On Saturday March 11, 2023, Apostle Ezekiel Aremu Abatan, the founder and the president of Virgin Prayer Fellowship turned 80. A special celebration has been organised by the family and Virgin Prayer Fellowship. As part of the celebration PTL News seeks an interview with the celebrant who spoke eloquently about his life at 80, and how the grace and mercy of God has worked for him till date.
The Story of My Life @ 80
It is by the grace of God. If we begin to tell the story we will have something to say. It is by the mercy of God. In the journey of 80years one gets to a junction of his life to think of what he has become and what he has not been.
It is full of ups and downs. I can say that my life battle started from birth. I was told as a child I was not expected to come to this life as a boy. That was how my battle of life started, that I was born alive as a boy. Even as a boy it was said that I should not be handled anyhow. I was said to be a special person. That also attracted enmity. For that they gave me soda to drink which made me die. I was about to be buried when I came back to life. That was why I was being called Janto Oloogun, that I came with charms from heaven and that was why I could not be killed as somebody attempted to kill me but I refused to die.
My father died on 1957 when I was in Primary y 5. I came to Lagos in August 1960 before Nigeria’s Independence. I lived at Ojo Street at Alakija to learn carpentry. It was when I was training that I became a Christian. Our kind of faith then was called the church of wailers, we were trained to be holy, and whoever saw another person’s money would not steal it but return it to its owner.
I got married on May 29, 1971. I remember then that I did not have carpet when I got married, my bed had no foam, but I thank God that today we can sleep on a mattress of 8X8. I thank God for all He has done in my life till today.
I used to tell people of Dr. Victor Olaiya’s popular album where he sang Ilu le ko sowo lode, everybody used to complain of insufficient cash, and till today we still cry for money. That is why we need to be prayerful and believe in prayers, and God will do things at His own time.
Journey of faith
I was not born a Christian. We used to worship idols in our family. We worshipped Orisa Erinle in my family when I was young. I can still remember that my head was shaved for the orisa like that of a sango priest. But it has pleased God to find me out for His service.
Ministry
I received Christ in Victory Gospel Church 14, Mumuni Street Ojuwoye, Church of Baba Olatunji from Modakeke. We were moving forward from there I became a General Evangelist preaching all over in 1976. I was the only full time minister there. I later left the place with Pastor (later Archbishop Michael Fadeyi, now late). We left in May 1976 when we left to found Christian Faith Assembly. My friend was working while I was on full time. It was from there that I began to follow Apostle T. A. Iyanda.
I was his first missionary to be sent to Kenya in September 1977. I later joined some other Churches preaching. Later my friend and I parted ways with Pastor Fatolu, Fatunbi, Oridota In Dec 24, 1990. I left the Church for them for Mende Maryland. Those days I would not take money for my programmes and God kept on supplying.
Dec 24 1990 I started my own ministry and church. I started another journey that took me to where I am now with several challenges including health and other things. I thank God for still being alive.
About Virgin Prayer Fellowship.
It is part of the journey. When I was doing revival all over, at one of the revivals at Oke Ira God gave me a vision of ministers of God praying and while we were praying I saw one mighty hand on the wall. That was why I started Virgin Prayer Fellowship at Ijaye Ogba. That was over 34 years ago.
We saw that hand with a nail like an artwork, I told them to look at it and I told them Jesus was in the meeting. That was how we started the meeting in my sitting room. We were very few then until we began to increase. It is a disciplined ministers’ fellowship, without discipline you cannot belong. As a person I don’t crack jokes, I am very strict, but there is a way God moulds you. When the sitting room could not contain us we moved to a larger sitting room from there we moved to Ejigbo Road to the extent of getting a land at Ayetoro. This is the 3rd place. Ayetoro is the 4th. There we used to hold a prayer here with the trustees from7am to 7pm, we used to break with garri, with the likes of Archbishop Afilaka, Apostles S.D. Olagunju Ibiloye, Oyekunbi. It is part of the journey and Virgin Prayer Fellowship still continues till today despite challenges.
We used to go to mountain praying all over. From there we established Bible College. One day at Akinkemi Mountain in Ibadan there was an inspiration that I will establish a mountain of mercy for where we hold programmes like, “Turning my weeping to Laughter, Reproach to Glory, Turn My Reproach to Celebration, and Don’t Count Sin Against Me. That is along Ilaro Road. We call it Ori Oke Aanu at Ori Oke Iganu. We also established Bible College in 1999, and we hold graduation in April.
The Celebration
We are combining Virgin anniversary and my birthday. We will begin our programme on Tuesday with Special Prayer Service for Virgin Prayer Fellowship in the morning between 9.00am and 1.00pm, during our usual weekly meeting, and later revival on Tuesday to Friday, and the birthday celebration holds on Saturday, April 1.
