Pentecost and the Call to Serve

By Very Rev. Dr. William Allotey-Pappoe

I greet God’s people in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. I thank God for His faithfulness upon my life, and I thank Him for this wonderful opportunity to share my Pentecost story with you.

I was brought up in the Methodist Mission House, and throughout my life, I have loved serving God. I was active in the Boys’ Brigade, the choir, and as a lay preacher. Like the son in Matthew 21:28–29, who at first refused to follow but later obeyed, my journey of faith has been one of resistance turned to surrender.

On 22nd August 1999, the Lord appeared to me and said: “I have been serving you. I have been blessing you, in success and in failure, in sunshine and in darkness, in sickness and in health. Yet you do not want to serve Me.” These words pierced my heart deeply. For months I wrestled with their meaning.

Not long after, my minister invited me to consider the call to ministry. Though he was transferred, another minister who succeeded him also encouraged me with the same conviction: “You are being called into the ministry.” It was then I realized the Lord had truly arrested me, and the time had come to surrender fully. I offered myself to the Methodist ministry, and since then, God has continued to use me for His glory.

The Lord opened doors for me to serve beyond my local church. He took me to Sweden to attend the World Methodist Conference, where I was nominated and elected to the WesleyMen board worldwide. What a testimony of God’s grace!

I thank the Lord for all He is doing in WesleyMen and in the Church. I pray that He will continue to bless us, use us, and glorify Himself in our lives.

In Jesus’ name, Amen.