1. THE RCCG NIGERIA HISTORY
http://rccg.org/who-we-are/history/
THE REDEEMED CHRISTIAN CHURCH OF GOD
OUR HISTORY
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 was
indeed 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. By 1952, 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 “The Redeemed 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 would go 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 Christian
Church 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 this man 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.
Papa was preparing to meet his Creator. He sent for Pastor Adeboye
and spent several hours sharing with him details of the covenant and the plans
of the Lord for the church. Even though a year before this, the Lord had
revealed to Pastor Adeboye that he would be Papa’s successor, it was still too
difficult for him to fully contemplate such an awesome responsibility.
Pa Josiah Akindayomi was 71 years old when he died. Amidst
controversy, Pastor Adeboye’s appointment was formalized by the reading of Pa
Akindayomi’s sealed pronouncement after his burial.
Since 1981, an open explosion began with the number of parishes
growing in leaps and bounds. At the last count, there are at least about 2000
parishes of the Redeemed Christian Church of God in Nigeria. On the
International scene, the church is present in other African nations including
C’ote D’Ivoire, Ghana, Zambia, Malawi, Zaire, Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Gambia,
Cameroon, and South Africa. In Europe the church is spread in England, Germany,
and France. In the United States there are parishes in Dallas, Tallahassee,
Houston, New York, Washington, and Chicago and also in the Caribbean states of
Haiti and Jamaica.
Today, God is still doing marvelous deeds through the Redeemed
Christian Church of God, worldwide. One of the well-known programs of the
church is the Holy Ghost Service, an all night miracle service that holds on
the first Friday of every month at the Redemption Camp at Km. 46, Lagos-Ibadan
expressway. The average headcount of those who attend the Service is about
500,000. The Holy Ghost Service now holds in different parts of the world which
includes the United Kingdom, India, USA, Canada, South Africa, Australia,
Dubai, Ghana, Philippines and many more.
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