Conferences

Day 2 of the MAINTENANCE OF THE AIM CONFERENCE with the Prophet, Bishop Dag Heward-Mills, was another blessed time in the Presence of God. Just like the woman at the well of Samaria who encountered Jesus at the well and joyfully went into the city to call others to come and listen to Jesus, participants from the first day sent word of the great move of God at the Conference to their friends and loved ones. As a result, the crowd on the second day was far larger than what we saw on the first day, resulting in several people taking up seats outside the ultra modern edifice of the Truth Cathedral of Loyalty House International.

The Day began with a powerful prayer session, followed by praise and worship which ushered in the great presence of the Lord. Participants were also treated to Documentaries of the Healing Jesus Campaign held in various cities within Africa. This was sobering for many as they appreciated the great work that God was doing with the Prophet, inspiring them to continue supporting the Healing Jesus Campaign.

The highlight of the service was when the Prophet mounted the stage amidst loud, jubilant shouts. He reminded Conference participants of the theme of the Conference: MAINTENANCE OF THE AIM. He pointed out that the name of the Conference in itself is an important message. He reiterated the points discussed on the first day which he maintained are necessary for the maintenance of the aim.
Quoting 1 Corinthians 15:58,

• Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord- Prophet emphasised that this scripture tells us to maintain the aim steadily and never move away from it. He said that the scripture tells us what we should not move away from: The Work of the Lord. He indicated that our ability to do well beyond a certain level will come from our ability to maintain the aim. Maintaining the aim he explained makes you do well and successful in a sense. He explained that maintaining the aim requires us to continue with the same things we started with, continue with Church Planting, Missionary Sending, Winning Souls, Training People, Open Air Crusades, Breakfast meetings, Person to person, Visitation and Night Schools – The Work of the Lord.

Bishop Dag admonished that our duty is to maintain the aim of working for the Lord, because it is very easy to shift from maintaining the reason why one started doing whatever is being done, but it is only experience that teaches us that.

He revealed that when you start fighting a war like America started fighting in Afghanistan, you will not know that you have changed the aim. He mentioned that in a war this is called “Mission Drift” or “Mission Creep” which represents drifting from the mission. He stated that in Afghanistan they drifted from fighting a war to building a nation, which though a good thing but was not the main mission or the aim. He related this to how a church does many good things such as providing fellowship, entertainment, health care and education, which are all good but are not the aim of the church. He reiterated that the aim of the church is the great commission which is the aim of getting people saved.

In the second session, Bishop Dag outlined the seven components of the Great Commission found in Matthew 28:18-20, which include: the Commission of power; Going; Teaching; Baptism; Commission to all nations; Commission which goes with His Presence, and a Commission until end the world.
He tasked the participants to commit to the seven components of the commission.

The last session was fully charged with excitement as participants were eager to hear from Bishop Dag. It was like how the Bible describes in Mark 12:37
..” And the common people heard him gladly…”

He declared that the church has been called to the great work of soul winning. Gleaning from John 15:16, he emphasised that as a church we shouldn’t departmentalize evangelism because many have been called to fruitfulness. He outlined the various characteristics of the called.
Bishop Dag then encouraged many to respond to the Call of Ministry, pursue and enter the full-time ministry by giving them themselves wholly to the call.

The maiden edition of the MAINTENANCE OF THE AIM CONFERENCE (MOTA) 2021 kick-started with the Evangelist, Bishop Dag Heward-Mills. This Conference is being hosted by the Loyalty House International (LHI) Headquartered at Abbey-Dawhenya, with branches in Ghana, Togo, Benin, Niger and Nigeria.

It was a charged atmosphere with thousands of members from Loyalty House International, Makarios Church and other Denominations from the United Denominations (UD) as well as Non-UD members from within and outside Dawhenya/ Tema.

Although the starting time for the Conference was 9am, by 6am, long queues had already been formed by members who had travelled from far and near, expectant and desirous of an encounter with the Lord through the ministration of the Prophet, Bishop Dag Heward-Mills. By 8am, the 2,000-seater auditorium of the Truth Cathedral of the Loyalty House International, Abbey Dawhenya, was filled to capacity, necessitating the usage of other Halls of the ultra modern facility for seating.

The Prophet’s arrival was electrifying as everyone stood up, clapped and shouted to warmly welcome daddy home.

Being the first time the Prophet was visiting the Church Complex after its completion, Bishop Sam, the Host and Convener of the Loyalty House International Denomination, expressed his joy about having his Father, the Prophet visit the Church. He said that just as Jesus did not have to say anything for the demons to run to Him to question what they had to do with him (Luke 4:34), the Prophet’s visit was enough to deal with any demons of Ministry and their personal lives.

The Prophet also expressed his joy to be at the Truth Cathedral, recounting the first time he visited the site as bare land with red sand. Having seen some familiar faces at the Conference, he emphasized the need to maintain the unity since the Church is like a Family and just as one cannot leave a Family, in the same way one cannot just leave the Church Family.

Bishop Dag Heward-Mills, in introducing the theme for the Conference, MAINTENANCE OF THE AIM, indicated that maintenance of the aim is one of the most important secrets of war. Preaching from Chapter 8 of his book, the GOOD GENERAL, he emphasized that Selection and Maintenance of the Aim was the main and most important strategy of war, illustrating with United States of America’s withdrawal of its troops from Afghanistan and how America’s inability to maintain the aim came with huge financial costs.