Today’s Church
You see gospel has been mixed all over. Many of those you see with churches are not soul winners and evangelists. Salvation is different from healing. When we received faith there was no teaching on deliverance or prosperity, though there was salvation. Our main text when we believed was in Matthew 6.33, “Seek ye first the kingdom of God and its righteousness and all these things shall be added to you.” Then if anybody left a church for another, you will be questioned. Then when we listened to message or music of the gospel people would be crying.
Then you see church members doing God’s works happily, when there was anything to be done in the church you see everybody participating with their substance and their labour of love. If it were building projects you would see bricklayers, carpenters and people offering services free or at reduced wages, but today nobody wants to work free for God again. Even those that sing nowadays collect money. Everything has been turned to professions and they want their rewards quickly.
People pursue too much money these days, and the love of money is the root of all evils as the bible says. People now do the work of God to take care of themselves as explained in 2Corinthians 2.17. The gospel now has been hugely commercialised, and the ministers need to take care of themselves. There is time for everybody. They are running rat race. Our glory is not about establishing a Church but what God needs are candidates of heaven. Today, the church is all about money. These days if some ministers have not spoken about money they have not preached.
There was a time Evangelist Segun Ilesanmi came to preach for revival in our church then, we collected a sum of money, and we gave him a small amount of money about one pound then, I went to take it to his house. That was for about one week revival. That was how we became close, and I have known him now before I got married. He is now 88 years and he still preaches. Today ministers cannot be trusted with money. Give somebody money to keep for you, he will tell you he has spent it. Many churches of these days are into business and trading, rather than soul winning.
Our emphasis should be in preaching the gospel. Then there was discipline, you could not run to another church if you as a minister were punished by your church. But today, if you are disciplined by a church all you need is to go to another church the following day and the pastor will welcome you and even give you role to play without asking for what brought you there. All these new wave started in our own eyes. All I care for is that Jesus is coming back. The gospel cannot die. Let all men be liars. God will remain faithful.
In some churches we have different groups, some classical and others model, what I know is that God is one and He will never reduce His standard. The bible says one plant cannot bear two different fruits. Look at the mode of dressing in the church today. Christians are very difficult to correct.
Advice to the Church
Let the church stand firm into the liberty of God. Let the church go back to what we received from the bible. My advice to the church is to come back to the old gospel. We should not compromise our faith. Like all I have is expended on the building project of the Church here. I told my people that I had a covenant to do this for my God. I used myself as an example without tasking anybody. It marvels some people that I still build a church at this age without begging anybody. Whatever I see will be spent on the project. There is no committee on the project. It is a project for all and myself as a good example. I don’t know what God will do after the work. I have to pay the workmen. I am not doing this to copy anybody. I beg nobody for anything. Godliness with contentment is a great gain. It is by the mercy of God not by my power.
Many ministers are jack of all trade today, and it is not for soul winning or salvation. Baba Adedipe, ordained me. My ordination is into diverse offices, and to bring deliverance to many pastors who are under curses. I have realised that many pastors are under curses and they have to be delivered. I have realised that is the nature of the gospel given to me by God. That is what Virgin Prayer Fellowship is all about, to deliver many ministers from diverse bondage.
My mandate is to deliver whoever comes here as ministers. It should not be abused. That is the work of Virgin Prayer Fellowship. If God calls you as a full time minister be there, stay and do it as it is and if it is part time, do it and be contented.
Life After 80
There will be new approach to doing things. Baba Sadela started his ministry at this level. Isaiah 60.1 talks about Arise and Shine. Anybody that has the grace to enter the age should renew his strength, there are some old things to drop and there are dome new things to pick. My prayer is that God himself should glorify Himself in my life. Baba Oyelami also renewed his ministry after 75 years of age.
On Nigeria.
Without mincing words, the Church has mixed with the world. A minister of God should not sell himself cheap because of what he will eat.
As for Nigeria, with what has just happened God wants to surprise us as a people. When ministers of God are not ready to tell the truth, that is what we get. If we don’t run after those in government they will come after us and bow for us. The solution lies in the hands of the men of God.
My advice for the President Elect Asiwaju Bola Tinubu
My advice for the president elect, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu is like what we have in the story of the children of Israel after King Solomon in 1Kings Chapter 12. The elders went to Rehoboam that they wanted to work with him but they wanted him to lighten their yokes, while the young ones told him to increase the yokes. My advice to the incoming government is to reduce the yokes on all Nigerians. He should appoint people that are competent. He should run a government with listening ears that the poor and the rich should be praying for him. He should use his government to glorify God. He should not make appointments based on religion or tribe. He should have good plans and programmes for Nigeria and Nigerians. We will be praying for him.
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