Shall Holma Diocese Bishop’s Visitation to Districts
Shall Holma Diocese Bishop’s Visitation to Districts
As part of his effort to reach out to all the communities of the diocese, the bishop of Shall Holma Diocese Rt. Rev. Dimga Jones Kadabiyu embarked on a round visit to the districts in the diocese in order to encourage congregations and strengthen them in faith after the terrible experience of the Boko Haram insurgency in the area.
According to the Secretary to the Bishop Rev. Ishaya Benson, each district was visited by the Bishop in most of the Divisions in Diocese. Members received the Bishop and his entourage graciously and joyously. “Members showed that they were pleased to have their Bishop in their midst.”
The secretary explained to the Lutheran Today that the visitation brought a lot of healing and understanding among churches in the Diocese, “the visits to districts was organized in order for His Lordship the Bishop to be able to personally meet with the affected families of the Boko Haram attacks, to condole with them, to pray for/with them and to encourage each of them on the need to remain firm in the Lord during this end times. It was an opportunity for the churches to meet with the Bishop and have a common view at issues; pray about them, talk about them and find common solutions to problems. The Bishop also used the visitation to accord the members the opportunity to ask questions on issues that is bothering them, for the people to be able to interact with His Lordship. It was also an opportunity for the Office to assess the level of damage done at the local churches by the activities of the Insurgency, take statistics of members and church properties as well as evaluate capabilities and opportunities in our churches. It was a time of talks and meetings with members of the church, subgroup leaders and church leaders at all levels.”
The secretary mentioned that the Bishop dwelled throughout his tour on taking time to talk on the end time taking his reading from Matthew chapter 24. “On getting to the place usually all the members would welcome the Bishop and his entourage at the entrance of the District headquarters in a procession. All subgroups would sing songs to lead the Bishop to the church.” He said at the church the programme usually starts with introduction of the Bishop’s entourage after which the subgroups would be given time to present their special songs prepared for that day. “After the songs the Bishop would address the congregation.”
The secretary said the line of programme was interesting considering that members were fully involved. The visit to these district was usually a week round outing. This means that the Bishop went from one District to another throughout a week. “There is a session of questions and answers, during this session we entertained questions from the congregations. At different places we encountered similar questions. Members asked questions on payment of estimates, membership card, church discipline and the like. I can recall the issue of membership card and church discipline were major topics at Dingai District and Dimaska District. There were questions on youths and how some people have managed to avoid church discipline. There were times we had to deal with doctrinal issues like infant Baptism and the Holy Communion.”
One very important thing that the Secretary of the Diocese as well the Treasurer of the Diocese Mr. Mark Ishaya told Lutheran today was the story of a lady who gave her life to Christ. "She decided to surrender her life to Jesus, according to her she had an encounter with the Lord who told her in a dream to go to the church and meet some people that will come in from a distance and they will tell her what to do. When she came, it was at the time we arrived the village. She told her story and decided there and then to accept Jesus Christ as her personal Lord and Saviour." Said Mr Mark Ishaya. The decision of this woman to accept Christ is one of the experiences of the aftermath of the insurgency in the area. There are stories of people abandoning Islam considering what they faced in the hands of Boko Haram who claimed to be practicing Islam.
The visit according to the secretary was one great thing in the life of the Diocese. “Even the pastors were very encouraged. The members were revived and they were given some sense of direction and of course sense belonging. Seeing their Bishop in their midst they were pleased. We were at some places surprised with what was going on in the minds of the members. They poured their hearts and their misconceptions were corrected. During the discussion session the Bishop and the Pastors answered questions on Biblical and doctrinal issues, the Treasurer of the Diocese helped in explaining financial matters and the Bishop’s wife was there to handle family matters.
“The visit encouraged members to get involved in businesses that will uplift their economic lives. Most of the Divisions have already been visited. Out of the 9 divisions in the Diocese seven have been visited. Gombi Division, Boga Division, Ga’anda Division, Fotta Divison, Alhamdu Division, Yang Division, Mubi Division and the Cathedral have been visited. The areas remaining to be visited are Dumme Division and Jambo Division.”
According to the Secretary the visitation was a form retreat for the members of staff at the Diocese Headquarters. “It united us in the office, it helped us solved some problem and respond to question in unity. It has given us the opportunity to learn and have braced up for the challenges. The Bishop himself was so pleased with the development; he said that was one of the greatest works of a Bishop.”
Shall Holma Diocese is one of the earliest Dioceses of the LCCN that was established in 1995. Arewa Diocese was carved out of Shall Holma Diocese. Bishop Dimga Jones Kadabiyu is the third Bishop of the Diocese. Shall Holma Diocese has its headquarters in Gombi. It covers a verse area of Gombi, Song, Mubi, Maiha, Michika and Madagali Local Government areas of Adamawa State; and it has congregations in Borno state as well.
