REVIVALS and AWAKENINGS: Do you know what they are?
My unique singular contribution to human existence, over these 60+ years of my life, has been the entrenchment of pentecostal faith in the Ondo Kingdom of South-Western Nigeria.
Prior to this monumental 'achievement' (by God's grace), I had read the history of a number of 'awakenings' and 'revivals' that had happened in various parts of the world in the past. I had also been priviledged to have witnessed revivals and awakenings during my life as a believer, but never had I had, by the grace of God, to be so pivotally used in the outpouring of the Spirit of God upon a community or a people, as it turned out to be in what I have since referred to as "THE ONDO AWAKENING"!
" THE ONDO AWAKENING" is the history of God's mercy poured out abundantly upon a people that I consider the most elegant in the world! A people so passionate about whatever they believe in as constituting right behaviour; a people so obsessed with elegance and style, so much that earlier attempts to penetrate them with the glorious gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ - - pentecostal style - - had met with sophisticated rebuff, as the Ondo man would not have anything to do with "'Amen' church," as "born-again" churches were called by them.
For the avoidance of doubt, the first missionary came to Ondoland about 1875, more than a century ago. The Ondo man accepted "orthodox" christianity (so-called) - - but, over the decades, 'dead' orthodoxy had settled in and the system was hardly producing people that understood and practiced the faith in a way that evangelicals/pentecostals consider as "vibrant." In fact, back then, while I was growing up, I knew my father, who was a layreader/preacher in the Anglican Church, as the only "pentecostal" style preacher.! No.! my father didn't speak in tongues! But, in terms of charismatic, powerful teaching of Bible precepts, he was the only preacher I knew who would hold the attention of our church audience "spell-bound" anytime he was on the pulpit.! Others (bless their hearts) could hardly keep half of the church from either sleeping, discussing with their friends, or reading the Sunday newspaper - - while the sermon was going on!
Before 1985 - - the beginning of "THE ONDO AWAKENING," there was nothing, absolutely nothing, to excite anyone, spiritually speaking, about Ondoland. Pockets of born-again believers existed - - in a few churches and fellowships - - but, like I said, they were only pockets indeed and were generally considered as religious deviants.! Of course, it was almost a miracle anytime an indigenous Ondo man could be found in a born-again church.! It was considered a 'disgrace' to what may be referred to as "Ondoism" for such a one to have condescended so low as to now rub shoulders with some hand-clapping religious "bigots"!
However, as at the end of the year 1999 (16 years ago), an awakening of Ondo Kingdom to the true gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, had taken place, and majorly (by the grace of God) through the instrumentality of this writer.
I actually began, by God's grace, my pulpit ministry, while still at the University of Benin, in 1974 and at age 20! Being in ministry, I have, to date, passed through several stages - - stages of growth, stages of development, stages of what I call "maturation of spirit" both as a believer, as well as a minister.
Even back then on campus, I was priviledged to minister from the same pulpit, and to the same congregation, alongside all-time "greats" as the late Archbishop Benson Idahosa, Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor (current CAN Chairman), the late Apostle Geoffrey Numbere, Revd. Uma Ukpai, Revd. S. G. Elton (the father of pentecostalism in Nigeria and a colleague of the renowned Apostle Ayo Babalola), and so on! Only about two other student ministers on my campus had that priviledge!
On the 1st of April, 1990, I told the Archbishop B. A. Idahosa, "It's time for me to minister to the needs of my people in Ondo Kingdom, and I don't have the power;" and upon which he laid his anointed hands on my head, on the oval altar of the "Faith Arena," his headquarters, and prayed for me! From that very day, I entered a higher order of ministration - - ministering with very explosive power than I had ever done before, and with great boldness and positive, powerful results! 'THE ONDO AWAKENING' had a major root in the Archbishop's impartation to me that day!
I will never forget the Archbishop B. A. Idahosa. He loved me intensely. He said, during one of the annual conferences hosted by him in Benin City, and to an international audience of not less than twenty-thousand delegates, while appreciating God's grace upon my life; he said to them, "For thirty-two years I tried to evangelise Ondo Kingdom, but never succeeded; but when God raised Akinnola (this writer), he succeeded!"
I had come to Ondoland in 1985 (from Akure where I had been born and raised, although we are Ondos by ancestry), and, prior to that year, like I've previously said, there was absolutely nothing to excite anyone, spiritually speaking, about Ondoland.
An "awakening" is a move of God's Spirit, to arouse a people to faith in a truth previously unknown to them. A revival (not a 'revival' church programme, please!), on the other hand, is a move of God's Spirit to "renew" the faith of a people in a truth they had once known but lost! The Spirit of God is the architect of awakenings and revivals! It can never be brought into manifestation by man, but requires man to be a co-labourer with God in the execution of it!
The history of mankind - - from Adam and even till the second coming of CHRIST which we are expecting - - has always been and will always be that of 'moves of God'! That's always the case, for God is always on the move! God initiating a plan for His people, bringing awakenings (realisations) to that plan, and also from time to time' reviving' - - through the workings of His Spirit - - those things and experiences that the people may have lost.! That is His Love, His kindness towards man whom He has made! He does not, ever, want man to be lost on his creation purpose!
Adam in the Garden of Eden, was an awakening to life - - life with God and in God. When he lost that life through sin, God indicated that there would be a revival of that life. It was the beginning of awakenings and revivals!
Noah and his family after the Flood, was a new awakening and also a revival.! Abraham's call out of his native land of Ur of the Chaldees, was an 'awakening,' for the purpose of reviving what was lost in the Garden of Eden! The history of Abraham himself, between the time he was first called, to the birth of Isaac and beyond, is one of personal 'awakenings' and 'revivals'!
When God visited His people Israel in the land of Egypt, through the instrumentality of Moses, to bring them out of their bondage into His promised land, it was an' awakening' of Israel to the One who says "I AM that I AM." Their fathers had not known him by that name (JEHOVAH), but now He was bringing an awakening of them to Himself as the "I AM."
The history of Israel after they had entered into the promised land is one of awakenings and revivals, through the instrumentality of the judges and prophets! From time to time, Israel would be awakened to the true worship of God and revived in their commitment to Him!
John the Baptist was an instrument of an awakening to the imminent coming of the Messiah!
The three- and-a-half-year ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ on earth, was an 'awakening' of Israel to the Son of God, their Messiah (and to faith in Him!) That's why, when they failed to so recognise Him, Jesus wept over Jerusalem and said, "If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes..... because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation." The time of an 'awakening' is a time of 'visitation' from the Lord!
