|
About us
In July 1909,a son was born into the Akindayomi family of Ondo State of Nigeria. Even
though this child grew up surrounded by idol worshippers, he knew there existed a
greater power and yearned to know, "The God who created the earth and everyone on
it". This pursuit for God led him to the Church Missionary Society where he was
baptized in 1927. Still spiritually unfulfilled, he joined the Cherubim and Seraphim
church in 1931. Whilst there, he began to hear a voice within him saying, "You will
be my servant." Since this was not his intention, he decided to ignore the voice. This
went on for seven years during which all the business ventures that he tried resulted
into failure. In debt and without peace of mind, he found himself totally
dependent on the grace of God. Here marked the beginning of a definite relationship
with God.
Totally broken, he yielded saying, "Lord, I will go wherever you want me to go." He asked for signs to confirm that this wasIndeed God's call. The confirmation came through the Bible passages of Jeremiah 1:4-10, Isaiah 41:10-13 and Romans 8:29-31. The Lord assured him that He would provide for all his needs, as he would not receive any salary from that point on. This proved to be a comforting reminder during the trials in the months ahead. He became married in 1941. He continued to worship with the Cherubim and Seraphim. In 1947, he started to become concerned that the church was departing from the true Word of God in some of its practices. By1952, he felt totally persuaded to leave the church. He started at Willoughby Street, Ebute-Metta, Lagos a housefellowship called, the Glory of God Fellowship. Initially there were nine members but before long the fellowship rapidly grew as the news of the miracles that occurred in their midst spread. Pa Akindayomi also had a vision of words that appeared to be written on a blackboard. The words were "TheRedeemed Christian Church of God." Amazingly, Pa Akindayomi who could not read or write was supernaturally able to write these words down. In this visitation, God also said to him that this church wouldgo to the ends of the earth and that when the Lord Jesus Christ appeared in glory, He would meet the church. The Lord then established a covenant with Pa Akindayomi, synonymous to the Abrahamic covenant in the Bible. He said that He the Lord would meet all the needs of the church in an awesome way if only members would serve Him faithfully and be obedient to His Word. It is upon this covenant that the Redeemed ChristianChurch of God was built. Thus, the Redeemed Christian Church of God was born in 1952, destined by the Lord Himself to take the world for Him. The church continued to meet at 9 Willoughby Street until they were able to acquire some land thereby witnessing a relocation to the present site of the Headquarters of the church at 1-5 Redemption Way, Ebute-Metta, Lagos (formerly 1a, Cemetery Street). Sometime in the early 70s, God had spoken to Pa Akindayomi about his successor. The Lord told him that thisman who was not a member of the church then,would be a young educated man. Thus when a young university lecturer joined the church in 1973, Papa was able to recognize him in the Spirit as the one that the Lord had spoken about in the past. This man, Enoch Adejare Adeboye who was then a lecturer of Mathematics at the University of Lagos soon became involved in the church. He became one of the interpreters translating Pa Akindayomi's sermons from Yoruba to English. He was ordained a pastor of the church in 1975 Fondly known as G.O or Daddy G.O, Pastor Adeboye became the General Overseer (G.O) of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) in 1981. Sheer curiosity and the search for a solution to a personal problem led Pastor Adeboye to worship at RCCG – Ebute-Metta in 1973. It was a most unlikely place of worship for a professor of Mathematics as the church had very few educated people and it lacked the comfort and grandeur of the Orthodox churches. God took RCCG to greater glory with the birth of the Holy Ghost Services, which started in the late 80s. It Is a service of intense worship and manifestation of signs and wonders. 1998 saw the birth of the annual Holy Ghost Festival. Billed Lekki ’98, an estimated 4 million people gathered to fellowship, praise and pray during an all night service. It is conceivably the largest gathering of Christians in the world. As Pastor Adeboye frequently testifies, the Lord has just started with RCCG. In his own words, “We are believing the Almighty God that very soon, in every town, in every village all over the world, there would be a parish of The Redeemed Christian Church of God established where people could be saved, discipled and trained in the fear of the Lord. So that on the last day, we would have people of all races, from all tribes, from all tongues, praising the Almighty God who had been bro ught in the Kingdom of God on the Platform of The Redeemed Christian Church of God.” His desire to reach the ends of the earth is captured in this statement, “I would love to have a breakthrough to such a height that I can lend to nations and preach on every television and radio station at least one hour per day.” |
||