Please do not miss this year Holy Ghost
Congress
Date: 9th - 14th Dec 2013
Venue: Redemption Camp,
Km 46 Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, Ogun
State.
Time: 7:00pm Daily
Theme: The Overflow
Ministering: Pastor E A Adeboye.
May our Blessing overflow in Jesus Name.
See you there!!!!!!!!!!
Akindayomi, Josiah Olufemi
1909 to 1980
Redeemed Christian Church of God
Nigeria
Josiah Olufemi Akindayomi was the
founder and first general overseer of what
is today known as the Redeemed
Christian Church of God. The church,
today acclaimed as the fastest growing
Pentecostal church in the world, started
in 1947 as an independent prayer
fellowship, the Glory of God Fellowship.
This group blossomed into the Redeemed
Christian Church of God in 1952.
Josiah was born in 1909 into the
Akindayomi family in Ondo State, Nigeria.
From early childhood Josiah's parents
noticed unusual things about him. When
he was sick, alledgedly his sickness, that
usually defied traditional medecin-the
most common treatment for sickness in
those days-would abate and subsequently
disappear once he was bathed with
ordinary water. Josiah himself also had an
inkling that he was different, for although
he grew up in an environment where the
worship of Ogun (the Yoruba divinity of
iron and war) was prevalent, he was
aware of the existence of a greater power
and yearned to know the true God who
created the earth and everyone in it.
His yearning after God led him into the
Anglican Church where he was baptized in
1927. Still spiritually unfulfilled, he joined
the Cherubim and Seraphim Church in
1931. A few years later he began to hear
a voice inside him declaring that he would
be a minister of God. He was not at ease
with this voice, which he identified as
God's call to full time ministry. For seven
years he ignored it, since he had never
intended to be a pastor. During this
period, virtually everything went wrong
for him. All his business ventures failed;
heavily in debt and without peace of
mind, he found himself totally dependent
on the grace of God.
The turning point for Josiah came when,
in 1940, he dreamed of an old man
scratching his leg. He woke up the next
morning with a sore on his leg that
deteriorated significantly within a short
period of time. Then he heard the voice
inside him telling him to submit to God's
will and to serve him. When he asked for
signs to confirm that the call was from
God he was given the following passages
as confirmation: Jeremiah 1:4-10, Isaiah
41:10-13, and Romans 8:29-31. [1]
Without the use of medication, the Lord
healed the sore on his leg. This marked
the beginning of a definite relationship
with God. Totally broken, he yielded to
God, saying, "Lord I will go wherever you
want me to go." The Lord assured him
that he would provide for all his needs as
he would henceforth receive no salary
from anyone. This promise from the Lord
was a comforting reminder to him during
his trials in subsequent months.
Akindayomi was married in 1947 and
relocated to Lagos in the latter part of
that year. In Lagos, he worshipped with
the Cherubim and Seraphim Church at its
Ibadan Street, Ebute-Metta branch,
where Prophet Onanuga, the immediate
successor to Prophet Moses Orimolade,
the church founder, was the leader. He
was still with the church in 1947 when a
zeal for a better service and a deeper
experience with God prompted him to
start the prayer fellowship later known as
the Glory of God Fellowship that met at 9,
Willougby Street, Ebute-Metta, Lagos.
Initially there were nine members;
however the fellowship gradually grew as
the news of the miracles that occurred in
their midst spread. It became so popular
that it drew not only members of the
church, but others from the
neighborhood.
By 1952 he felt persuaded to leave the
Cherubim and Seraphim Church. The
fellowship he had started then grew into
the Redeemed Christian Church of God.
The name of the church was said to have
been revealed to the founder in a vision.
Allegedly the letters forming the name of
the church appeared in the English
alphabet to Akindayomi, who could
neither read nor write. Miraculously he
was able to scribble down the individual
letters which, when put together, read
"The Redeemed Christian Church of God."
This has been the name of the church
ever since.
