When morning came, we roused ourselves and trotted outside for a short jog to the Winneba Sports Complex where we had a vigorous ‘keep fit’ session to stir up our appetites before breakfast.

After a rousing session of multicultural worship, Jide Ojo, the lead evangelist of the church in Accra took the podium to deliver the welcoming address. What followed was a cultural display that drew astonished smiles from the assembled crowd. Inspired to improve upon last year’s opening ceremony which unfortunately suffered from technical hitches, the conference organizers showed that they had truly stepped things up.

A small troupe adorned in the most regal indigenous garments exhibited the beauty and intricacy of Ghana’s local culture in an elaborate display of Adowa dance accompanied by traditional drumming. After each country had a chance to present a slice of their own rich indigenous culture, we cleared the hall and moved onto the classes for the day, the first of which was a general class on “Jesus and the Poor” taught by Francis Dasse of the Abidjan church.

Francis spoke with incredible conviction about the deep-rooted compassion Jesus exhibited during his life on earth and by the end of the class; many hearts were moved to reconsider their attitudes toward the less fortunate among us. The class ended with a short intermission where all the delegates split up into groups and prayed for a few minutes, asking God to grant them sympathetic hearts for the poor.

Friday’s main event was a trip to nearby Winneba Hospital for a bit of practical community outreach. Last year’s Singles Conference gave disciples a chance to expend energy by whipping the grounds of the Korlebu Hospital into presentable shape. This year’s project allowed for a bit more variety: pockets of disciples split up, fanning out into different areas of the Winneba Hospital to find opportunities to give.

Some spoke to the kids in the children’s ward, encouraging them with kind words and cheerful pep talks. Others took up cleaning tools and worked on sweeping and mopping the rooms until they sparkled. At the end, all the delegates came together for a presentation which Jide Ojo made to the Winneba Hospital on the church’s behalf.

Exhausted from the trek to the hospital (we walked to and fro!), most people collapsed in a happy heap upon returning to the hotel. After a quick shower, there was a dash for the dinner table and then a relaxed night of fellowship as people floated off into groups to joke, laugh and recap the day’s events.

The next day’s morning exercise came with a fascinating twist: dance instructor Romeo Eyo wearied our muscles with his “rhythm aerobics:, giving a whole new meaning to the phrase “Dance till you drop!” and I’m quite sure that whilst we panted through his hilarious routines, some of us stretched ligaments we never knew we had. After rinsing off the perspiration, we congregated for breakfast and then a short singing devotional in the main hall.

Primus Dasoberi from Accra shared his thoughts on “keeping at it”, reminding us that the godly walk was all about perseverance. Shortly after this, the day’s classes commenced. The first batch of lessons comprised of the one-two punch: “Remain in the Vine” and "Unapproved and Unashamed”, two classes which were split into separate sessions for men and women. In the class “Remain in the Vine”, Eli Tetteh from Accra and Tutu Sangonuga from Lagos encouraged the delegates to anchor themselves in God by planting deep roots. In the second class, Robert Sery from Abidjan and Elizabeth Crawford peeled back the curtain on who we truly are in God and it was invigorating to be able to reassert our true calling and begin to think of ourselves once again as a priesthood, one with royal heritage.

After this, all the delegates reconvened in the main hall where Philip Okullo, a disciple who recently moved from Nairobi, Kenya to Accra, delivered a class on Discipling. What made Philip’s presentation particularly unique was the simple, down-to-earth manner in which he coaxed out the incredible benefits we reap when we embrace relationships and open ourselves up for guidance from others. By the end, it was clear to all the singles that discipling was both a tool given to us by God and a treasure chest filled with opportunities.

At this point men and women split up again for a bit of “heart-to-heart” on the topic of Christian Dating, led by Mike and Chinwe Olomo. One of the great gems from this segment was the great reminder that in our relationships with fellow brothers and sisters, instead of obsessing over our own wants and needs we should rather look to contribute to the growth and development of our spiritual siblings. If we work at fashioning one another into the Christians Jesus wants us to be, we are sure to discover that God also will supply our own needs. The Q&A session afterwards was a great chance to air out questions and make contributions and we all left with a renewed zeal to cultivate pure and godly relationships with one another.

After another great lunchtime we returned to the main hall to hear one of the longest serving couples of the Accra church, Jimmy and Kathryn Parry, take the podium to share about “Jesus and the Lost”. In the last six years, we all know how difficult it has become for many of us to live out the evangelistic lifestyle we used to. One of the great things about the Parrys’ message was the various simple and practical examples they shared from their own lives, modelling the very heart that they were admonishing us to have.

The split class which followed gave us a chance to place these concepts in a ministry context and Ayo Adegbesan from Lagos and Odile Meyvier from Abidjan did a fabulous job of reminding us that it is time to leave our comfort zones behind. The world still needs the hope we have to offer and we must strive to be creative and determined in bringing it to them.

The next morning we made the trip back to Accra for service with the rest of the Accra church and it is not exaggeration to say that the worship was thrilling to behold. A multicultural display of sheer reverence to God, it all climaxed with a rousing sermon from the lead evangelist of the churches in West Africa, Chris Ogbonnaya.

The entire weekend was an experience, from beginning to end and from the excited feedback that was being given as disciples chatted with each other, said reluctant goodbyes and exchanged contact info after service. It was a conference to be remembered.

We look forward with baited breath to the 2010 Singles Conference...in Lagos!

Read much more about the churches in West Africa at www.icocnigeria.org.