On the day of Pentecost, a new move of God, yet again, began.
After the first one hundred years of the church age, and by the time the last of the twelve apostles of the Lamb had died, the church compromised and went into apostasy, as a result of which she lost virtually all - - if not all - - of the revelations (truths) and experiences she had had.! For the next one thousand and five hundred years - - which have since been known as the Dark Ages - - there was very little 'light' (revelation), if any, in the 'church.'
God thereafter raised up a man by the name Martin Luther, through whom He brought an awakening to the truth of "justification by faith." It was called the Reformation. Since then, church history has been one of awakenings and revivals, to restore everything the church of Jesus Christ had lost, from time to time, and also to bring to the people those things that are yet in God's plan for the perfecting of His Church! The church of Jesus Christ, through the centuries, has gone through a lot of 'shapings' and 're-shapings' - - in 'awakenings' and 'revivals' - - all in a bid to ensure that the Lord Himself "might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish."
The "ONDO AWAKENING" (in which I have been personally involved), for instance, and which happened majorly between the years 1985 to 1999 (and as far as pentecostal faith is concerned) is thus another of God's own "doings" in the 'maturation' of His Church in preparation for the Coming of the BrideGroom - - Jesus Christ the Lord!
Immediately after the civil war of 1967 - 1970, there was in Nigeria an 'awakening,' or, you may say, 'revival' of mass evangelism. Many of those occupying leadership positions in the work of 'christian' ministry today in the country, are products of that move of God. I am one of them. It was a move that swept across especially the southern part of the country and, incidentally (I believe it was for a divine purpose), many of the evangelists raised up by God at that time to champion that move, were Igbos who had just emerged from the trauma of a civil war and were still carrying the scars of it on their psyche!
The late 1970's and early 1980's witnessed a move of God that swept through universities and other higher institutions in Nigeria, resulting not only in mass conversion of university students (many of whom were to, later in the late 80's and through the 90's, play key roles in the so-called 'new generation churches'), but also carrying with it an awakening to spiritual manifestations - - that is, the charismatic or pentecostal awakening cum revival - - to the point that, at a time in the 1980's, it was said that Nigeria had the largest and strongest christian students' body in the whole world!
There were people (preachers) who were instruments in God's hand in leading those moves of God!
The middle/late 1980's saw the Faith Movement sweeping across Nigeria. It was an 'awakening' to faith in the written Word of God! That was when we came to realise that what God says in His word, He means every bit of it! Knowledge of 'redemption rights,' 'new creation realities,' healing, and, later, 'prosperity' - - through faith in God's Word - - spread across the country! It was like a wild fire!
The 'Ondo Awakening,' and which by the very special grace of God was "spearheaded" by the Holy Spirit working through my humble self, and also through my ministry-outfit, HOLY GHOST CENTRE, was itself an offshoot of the faith/charismatic movement that was sweeping across Nigeria at the time!
The first group of born-again believers I personally came into contact with in Ondo Town was a Gospel Faith Mission church. That was in 1977. They met in an uncompleted building. That was what obtained, generally speaking, in Ondo at the time - - pockets of very few "born-again" believers meeting in somewhat obscure places, and with the rest of the town generally oblivious of them!
The Ondo person is a very careful person, ever conscious of his personal elegant-outlook, sophistication and dignity. Back then, he (the Ondo man) wouldn't have anything to do with what he considered as a bunch of inconsequential religious deviants whom he considered as the down-and-out (dreg) of the society, and who (in his opinion) were trying to find succour in some unreal, fanatical "sect" of christianity. In any case, they were mostly non-natives, so why should he bother about their noise making? except to harass them for being a nuisance to the neighborhood.
The Ondo man, even back then, believed in God. In fact he was very religious! But why bother about an unimpressive people, 'tattered and dirty' in the name of serving God, when his father had already got him baptised into a respectable anglican church?
I arrived Ondo Town, on apostolic mission, on the 2nd of August, 1985. I arrived 'unsung and unknown,' having deliberately chosen to "leave behind" my aristocratic 'toga'! (I was born and raised an aristocrat). I was not on anybody's payroll anywhere in the world, neither did I have anything that could constitute a financial security! I never asked my father (who, while I was still in primary school, had been opening bank accounts in my name, as well as buying company shares for me); I never asked him for anything! [that was stupid of me, though!] And I had a wife and two children! It was BLIND FAITH!
When I arrived in August of 1985, I found that there was still 'no form nor comeliness' regarding the church of Jesus Christ in Ondoland. It was still, essentially, a very barren place, spiritually speaking, and with many of the available "born-again" pastors full of complaints as to how difficult it was to evangelise the town, pentecostal style! One of the preachers actually said that preaching the gospel in Ondo (back then) was like sowing seed on concrete!
There were still "pockets" of believers, mostly non-natives! The Ondo man just couldn't relate to the "born-again" thing!
There were "struggling" congregations of SU, Gospel Faith, Foursquare, Redeemed, etc. All in all, the Ondo man wasn't impressed! Any pastor that could boast of having fifty dependable "solid" members, considered himself blessed! Not that there were no churches with zeal, but the fruit was long in coming! Only the very strong at heart could stay and pursue their vision without giving up! It was like there was a 'gang-up' in the demonic world, to prevent Ondo Kingdom from yielding to the glorious gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ - - beyond mere liturgical orthodoxy!
At the present site of the ACE Demonstration School in Ondo, was then (in 1985) a post-secondary institution - - the Federal School of Arts and Science. I came into contact with them through an open door by divine arrangement! Through a series of divinely arranged events, I virtually became their "resident" pastor. It was as though God was saying, If the adults wouldn't listen to you, go to the youths!
I taught those students the things of the Spirit. Those times and ministrations, they say, remain indellible and very precious to them - - times of refreshing. It was the beginning of a ministry that would turn many youths in Ondoland into God's kingdom.
God enabled us to do such a glorious work among those students, such that before long, people began to know about one Revd. Akinnola in town!
While the ministry at Federal School was still continuing, the infinitely gracious God granted additional open door to the Adeyemi College of Education through Dr. Akindehin - - a lecturer there.
A special seven-day seminar was organised during the 1986/87 session. Attendance was extremely impressive! I taught the people what I called 'DIVINE SECRETS.' Both lecturers and key officers of the college, as well as students, turned up in good number. It was a college affair.
