By Folorunsho Hamsat
Encouragement can seem like a good, but small thing to us. But encouragement is massive. Popular prophet, Elijah Babatunde Ayodele, understands in his dealings that encouragement is such an important element of church life that, like the Bible commands, he makes it his regular routine to encourage others, particularly, the downtrodden, to value life. For 30 years, Primate Ayodele has applied his Holy Spirit empowered ability not just to preach and prophesy, but to also encourage by giving.
A typical village boy that he loves to call himself, the famous seer from the agricultural and mine Southwest town, Ikere Ekiti in Ekiti State, had profound spiritual insight to understand the mysteries of God early enough. Thus, when he escaped to Lagos in the mid-80s after suffering the disappointments of not realizing his childhood dream of studying Mass Communication or becoming a soldier, the zeal to excel in whatever he chose to do afterwards stole his attention.
The task to forgive and love whomever he might have already had a strained relationship with back in his town of birth was first. He needed to move on and shine. Ayodele did not have a church when he became known for prophesying. Six years before he established the INRI Evangelical Spiritual Church, he had been noted as a possible replacement for one of the then globally known prophets, Primate Theophilus Olabayo. His prophecies rang through all corners of the globe. And his journey to attain leadership began in earnest.
Something occupied his thoughts; how to get to the top of the Mission and impact others. He said he then realized that the secret to the pinnacle of God’s assigned task is giving. Ayodele says that sharing does not only affect the receivers in positive ways, it also transforms the life of the giver in great ways. “I give out more than a half of what God has blessed me with, and I don’t expect any reward for this other than to be acknowledged as a man who shares from the little he has,” the servant of God declared while addressing journalists at his last birthday celebration in Lagos.
Ayodele’s passion to encourage and empower the oppressed, help those with lost hope to dream and hope again, blossomed. His prophecy aided by heart for charity, announced him to the world as unique among his contemporaries in God’s vineyard. On Thursday, 25th of April, 2024, Primate Ayodele returned to Ikere Ekiti, in a large entourage, wonderfully overwhelmed by the welcoming warmth by his kit and kin.
What a joy it was for the God’s servant to see a packed venue of Ikere Ekiti young and old folks, including the king and political leaders pouring their hearts out in prayer for him as he laid the foundation of the town’s branch of INRI Ministry the next day, Friday 26th of April, 2024.
Typically, the day witnessed both empowerment and spiritual relief. Essential items were made available at ridiculously affordable prices, scholarships were provided for indigent brilliant students while the servant of God spoke into people’s life for transformative power of faith, healing and breakthrough.
Speaking on the essence of giving, Primate Ayodele averred that the Lord provides us with one incredibly encouraging reason to excel in the grace of generous giving: to prove our love for others. This, he said, he has satisfactorily done establishing his ministry in his place of birth, thus physically empowering his people and bringing them closer to salvation.
-Folorunsho Hamsat is a Lagos based journalist
