THE NEW OFFSET MACHINE KORD 64
In the year 1947, when the church was still at 63 Ibadan Street, Ebute Meta, Gospel workers started visiting institutions with the Word of God. Brother Timothy in his records wrote: “After 3p.m. on a Sunday, we, as the body of the Church, went to the Boys' Hostels, Ebute Meta as witnesses of Jesus Christ. And we thank the Almighty Father that we were joyfully received by the 29 boys therein together with their caretakers.
“Many years after the work of The Apostolic Faith started in Nigeria, I developed a burden for the work in the schools. I made quite a number of visits to several areas of the northern region of Nigeria together with the Gospel team. Among the places visited were Kano, Kaduna, Jos, Ilorin, Aiyetoro Gbedde and Kabba. We went with Gospel literature which were distributed to all and sundry wherever we had the chance to do so. But we were not well received in the northern towns at all because they were predominantly Muslims. In some places, they collected all the papers we distributed to people and set them on fire. Even in some of the areas of the north where there were some Christian groups, we were not received either. The mere sight of the magazines with the name 'Apostolic Faith' was very distasteful to many.
“In 1959, we made several visits to quite a number of schools in Kabba area of the north. Through the school authorities, we were able to meet the pupils in their classes with the use of small pamphlets of mainly simple Bible stories which were distributed and taught to the children. These pamphlets were produced with our duplicating machine. The children and their teachers enjoyed this very much.
“In the 1960s, we extended our field of operation to the then Western Region of Nigeria. We visited several high schools and colleges of education and made brief calls at the universities.
“We considered that it would be beneficial if the teachers could have interest in the Word of God. This would help them to pass the message to the pupils. Hence, our first retreat ever was held in 1970 in Aiyetoro, Kwara State. It was organized then for teachers only. It was very successful and it was an eye-opener to us that we could have something organized on a large scale in future.
“In 1973, we had the first general retreat on our campground here in Lagos. The classes of people represented were school teachers from high schools, teacher training colleges and primary schools. We had quite a number of university students in attendance also. The total number that came to the first general retreat was a little under 200. Several of them prayed through to victory. Among the university students were those who came heavily bearded but went from the retreat clean-shaved, having come in contact with the Lord. Our retreats have ever since come to stay, holding at our Lagos headquarters twice or thrice every year.
“When we visited schools, one of the questions people asked was, 'Which organization or church do you come from?' When we answered, 'The Apostolic Faith,' they immediately grew cold and sometimes hostile. This is because of their bias against The Apostolic Faith. As a result, we had to go to schools sometimes with private vehicles without church label at all. Our experience of the fifties and sixties convinced us beyond any reasonable doubt that we could not make any headway in schools as long as we went in the name of the Church. Eventually, it dawned on me that we could choose a name for our school visitations. Hence, the name, 'Association of Visiting Secretaries' (AVS). This has gone a long way to give us open doors in many institutions unlike before.”
The visiting secretaries who represent the association are drawn from all walks of life—civil servants, teachers, students, technicians, housewives and so on. They are men and women who are born again and who have been sanctified and baptized in the Holy Ghost and Fire, and whose daily lives agree with the profession of their faith. While we do not go to schools to parade The Apostolic Faith, it is pertinent to say that all the visiting secretaries are members of The Apostolic Faith, and they are required to uphold the doctrine of the Bible.
The work of the AVS in each state is headed by a Chairman, who is the state Overseer and under him are the secretaries. The Bible lessons that are used in the schools as well as during retreats are prepared and arranged by a panel comprising some of the ministers and Sunday school teachers
from Lagos headquarters. All the materials used in the preparation of the Bible studies are derived from The Apostolic Faith Bible teachings. The Bible Study outlines used at the retreats are produced in different languages.
Our retreats have become very popular with attendance reaching 7,000 upwards. The publicity through the aid of banners, posters, handbills as well as print and electronic media is usually very intensive.
Apart from the effects which the AVS work has had in many schools, it has also given a very big boost to membership growth in our branch churches. By the grace of God, the work has grown and gone round the states and outside the country where we have our churches. Retreats have been organized and held, and this has boosted the spread of the Gospel as thousands of souls have been won to the Gospel through AVS work. TO GOD BE THE GLORY.