Whatever people say, Prophet T.B. Joshua remains my mentor —Pastor Obaseki

Pastor P.I.A. Obaseki is the General Overseer of Divine Grace of Glory Church International, Benin City, Edo State, reputed to be one of the fastest growing churches in Benin. He speaks with BANJI ALUKO on his relationship with Prophet T.B. Joshua, life as a bus conductor in Ibadan, sojourn in Libya and challenges encountered in the ministry, among other issues. Excerpts:

Did you set out in life to become a pastor?

My late father was a Reverend under the Assemblies of God Church but I never planned to become a pastor. My ambition in life was to become a businessman. However, my father brought us up in the ways of God and we followed suit. When we finished secondary school, I went to live with my grandmother in Ibadan, where I began to hustle. At that time, things were not working for me. I first worked as a receptionist at a business centre. From there, I gathered money and started a business of my own. The business still did not work and I got frustrated. I became a bus conductor on the Challenge-Dugbe route in Ibadan. I did that to gather some money after which I started selling electrical parts. While doing that, I saw some guys who came from Libya. I overhead one of them saying that he made good money in Libya within two months and all of that. So, I tried to become friends with one of his friends. I begged him to connect us and that I wanted to go to Libya. That was in 1999. He asked me to bring a particular sum of money. I quickly auctioned my stall and he took me to Libya. I travelled by road. When I got to Libya, I found out that the story he told me about making it within a short time was not true after all. He later told me that I would survive if I was skilled in a particular handiwork. I told him that I could do anything involving electrical installations. The truth was that, as a Christian, I couldn’t do what many Nigerians I saw there were doing.

I started hustling again and was working with the Arabs. At a time during the Obasanjo presidency, the Nigerian government brought a plane to Libya to bring home Nigerians living there. That was in 2000. I jumped at the opportunity as I had been praying to God to bring me back safely to Nigeria. I had wanted to return but didn’t have money. The money I was making as a farm worker was only enough to survive for the day. I quickly filled the form they asked us to fill. One day, diplomats from the Nigerian Embassy came, arranged for our departure and flew us to Lagos. They gave us $50 that I used to transport myself to the village in Irrua, Edo State.

How then did you become a pastor?

It was when I returned to Irrua that I had the conviction to become a man of God. I hated being a pastor because my father was a pastor and I saw that he didn’t do well in terms of prosperity. He was someone who believed in holiness and not much in wealth. I said I didn’t want his kind of life. However, I was always dreaming of preaching to a huge number of people. I dreamt that I preached, sweated and people received deliverance. Some people liked to call me pastor but I hated the sound of it.

One day, I was at home thinking about my life. I prayed and asked God to show me the way. So, I started dreaming and seeing myself preaching to people. I started morning evangelism in the village. I would wake up around five in the morning and preach to the people in Irrua. I discovered that each time I went on evangelism, people would open their doors to listen. That gave me the conviction. Each time I prayed during evangelism, I would hear people say ‘amen’ inside their houses. That gave me encouragement. One day, I saw a Benin-based pastor preaching on TV and I went to him and told him I needed direction. As I entered his office, he said I was called to do the work of God and that I was running from God. He said if I run from God I would die mysteriously. I was scared. I told him my story and he said I should look for a way to function as a church worker.

I settled in the church and worked as a cameraman in the church’s media department. Later, I did video editing, functioned as a driver or electrician. After four years, I went to the General Overseer and told him that I wanted to go and start my own ministry. He said I should train people to work in my department and I did that. When it was time for me to collect my last salary, they didn’t give me. They simply drove me away. That caused great frustration because I was using my salary to take care of my mother and siblings in the village. I had to sell the properties I had to start my own ministry. I got a friend, who took me to his father’s land somewhere in Upper Mission Road in Benin.

That was where I started my ministry. I rented it for N700 per month. The rent was just too much for me to pay then. When I started, I was the only person until children on the streets joined me. After service, the children would cry, asking for money to buy biscuits. I had to get them the biscuits because I knew if they returned home crying, they wouldn’t come back again. People mocked me. I was like a mad person in the environment. I couldn’t take care of my mother as before as I had put all that I had in my ministry. It was very tough in the first two years. I had thought that things would take shape after about six months but I was wrong.

What made you stay in the ministry, even when things were hard?

Because of the revelation I was getting and the way God was using me, I assumed that the moment I started, there would be huge response and abundance. I believe that same God would use people to supply my needs. It got to a point I had to do menial jobs and carry blocks at construction sites to make ends meet. It was after two or three years that things started to take shape. There was a woman God used me to give the fruit of the womb. The woman gave me a Mercedes Benz 230. I was very happy because no one had ever bought a car in my family. After that, I got married. Before then, no woman wanted to see me. I went to my late father’s colleagues to ask them to help me find a wife and they recommended to me from their churches. Some of the women visited my church but when they saw that my church was empty, they left me. I was rejected by more than eight girls.

You are reputed to be close to Prophet T.B. Joshua. Why?

When I started my ministry, I had no mentor. Different pastors came to me and said they wanted to be my father in the Lord. I felt it was not their responsibility to mentor me but mine to decide who would be my mentor. When I was praying to God to lead me, I kept seeing T.B. Joshua in my dreams. I had spoken against T.B Joshua in the past while watching him on TV. In my revelation, I would see him praying for me and saw myself worshipping in his church. I told my wife and she said that if I was convinced, I should meet him. So, I told the Deacon Board of my church then and they condemned the decision. When I continued to see him in my dreams, I then decided not to tell anyone. I travelled to Lagos and visited the Synagogue Church of All Nations. When they asked if I would like T.B. Joshua to be my mentor, I said yes. Late in the evening of that day, I met him. He said we were going to the prayer mountain the following day.

Later, they asked us of our challenges and I raised my hand that I had been married for five years without a child. He gave me anointing water. He said my wife and I should use it. He gave me another one for my ministry. He said I should use it to anoint the church. He later gave me an appointment to come back with my wife. We later went to Lagos to honour the appointment he had earlier given us. We met him and he prayed for us and told us that we would be fruitful. As God would have it, my wife became pregnant. When we got to the hospital, they said my wife was not pregnant and that it was fibroid. We used the anointing water and months later, she gave birth to our first daughter. So, I am very convinced to have T.B. Joshua as my father-in-the-Lord; he is my full mentor now and I don’t do it in secret like some pastors. No matter what people say, I’m very convinced about him.