I have special ministry to intellectuals, by God's grace. No wonder at that seminar, lecturers and principal officers of the college, sat down with students to take notes as the Lord's grace poured through my mouth! They were astonished. Many gave their lives to the Lord!
Jesus was being magnified in Adeyemi College. Unusual joy became apparent in the atmosphere. Everyone began to hunger for more of God. All fellowships on campus began to experience great joy and fulfillment the more I had opportunity to minister to them.
Even at this time, persecution arose - - from within the campus itself. Some sought to rubbish what I preached, but the work had been done! I ministered mostly in the office of a teacher (though an apostolic teacher, or, more correctly, a teaching apostle), teaching the revelation knowledge of God's word of power especially. "We've never heard it in this fashion," people would say.
Finally, God said to me, "why don't you have a people that you would teach these same truths, consistently, and watch them grow"!
So, HOLY GHOST CENTRE - - the church-ministry outfit on whose platform THE ONDO AWAKENING became actualised - - was born!!!
On the 24th of January, 1988, our first Sunday service was held.
Our first Sunday service attracted five people, four of them my own family!
In our services I taught the same truths I had taught and which had blessed many in my fourteen years of pulpit ministry prior to the establishment of HOLY GHOST CENTRE. It was a no-holds-barred situation! I held nothing back. Sunday after Sunday; service after service; I poured out my heart to the people in deep teaching of revelational truths of scripture, and especially those things that have to do with the workings of God's Spirit in a man's life; as well as foundational teachings concerning REDEMPTION; JUSTIFICATION; SANCTIFICATION; THE BLOOD OF THE ATONEMENT; THE HIGH PRIESTHOOD OF THE LORD JESUS CHRIST; and so on. The book of Hebrews in the New Testament, was especially dissected and digested into the people. Of special interest was the subject of Holy Ghost Baptism (which until that time was an "alien" subject/experience to the vast majority of the people). Little by little, people came to be blessed and to spread the news! The work was being done!
It would be difficult to really determine who and who were members of HOLY GHOST CENTRE! For, over the years, the entire Ondoland drank of the fountains of living water that flowed forth from the most High God, and through the altar of HOLY GHOST CENTRE. HOLY GHOST CENTRE was more than a church - - it was a phenomenon! A movement!
HOLY GHOST CENTRE, in those days, was the only church of its kind - - with all humility! With time, many things that were peculiar to us, became duplicated in and by many other churches all over the land - - a direct result of the pivotal role that HOLY GHOST CENTRE played, by God's grace, in the 'awakening' of Ondoland to the gospel.
At the New Year Eve service of 31st December, 1989 (through 1st January, 1990), a word of prophecy came, to the effect that in three short years from then the HOLY GHOST CENTRE would be a glory to all around, and also that people would be continually blessed by the life of God that would flow from me personally - - they would be sustained by that life! That prophecy was fulfilled to the letter exactly three years after!
In the history of revivals and awakenings, certain addresses often come up so conspicuously that you just cannot ignore them
11,Ife Road (Opposite St. Monica's), Ondo, is an address that is synonymous with THE ONDO AWAKENING!
It was definitely an address and a location designed by God Himself for the fulfillment of THE ONDO AWAKENING! From there, life flowed forth; power flowed forth; glory flowed forth; excellence flowed forth; authority and command, to the glory of God, flowed forth. Somebody, a publishing house executive, once told me, "Sir, the first time I ever attended a programme in HOLY GHOST CENTRE, there was this electrifying presence of God and that attracted me to the church." Another person, a minister of the gospel, said, "There's an overflowing abundance of God's life that spills on to the road and you can feel it; and don't be surprised someday somebody passing on the road would become baptised in the Holy Ghost and speak in tongues - - just by passing by!"
From 1990 through 1992, Ondoland became exposed to pentecostal ministry at its best! Soon people began to talk, all over the town, of HOLY GHOST CENTRE and of Revd. Akinnola.
The services on Sundays, as well as other days, were special. Power flowed like water. At a time I was teaching, every day, for not less than two years (an un-ending revival!) and people kept coming! At a time I was preaching twelve services per week - - a week of seven days! Friday Faith Clinic was special! From 5.30pm to 7.00pm I would teach the Faith Clinic. Exactly at 7.00pm, the students of the School of Ministry would be waiting for me - - and I would teach them till 8.30pm. Within thirty minutes, I would go home, have a quick dinner, try to take a nap (even if it was just five minutes) and be back in the church at 9.00pm for the night vigil! For the vigil, I would be standing on my feet for NINE hours (9.00pm to 6.00am on Saturday morning) directing the vigil; teaching and leading prayers! I don't know where I got the energy from! Don't ask me! Of course, it had to be God! Such is the case during awakenings and revivals! By Saturday evening I would be back in church for 'Prosperity Hour,' to be followed on Sunday by the Power Service that shook Ondoland to its foundations! In the midst of all of that, over the years, I was having personal night vigil EVERY NIGHT from 12 midnight to 3.00am - - just praying for Ondoland, not for myself! I later wrote a book on what I call 'THE STANDARD 3-HOUR PRAYER,' based on my experience in those daily personal vigils! It was during those hours, in the dead of the night, that I entered into spiritual warfare with the thrones and kingdoms and principalities that had held Ondoland in bondage for centuries! God gave me victory in those battles! and the people became free to hear and to respond positively to the gospel! Chiefs and High Chiefs, and the Kabiyesi, became followers of HOLY GHOST CENTRE's ministry, with a large space reserved for these nobility of Ondo Kingdom during our special programmes! HOLY GHOST CENTRE had the honour of being used to minister salvation, deliverance, blessing and Holy Ghost Baptism to the nobility of Ondo Kingdom! We made it! Ondo Kingdom experienced landslide salvation!
The deep truths that God helped us to pass across from the pulpit, were unparalleled, people said. Archbishop Benson Idahosa, who was generally considered as the one who had the best choir on the planet, said he had never seen a choir as fantastic as that of HOLY GHOST CENTRE!
The various functional groups in HOLY GHOST CENTRE became models to other churches! Everything was orchestrated by the Lord.
Many youths from all over the town flocked into HOLY GHOST CENTRE to find salvation, peace, love and joy in genuine fellowship with the Lord and with one another! It was a new day in Ondoland!
HOLY GHOST CENTRE became a place of succour for many! People found their way into the Centre even if it was just to sit down and savour the anointing in the atmosphere!