As part of his effort to reach out to all the communities of the diocese, the bishop of Shall Holma Diocese Rt. Rev. Dimga Jones Kadabiyu embarked on a round visit to the districts in the diocese in order to encourage congregations and strengthen them in faith after the terrible experience of the Boko Haram insurgency in the area.
According to the Secretary to the Bishop Rev. Ishaya Benson, each district was visited by the Bishop in most of the Divisions in Diocese. Members received the Bishop and his entourage graciously and joyously. “Members showed that they were pleased to have their Bishop in their midst.”
The secretary explained to the Lutheran Today that the visitation brought a lot of healing and understanding among churches in the Diocese, “the visits to districts was organized in order for His Lordship the Bishop to be able to personally meet with the affected families of the Boko Haram attacks, to condole with them, to pray for/with them and to encourage each of them on the need to remain firm in the Lord during this end times. It was an opportunity for the churches to meet with the Bishop and have a common view at issues; pray about them, talk about them and find common solutions to problems. The Bishop also used the visitation to accord the members the opportunity to ask questions on issues that is bothering them, for the people to be able to interact with His Lordship. It was also an opportunity for the Office to assess the level of damage done at the local churches by the activities of the Insurgency, take statistics of members and church properties as well as evaluate capabilities and opportunities in our churches. It was a time of talks and meetings with members of the church, subgroup leaders and church leaders at all levels.”
The secretary mentioned that the Bishop dwelled throughout his tour on taking time to talk on the end time taking his reading from Matthew chapter 24. “On getting to the place usually all the members would welcome the Bishop and his entourage at the entrance of the District headquarters in a procession. All subgroups would sing songs to lead the Bishop to the church.” He said at the church the programme usually starts with introduction of the Bishop’s entourage after which the subgroups would be given time to present their special songs prepared for that day. “After the songs the Bishop would address the congregation.”
The secretary said the line of programme was interesting considering that members were fully involved. The visit to these district was usually a week round outing. This means that the Bishop went from one District to another throughout a week. “There is a session of questions and answers, during this session we entertained questions from the congregations. At different places we encountered similar questions. Members asked questions on payment of estimates, membership card, church discipline and the like. I can recall the issue of membership card and church discipline were major topics at Dingai District and Dimaska District. There were questions on youths and how some people have managed to avoid church discipline. There were times we had to deal with doctrinal issues like infant Baptism and the Holy Communion.”
One very important thing that the Secretary of the Diocese as well the Treasurer of the Diocese Mr. Mark Ishaya told Lutheran today was the story of a lady who gave her life to Christ. "She decided to surrender her life to Jesus, according to her she had an encounter with the Lord who told her in a dream to go to the church and meet some people that will come in from a distance and they will tell her what to do. When she came, it was at the time we arrived the village. She told her story and decided there and then to accept Jesus Christ as her personal Lord and Saviour." Said Mr Mark Ishaya. The decision of this woman to accept Christ is one of the experiences of the aftermath of the insurgency in the area. There are stories of people abandoning Islam considering what they faced in the hands of Boko Haram who claimed to be practicing Islam.
The visit according to the secretary was one great thing in the life of the Diocese. “Even the pastors were very encouraged. The members were revived and they were given some sense of direction and of course sense belonging. Seeing their Bishop in their midst they were pleased. We were at some places surprised with what was going on in the minds of the members. They poured their hearts and their misconceptions were corrected. During the discussion session the Bishop and the Pastors answered questions on Biblical and doctrinal issues, the Treasurer of the Diocese helped in explaining financial matters and the Bishop’s wife was there to handle family matters.
“The visit encouraged members to get involved in businesses that will uplift their economic lives. Most of the Divisions have already been visited. Out of the 9 divisions in the Diocese seven have been visited. Gombi Division, Boga Division, Ga’anda Division, Fotta Divison, Alhamdu Division, Yang Division, Mubi Division and the Cathedral have been visited. The areas remaining to be visited are Dumme Division and Jambo Division.”
According to the Secretary the visitation was a form retreat for the members of staff at the Diocese Headquarters. “It united us in the office, it helped us solved some problem and respond to question in unity. It has given us the opportunity to learn and have braced up for the challenges. The Bishop himself was so pleased with the development; he said that was one of the greatest works of a Bishop.”
Shall Holma Diocese is one of the earliest Dioceses of the LCCN that was established in 1995. Arewa Diocese was carved out of Shall Holma Diocese. Bishop Dimga Jones Kadabiyu is the third Bishop of the Diocese. Shall Holma Diocese has its headquarters in Gombi. It covers a verse area of Gombi, Song, Mubi, Maiha, Michika and Madagali Local Government areas of Adamawa State; and it has congregations in Borno state as well.
