Men's group’s gaining Momentum!

Olugbenga Ajani tells the story of the MPower group he leads in Barking, Essex

Sometimes a man wonders why God sent them on an assignment – not sure how the work will be accomplished or if they have resources to do it.

And so begins our story… the story of Momentum, the men’s group of Barking Elim Church (BE Church) and now the East London Elim Church Hub comprising Barking, Dagenham and East Ham Elim Churches.

Although we have always had some sort of ministry for the men’s group, in 2017, the Lord laid it on our hearts that, as men we have a greater mission and assignment to get together as a band of brothers to strengthen one another and go forward together.

When I first received the mandate, I had no idea how we were going to get things off the ground again, having witnessed the many efforts in the past to get the men’s ministry going – it has always been up and down. Now, after five years and counting, Momentum has been growing ever stronger and pushing ahead – Praise God!

One thing that’s a major factor in men’s ministry is the lack of commitment by the men and the ‘macho’ mindset where men feel they always have to be strong, show no weakness, and not share their burdens – this is a major hurdle we constantly have to be working on through prayer and intentional relationship building and friendships.

As the ministry started, we focused our work on the few brothers who were available.

The vision was clear: raise a band of brothers united in purpose and committed to supporting each other. We had the full support of the then Pastor, John Waller, in getting the vision off the ground and giving room for us to start developing men. We have since then had the amazing support of our current Senior Pastor, Lloyd Cheshire, who is particularly committed to raising a group of godly kingdom-minded men.

To keep Momentum moving, God gave us the strategy of working on a variety of activities and events that cater for different areas of interests for the men. We quickly learnt to use technology to our advantage, and having a central database of men and a WhatsApp group, we were able to communicate and engage with each other.

We had monthly/quarterly men’s gatherings and fellowship where we invited guest speakers and, most recently, the National Leader of Elim’s MPower, Mark Lyndon-Jones. These events provide an opportunity for fellowship, prayer, Bible study and sharing together. We have been able to create an environment where men feel comfortable with one another and are able to share each other’s burdens. We have had sports and games days, movie nights, dinner days and breakfast meetings, as well as meeting with men from other churches. Over time, many have become close personal friends, mentors and confidants.

But the powerhouse of Momentum is our prayer programme. Since its inception, one thing we have focused on is prayer. We believe that if we can pray together, there is nothing that we cannot do together. We started with a monthly men’s prayer meeting on the first Sunday of every month.

We have since progressed to having a weekly men’s prayer meeting via Zoom every Tuesday at 10.00pm for an hour. By the grace of God, we have met together nearly every Tuesday night for over three years now.

While we thank God for all he has been doing with us in Momentum, we are a work in progress and still have a very long way to go to get men committed and fully open to one another. We covet your prayers and ongoing support, and together we hope that the full agenda of God for men will be realised.

This article first appeared in the February 2023 issue of Direction, Elim’s monthly magazine.

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