Love grew, the knowledge of God expanded, evangelism became easy as people simply went to tell their friends, colleagues and family members the good things God was doing to bring peace, love, joy, deliverance and forgiveness into the lives of people - - all in and through faith in Him as taught at HOLY GHOST CENTRE. We became, by the grace of God, His mouthpiece to a people once in utter darkness! Ondoland was being saved!
The cumulative effect of the glorious happenings of 1990 - 1992 literally exploded on us as Ondoland - - lords and peasants alike - - gathered for the POWER CONFERENCE in January of 1993. The whole city was moved for God! We had to put protocol workers on the road to control the huge overflowing crowd and traffic! (something that was completely unheard of, up till that time, anywhere in Nigeria!) It was a new day in Ondoland!
Ondoland heard the word of salvation, the word of deliverance, the word of victory, as pentecostal power flowed forth through our guest speaker, Francis Wale Oke, whom I had asked to speak in that meeting - - and in all of its glory, in all of its beauty! The heavens seemed to have opened up all of its eternal bowels, as he exploded with divine abandon! The people were saved, they were healed, they were blessed! Oh! what a time! Ondoland finally came to know the Lord and they, in their heart, embraced Him!
The land that was called spiritually barren, bore precious fruit! What an absolute move of God through human beings! The revelation of God and of His Christ grew among the people.! The social order of Ondo was transformed! It became common-place, on the streets, young and old alike, to shout "Praise the Lord," "Amen," "Halleluyah" (the Ondo man never did such things prior to that time!) An everlasting memorial to the goodness of God to a people! In dimension and proportions, THE ONDO AWAKENING could be likened to the revival in Wales (under Evan Roberts in 1904 - 1906); or, in fact, to the Azusa Street Revival in 1906 - 1908 under William Seymour!
As a result of THE ONDO AWAKENING, the people of Ondo came to know and to talk openly with conviction, about faith, about the anointing, about speaking in tongues, about the blood of Jesus! These things may be taken for granted today, but, back then in Ondoland, they were a new phenomenon that changed the language and the lifestyle of the people! From the Kabiyesi to the beggar on the street, the AWAKENING seeped through the land! An absolute move of God through human beings!
The AWAKENING affected families and their attitude to prayer, to celebrations, birthdays, traditional marriages, schools and workplaces vis-a-vis prayers! What an awakening! Although HOLY GHOST CENTRE was the instrument of the awakening, it was not a HOLY GHOST CENTRE church affair! So, it wasn't a matter of our church now running seven services per Sunday! NO! Far from it. It was an awakening of Ondo Kingdom! HOLY GHOST CENTRE was just the instrument. Churches started picking up here and there, and finding the faith and the strength to do what God had called them to do! HOLY GHOST CENTRE had broken the jinx, so churches could now prosper in Ondoland! It was a dawning of the awareness of God and of His salvation through Christ, on an entire community!
HOLY GHOST CENTRE became a reference point! Churches wanted to decorate their premises the way HOLY GHOST CENTRE did! Pastors of other churches gained renewed zeal and courage. Youths all over Ondoland sought more of reality through the God that HOLY GHOST CENTRE preached! Ministries were being born as individual people began to discover their destinies in God. Young people and older ones alike, learnt to live unto the Lord! Courtship among singles became something they would enter into knowing that they must have sought the Lord! They came to understand that their lives were not their own any more, and that they needed to be sure of doing His will!
People began to be articulate in the art of praying to get results, as several prayer-oriented programmes exposed them to the art of effectual intercession.
Worship became fulfilling, throughout Ondoland! Unprecedented quality of charismatic worship spread through the length and breadth of the land as people sought to do it the HOLY GHOST CENTRE way! We had been used to affect an entire community for God! What a testimony to what God can do through any available vessel!
HOLY GHOST CENTRE, literally, became God's address in Ondo Kingdom! even as many (from other churches and even the previously "un-churched") came to seek divine blessing, counsel and "approval"! We thank God!
Like every true work of God, the exploits of HOLY GHOST CENTRE attracted satanic opposition! The devil's bowels of wickedness and deep hatred, were unleashed! All hell, practically, broke loose! Everything started happening that seemed to undo all that had been achieved, thitherto. But that's always the case in an awakening or revival.
In a daze of seemingly un-explainable circumstances, and in a hellish blitz of direct satanic orchestration, people began to leave the church - - for their various reasons, real or imagined! (Some, astonishingly, even insinuated that I was using 'black magic'!)
However, what the devil meant for evil, God turned into good. Those who left us, generally joined other churches, and where they began to duplicate what the Lord had previously deposited in their lives through HOLY GHOST CENTRE! Thus, what seemed like a private loss to HOLY GHOST CENTRE, became a GAIN for THE ONDO AWAKENING! Today, all over Ondoland, and in various churches, I've got my spiritual children doing what I taught them to do!
From 1995 - 2000, the gains and effects of THE ONDO AWAKENING became very evident all over Ondo Kingdom of South-Western Nigeria! The Lordship of Jesus Christ became boldly inscribed on the human landscape.
In the period 1985 to 1999, and especially the HOLY GHOST CENTRE 'surge' of 1988 - 1998, Ondoland became aware of the LORDSHIP of Jesus. The people began to worship Him as Lord, and not just a historical Jesus read of in Bible lessons! Churches that had barely survived, received great courage. They came to understand that through faith and commitment the land could be won for the Lord. The land had become "initiated" for the Lord and for His true gospel! People who left HOLY GHOST CENTRE, and for whatever reason(s), became mighty instruments in God's hands, in the places they went to. (For the records, the Redeemed Christian Church of God - - RCCG - - in Ondo Kingdom, was a mighty beneficiary of the 'awakening' of Ondoland through HOLY GHOST CENTRE, and with many erstwhile "ordinary" members of HOLY GHOST CENTRE becoming, automatically, great leaders and pastors in RCCG immediately they got there!)
The church in Ondoland gained much knowledge of faith and of God's power, through my teachings! Ondoland came to have understanding of "the anointing," and of what it can do! People became freer from bondage, ignorance and oppression, than they had ever previously been in their lives!
Many ministers as well as christian organisations came to the point of drawing inspiration, as well as spiritual sustenance from my humble self and from HOLY GHOST CENTRE!
By the grace of God, today, many people across Ondoland believe that this writer is the "father" of pentecostalism in Ondo Kingdom of South-Western Nigeria! Ondoland, yes, Ondo Kingdom, can never be the same again!
I have written all of the above to let you know what constitutes an "awakening" or a "revival," when you are talking of "moves" of God!
