Prophets should always be in a concealed place —Adams

General Overseer of Breakthrough (Ona Abayo) Prayer Ministries, Ayegun, Ibadan, Oyo State, Prophet Emmanuel Adams, in this interview with ALIYU ABDULKAREEM, speaks about life in the vineyard and the Church.

 

Did you ever have the premonition that you would become a cleric while growing up?

No, because I was born into a Muslim family and my name then was Ibrahim. Though I have always been seeing revelations since I was young, my father always tells me that ‘not all revelations can be revealed, as a boy, you have to learn to keep some things to yourself’. But the rest is history today. I bless God for making me a vessel in His vineyard.

 

Can you tell us more about your spiritual journey?

As we moved on, one thing led to the other when I had to move from our hometown in Ondo State to Ibadan in 1975. I never knew I would be a pastor, but when I talk to someone about anything, it always comes to pass. Sometimes when I meet other pastors, they regard me as a prophet then. I often ignore them and remind them that I am Ibrahim.

At some point, God instructed me to start going to church and I concurred. The first church I ever worshipped in was a Christ Apostolic Church. I left after five years and then moved to a pentecostal church popularly known as “With God”, where I spent 28 years, after which I left for Lesekese, where I spent another 10 years. Then, God revealed Himself to me fully in 2011.

It is not as if I always had an idea that I would be a prophet, but God called me into it. It is not an easy job to do after all, but the Lord has been wonderful since I found myself in the mainstream. Sometimes, when I look at some people nowadays saying they want to be a prophet, I smile and think about myself, if you don’t get revelations from God, you can’t be called by the Lord Almighty.

 

You’ve been spreading the gospel for many years, what do you believe are important qualities of church leaders and pastors?

As soon as I knew I have a calling to answer, God told me that it is a mountain top for me, precisely inside the bush, dreaded bush for that matter. A prophet always stays in a concealed area, prophets don’t stay within the town. But as for people that call themselves prophets these days, some would just go to the Bible school and tag themselves prophets when they return. In some cases, some would dream they have bells in their hands and think of themselves as prophets.

A church leader must be calm, truthful to everyone, and a prophet must be away from any kind of dubious acts. So many prophets now don’t have these qualities, but we pray God would reveal himself to them, so they can hear from Him directly.

 

How do you think the 10th anniversary would affect lives positively?

We thank God for how far He has brought us and we are confident that He is taking us to greater heights. This is why we have devoted ourselves to impact lives positively, physically and spiritually. As part of the activities making the 10th anniversary, we held a convention from August 23 to 28. God wanted us to praise him very much this year; he says anyone who joins us to praise Him would witness greatness in his or her life.

 

Where do you see the church in few years to come?

Eight years back, God reminded me that the ministry should be situated in a dreaded bush. I was terrified and bothered on how to go about it, but God came through. We prayed for someone that year and he gave us the land in the bush to the glory of God.

When we got to this bush, I found out it is actually a dreaded location where evil spirits and all kinds of things reside, but with God’s intervention, it has witnessed a great transformation, as it has turned into a town today.

 

It is no longer hidden that so many Nigerians have been speaking out, all pointing to the direction that Nigeria is sick. What do you say to that?

God will not let Nigeria fall sick, because if Nigeria falls into sickness, everyone becomes sick. Let us all continue to pray for the country. It is only Jesus Christ that can heal Nigeria of all crises, man can’t do it; even the president can’t do it.

 

What is your greatest challenge?

It happened some years back, while we were having our programme at Soka in Ibadan, when the landlords’ association rose against us, saying they don’t want any church around. There are more than 50 churches in the area. It was a terrible experience which I can never forget. I could remember vividly I was taken to the police station on the issue, but we got over it through God’s intervention.

I just want to implore all Nigerians to be careful in life, if I had done anything bad that time, like going to a herbalist or anything of sort, I would not have succeeded. We had victory because I stood with the Lord who called me to His service in the first place.

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