Kolawole Emiola

We praise God for granting us insight into the benefits of the Small Groups Church Plan. Dominion Impact Church, our apostolic base in Nigeria, has been doing very well since the injection of small group principles in 2006. The most noticeable of all is our increase in numerical strength in our two church branches in Lagos and Ibadan. This is all due to the intentional evangelistic outreaches carried out by our small groups. Our old method of cold canvas evangelism has been done away with. Small groups are now our major evangelistic approach, and it has proved to be very powerful.

Another area of benefit is the discovery of potential leaders. We testify that it’s a lot easier now with the small groups in place to identify our emerging lay-leaders than it was before. With this in place, discipleship is no longer about programs or manuals but of “life” sharing. So, today we don’t just have better programs, we have better people!

Delegation of ministry is another plus derived from the small groups approach of building our church. Our members no longer shirk responsibility, both in small groups and in the celebration service. Thanks to their exposure to small group principles they are more committed to Kingdom service than before.

The lives of our group members have also been greatly impacted in the area of self-disclosure. They now know and understand each other better than before. Mask-wearing, pretence and shyness have gone. Intimacy and love is, today, at work in their lives. Our small group members open up more easily to one another, even those with deep hurts or fears.

With all the gains we have enjoyed through our adapting small groups as the building approach of our church we can’t praise God enough for all He has done.

Kolawole Emiola
Senior Pastor, Dominion Impact Church, Lagos