My unique singular contribution to human existence, over these 60+ years of my life, has been the entrenchment of pentecostal faith in the Ondo Kingdom of South-Western Nigeria.
Prior to this monumental 'achievement' (by God's grace), I had read the history of a number of 'awakenings' and 'revivals' that had happened in various parts of the world in the past. I had also been priviledged to have witnessed revivals and awakenings during my life as a believer, but never had I had, by the grace of God, to be so pivotally used in the outpouring of the Spirit of God upon a community or a people, as it turned out to be in what I have since referred to as "THE ONDO AWAKENING"!
" THE ONDO AWAKENING" is the history of God's mercy poured out abundantly upon a people that I consider the most elegant in the world! A people so passionate about whatever they believe in as constituting right behaviour; a people so obsessed with elegance and style, so much that earlier attempts to penetrate them with the glorious gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ - - pentecostal style - - had met with sophisticated rebuff, as the Ondo man would not have anything to do with "'Amen' church," as "born-again" churches were called by them.
For the avoidance of doubt, the first missionary came to Ondoland about 1875, more than a century ago. The Ondo man accepted "orthodox" christianity (so-called) - - but, over the decades, 'dead' orthodoxy had settled in and the system was hardly producing people that understood and practiced the faith in a way that evangelicals/pentecostals consider as "vibrant." In fact, back then, while I was growing up, I knew my father, who was a layreader/preacher in the Anglican Church, as the only "pentecostal" style preacher.! No.! my father didn't speak in tongues! But, in terms of charismatic, powerful teaching of Bible precepts, he was the only preacher I knew who would hold the attention of our church audience "spell-bound" anytime he was on the pulpit.! Others (bless their hearts) could hardly keep half of the church from either sleeping, discussing with their friends, or reading the Sunday newspaper - - while the sermon was going on!
Before 1985 - - the beginning of "THE ONDO AWAKENING," there was nothing, absolutely nothing, to excite anyone, spiritually speaking, about Ondoland. Pockets of born-again believers existed - - in a few churches and fellowships - - but, like I said, they were only pockets indeed and were generally considered as religious deviants.! Of course, it was almost a miracle anytime an indigenous Ondo man could be found in a born-again church.! It was considered a 'disgrace' to what may be referred to as "Ondoism" for such a one to have condescended so low as to now rub shoulders with some hand-clapping religious "bigots"!
However, as at the end of the year 1999 (16 years ago), an awakening of Ondo Kingdom to the true gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, had taken place, and majorly (by the grace of God) through the instrumentality of this writer.
I actually began, by God's grace, my pulpit ministry, while still at the University of Benin, in 1974 and at age 20! Being in ministry, I have, to date, passed through several stages - - stages of growth, stages of development, stages of what I call "maturation of spirit" both as a believer, as well as a minister.
Even back then on campus, I was priviledged to minister from the same pulpit, and to the same congregation, alongside all-time "greats" as the late Archbishop Benson Idahosa, Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor (current CAN Chairman), the late Apostle Geoffrey Numbere, Revd. Uma Ukpai, Revd. S. G. Elton (the father of pentecostalism in Nigeria and a colleague of the renowned Apostle Ayo Babalola), and so on! Only about two other student ministers on my campus had that priviledge!
On the 1st of April, 1990, I told the Archbishop B. A. Idahosa, "It's time for me to minister to the needs of my people in Ondo Kingdom, and I don't have the power;" and upon which he laid his anointed hands on my head, on the oval altar of the "Faith Arena," his headquarters, and prayed for me! From that very day, I entered a higher order of ministration - - ministering with very explosive power than I had ever done before, and with great boldness and positive, powerful results! 'THE ONDO AWAKENING' had a major root in the Archbishop's impartation to me that day!
I will never forget the Archbishop B. A. Idahosa. He loved me intensely. He said, during one of the annual conferences hosted by him in Benin City, and to an international audience of not less than twenty-thousand delegates, while appreciating God's grace upon my life; he said to them, "For thirty-two years I tried to evangelise Ondo Kingdom, but never succeeded; but when God raised Akinnola (this writer), he succeeded!"
I had come to Ondoland in 1985 (from Akure where I had been born and raised, although we are Ondos by ancestry), and, prior to that year, like I've previously said, there was absolutely nothing to excite anyone, spiritually speaking, about Ondoland.
An "awakening" is a move of God's Spirit, to arouse a people to faith in a truth previously unknown to them. A revival (not a 'revival' church programme, please!), on the other hand, is a move of God's Spirit to "renew" the faith of a people in a truth they had once known but lost! The Spirit of God is the architect of awakenings and revivals! It can never be brought into manifestation by man, but requires man to be a co-labourer with God in the execution of it!
The history of mankind - - from Adam and even till the second coming of CHRIST which we are expecting - - has always been and will always be that of 'moves of God'! That's always the case, for God is always on the move! God initiating a plan for His people, bringing awakenings (realisations) to that plan, and also from time to time' reviving' - - through the workings of His Spirit - - those things and experiences that the people may have lost.! That is His Love, His kindness towards man whom He has made! He does not, ever, want man to be lost on his creation purpose!
Adam in the Garden of Eden, was an awakening to life - - life with God and in God. When he lost that life through sin, God indicated that there would be a revival of that life. It was the beginning of awakenings and revivals!
Noah and his family after the Flood, was a new awakening and also a revival.! Abraham's call out of his native land of Ur of the Chaldees, was an 'awakening,' for the purpose of reviving what was lost in the Garden of Eden! The history of Abraham himself, between the time he was first called, to the birth of Isaac and beyond, is one of personal 'awakenings' and 'revivals'!
When God visited His people Israel in the land of Egypt, through the instrumentality of Moses, to bring them out of their bondage into His promised land, it was an' awakening' of Israel to the One who says "I AM that I AM." Their fathers had not known him by that name (JEHOVAH), but now He was bringing an awakening of them to Himself as the "I AM."
The history of Israel after they had entered into the promised land is one of awakenings and revivals, through the instrumentality of the judges and prophets! From time to time, Israel would be awakened to the true worship of God and revived in their commitment to Him!
John the Baptist was an instrument of an awakening to the imminent coming of the Messiah!
The three- and-a-half-year ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ on earth, was an 'awakening' of Israel to the Son of God, their Messiah (and to faith in Him!) That's why, when they failed to so recognise Him, Jesus wept over Jerusalem and said, "If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes..... because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation." The time of an 'awakening' is a time of 'visitation' from the Lord!
