Sunday, October 19, was Family Thanksgiving day at the 87 year-old Pa Rev. David Adejare Ekundayo led Christ Eternal Gospel Mission, Egbe, Lagos. Apostle Ekundayo is one of the remnant associates of the famous Apostle T. A. Iyanda of Go Ye Evangelistic Mission. Close to 90 years, the one time trained architectural engineer now devotes his times and resources to the teachings of eschatology imparting knowledge in Bible Prophecies relating to philosophical and theological issues. PTL News was with him at the thanksgiving service after which he shared his views on his life on the pulpit and the current situation of the gospel in Nigeria.
Good to be here once again here, can you please let us have a full introduction of yourself?
I am Apostle David Adejare Ekundayo of Christ Eternal Gospel Mission, Egbe, Lagos. What we are celebrating today is what we do every second to the last Sunday of October, every year which we call Family Thanksgiving. We began as far back as 1990. We did not hold that of last year because it happened when I lost my wife. We just mark that of this year. Each time we celebrate it I usually invite many men of God, and they come from different parts of Nigeria. We also commemorate it with crusades. But that didn’t happen this year because of the situation of things.
We just invited one of our fathers in the faith in person of Prophet Amos Adebanjo of Covenant Gospel Church at Cele Egbe. He came to pray for us today.
What really brought about the family thanksgiving?
I use it to mark our wedding day because I got married in October, that was October 31st, 1976, and I vowed I would be using it to give thanks to God.
As an Elder in the works of the gospel, how many years have you put into the service of the Lord?
After I had accepted Jesus as my Lord and Saviour since 1969, I have been in the gospel learning. I attended West Africa Bible College in 1971, from there I attended Fellowship Bible College in Idi Oro, Lagos here. I also taught at the Bible College for three years till 1982 as a full time minister. We inaugurated this ministry in that 1982.
Where we met last we was a meeting at some Elders Meeting, Association of Nigeria’s Itinerant Evangelists.
Yes, with the ministers of God that were there, we have been together for a long time. We were together in UGCAN, and I was part of them when ANIE started. There was a time we did not hear about them. But later, the duo of Rev. Agbenike and David Olutade came here to tell me that the Association had come back to Lagos and they would not like to start again without telling me. I was part of the foundation members. That was how I joined them again.
From your calling and your age sir, we discovered you have had a long term relationship with many men of God, many dead and others still living, can you share with us some of your experiences, relationships and testimonies in the ministry?
What happened was that when this ministry started, when we had what was called gospel then, with the likes of Baba Adeogun also known as Eniola, I was one of those following him then. We were always with him anytime he wanted to hold crusades. That was part of which I mentioned then.
I testified to a story of how a mosque was gutted by fire while they were criticising us. People like Rev. A. O. Solomon of blessed memory, we were all together holding crusades. Bishop E. B. O. Omo Oba Jesu, we were together for 48 years before he became he passed on about three years ago. We were all together for the expansion of the gospel. All that I can say I know in Nigeria today for the spread of the gospel were through Bishop Omo Oba Jesu. Was it Kaduna, Jos, Kano, Makurdi, even Asaba in 2009 where Mammy Water came out from the sea to distrupt the structures we mounted there for revival. After one of our crusades in Asaba, Mammy Water came out in the night to dismantle our electrical gadgets.
That was when Omo Oba Jesu called on the children of God to give us N6,000 each for us to go to Onitsha to replace the lights destroyed by Mammy Water.
When it was 9 o’ clock Omo Oba Jesu called me to go to the Revival ground, that some people were already waiting bringing their donations. When I got there I saw all those that brought money and by 11 am we had realised about 85,000 naira, and I told him. We then went to Onitsha to buy the halogen lights. While coming one of our vehicles almost had an accident but God saved us. That was how we were moving around preaching the gospel till we got to Abuja. The two of us were very close in evangelism. When I had that he died, I went with my late wife on plane to and fro, and that was in 2022.
Also, Baba Oyeniran was our president at UGCAN, he has also passed on. There was also Bishop M. A. Fadeyi, in Ajao Estate, Rev. Dr. O Ezekiel of CPM he was our Secretary when we found PFN. There are others too that are still alive. Like Baba Abina of Gospel Faith Mission, he is a father in the Lord, he is a man of love. We followed him to bury his father then in Aradagun, Badagry. Some people used to think I was a member of Gofamint, but I was a member of God’s Redeemed Gospel Mission, Olateju Street, Mushin.