In this same vision God promised to take
the church to the ends of the earth and
declared that the Lord Jesus Christ would
meet the church when he returned in
glory. The Lord also established a
covenant with Akindayomi similar to the
Abrahamic covenant in the Bible,
promising to meet all the needs of the
church in wonderful ways if only members
would serve Him faithfully and be
obedient to His Word. The Redeemed
Christian Church of God was formed,
based on this covenant, in 1952. The
church continued to meet at 9 Willoughby
Street until they acquired some land and
relocated to their headquarters at 1-5
Redemption Way, Ebute-Metta, Lagos
(formerly 1a Cemetery Street). In the
1950s it was quite fashionable for
Nigerian independent churches to affiliate
with overseas ministries for expansion
purposes. However, according to sources,
God strongly instructed the Redeemed
Christian Church of God not to merge
with any foreign or overseas body. Today
the church has become one of the fastest
growing Pentecostal churches in the
world.
Like Moses in the Bible, Akindayomi
named his successor before his death. In
the early 1970s God had told him that his
successor, who was not yet a member of
the church, would be a young educated
man. Thus when a young university
lecturer joined the church in 1973,
Akindayomi was able to recognize him in
the Spirit as the one whom the Lord had
spoken of. This man, Enoch Adejare
Adeboye, a lecturer in mathematics at the
University of Lagos, soon became involved
in the activities of the church. He became
one of the interpreters translating
Akindayomi's sermons from the Yoruba
language into English. He was ordained a
pastor of the church in 1975.
One day the Lord revealed to Akindayomi
that it was time for him to die. He then
sent for Pastor Adeboye and spent
several hours with him, sharing the
details of the covenant and the plans of
the Lord for the church. A year earlier,
the Lord had revealed to Pastor Adeboye
that he would be Akindayomi's successor,
but it was too difficult for him to fully
contemplate such an awesome
responsibility. Akindayomi died in 1980 at
the age of 71. Thereafter Pastor
Adeboye's appointment was formalized
and he has since been the general
overseer of the church.
Today God is still doing powerful work
through the Redeemed Christian Church
of God worldwide. In 1981 there was an
explosion of growth in the number of
parishes. At the last count there were
about 2,000 parishes of the church in
Nigeria. The church is also present in
other African nations, including: Côte
d'Ivoire, Ghana, Zambia, Malawi, Zaire,
Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Gambia,
Cameroon, and South Africa. In Europe
the church has spread to England,
Germany, and France. In the Americas
there are U.S. parishes in Dallas,
Tallahassee, Houston, New York,
Washington, and Chicago, and in the
Caribbean states of Haiti and Jamaica.
One prominent program of the church is
the Holy Ghost service, an all-night
miracle service, held on the first Friday of
every month at the Redemption Camp at
Km. 46, Lagos-Ibadan expressway. The
average number of those who attend the
service is about 500,000. The Holy Ghost
service is now also held in London on a
quarterly basis. Sources:
THE COMING OF JESUS IS LIKE A THEIF IN
THE NIGHT........
WATCH OUT..........
HE IS COMING SOON......
BUT THE BIG QUESTION
IS.......... ..................
ARE YOU READY FOR HIS COMING.........
...........
CHANGE YOUR WAYS.........,...
REPENT TODAY!!!..............
Lecturers from the University of Calabar
and Cross River State University of
Technology took to the streets of Calabar,
the Cross River state capital, demanding
that the federal government meet its
demands.
The peaceful protest was carried out
despite the heavy presence of officers
and men of the Nigerian police force.
While reacting to claims that the strike
action was embarked upon for selfish
reasons, the State Chairman of ASUU,
James Ukpiliya said the allegations are
false.
Osun State Governor Rauf Aregbesola
has said the policy of reclassification of
schools introduced by his administration
is not aimed at inflicting pains on the
people of the state.
According to a statement by the
Director of Communications in the
governor’s office, Mr. Semiu Okanlawon,
on Monday, Aregbesola said this in
Lagos while addressing members of the
Ijesa Society.
The governor spoke just as members of
the traditional religious adherents in the
state berated some Christian and
Muslim groups for opposing the new
education policy.
The traditional believers, led by Mr.
Kayode Esuleke, spoke at a press
conference just as Parents Association
and Parent Teachers Association in the
state also rose in defence of the
governor.
