Pastor Olumide Oni, the Senior Regional Overseer, Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministries, International Headquarters Annex, Wuye, Abuja, speaks about his life and journey into ministry, in this interview with TUNDE AJAJA

When were you called into the ministry?

I lived with my grandmother, Prophetess Moyode Abake, as a child. One day, she called me at about at 2am and told me that God had given me a special grace and had commissioned me to serve Him. I saw 12 years old then. She emphasised that whatever I was going to do in life, I should try as much as possible to serve the Lord with all my heart. She then revealed that it might get to a particular point when my commitment to the work of God would take me away completely from all worldly engagements. After our discussion at around 2.35am, she prayed with me and informed me that I was impotent even as a young boy. Of course, I had known this before. But she told me that the reason for my impotence was because God had ordained me for a purpose and that if I was sexually active at that time, I might not yield to the call of God. So, since I was around 12 years old, I had known my true identity. I knew I was not an ordinary human being.

Was your grandmother a clergywoman?

She was a Christ Apostolic Church member at Ita-Baale Olugbode, Ibadan. She happened to be an outstanding prophetess who worked closely with the late Apostle Ayo Babalola and Oba (Isaac) Akinyele, who was one-time king of Ibadanland. Unfortunately, she died not long after she gave me the revelation about my calling.

What was your journey like after the prophecy by your grandmother?

After the death of my grandmother, I tried my best to be on my own. I tried to work in many places but from one place to the other it was failure all through. It was then that I remembered what my grandmother said and it dawned on me that I am like a covenant child that cannot do anything apart from serving the Lord with all my heart. Consequently, I began to fashion my life and way according to the will of God. Right there in CAC, I became an outstanding choir member because my mother had already handed me over to the choir master when I was seven years old in CAC. I grew up to be a leader at Ita-Baale, Olugbode CAC.

When did you join Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministries?

I became a member of the Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministries in 1991 and also worked closely with our father in the Lord, Dr D. K. Olukoya. I later became an ordained pastor in Mountain of Fire in 1994. I began my journey from house fellowship. I served as a house fellowship leader, house fellowship area coordinator. I served in many centres. There was a time I became a general coordinator of the house fellowship in Akoka, Lagos. The Akoka house fellowship became the first house fellowship to organise an open crusade in MFM worldwide. By the grace of God, from being a house fellowship leader, I worked shortly with the security department. From security department, I moved to information department and later became the deliverance minister. I was given a promotion letter and transferred to Prayer City. I worked in Prayer City from where I was transferred to MFM, Owerri. I became the first Overseer in Mountain of Fire Miracles Ministries, Mowe, South-West Region 9. And to the glory of God, God used us mightily in that place. We were operating from a school premises belonging to a family, Brother and Sister Alalade. God helped us during my time, as we were able to buy a landed property for the church. We also started building and were able to complete the building to the glory of God. During my tenure also, we had our Prayer City for Mowe Region at Owode in Ogun State. We were running the Prayer City monthly just as our father in the Lord, Dr. Olukoya, was running the Prayer City in Ibafo monthly. There were a lot of testimonies in Mowe region. Also, a lot of property was given to the church and we bought some to the glory of God. We also have a chalet in Prayer City that belongs to MFM, Mowe region. And for the first time, a region was having its own permanent guest house or chalet. From there, we moved to coordinate the Prayer City in 2012. I became the overall leader in Prayer City from February to September by the grace of God. We were able to lead in the fear of God and had testimonies. From Prayer City, I was transferred to MFM Lagos region 1, the first branch of MFM worldwide. MFM Lagos region 1 was established in 1995. I became a Regional Overseer in that place as well. Unfortunately, when I came to the place, the place was like a tent, no structure at all. God gave me instruction to pull it down. We started building and the building was completed in 10 months. The building in Mowe regional headquarters was completed in nine months. The chalet in Prayer City that belongs to Mowe was completed in seven months. The journey of Lagos region 1 continued. God gave us another landed property where we have Mountain Top Primary School, Mountain Top Secondary School and our staff quarters and apartments for all our pastors. The place is located after Ajah in Lagos, Nigeria. I served for only three and a half years in Lagos region 1 before, the Lord spoke to me that I should move.