He stated that successful maintenance of the aim results in a single unambiguous victory. Quoting 1 Corinthians 2:2 and 2 Corinthians 15:58, he emphasized that maintenance of the aim brings many benefits. He warned that often it is the refreshments and rewards (which are the benefits and gifts you receive while doing the work of God) which prevent or distract us from maintaining the aim. He stated that we must not forget that those rewards and refreshments came as a result of our first or initial obedience and so we must be steadfast in maintaining the aim and as we do that, more rewards and refreshments will come.

Using his own life as an example, he revealed that his quest to maintain the aim made him to go and start the First Love Church from nothing. He recounted how they had to meet in halls and classrooms but because he was determined to maintain the aim, he was not discouraged. Starting First Love, he said, has literally given him a new lease on life, he has gone back to his first love, he has gone back to doing his first works, and that has rejuvenated him in Ministry!

Using the NASB version of Acts 4:20, he admonished the church not to stop what God has called us to do. The entire congregation joined in a chorus of this phrase “WE CANNOT STOP!”, to remind ourselves that we cannot depart from the aim of winning souls, planting churches, sending missionaries, and all the things that by the Grace of God the Church is good at doing. Job 27:6 says “my righteousness I hold fast…. He encouraged Loyalty House not to shift from what is good about them.

Bishop Dag exhorted all to desire Full Time Ministry. He taught that Jesus believed in Full Time Ministry. He was in the Lay Ministry till He was 30, then the Holy Spirit led Him into the wilderness – nothingness – Full Time Ministry. In order to maintain the aim, Full Time Ministry is necessary. Full Time Ministry ensures that one take heed to himself, and one’s gift is not neglected.

(4) Show me your ways, O God, teach me your paths. (5) Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are my salvation. For you, I wait all day long! (9) God guides the humble in justice and teaches the humble the Way. Psalm 25:4, 5, 9.

After 2 years of being robbed of that special kind of atmosphere, (by the unknown environs of that collective trauma of a Pandemic) of gathering together and sitting at the feet of one of the most anointed and gifted Teachers of our time, we finally got to experience it once again! There was no way we were going to miss this Conference for anything in the world! Having our Father, Apostle, Teacher, Prophet and Evangelist, Bishop Dag Heward-Mills minister to us for four days at the Give Thyself Wholly Conference 2021, dubbed ‘The Spirit Entered Into Me’, was just the energy booster and encouragement we needed to forge ahead! As early as 6am on Tuesday morning, people were already gathering from all walks of life to begin their registration process.

In the evening, as we were preparing our hearts to be guided by scripture, inspired by worship, and enjoying being together with the brethren, our Father, Bishop Dag walked in, oozing with aura and so much anointing to impart to his children. How is your Ministry?  What are you experiencing as Leaders? How can we become more resilient in our lives and Ministries?…. were a few of the many questions participants received answers and insight to during this Conference.

The first message titled ‘The Effects on Nature of Man After the Fall’, in which Bishop Dag carefully dissected man’s current state as a result of the Fall, using the key scripture for the Conference, Ezekiel 2:2 And the spirit entered into me when he spake unto me, and set me upon my feet, that I heard him that spake unto me. A few of the effects he mentioned, were: The end of our true fellowship or interaction with God, and how we are now cut off from the Power of God. The state of man experiencing a lowered mentality or a darkened mind, as a result of the Fall.

Bishop went on to enlighten us about what happens to us when the Spirit enters into our lives. “The effect of the Spirit coming or entering into your life is that you receive a Ministry. You receive power to prevail and be successful in Ministry”. God wants to use us by putting his Spirit into us. The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised. Luke 4:18.

His message on the first day left participants hungry and thirsty for more! As a result, more people trooped in on the 2nd day. Prophet Dag explained that God is sending us into a world filled with rebellious people and taught us how we can work with these people. In short, how God uses bad people (us), to save bad people. God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect Hebrews 11:40.

Bishop Dag continued to teach on how to create the Family (Church) of God. Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named. He mentioned that one of the ways to create the family is to let people be filled with remembrance. He made reference to one of his books from the Loyalty Series “Those who Forget”. He explained what makes people forget, and why it is important to remember.

From Ezekiel 2:2-4 Bishop further expounded on how the Spirit guides us when He enters into us, how He helps us to achieve greater heights, and how and why we should deal with pride in order to give way to the Holy Spirit to work in us. He brought to our attention how Satan wants to separate us who belong to the family of God because he has been separated from the family. He ended the day’s teaching with a powerful prayer against anything that tempts and tests us as Christians. He prayed for God to renew a right Spirit in us.

The Conference was wowed by powerful song ministrations by an array of soloists, which showcased yet another beautiful side of our multi-gifted Prophet as a songwriter and lyricist. The Conference was further enriched by Documentaries, which showed the many and varied ‘near impossible’ journeys the Healing Jesus Campaign Team has embarked on over the years. The end of each day left us full of expectation and hungering for more of what was to come the next day. Our souls were richly fed!

Thelma Ablorh.