The Chairman of Parents Association,
Dr. Ademola Ekundayo, and the
chairman of PTA, Alhaji Afidat Lawal,
described the new policy as laudable at
a press conference in Osogbo on
Monday.
The governor urged the cooperation
from the people of the state while
explaining that his administration met a
culture of decay in the education sector
and was determined to reverse the
trend.
He said the reformation of the school
feeding system had led to the spending
of N3.6bn every year from primary 1 to
4, which made Osun State the only
state with such policy in the country.
Aregbesola listed other efforts made by
the administration to revamp the sector
such as the distribution of free Opon
Imo (electronic tablet), free uniform,
free meal and others, which had started
yielding positive results in the sector.
The governor said, “On the surface, it
looks as if we are deliberately out to
inflict pains with the reformation of our
school system; nothing close to that is
our intention. We saw a hopeless
situation in our basic education system.
“Because of my experience with the
comatose educational system in the
state that we were about to inherit,
even from the days of my campaigns,
long before we assumed office, I made
it very clear that we would carry out
surgical attack on it when we assume
office.
“We mentioned our intention to the
whole world that we will address the
issue of poor and totally dilapidated
educational infrastructure of basic
education, to aggressively solve the
problem. Some of our policies are
necessary but painful and may not be
well accepted now.”
The governor added, “We are however
convinced that surgery is not always
pleasing and soothing to those who
need it but the joy of recovery and
healing more than compensates for the
temporary pain of going under the knife.
“Rather than look at what we are doing
as the best system to revamp education
and ensure that our students have the
best for our limited resources and to
maximise our resources for excellence
and efficiency, sentiment and primordial
issues were brought into it that
Aregbesola wants to Islamise Osun
State.”
The Bayelsa State Police Command says
that a riot policeman was one of those
killed by sea pirates in Ikebiri
community, Southern Ijaw Local
Government Area of the state.
The Police Public Relations Officer, Mr.
Alex Akhigbe, made this known to
newsmen in Yenagoa on Tuesday.
Akhigbe said the policeman was one of
the passengers of a commercial boat
heading for Koluama community in the
area.
He said the boat was attacked by sea
pirates around 6pm on Friday, October
18.
“Out of the two armed policemen in the
boat, one was reportedly shot dead
after a 15-minute gun battle between
them and the pirates. The survivor, who
sustained serious injuries, is currently
receiving treatment in an undisclosed
hospital,” he said.
Akhigbe said the policemen were on a
private visit from Port Harcourt to
Bayelsa State.
The Federal Road Safety Corps, Akwa
Ibom State Command, has said over 90
per cent of road crashes in the country
are attributable to human errors.
The Zonal Head of Operations, Mr.
Shehu Umar, said if risky behaviours like
overloading, speeding, drink driving and
use of cell phones while driving were
avoided, road crashes would be greatly
reduced.
Umar, who represented the Zonal
Commanding Officer, Port Harcourt,
Rivers State, Mrs. Comfort Nwadoka,
said this during the commencement of
the 2013 ‘Ember’ months’ road safety
awareness campaign in Uyo on Monday.
She stated that this year’s campaign was
all-inclusive, as the carnival floats and
motorcade commenced at the same
time at the organisation’s Unit
Commands in Eket, Ikot Ekpene, Abak
and Mbak with the grand finale in Uyo.
She said, “The myth of ‘Ember Months’
has dwelt with us over the years with
many erroneously believing that road
crashes are ordained during this season.
“It is important to note that there is
nothing mysterious about this period,
except that the festive season and the
end of year activities are associated with
increased vehicular movements.
“There is also attendant increase in risky
habits on our roads such as overloading,
speeding, drink driving, use of cell
phones while driving, dangerous driving
and so on. These have naturally resulted
in crashes.
“The rate of killings on our roads in
recent times is unacceptable. Research
has also shown that about 90 per cent
of the causes of road traffic crashes are
human-related.”
Nwadoka added that 82 road traffic
offenders were booked for seat belt
violation in September, 2012 in Akwa
Ibom State. She added that in
September 2013, only four offenders
had been booked for the same offence
in the same state.
She stated that the 90.6 per cent
reduction was as a result of aggressive
public enlightenment and the recent
resolve of the corps to prosecute errant
motorists.
