The Church of God should be conscious of what is happening in the world now- Apostle Zacchaeus Agbenike, As Itinerant Evangelists Meet in Lagos

They were together under the auspices of the Association of Nigeria Itinerant Evangelists (ANIE), but there was a very strong cord that bound them together, apart from the love for Jesus Christ and their passion for His great works and ministry, it could be good to call them the associates of the late fiery and impactful legendary preacher, Apostle Timothy Iyanda of blessed memory, and from their words and commitments, they were gathered together to preach the word.

Some of them are already in their 80s, others 70s, while the younger ones are also joining the circle. Their designation is simply Evangelists, no big titles when they come together.

The meeting day was Monday the 13th of October, 2025 and the venue was the old spiritual base of Apostle Iyanda, Go Ye Pentecostal Mission in Alimoso area of Lagos State. The meeting was hosted by the heir to the Iyanda’s spiritual throne, and the biological son of the spiritual icon, in person of Apostle James Olulaja Iyanda.

As expected, their mission was about the fire and strong conviction they had about winning souls, and the meeting commenced with prayers and worship songs before it was deepened into the real programme of the day, and to open this up was none but the Lagos Chairman of the group, Evangelist Zacchaeus Agbenike, one of the close associates of Apostle Iyanda.

Apostle Agbenike anchored his message on a vision received and told by the late South Korean preacher and Church leader, Paul Yonggi Cho, who according to him was met by Jesus Christ and asked him five questions, bothering on How much of his time he devoted to the study of the word of God, how many times he evangelised to the people, his tithing administration, and his time spent on prayer.
Evangelist Agbenike therefore used the opportunity to call on the Church of God to be conscious of what is happening in the world now.

He therefore called on ministers of God not to toy with the word of God, saying, “The word of God is the foundation of everything. If an evangelist is not well fed with the word of God, he will just be talking anyhow. As an evangelist, the word of God is prominent,” quoting Joshua 1:8.

He therefore urged ministers of God particularly evangelists to go all out to preach the message of the gospel at all times, noting that “evangelists are bull dozers, and they must spare nothing to pave the way and bring souls to the kingdom of God.”

He urged them to use every insrument at their disposal to preach the word, including sharing of handbills, use of the electronic media and the modern internet, as well as use their finances for the purpose of the gospel.

While he called on evangelists to continue to do revivals, he warned them not to use the pulpit to condemn other preachers but to admonish the Church, as most of those critics use their messages to pull down the Church with their messages.
Another eminent personality at the event was the 87 year-old Apostle David Ekundayo, another close aide of Apostle Iyanda, who in his brief remarks recalled several miracles wrought in the hand of the legendary preacher who was famous for using aeroplane to distribute tracts in his days.

He recalled a day when Apostle Iyanda held an unripe pawpaw in his had which was miraculously turned to a very ripe one, and another, when an antagonistic neighbourhood religious sect got burnt while they were having a revival in a neighbourhood in Mushin.

Pa Ekundayo therefore called on the Church to go back to the good old days when the gospel was preached with passion for souls and not for greed and personal enrichment.

“Let us go back to the days of the old time religion. If Nigeria must be truly liberated the Church of God must be involved. Nigerian leaders must also be genuinely converted, and all powers of darkness should perish in Nigeria,” he emphasised.
Also in the same vein, one of the members, Apostle Samuel Aletan, also an evangelist charged the members to prepare as he declared the year 2026 as a Year of Revival, calling on members to prepare to hold crusades and revivals at their different corners.

To Apostle Taiwo Olutade, the Vice Chairman of Lagos ANIE, this is not a time to relent but to continue to fire on noting that the message of the gospel must be preached more than ever before.

In his vote of thanks, the host Apostle James Iyanda, former Chairman of PFN in Alimoso Local Government area of Lagos State expressed his appreciation to all that made it to the meeting that day. He also appreciated the contributions of many active members, and some that were not that active by their current challenges, noting that “many have gone, abd several others are still alive. This programme is a test-run and major events are coming very soon as earlier mentioned.”

According to the organisers, the need to bring together a body of itinerant evangelists was mooted in the early 1960s and 70s by the wave of revivals in Nigeria, but at the fullness of time, it became a reality, “when God inspired Ikorodu based Revd Moses Olanrewaju to bring together some notable Nigerian itinerant evangelists in 1989.

At the beginning, ANIE had Apostle T. A. Iyanda, Revd J.K. Solomon, Revd Adeola Eniola formerly Adeogun and Revd. M. E. Ariye from Ilorin as Patrons. All of them have gone to be with the Lord.

The launching also had many who have now passed to the great beyond like Dr. S. O. Odunaike of the Foursquare Gospel Church, Bishop Emmanuel Omoba Jesu, Revd J. T. Adegboyega, Revd A. O. Solomon, Rev. E.T. Ogongo, Revd Ope Balogun, physically present, while Evang. R.G. Akapo of Gospel Faith Mission was represented.

Other leaders present who are still alive till today included Rev. G. O. Farombi also of Foursquare Gospel Church, Bishop Samuel Fadeyi, Revd S.O. Ajeigbe, Revd Aderotimi, now in the USA, Apostle Agbenike, Chaplain Aletan and Revd, I.R. Olufesobi, the Lagos State branch Secretary, at the meeting.

According to them, the vision is to keep the calling of Evangelists intact by keeping those who are called into the ministry united in one accord in order to establish the office of Evangelists from being carried away from its purpose, and to “enable us to fulfil our assignment of effective evangelism in the body of Christ and occupy till I come.”

Some of its aims and objectives include “upholding strict adherence to the office and functions of evangelists, and to carry on with the faith and teachings of what we believe.”

Moving forward, the association has in its kitty, a number of programmes and activities to bring members active regularly together, and these are by monthly meetings, annual Seminar and Workshops, Prayer Conference and annual Crusade and National Conference.

Currently, ANIE has Revd. M. O. Olanrewaju as the National President, Apostle Z. O. Agbenike as Lagos State Chairman, Revd. Chaplain Olufesobi as Lagos State Secretary and Apostle James Iyanda as the host with Go Ye Pentecostal Mission International, 55, Alimoso Road, Alaguntan Bus Stop, Iyana Ipaja, Lagos, Nigeria.
These numbers can be contacted for more inquiries. 08033996848, 08079426437, 08060582967.

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