earned his commendation:

Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your Lord (Matt. 25:23).

Unfortunately, many servants of God who started well have been cut off before their time because they lacked integrity. We must learn from their successes as well as their failures in order to keep history from repeating itself. When God calls, He desires our success, but it must be based on His standards and not ours.

Integrity Is Essential

As I have already mentioned, we are not all called to fivefold ministry, but every believer is a minister. God's standard is the same for those standing behind the pulpit as it is for those sitting in the pews. The standards are not far-fetched; they are all rooted in the Word of God. In order to sustain the move of God, we must abide by these standards; and one very key factor is integrity.

"Integrity" is an all-encompassing word. The word "integrity" implies honesty, perfection, soundness, uprightness, righteousness, fairness and prudence. Unfortunately, this word is a far cry from what we often see in ministry today. Suddenly, we begin laying more emphasis on signs, wonders and miracles than we do on integrity. I believe this is a trick of the devil to discredit Christian ministries. Remember the words of Jesus Himself in Matthew 7:22-23:

Many will say to Me in that day, "Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?" And then I will declare to them, "I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!"

We need to consider the biblical principles that guide our ministries and adhere strictly to them. Let us consider a certain man of God, whom God raised up outside the lineage of Eli to be a prophet in the land. This man ruled the nation of Israel for many years; and when he was about to be replaced by a king, he declared with boldness:

Here I am. Witness against me before the LORD and before His anointed: Whose ox have I taken, or whose donkey have I taken, or whom have I cheated? Whom have I oppressed, or from whose hand have I received any bribe with which to blind my eyes? I will restore it to you (1 Sam. 12:3).

These were the words of the prophet Samuel. I do not know about you, but I love to seek out those who have made a positive impact in ministry in order to learn from them. Conversely, I look at those who have fallen in order to learn how to avoid their mistakes. Samuel was a prophet in Israel. He grew up in the house of Eli and was a witness to the atrocities of the children of Eli. He saw them feed on evil, and he also watched God's reaction to the situation. Notice that Eli's sons were God's choice. Earlier on, God had informed Moses that the children of Aaron would serve as priests in His Temple indefinitely. But when it was time for Eli's children to take over the priesthood, God cut them off. Samuel witnessed all this, and I believe that was what moved him to purpose in his heart to walk in integrity.

Integrity does not only pertain to the big things. If you also do not maintain integrity in an area as seemingly insignificant as your daily appointments, it will be difficult for you to maintain integrity in the area of your finances or even your marriage. Do not try to isolate integrity; make it a way of life. Take time to find out what is expected of you by the government of the country where you have been called to serve. Follow all the rules that have been laid down. When you have questions, employ the services of legal counsel. Keep all your paperwork and documention in a safe place, and let everything important be documented. Find out about the tax laws, and keep good accounting records. This should be the standard from day one. Don't plan to start these habits later, because tomorrow will be too late.

Many Christians find financial and legal accountability very difficult. We would rather operate strictly on the principle of trust. As ideal as this sounds, we still need to exercise some caution, since many Christians have been burned because they did not take time to document things properly. Remember that this treasure is in earthen (fallible human) vessels. No matter how honest the people around you may appear to be, if there are no records, there is no proof of their integrity.

CONCLUSION

This chapter represents some of the practical lessons I have learned as a minister. They will aid us not only in sustaining the move of God in Nigeria but also in taking the gospel to other nations. As a result of the visible positive impact of many ministries in our nation, God has opened doors in other nations, not just to establish branches of Nigerian-based ministries, but also to train leaders of other nations so that they can impact their nations for Jesus Christ.

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Excerpted by permission from Out of Africa, General Editors C. Peter Wagner and Joseph Thompson (Regal Books, 2003).

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Mike Okonkwo is the presiding bishop of The Redeemed Evangelical Mission with over 150 branches worldwide, and is the host of the popular Power in the Word Network, an international radio and television broadcast. He has several doctoral degrees and honorary awards. He is the convener of Communion of Covenant Ministers International, a coconvener of National Ministers Conference as well as the president of Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria.