“He said to them, go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.” Mark 16:15
“You can only teach what you learn,” affirmed keynote speaker, Section 7 Presbyter of the Assembly of God (AOG), Guyana Reverend Dr Ravindra Shiwanandan. The distinguished speaker was addressing over four hundred virtual participants attending the inaugural ‘Each One, Win One Conference’ 2022. To solidify the call for soul winning, Rev. Dr Shiwanandan expounded on three critical points, namely evangelism, salvation and sanctification, which he stated are vital drivers that propel one’s awareness of God. He posited that the processes of salvation and sanctification are two key stages believers should develop to win souls (evangelise) effectively. He further explained that a believer is saved through the salvation process, followed by sanctification through the blood of Jesus, which is both an instantaneous and a continuous process. As documented in Matthew 28:19, Jesus Christ and his disciples used one-to-one evangelism to win souls. Hence believers should do the same.
This conference was facilitated by the AOG in Guyana, Youth Ministries Department in collaboration with the Missions Department and Evangelistic Association on Saturday, February 5, 2022.
The conference aimed to ignite believers, especially youth, to win souls for the extension of the kingdom of God, benefitted from several influential speakers and their presentations. There were also discussions on various ways Christians could use their platform and networks to win hearts and souls for Christ Jesus.
Reverend Selwyn Sills opened his presentation with a reminder that Missio Dei [latin for ‘mission of God’] is God’s heart. He affirmed that an effective mission agenda would help win one soul at a time and can be done despite your profession. In fact, believers can use their professional platform to help, show persons love, and forgive when necessary.
Other speakers included Pastor Coleen Singh, Pastor Philbert Toney and Pastor Devendra Dudhnath. Pastor Singh saw the conference as an engagement with a divine purpose to evangelise the world given the virtual platform and focus on youths. Pastor Toney posited that we [youths, believers] should get involved in soul-winning when we consider Jesus’ pain, passion and plan for the lost. In wrapping up his bold call to the audience, Pastor Dudhnath fired up the virtual audience with the declaration, “COVID or no COVID, we will go…we must go [and preach the Good News to everyone].”
Rev. Winston Assanah, the National Director of the AOG Youth Ministries, hailed this collaborative conference as the first of its kind. The intention of the AOG leadership is that this will become an annual and global conference where young believers will be taught how ‘Each One Can Win One’.