I talked to my father in the Lord and he prayed about it. I was given another transfer. The same thing that happened in Mowe, God told me that my time was up and any time God passed such information across I would relate it to my father in the Lord. Same thing l did in Lekki region. I was given another assignment around Kubwa in Abuja. Kubwa was also another tent. The record is there for people to see. We started that project as well. It was wonderful to the glory of God everything in Kubwa too was completed in seven months together with the schools. It is a wonderful cathedral today to the glory of God. I spent only two years and five months there before God instructed me to move again. I spoke with my father in the Lord. I was taken to Lugbe.

You’ve been able to author many books, despite your obviously busy schedule. But the books are designated not-for-sale. Why did you do that?

It was based on divine instruction. God spoke to me that I must not sell my books. By the grace of God, I have been able to publish 107 books. The last one was about four years ago. The mission behind publishing books is to reach out more to people where I cannot get to physically till I die, and to the glory of God today I am the one next to the G. O. when it comes to publishing books in Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministries with the record of 107 published books to the glory of God of Elijah. It was divinely ordained by God – ‘Do not sell your books’’. We send books to some countries and some states within Nigeria without asking them to give us money because they are not for sale. But of course, in the course of this there were some people who partnered the book ministry. They made up their mind that even though our books are not for sale, they still wanted to be a part of it. There is therefore a book account for whosoever wishes to be a part of what we are doing. The love of God in our hearts is what guides us, directs us, and teaches us so that we will not miss our way. We brought nothing to this world and certainly we shall take nothing out of this world.

Your friends and church members organised a surprise birthday for you this year and you got lots of gifts. How did you feel about that?

I felt very happy. I got lots of gift money. Calculating all, including dollars, I got close to N200m in cash gift. But as I was given, I gave everything back to the church. Some people still brought money after my birthday. I similarly transferred the money into the account of the church because I was not permitted to take anything back home. As of the time that the money came in, I had less than N100,000 in my bank account. So, it was not because I had too much money; it is just because of the love of God. The zeal for His house has eaten me up so much that I cannot do without Him. The most important thing is that I must make sure I make God happy. When God is happy with me I can get to any place at any time.

This is also the idea behind giving out my books free of charge. l once realised N19m from the launch of one of my books, I didn’t keep the money to myself; I sowed it as a seed to support MFM Lagos region 1 project. In Kubwa, my family and I, to the glory of God, put down N10m for the roofing of our new church. There was a time someone gave me N20m to buy a car; I sowed it into the new church project at Wuye. Another time, someone gave me N18m to buy another car; I sowed all towards the church building. It has been my will and desire to give back to God because I brought nothing to this world and it is certain that I will take nothing out of this world.

There was time you were kidnapped. Can you share the experience?

That should be in 2001, if I remember correctly. I was living in Ketu, Lagos. I was on my way to minister early in the morning as a deliverance pastor at our international headquarters in Lagos. Unfortunately, I entered the wrong bus, an 18-passenger bus. Instead of going towards the Ojota area, the driver took us through the old tollgate and was heading towards Berger. The rest of the passengers were sleeping. I because suspicious that something was wrong. I asked the driver what was going on. Then, the conductor brought out a gun and asked me to shut up; he said I was in a kidnappers’ vehicle and if I talked he was going to kill me. So, I kept quiet and we kept going. After we left Ogere tollgate, the driver entered into a thick forest and was driving very rough. All of a sudden, he stopped the vehicle and they asked all the passengers to come down. The gang leader was a woman. She ordered us to take off our clothes. It was then that I knew we had four innocent women as victims and five brothers. I was one of the brothers. After we had taken off our clothes, they brought out a calabash. The gang leader said they would remove the testicles of the male victims, while the breasts of the women among us would be cut. The whole scene was very strange; but then, I discovered that I was the only one talking; strangely, other victims couldn’t talk. So, I quickly brought out money. It was N7,000. I said they should allow me to go. l showed them my ID card, that I was a deliverance pastor and that even if they forced me and used my own testes, the ritual would fail. Curiously, they too were naked. I think that was part of their ritual. Then the Lord spoke to me. The Holy Spirit said, “You better start speaking in tongue because when you speak in tongue you speak mystery.” So, I began to speak in tongue gradually and the head of the gang leader said, “This boy may be one of the OPC guys. His own testes would not work; he is the only one talking. We should let him go since we need only four testes and we have four other men.” That was how she made another announcement that I should go. So, I began to run away. But they called me back to pick my underwear. I went back and took my underwear and began to run again. I got to an lroko tree with many snail shells nailed to it. I took a stick and broke them all. I was saying, “I set you free, I set you free.” I did not know what came over me. When I finally got to the expressway, I came out very close to Guru Maharaji, near Ibadan. It was like a vehicle was waiting for me there. So, I boarded the vehicle. I was talking to the driver but the fellow refused to answer me but I told him where I was going and he merely nodded his head. Again, I was shocked the man did not speak a word to me as we journeyed towards Lagos. There was a time I slept off in the vehicle. By the time I was very close to Ojota, I woke up. The man took me to the second gate of our international headquarters in Lagos because I made up my mind that I wanted to see the G. O. to tell him what I went through.

