By: Rosella S. Abenio
The primary reason the church exists is to glorify God. This is the responsibility of every member in the body. We glorify God when we worship Him, when we praise Him, when we proclaim His Word, when we live His Word and when we spread His Word.
For this reason, Evangel Family Church- CDO conducted a Christian Growth Class (CGC) team building activity on August 27, 2018 with the theme “Growth Matters.” More than 100 participants from the host church, outstation church pastors and volunteer church planters enjoyed an afternoon of spiritual enrichment, fellowship, and team building activities.
Rev. Andrew Kwong, senior pastor of EFC-CDO, emphasized in his message that the church is not supposed to stay in the same spiritual level year after year. He challenged everyone to be a minister in the sense that one has to be involved in ministering to others and that being spectator falls short of God’s perfect design for every member of the body.
In response to the message, the emcees declared that “Pastors are not called to do it all. It’s a team effort!” which were positively responded with a resounding Amen by the participants. Team building activities started straightaway.
Everyone was highly enthused to take part in the team building activities spearheaded by Rev. Rowena Kwong. It was carefully planned to make sure that each participant would understand the importance of working as a team, as one body of Christ.
Since all activities required team effort and coordination, the event was both fun and engaging. Even the young ones were able to appreciate the value of teamwork in achieving church growth. At the end of every activity, each group gave their reflections. Those who rarely talk in front of a crowd were bold enough to share their thoughts and experiences. One speaker stressed that the games illustrated a point that Christians should grow strong spiritually and be mature disciples for the edifying of the Body of Christ.
Another speaker stated that the team building activity helped her to reflect on the importance of availability for one another to accomplish the task at hand citing Ecclesiastes 4:9-12, “Two are better than one… a cord of three strands is not quickly broken.” She added that working as a team is better than working alone as it yields more fruit. She continued that church growth does not depend on good program, eloquent preacher or faithful and responsible leaders but on the presence of God that is manifested through the unity of the members of the church.
On the other hand, a newcomer Sis. Merilyn Dacoco testified, “I didn’t know what it feels like to be in a church for a long time but today I feel the welcome and love. I am thankful that my neighbor invited me here. I learned a lot from the activities,” she said.
The team building activity achieved its purpose to foster healthy relationships among members and neighboring churches and to build each other up in the Lord for the expansion of God’s Kingdom as Apostle Paul stated in Ephesians 4:16 “As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow so that the whole body is healthy and growing”. To God be the glory!
