Lagos Provincial Charismatic Teachers Rediscover Its Giants!

 

The Lagos Provincial Teaching Ministry of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal of Nigeria on Saturday, August 9, assembled its ministers for a capacity building workshop, with the theme, "Awakening the Giants", at the Sacred Heart Catholic Church, Ojota, Lagos.

The well attended gathering was graced by the Lagos Provincial chairman of the CCRN, Bro. Fowode, who doubles as Assistant National Coordinator of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal of Nigeria. 

In his goodwill message, Bro. Fowode praised the Provincial teachers for their unwavering commitment and diligence to the service of the Renewal in the Province and to the Church. "The Renewal is a gift to the Church," he said, "and the Church recognizes it,"  As key to successful ministry, he encouraged the teachers to sustain their good prayer life, maintain devotion to our Mother Mary, and ensure deep Eucharistic worship, as well as "taking good care of your health." On the forthcoming Provincial Conference holding between October 30 - November 2, 2025, at Abeokuta, he charged the ministers to ensure its success by constantly reminding grassroot members in their various communities.

Delivering on the theme of the Workshop, "Awakening the Giants", the guest speaker, Bro. Geoffrey Okereke, told the participants that a spiritual giant is someone who has achieved high level of spiritual development, and is inspiring and impacting others with his faith, teaching, and action. Giant, according to him, is not about the size, but about the seed, the seed of greatness which God has deposited in the participants, citing, as an instance, the invisible seed of courage in David in confronting the giant Goliath by size.

"To awake the Giants in you, you must keep the faith in motion, in active ministry, developing consciousness, spiritual sensitivity and a sense of purpose, and never allow what God has entrusted to you to slip from your hand," he said.

He observed with regret some teachers of the renewal who behave like the disobedient Jonah in the scripture, who received God's commission to save the town of Nineveh. But instead of carrying out the mission, he refused, and boarded a wrong ship heading to Tarshish. The consequence, he said, was that Jonah ended up in the belly of a fish, which was a lesson that there is a great price to pay for disobedience to God's commission.

The speaker warned the ministers not to run their ministry the way they liked, or to preach to satisfy curiosity, but to "allow God to work in you and through you to inspire others."

Earlier in his presentation, the Chairman of the Lagos Archdiocesan Teaching Ministry, Bro. Peter Nworie, spoke on the topic, "The Task Before Us" and identified essential leadership skills needed to accomplish a given task, which he defined as "a work assigned to be finished within a stated given time."

Some of these skills, he identified, included, "knowing the people you are leading, building a team spirit, being humble to accept a superior idea better than yours, continuous self development, maintaining transparency and accountability in leadership, raising worthy successors and, above all, integrity.

Finally, he advised the ministers to always be conscious of what they do, what they say, and what they wear before the people, even as they watch over the flock entrusted in their care. "Watch over yourself. And watch over the flock, because people are watching what we do", he charged.

His powerful action-inspiring presentation was immediately followed by group discussions for proper digest and understanding by the participants.

Some of the ministers who spoke in reaction, described the workshop as great learning experience which would help them in their ministry and to become better teachers. 

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