I narrated the story to Daddy G. O. Dr D. K. Olukoya who later told me that the Lord brought me there to set those people free, those people that were nailed symbolically to the lroko tree. It was an amazing experience. I have seen so many terrible things.

You said you were impotent as a child but you are now married and have children. What happened along the line?

The kidnapping case happened when I was a bachelor. I was a deliverance pastor and at the same time working as Information Minister, Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministries, International Headquarters, Onike, Yaba. One day, after ministering at the deliverance ground, I returned to the information department, two biological sisters came. One was about to return to the university. They wanted to meet with the pastor for prayers. I was the one on the ground. I prayed with both of them, especially the elder sister who was about to return to the university. But as they were going, l heard the voice of God say, “The one at the back is your wife; the one at the back is your wife; the one at the back is your wife.” So, I quickly called them back to know where they came from and I was told that they were from MFM house fellowship in Akoka. In those days, you could not tell anybody that you wanted to marry a lady just because you had heard a voice. I had no right to go and tell her. That is against the rules and regulations of the church. So, I became a member of the MFM house fellowship, Akoka because of my wife. Not long after, our house fellowship leader got admission to a higher institution and since I was there as a member of that house fellowship, the church authority decided that I should take over from that fellow since I was a full-time pastor with experience in ministration. So, I became a house leader even though I had been a pastor, an active pulpit pastor. But I love that house fellowship because I knew that God spoke to me concerning the lady I was going to marry. I was close to her family being a member of my fellowship and thank God the mother, a wonderful prophetess, one day called her daughter and said she dreamt that the house leader was going to be her husband and so anytime he proposed to her, she should not reject him because of the anointing on him. This did not come to pass until after three or four years.

Since I knew she was going to be my wife, l did something when she gained admission to higher institution. I took two of her passport photographs went to the now defunct Intercity Bank to open an account on her behalf. Being a deliverance pastor, I made up my mind not to spend any money given to me by anybody. I would pay 10 per cent, keep 10 per cent to myself and save 80 per cent. I began to save money for my wife to be. Eventually, when she left school I presented the passbook to her in her living room in the presence of her parents. She checked it, and apparently she had no idea of what l had done. Eventually, she realised it was a bank passbook. She saw N3.7m saved in her name. She was very happy. That was the money she used to start the business that she is running today. To the glory of the God of Elijah, we were able to establish her business. We were also by the grace of God able to rent a three-bedroom apartment. We lived like a king and a queen, to the glory of God and the business of my wife is still flourishing till today to the glory of God.

As a matter of fact, that business is the backbone of my giving grace. Most times, when we need money we go back to her business for support. All the millions we are spending is from the business of the woman that God helped me to establish many, many years ago.

But before I married her, I told her I was impotent. But she said she had prayed God and God had also confirmed that I was her husband and that there was nothing to worry about. I took her to Dr D. K. Olukoya, our father in the Lord, who also confirmed that to her. I told Dr Olukoya and one pastor Solomon Akinade the secret. These were the two people that were aware of my impotence. Anyway, my wife said she was going to continue with the marriage, impotence or not, since God said she should marry me. That is why Pastor Mrs Oluwatoyin Oni is not just a wife. She is a God-given woman to my ministry and calling. So, on the day of my wedding, I told the officiating pastors, Pastor Olaoye, in particular, that I would not be able to continue with the wedding, as I was having stomach upset and feeling uncomfortable. I pleaded with him to round off quickly. They quickly rounded off the wedding. We were to go to Saint Finnbas School, by Akoka College of Education. As of that time, the man in charge of that school happened to be my (house fellowship) member. Red carpet all over the place, the venue was free of charge but I could not go for the reception because of the stomach ache. By the time I came to my house that day, my manhood came alive for the first time in the history of my life. God restored me and today, to the glory of God, I am married to Pastor Mrs Oluwatoyin Oni and blessed with wonderful children.

Source: The PUNCH