I don’t need a jet now –Bishop Taiwo Adelakun

Bishop Adelakun
| credits: File copy

Bishop Taiwo Adelakun of Victory International Church, Ibadan and chairman of Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria, Oyo State branch, in this interview shares some of his experiences withADEOLA BALOGUN

 How would you describe your 50 years on earth?

The Bible says our life is like a tale being told; it’s like a story. Looking back, it’s been very long and very eventful but God has made the difference.

So it was your dream to be a pastor?

No, that should be the last thing that would cross my mind. I had my plans and agenda all spelt out and I was praying for God to stamp them until I began to discover and God began to speak to me. Now this is your own will and this is my will for you in life. I had difficulty in being able to agree with that because I couldn’t see a future in what he was saying. But he showed me and he said, if your beginning is small, your latter end will create increase. I saw that in the Bible and he said in Proverb 4: 18 that the path of the just is like a shining light that shines more and more until the perfect day. These were inspirational words that formed the foundation of my obedience to His call.

You said you had your plans, what were they?

I wanted to be a professor of economics; I wanted to be in the academics. I loved economics as a subject and I wanted to be a professor but God interrupted the plans. It began in my HSC days; that was when I gave my life to Christ. I had been a church goer before that time. God began to alter the course of things in my life; one, I changed from economics to estate management. Estate management is simply land economics and I said I would go through to the PhD level and become a professor of land economics. But during my university days at the University of Lagos, I knew very clearly that I had to do the will of God. The one year I used for my national youth service in Anambra State, I used it to serve the Lord. I was with a ministry called Christian Movement and we were going from place to place and that was my tutelage period. Coming back from the youth service, I was already formed and I knew that whatever I was doing, I would do it for a while and eventually yield all to God. When I came back, I joined a company where I worked for two years before I left to form my own firm. I also started the ministry. And after two years, I left estate management work completely and I faced the ministry.

Was it fashionable for a young educated man to leave a paid job for the ministry?

It was not fashionable. Those were the days when you received a call, people would go and console your mother that her son had become mad. Unlike today that ministry appears glamorous and everybody wants to be part of it. But at that time, it was different. Today, every Dick and Harry can say they receive a call and you can see the mess all around because when something is not authentic, there will always be a difference. People only see the glamour in the ministry today and want to plunge into it, they don’t know where those ahead are coming from. They don’t know the encounters they have had and they don’t have such an encounter but they want to go to where they are going to.

What is the church body doing to separate fake clerics from the real ones?

Jesus himself who is the owner of the work says let everything grow together, he will sort them out. There are people who are looking for a short cut; they don’t want to study the word, they will be sorted out. I don’t blame those who castigate everybody as fake just because of the few bad examples among us. There are still genuine churches and men of God who had genuine encounters with God.

Who was your mentor?

There are three strategic relationships in my life; I have a mentor, Bishop (David) Oyedepo; he was a father and a friend. Those three relationships are strategic to where I am and to where I’m going. I didn’t just come to them by chance. Sometimes when I felt so discouraged and I looked up at those people -Pastor Adeboye, Bishop David Oyedepo and Pastor Matthew Ashimolowo – I got encouraged. People like Mike Okonkwo, Ayo Oritsejafor, Wale Oke encourage me because these are people who have gone ahead.

People accuse church leaders of abandoning salvation to preach prosperity, what is your take on this?

Redemption is an all-encompassing entity. It begins with salvation but it does not end with it. What is the use of a saved soul that is begging everybody’s hand? What is the use of a saved soul that is sick? So, redemption includes salvation of soul and from salvation, we talk about healing deliverance from captivity and prosperity of material blessing. Gospel is full; it is not a one-sided thing. But there are charlatans who are taking advantage of the part of the gospel that is talking about prosperity.  They are just materialistic and business people. There will always be people like that but that does not mean we should now castigate what is in the scriptures. It is part of the scriptures; we can’t deny it.

Did your family kick when you decided to dump everything for the ministry?

They just had their reservations. It’s normal for them to feel so. You sent your child to school  with high expectation and the child now comes to say one God called him, where was God then? Somebody told me, where was God all these while when you were going to school; he didn’t call you then? But today, things have changed; there is nobody who is not in agreement because the proofs are there.

Did you get married before going to the ministry?

I got married after I had gone into the ministry.

So was it difficult for you to choose because ladies would always want to hang around a popular pastor?

It was tough. I had made up my mind I was going to do the will of God and that I was going to hear him and when He spoke to me and I doubted, He said but you are the one that said you want me to speak to you. He said you can’t marry just anybody; you have to marry someone that you would go along together through the journey of life. I thank God he led me and we got married. Initially, it was rough financially but I thank God that she was there for me.

Do you need a jet for evangelism?

At my present level, I will say no. As the work expands, (and there are many places to go at the same time) when the need arises, God will provide. There was a time that a car was a luxury but now, it is not a luxury. I need a good car to move from place to place.

But you will agree that reports of some pastors flying their private jets generated negative publicity for the church.

You know in Nigeria, people usually get this bandwagon thing when something happens in the church. When other people do things, nobody talks but when a pastor is involved, it becomes a problem. Everybody shouts and wants to say something. I can understand because pastors are supposed to be role models. Look at the case of pastors who have jets, due to the nature of work they are doing and the places they need to get to, it is inevitable. I travel once in a year, so I don’t need a private jet. But somebody who has 5,000 churches scattered all over the world, and he has to visit those places, needs one except he wants to become a witch that will be flying. It is the necessity of their job. There is absolutely nothing wrong in owning a jet as a pastor if there is a need. The people who have one presently deserve to have it because of the nature of their job.

Supposing members of your church decide to present you with a jet as birthday gift?

There are certain blessings that can become comical because you can not park a jet in your house. You look at your level; those who have jets presently are not struggling; there are some of their church members who have jets. None of my members here has a jet, so it is step by step. I will also get there but I am not there and I will not pretend to be there.