On the day of Pentecost, a new move of God, yet again, began.
After the first one hundred years of the church age, and by the time the last of the twelve apostles of the Lamb had died, the church compromised and went into apostasy, as a result of which she lost virtually all - - if not all - - of the revelations (truths) and experiences she had had.! For the next one thousand and five hundred years - - which have since been known as the Dark Ages - - there was very little 'light' (revelation), if any, in the 'church.'
God thereafter raised up a man by the name Martin Luther, through whom He brought an awakening to the truth of "justification by faith." It was called the Reformation. Since then, church history has been one of awakenings and revivals, to restore everything the church of Jesus Christ had lost, from time to time, and also to bring to the people those things that are yet in God's plan for the perfecting of His Church! The church of Jesus Christ, through the centuries, has gone through a lot of 'shapings' and 're-shapings' - - in 'awakenings' and 'revivals' - - all in a bid to ensure that the Lord Himself "might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish."
The "ONDO AWAKENING" (in which I have been personally involved), for instance, and which happened majorly between the years 1985 to 1999 (and as far as pentecostal faith is concerned) is thus another of God's own "doings" in the 'maturation' of His Church in preparation for the Coming of the BrideGroom - - Jesus Christ the Lord!
Immediately after the civil war of 1967 - 1970, there was in Nigeria an 'awakening,' or, you may say, 'revival' of mass evangelism. Many of those occupying leadership positions in the work of 'christian' ministry today in the country, are products of that move of God. I am one of them. It was a move that swept across especially the southern part of the country and, incidentally (I believe it was for a divine purpose), many of the evangelists raised up by God at that time to champion that move, were Igbos who had just emerged from the trauma of a civil war and were still carrying the scars of it on their psyche!
The late 1970's and early 1980's witnessed a move of God that swept through universities and other higher institutions in Nigeria, resulting not only in mass conversion of university students (many of whom were to, later in the late 80's and through the 90's, play key roles in the so-called 'new generation churches'), but also carrying with it an awakening to spiritual manifestations - - that is, the charismatic or pentecostal awakening cum revival - - to the point that, at a time in the 1980's, it was said that Nigeria had the largest and strongest christian students' body in the whole world!
There were people (preachers) who were instruments in God's hand in leading those moves of God!
The middle/late 1980's saw the Faith Movement sweeping across Nigeria. It was an 'awakening' to faith in the written Word of God! That was when we came to realise that what God says in His word, He means every bit of it! Knowledge of 'redemption rights,' 'new creation realities,' healing, and, later, 'prosperity' - - through faith in God's Word - - spread across the country! It was like a wild fire!
The 'Ondo Awakening,' and which by the very special grace of God was "spearheaded" by the Holy Spirit working through my humble self, and also through my ministry-outfit, HOLY GHOST CENTRE, was itself an offshoot of the faith/charismatic movement that was sweeping across Nigeria at the time!
The first group of born-again believers I personally came into contact with in Ondo Town was a Gospel Faith Mission church. That was in 1977. They met in an uncompleted building. That was what obtained, generally speaking, in Ondo at the time - - pockets of very few "born-again" believers meeting in somewhat obscure places, and with the rest of the town generally oblivious of them!
The Ondo person is a very careful person, ever conscious of his personal elegant-outlook, sophistication and dignity. Back then, he (the Ondo man) wouldn't have anything to do with what he considered as a bunch of inconsequential religious deviants whom he considered as the down-and-out (dreg) of the society, and who (in his opinion) were trying to find succour in some unreal, fanatical "sect" of christianity. In any case, they were mostly non-natives, so why should he bother about their noise making? except to harass them for being a nuisance to the neighborhood.
The Ondo man, even back then, believed in God. In fact he was very religious! But why bother about an unimpressive people, 'tattered and dirty' in the name of serving God, when his father had already got him baptised into a respectable anglican church?
I arrived Ondo Town, on apostolic mission, on the 2nd of August, 1985. I arrived 'unsung and unknown,' having deliberately chosen to "leave behind" my aristocratic 'toga'! (I was born and raised an aristocrat). I was not on anybody's payroll anywhere in the world, neither did I have anything that could constitute a financial security! I never asked my father (who, while I was still in primary school, had been opening bank accounts in my name, as well as buying company shares for me); I never asked him for anything! [that was stupid of me, though!] And I had a wife and two children! It was BLIND FAITH!
When I arrived in August of 1985, I found that there was still 'no form nor comeliness' regarding the church of Jesus Christ in Ondoland. It was still, essentially, a very barren place, spiritually speaking, and with many of the available "born-again" pastors full of complaints as to how difficult it was to evangelise the town, pentecostal style! One of the preachers actually said that preaching the gospel in Ondo (back then) was like sowing seed on concrete!
There were still "pockets" of believers, mostly non-natives! The Ondo man just couldn't relate to the "born-again" thing!
There were "struggling" congregations of SU, Gospel Faith, Foursquare, Redeemed, etc. All in all, the Ondo man wasn't impressed! Any pastor that could boast of having fifty dependable "solid" members, considered himself blessed! Not that there were no churches with zeal, but the fruit was long in coming! Only the very strong at heart could stay and pursue their vision without giving up! It was like there was a 'gang-up' in the demonic world, to prevent Ondo Kingdom from yielding to the glorious gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ - - beyond mere liturgical orthodoxy!
At the present site of the ACE Demonstration School in Ondo, was then (in 1985) a post-secondary institution - - the Federal School of Arts and Science. I came into contact with them through an open door by divine arrangement! Through a series of divinely arranged events, I virtually became their "resident" pastor. It was as though God was saying, If the adults wouldn't listen to you, go to the youths!
I taught those students the things of the Spirit. Those times and ministrations, they say, remain indellible and very precious to them - - times of refreshing. It was the beginning of a ministry that would turn many youths in Ondoland into God's kingdom.
God enabled us to do such a glorious work among those students, such that before long, people began to know about one Revd. Akinnola in town!
While the ministry at Federal School was still continuing, the infinitely gracious God granted additional open door to the Adeyemi College of Education through Dr. Akindehin - - a lecturer there.
A special seven-day seminar was organised during the 1986/87 session. Attendance was extremely impressive! I taught the people what I called 'DIVINE SECRETS.' Both lecturers and key officers of the college, as well as students, turned up in good number. It was a college affair.
