God is set to restore His ministers and the body of Christ – Kayode Ibrahim

As Redemption Truth Assembly holds her 2023 national convention, the host, Pastor Kayode Ibrahim, shares in the below interview with Christian Benefits, the expectations from this year’s convention, featuring a 3-day ministers/leaders forum, daily Bible study, encounter hour and youth forum/healthy living talks, with free registration, accommodation and feeding of all the participants from all walks of life at the luxurious Christian Retreat Centre (CRC); a world class Christian resorts & resource facility in Ikorodu, Lagos. The theme of the 5-day convention from Wednesday August 30 – Sunday September 3, 2023, is Time for Recovery & Restoration. Excerpts.

Please, can we meet you sir?

I am Kayode Ibrahim, Pastor of Redemption Truth Assembly, Ikorodu, Lagos.

Briefly, share with us about your background

I have a very humble background. My now late father was a Muslim.  My mother is still very much alive. I grew up in a village in Kogi state, and partly in Niger state. I gave my life to Christ in form three in the secondary school in 1979.

Please, tell us more about your rebirth encounter, particularly from a Muslim background

I gave my life to Christ, as I said earlier, when I was in the secondary school, at the Fellowship of Christian Students (FCS). There was this youth corper in our school who ministered that evening that I accepted Christ. I usually sat at the back. I can’t recollect how I found my way to the front to give my life to Christ that evening. Despite my Muslim background, I was a church goer. My grandfather was a chief Imam of our village. My father was a renowned Sheik. Fortunately for me, I lived with my maternal grandmother who was a Christian. That was how God saved me from Islam. My first church was a Catholic church in Kogi state. Later, I joined ECWA. I actually started my Christian life at the Fellowship of Christian Students (FCS). There was a great joy in my heart on that day I gave my life to Jesus Christ. My conversion was genuine.

Was there anything you struggled with after your conversion encounter?

The same year that the youth corper left our school, I also left the school to another school in Minna, Niger state. The closest figure to my Christian practice then was my C.R.K teacher. So, I did a lot of extra work to build myself up in the faith. When I was in form four I became the president of the fellowship, but was still struggling with my Christian life while trying to be holy. I fasted severally to be holy, yet I found it very difficult becoming holy.I concluded that Christians are not special that since all my efforts to be holy failed then nobody can be holy. So, I started looking for how to be bad. I looked for people that would teach me bad ways, but I didn’t see any. The worse I could get was visiting beer parlour until after my NYSC programme when I retraced my steps and rededicated my life to Christ in 1986

What informed your decision to rededicate your life to Jesus Christ in 1986?

It was a typhoid fever sickness that I had. Back then typhoid fever was classified a killer illness. So, I concluded that the only way to save my life from the typhoid fever was to rededicate my life to Christ. So, when I rededicated my life to Christ my restoration began gradually until I was completely healed. Since then my walk with the Lord after I rededicated my life to him has been a roller coaster

As a new convert then, who were those you looked up to as your role models in the Christian faith?

As a young convert I was hungry for the word of God. I looked up to men of God like Bishop David Oyedepo. I later joined the New Testament Life Mission. From a worker I became a branch pastor in that church from 1995 until 1999.  John Osteen, through his books, is one of the ministers God used to impact my Christian life.

How did you eventually receive the call into ministry?

It was after I saw Redemption Truth Assembly in a revelation, and I felt that God was calling me to go and pastor. I asked people around which church is Redemption Truth Assembly and nobody knew. That was how we started a new church with that name, Redemption Truth Assembly in 1999.

What exactly is the mandate of Redemption Truth Assembly?

The mandate is to project the light of Christ to the people to become Christ-like.

What are the gifts God endowed you for this mandate?

One is the gift of the life of Christ. Again, anytime I open the Bible for studies, the Lord will be talking to me and giving me deeper insight into the scriptures.

Tell us some of the things you sacrificed to accept the call into ministry

Before the call, I lived a care free life. But now my life is regulated. I am a civil servant, and I also do business. But for the call, I would focus on my business more.What is the 2023 National Convention of your ministry all about?

At the end of 2022, God put it in our hearts that he is going to bring recovery and restoration to the body of Christ this year 2023. There is a standard God wants to place His children that has not been met. With the convention theme, Time of Recovery & Restoration, God wants to bring recovery and restoration to what He actually made us to be as His ministers, leaders and the entire body of Christ.

Tell us some of the features of the 5-day convention of recovery & restoration

It will feature a 3-day ministers/leaders forum with focus on how to guide the gospel ministers and leaders to recover and restore the pattern that God wants them to follow both in life and ministry. We will deal with the conference theme at the morning session. In the afternoon session, we will hold Bible study geared towards personal encounters in the evening session for the five days programme. We will also hold Vacation Bible School for Children (VBSC) in of the conference halls of  Christian Retreat Centre (CRS).

What should the participants do to receive their recovery and restoration at the meeting?

They should be committed at the convention. They should come prepared for their restoration and recovery in life and ministry. We have been praying about this convention, and we are confident that God is set to restore His ministers and the body of Christ at large at the convention.

What is the the process of registration for the convention?

The registration for the convention is at the convention venue, Christian Retreat Centre (CRC), where the registered participants will be allocated free accommodation and feeding for the five days of the convention. They can also register at Redemption Truth Assembly, 57, Ago Iwoye Street, Off Ishawo Road, Owutu, Ikorodu, Lagos; a stone thrown from Christian Retreat Centre (CRC); the venue of the 2023 national convention. For further enquiry, they can call: 08033592644, 08023184906, 080388788973 or 08058283883.

Please, tell us about the venue of the convention, Christian Retreat Centre

Christian Retreat Centre (CRC) is the facility the Lord put in our hearts to provide a serene atmosphere and a secret place for all Christians for their personal, church, group and Christian family retreats, to have time with Him. The strength of every giant of faith is their secret place. You can’t have a meaningful life without a secret place. That was why God told Abraham, raise me an altar and I will meet you there. It is when you stay in the presence of God that you can be incubated. The light of God comes to bear when you are in a secret place. Christian Retreat Centre (CRC) provides that secret place for the children of God to have a good time with God, their father. It is an over 500-room facility; all en-suites with additional three buildings of over 100 guest apartments with kitchen and dining hall, and another sets of buildings as hostels. The CRC also has a recreation centre, including a seaside with yachts for its guests sea cruise from Ikorodu town to Lekki for leisure. The CRC is electricity powered 24hours non-stop with free internet services for all our guests. We have retreat rooms for families, groups and university/other higher institution students where they can meet with God. We have hostels to accommodate such groups. We are expanding and upgrading our standard to include guest houses because of the high demands for them. We opened the Christian facility solely for the body of Christ since 2017, and we have been having a daily and regular patronage by Christians from all walks of life. The CRC is a safe haven; well secured with CCTV cameras and automated entrance gates and keys to the rooms with the presence of the Holy Ghost as the protector of our guests. The CRC also has different conference halls for meetings. seminars, training, workshops and social events like wedding.

PHOTOS: CHRISTIAN RETREAT CENTRE (CRC) FACILITY VISIT BY CHRISTIAN BENEFITS MAGAZINE