Joseph Attoh 
Sometimes, God chooses the most unexpected places to teach us life’s greatest lessons. Mine came not inside the Rudolf Weber auditorium where the Pentecost 2026 Conference is being held, but during a simple walk through Westfield Centro in Oberhausen, one of the largest shopping malls in Germany.
After an inspiring morning session, the conference organisers made a deliberate decision to suspend the afternoon programme, giving participants the opportunity to rest, spend time with family and friends, or simply explore the city before returning for the evening service. Like many others, I decided to visit Centro. I thought it would just be another afternoon of window shopping and sightseeing. I had no idea that a shopping mall would leave me reflecting so deeply on the mission of the Church.
As I walked through the mall, one thing immediately caught my attention. Everywhere I turned, I saw familiar conference T-shirts. Families walked together wearing them. Young people gathered around tables in the food court. Elderly couples strolled through the corridors, while children happily ran ahead of their parents. Some participants were shopping, others were eating, and many were simply enjoying conversations. Yet they all had one thing in common. Across their shirts was one bold inscription: UNLEASHED.
At first, I simply admired the sight. It was beautiful to see so many believers together outside the conference venue. The conference had spilled into the city, and anyone walking through the mall could immediately tell that something significant was happening in Oberhausen. But as I continued walking, that single word—Unleashed—began to mean much more than the theme printed on a T-shirt.
It suddenly occurred to me that I could hardly walk a few metres without seeing another participant. God’s people were everywhere. They were in the restaurants, the supermarkets, the clothing stores, the cafés and the walkways. Standing there, I realised that perhaps this is exactly what it means to be unleashed.
For years, The Church of Pentecost has pursued the vision of Possessing the Nations, and more recently, the call has been for believers to be unleashed to transform their world. Sometimes, we subconsciously interpret that vision in terms of church growth, bigger conferences or the planting of more assemblies. While those are important expressions of God’s work, they are not the complete picture. The vision has always been much broader. It is about raising believers who carry the values of God’s Kingdom into every sphere of society until their presence begins to change the environments around them.
That afternoon, Centro quietly illustrated this vision better than many sermons could. The conference had not ended because there was no afternoon session. It had simply moved into the marketplace. The auditorium had been exchanged for shopping malls, cafés and restaurants. Ministry was no longer happening from a platform with microphones and spotlights. It was happening through ordinary believers interacting with ordinary people in ordinary places.
It reminded me that Jesus never intended for the Church to remain within the safety of its four walls. Every gathering is meant to prepare believers for what happens after they leave. We gather to worship, to pray, to study God’s Word and to encourage one another. But we scatter to influence. We scatter to serve. We scatter to become the light of the world in places where sermons may never be preached but where lives are constantly being observed.
As I watched conference participants move through the mall, I began to imagine what could happen if every believer embraced this assignment every single day. Imagine Christian teachers who intentionally shape lives and not just minds. Imagine business owners who view integrity as part of their worship to God. Imagine healthcare professionals who see every patient as someone created in the image of God. Imagine journalists committed to truth, politicians guided by righteousness, students who refuse to compromise their convictions and families whose homes become living examples of God’s love. None of these people may ever stand behind a pulpit, yet every one of them has the potential to transform society.
Perhaps that is where we sometimes miss the point. We often associate transformation with dramatic moments—powerful crusades, revival meetings and packed auditoriums. Those moments are important, but lasting transformation is usually much quieter. It happens when believers consistently demonstrate Christ in their everyday lives. It happens when honesty replaces corruption, when compassion overcomes indifference, when integrity triumphs over compromise and when love is shown without expecting anything in return.
Looking around Centro, another thought became increasingly clear to me. We already have the numbers. Thousands of believers had gathered for the conference, and for a few hours they were spread across one shopping mall. If such a gathering could create such a visible presence in one city, imagine what could happen if every member of the Church intentionally lived as God’s representative in the communities where He has already planted them. God has positioned teachers in schools, doctors in hospitals, engineers on construction sites, entrepreneurs in businesses, journalists in newsrooms, civil servants in government institutions and parents in homes. None of these placements is accidental. Every believer has been strategically positioned to influence the world around them.
As I left Centro later that afternoon, I realised I had witnessed something much bigger than conference participants enjoying their free time. I had seen a glimpse of what the Church can become when it truly understands its calling. The T-shirts were certainly noticeable, but what mattered most was not the message printed on the fabric. It was the message God was writing on my heart.
The Church has everything it needs to transform the world. We have the Gospel. We have the Holy Spirit. We have the vision. We even have the people. The challenge is not whether God has positioned us. The challenge is whether we recognise that every place He has positioned us is a mission field.
Perhaps that was God’s sermon to me in a shopping mall in Oberhausen. The conference may have taken place inside an auditorium, but the real work will begin the moment we stepped outside its doors. After all, the Church is never more powerful than when it leaves the building and faithfully represents Christ wherever He has planted it.
That is how nations are possessed. That is how societies are transformed.
Written by Prince Kojo Asare
About The Author
Joseph Otsibah 