Bishop Fadeyi Samuel of the Light Chapel, Ori Oke Ejigbo, Rev. Abatan of Virgin Prayer Fellowship, I don’t know if you met Evangelist Ogongo, I have met with many people, many have gone, there are others alive, but we thank God in all things, especially that He still makes us instruments in His hands. Bishop Adeoye is in Itire, Bishop Adeagbo, they are still alive.
Can you compare the message of the gospel, the experiences, miracles and testimonies of those days with what we are getting today?
Let us pray that God bring true revival again. What we experienced in those days are not like what we have today. Then, as an evangelist, you want to hold a revival you don’t need to have your own instruments, you could come to my Church, I would bring my own out and we do things together, but these days, a Church cannot drop a pin for you to do revival again.
What’s the cause?
I don’t know. What is the cause? Then the urge was about soul winning, a situation when it was like Jesus would come the next moment and everyone was prepared. You would not like to go out without tracts, and that has been part of me till now. I cannot go out without tracts, it will be inside my bag. But there is nothing like that again.
Today, nobody shares tracts again, and most people don’t read tracts again. Everything is about phones and social media. Just like a book I published recently titled ‘201 Let Us in the Bible’. I have to search for it. It is a product of research. Now I teach Eschatology. Wherever I go, I dont have any other message. I preach about the second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. That is the ministry that God has given to me. If I tell you about the original place where the word came from you will be very surprised.
It was a muslim talking to me, saying, he dreamt that the children of God called me to come and preach here (inside his Church building) when it was on ground floor. He noted that not everyone believed Jesus would come back. He was an Alhaji. He helped me to buy this place. That’s my message. It’s eschatology. Everywhere I am invited, local and international, I will come and teach about the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.
Encounter with a mysterious tree in Ota
You also mentioned some things about the works of Evangelist Omo Oba Jesu about how Ota has been transformed to today.
It was a story told by him. I think it was an Apostolic Church that invited him for a crusade when he had just accepted Christ. He was converted in 1966, and when somebody has just converted he would be very hot for Christ. He said when they got there they had that experience.
He said, during a crusade some forces came against them, when they were about to cut a tree. He said each time they cut the tree it would come back and rise again. He said he later went to UTC to buy an axe and a file and a bag of salt, as he was cutting he would be adding salt. While he was going he went with some youths. Eventually, he was able to fell the tree permanently. That is why we should pray that the Lord return the good old days of the gospel. There sre problems with the youths of these days. I cannot say if it is the pride of the spirit. There is no respect again, especially for elders. Most especially when they have gifts. Once they discover their gifts they would leave the Church. They want to make name.
How about Pastors? Are they not encouraging that?
It is true, a man serving punishment leaves a Church and the next pastor takes him in. It was not so in the past. In those years, you are a worker in the Church, if you don’t come to Bible Review on Saturday you cannot minister on Sunday. But today, you will not even see them. In those days we used to do roasters to minister at Church service, but now you cannot be sure of the whereabout of your young minister who wants to officiate. That makes you use whoever is available.
What are the things that give you the greatest joy in the ministry?
My joy is the salvation of my soul. Jesus said, many are called, but few are chosen. Let the few seen be geunine ones. Jesus is not coming for the multitude of your congregation but for the chosen few. The teeth may be full in the mouth but it is useless if it cannot eat fish, but it would be useful even though it may be few in the mouth but can still eat quality meat.
For the few fruits delivered to me by Christ, they stay on the truth of the gospel. I used to say there is nobody that died as a member of our Church that I can regret or doubt his or her making heaven.
All that happened to me since last year, if it were another person, it would have been something else. I lost about eight people around me. These included the one that volunteered to be driving my car. He died in January last year. Later in February, another member lost his daughter. In April wife gone, we buried her in May, the following Monday after burial, I lost a brother who used to stay with me. He died of car crash. In November again, another Mummy’s brother died. His wife was in Canada.
But what is my joy? It is because I believe they made heaven. The bible says in all things we should be giving thanks, and it is part of which still makes us thankful to God.
What is your counsel to every one reading this?
Bible says in all things we should be giving thanks. We should not allow whatever happens around us to determine our relationship with our creator. Whatever happens, Jesus is with us and we are more than conqueror through the one that loves us.
How about your age sir?
By the grace of God, I will clock 88 in March next year.
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