I have special ministry to intellectuals, by God's grace. No wonder at that seminar, lecturers and principal officers of the college, sat down with students to take notes as the Lord's grace poured through my mouth! They were astonished. Many gave their lives to the Lord!
Jesus was being magnified in Adeyemi College. Unusual joy became apparent in the atmosphere. Everyone began to hunger for more of God. All fellowships on campus began to experience great joy and fulfillment the more I had opportunity to minister to them.
Even at this time, persecution arose - - from within the campus itself. Some sought to rubbish what I preached, but the work had been done! I ministered mostly in the office of a teacher (though an apostolic teacher, or, more correctly, a teaching apostle), teaching the revelation knowledge of God's word of power especially. "We've never heard it in this fashion," people would say.
Finally, God said to me, "why don't you have a people that you would teach these same truths, consistently, and watch them grow"!
So, HOLY GHOST CENTRE - - the church-ministry outfit on whose platform THE ONDO AWAKENING became actualised - - was born!!!
On the 24th of January, 1988, our first Sunday service was held.
Our first Sunday service attracted five people, four of them my own family!
In our services I taught the same truths I had taught and which had blessed many in my fourteen years of pulpit ministry prior to the establishment of HOLY GHOST CENTRE. It was a no-holds-barred situation! I held nothing back. Sunday after Sunday; service after service; I poured out my heart to the people in deep teaching of revelational truths of scripture, and especially those things that have to do with the workings of God's Spirit in a man's life; as well as foundational teachings concerning REDEMPTION; JUSTIFICATION; SANCTIFICATION; THE BLOOD OF THE ATONEMENT; THE HIGH PRIESTHOOD OF THE LORD JESUS CHRIST; and so on. The book of Hebrews in the New Testament, was especially dissected and digested into the people. Of special interest was the subject of Holy Ghost Baptism (which until that time was an "alien" subject/experience to the vast majority of the people). Little by little, people came to be blessed and to spread the news! The work was being done!
It would be difficult to really determine who and who were members of HOLY GHOST CENTRE! For, over the years, the entire Ondoland drank of the fountains of living water that flowed forth from the most High God, and through the altar of HOLY GHOST CENTRE. HOLY GHOST CENTRE was more than a church - - it was a phenomenon! A movement!
HOLY GHOST CENTRE, in those days, was the only church of its kind - - with all humility! With time, many things that were peculiar to us, became duplicated in and by many other churches all over the land - - a direct result of the pivotal role that HOLY GHOST CENTRE played, by God's grace, in the 'awakening' of Ondoland to the gospel.
At the New Year Eve service of 31st December, 1989 (through 1st January, 1990), a word of prophecy came, to the effect that in three short years from then the HOLY GHOST CENTRE would be a glory to all around, and also that people would be continually blessed by the life of God that would flow from me personally - - they would be sustained by that life! That prophecy was fulfilled to the letter exactly three years after!
In the history of revivals and awakenings, certain addresses often come up so conspicuously that you just cannot ignore them
11,Ife Road (Opposite St. Monica's), Ondo, is an address that is synonymous with THE ONDO AWAKENING!
It was definitely an address and a location designed by God Himself for the fulfillment of THE ONDO AWAKENING! From there, life flowed forth; power flowed forth; glory flowed forth; excellence flowed forth; authority and command, to the glory of God, flowed forth. Somebody, a publishing house executive, once told me, "Sir, the first time I ever attended a programme in HOLY GHOST CENTRE, there was this electrifying presence of God and that attracted me to the church." Another person, a minister of the gospel, said, "There's an overflowing abundance of God's life that spills on to the road and you can feel it; and don't be surprised someday somebody passing on the road would become baptised in the Holy Ghost and speak in tongues - - just by passing by!"
From 1990 through 1992, Ondoland became exposed to pentecostal ministry at its best! Soon people began to talk, all over the town, of HOLY GHOST CENTRE and of Revd. Akinnola.
The services on Sundays, as well as other days, were special. Power flowed like water. At a time I was teaching, every day, for not less than two years (an un-ending revival!) and people kept coming! At a time I was preaching twelve services per week - - a week of seven days! Friday Faith Clinic was special! From 5.30pm to 7.00pm I would teach the Faith Clinic. Exactly at 7.00pm, the students of the School of Ministry would be waiting for me - - and I would teach them till 8.30pm. Within thirty minutes, I would go home, have a quick dinner, try to take a nap (even if it was just five minutes) and be back in the church at 9.00pm for the night vigil! For the vigil, I would be standing on my feet for NINE hours (9.00pm to 6.00am on Saturday morning) directing the vigil; teaching and leading prayers! I don't know where I got the energy from! Don't ask me! Of course, it had to be God! Such is the case during awakenings and revivals! By Saturday evening I would be back in church for 'Prosperity Hour,' to be followed on Sunday by the Power Service that shook Ondoland to its foundations! In the midst of all of that, over the years, I was having personal night vigil EVERY NIGHT from 12 midnight to 3.00am - - just praying for Ondoland, not for myself! I later wrote a book on what I call 'THE STANDARD 3-HOUR PRAYER,' based on my experience in those daily personal vigils! It was during those hours, in the dead of the night, that I entered into spiritual warfare with the thrones and kingdoms and principalities that had held Ondoland in bondage for centuries! God gave me victory in those battles! and the people became free to hear and to respond positively to the gospel! Chiefs and High Chiefs, and the Kabiyesi, became followers of HOLY GHOST CENTRE's ministry, with a large space reserved for these nobility of Ondo Kingdom during our special programmes! HOLY GHOST CENTRE had the honour of being used to minister salvation, deliverance, blessing and Holy Ghost Baptism to the nobility of Ondo Kingdom! We made it! Ondo Kingdom experienced landslide salvation!
The deep truths that God helped us to pass across from the pulpit, were unparalleled, people said. Archbishop Benson Idahosa, who was generally considered as the one who had the best choir on the planet, said he had never seen a choir as fantastic as that of HOLY GHOST CENTRE!
The various functional groups in HOLY GHOST CENTRE became models to other churches! Everything was orchestrated by the Lord.
Many youths from all over the town flocked into HOLY GHOST CENTRE to find salvation, peace, love and joy in genuine fellowship with the Lord and with one another! It was a new day in Ondoland!
HOLY GHOST CENTRE became a place of succour for many! People found their way into the Centre even if it was just to sit down and savour the anointing in the atmosphere!
