The Annual Session of the Anioma Delta Baptist Conference of the Nigerian Baptist Convention opened on Thursday, August 24, 2023 with a call on Christian to demonstrate love towards one another.
The Session which was the 9th Annual Session, being held at the First Baptist Church, Boji Boji, Owa, Delta State is being presided by the Conference President, Anioma Delta Baptist Conference, Rev. Dr. Paul Anyasi.
Conference Chairman, Anioma Delta Baptist Conference, Rev. Dr. Monday Opone declared the Annual Session open with over two thousand delegates from Baptist denominations across Delta North Senatorial District of Delta State in attendance.
Welcoming the delegates, Conference President, Rev. Dr. Anyasi expressed gratitude to God for making it possible for the gathering of the Body of Christ, for the Annual Session and said it remains strange that the conference is being held towards the end of August, not in February which traditionally has been the Month for the Conference Annual Session.
He noted that all things work for good to those that love the Lord and to those that he has called according to his purpose and said God knows the reason the annual session was shifted away from its normal Month.
The Conference President appreciated the delegates for sacrificing everything to come to the conference, despite the harsh economic situation in the country and prayed that God who brought them successfully to the conference will equal lead them successfully back home to their respective locations
Dr Anyasi emphasized on the theme of the Annual Session, “Kingdom People for Kingdom Love” and maintained that the entire sessions of the conference would be devoted to the Love of God in His Kingdom.
“Throughout today,Thursday to Sunday, is going to be about Love, the Love of God, the Love of relationship, the Love of togetherness, the love that God wants us to exhibit as people of the Kingdom,” he said and expressed the hope that at the end of the programme, the Lord God Almighty would have given the delegates some forms of spiritual revival.
The opening session had ministrations in consecrated songs by the Conference Mass Choir, directed by the Conference Music Director, Rev. Mrs Nkechi Ewiwilem.
Two of the scheduled Ministers for the Conference, Rev Dr. Samkennedy Ossai and Rev Onyeka Uweh, ministered the word of God during the impartation hours of the Opening session.
In their Ministrations, the two Baptist Ministers, while preaching on the theme of the Conference, explained in great detail what it means for Kingdom People to show love towards one another in the same Kingdom where God rules supreme.
Dr Samkennedy who is the Chairman of Anioma Delta Baptist Conference Pastor’s Fellowship, said the nature of God is Love, even as he explained that Christians, who are followers of Christ in the same Kingdom where God will continue to reign forever as King, are expected to be like God in all ramification by imbibing His loving nature.
He gave reason why Christians should love one another and said love remains a precious gift they received when God in his infinite mercy gave his only begotten son, Jesus Christ in exchange for the remission of their sins.
The Man of God explained that God demonstrated his Love for Mankind when they are yet sinners and saved them from eternal condemnation, saying that showing love to one another in the kingdom, reveals the true Character of God in any kingdom citizen.
He concluded by saying that love can only be put into practice in the Kingdom by Christians through protecting, building up, being kind, forgiving, regarding and according respect to one another.
Rev Onyeka Uweh, Director, Christian Education, Anioma Delta Baptist Conference, in his explanation titled, “Destined to Love,” described Kingdom people as those people under the affairs of God’s rules who have accepted Jesus Christ as their lord and personal saviour
“As many of us who believe in Jesus Christ, are the people who are in his kingdom. It is the love of God shared abroad in the heart of those who believe in him. When you love God, you show it by loving one another. Our lives are measured by the amount of Love that we share. Not to love is not to know God,” he said.
Rev Onyeka further said Christian life is meant for the demonstration of Love, maintaining that the whole life of a Christian revolves around love, whereby without it, life is worth nothing.
The young charismatic Baptist preacher dwelled on the agape form of love, describing it as unconditional Love that comes from the Lord God Almighty
“Apart from the fact that it originates from God, nothing is attached to it. It surprises all understanding, it is beyond human comprehension, unfathomable, you cannot explained it, it is sacrificial, it is love that pours out itself for the sake of others,” Rev Onyeka sermonized while affirming Kingdom Love as the one that manifest in kindness, the one that shows forth and demonstrates by giving.
“As it manifests in kindness, it qualifies the unqualified. God’s kindness is real, it is the kind of Love that we have to show to the world, it manifests in forgiveness, it manifests in Kindness and it manifests in acceptance and it can change any ugly situation,” Rev Onyeka stated.
The Conference, after the opening formalities, later dissolved into organizational sessions of the Men’s Missionary Union, Women Missionary Union, Youth, Deacons, and Pastors Fellowships of the Conference, in their different venues where the theme of the Annual Session was further expanded by scheduled Ministers of the Anioma Delta Baptist Conference.
The Conference President, Rev. Dr. Paul Anyasi accompanied by the Conference Chairman, Rev. Dr. Monday Opone and the immediate past Conference President, Rev. Friday Ossai, paid Presidential visits to all the organizations where he delivered his fraternal greetings.