Love grew, the knowledge of God expanded, evangelism became easy as people simply went to tell their friends, colleagues and family members the good things God was doing to bring peace, love, joy, deliverance and forgiveness into the lives of people - - all in and through faith in Him as taught at HOLY GHOST CENTRE. We became, by the grace of God, His mouthpiece to a people once in utter darkness! Ondoland was being saved!
The cumulative effect of the glorious happenings of 1990 - 1992 literally exploded on us as Ondoland - - lords and peasants alike - - gathered for the POWER CONFERENCE in January of 1993. The whole city was moved for God! We had to put protocol workers on the road to control the huge overflowing crowd and traffic! (something that was completely unheard of, up till that time, anywhere in Nigeria!) It was a new day in Ondoland!
Ondoland heard the word of salvation, the word of deliverance, the word of victory, as pentecostal power flowed forth through our guest speaker, Francis Wale Oke, whom I had asked to speak in that meeting - - and in all of its glory, in all of its beauty! The heavens seemed to have opened up all of its eternal bowels, as he exploded with divine abandon! The people were saved, they were healed, they were blessed! Oh! what a time! Ondoland finally came to know the Lord and they, in their heart, embraced Him!
The land that was called spiritually barren, bore precious fruit! What an absolute move of God through human beings! The revelation of God and of His Christ grew among the people.! The social order of Ondo was transformed! It became common-place, on the streets, young and old alike, to shout "Praise the Lord," "Amen," "Halleluyah" (the Ondo man never did such things prior to that time!) An everlasting memorial to the goodness of God to a people! In dimension and proportions, THE ONDO AWAKENING could be likened to the revival in Wales (under Evan Roberts in 1904 - 1906); or, in fact, to the Azusa Street Revival in 1906 - 1908 under William Seymour!
As a result of THE ONDO AWAKENING, the people of Ondo came to know and to talk openly with conviction, about faith, about the anointing, about speaking in tongues, about the blood of Jesus! These things may be taken for granted today, but, back then in Ondoland, they were a new phenomenon that changed the language and the lifestyle of the people! From the Kabiyesi to the beggar on the street, the AWAKENING seeped through the land! An absolute move of God through human beings!
The AWAKENING affected families and their attitude to prayer, to celebrations, birthdays, traditional marriages, schools and workplaces vis-a-vis prayers! What an awakening! Although HOLY GHOST CENTRE was the instrument of the awakening, it was not a HOLY GHOST CENTRE church affair! So, it wasn't a matter of our church now running seven services per Sunday! NO! Far from it. It was an awakening of Ondo Kingdom! HOLY GHOST CENTRE was just the instrument. Churches started picking up here and there, and finding the faith and the strength to do what God had called them to do! HOLY GHOST CENTRE had broken the jinx, so churches could now prosper in Ondoland! It was a dawning of the awareness of God and of His salvation through Christ, on an entire community!
HOLY GHOST CENTRE became a reference point! Churches wanted to decorate their premises the way HOLY GHOST CENTRE did! Pastors of other churches gained renewed zeal and courage. Youths all over Ondoland sought more of reality through the God that HOLY GHOST CENTRE preached! Ministries were being born as individual people began to discover their destinies in God. Young people and older ones alike, learnt to live unto the Lord! Courtship among singles became something they would enter into knowing that they must have sought the Lord! They came to understand that their lives were not their own any more, and that they needed to be sure of doing His will!
People began to be articulate in the art of praying to get results, as several prayer-oriented programmes exposed them to the art of effectual intercession.
Worship became fulfilling, throughout Ondoland! Unprecedented quality of charismatic worship spread through the length and breadth of the land as people sought to do it the HOLY GHOST CENTRE way! We had been used to affect an entire community for God! What a testimony to what God can do through any available vessel!
HOLY GHOST CENTRE, literally, became God's address in Ondo Kingdom! even as many (from other churches and even the previously "un-churched") came to seek divine blessing, counsel and "approval"! We thank God!
Like every true work of God, the exploits of HOLY GHOST CENTRE attracted satanic opposition! The devil's bowels of wickedness and deep hatred, were unleashed! All hell, practically, broke loose! Everything started happening that seemed to undo all that had been achieved, thitherto. But that's always the case in an awakening or revival.
In a daze of seemingly un-explainable circumstances, and in a hellish blitz of direct satanic orchestration, people began to leave the church - - for their various reasons, real or imagined! (Some, astonishingly, even insinuated that I was using 'black magic'!)
However, what the devil meant for evil, God turned into good. Those who left us, generally joined other churches, and where they began to duplicate what the Lord had previously deposited in their lives through HOLY GHOST CENTRE! Thus, what seemed like a private loss to HOLY GHOST CENTRE, became a GAIN for THE ONDO AWAKENING! Today, all over Ondoland, and in various churches, I've got my spiritual children doing what I taught them to do!
From 1995 - 2000, the gains and effects of THE ONDO AWAKENING became very evident all over Ondo Kingdom of South-Western Nigeria! The Lordship of Jesus Christ became boldly inscribed on the human landscape.
In the period 1985 to 1999, and especially the HOLY GHOST CENTRE 'surge' of 1988 - 1998, Ondoland became aware of the LORDSHIP of Jesus. The people began to worship Him as Lord, and not just a historical Jesus read of in Bible lessons! Churches that had barely survived, received great courage. They came to understand that through faith and commitment the land could be won for the Lord. The land had become "initiated" for the Lord and for His true gospel! People who left HOLY GHOST CENTRE, and for whatever reason(s), became mighty instruments in God's hands, in the places they went to. (For the records, the Redeemed Christian Church of God - - RCCG - - in Ondo Kingdom, was a mighty beneficiary of the 'awakening' of Ondoland through HOLY GHOST CENTRE, and with many erstwhile "ordinary" members of HOLY GHOST CENTRE becoming, automatically, great leaders and pastors in RCCG immediately they got there!)
The church in Ondoland gained much knowledge of faith and of God's power, through my teachings! Ondoland came to have understanding of "the anointing," and of what it can do! People became freer from bondage, ignorance and oppression, than they had ever previously been in their lives!
Many ministers as well as christian organisations came to the point of drawing inspiration, as well as spiritual sustenance from my humble self and from HOLY GHOST CENTRE!
By the grace of God, today, many people across Ondoland believe that this writer is the "father" of pentecostalism in Ondo Kingdom of South-Western Nigeria! Ondoland, yes, Ondo Kingdom, can never be the same again!
I have written all of the above to let you know what constitutes an "awakening" or a "revival," when you are talking of "moves" of God!
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