PERSONAL PROFILE
Rev. Dr. Agunbiade Ayo James was at the historical Ibadan citywide crusade championed by the duo of Archbishop Benson Idahosa and the great evangelist, Evangelist Reinhard Bonnke in 1985 at the ancient Olubadan Stadium. This encounter launched him into the Kingdom of Christ.
He got saved and was baptized in the Holy Ghost while waiting on the Lord just after he finished his grammar school. Right there, in his family house in the city of Ibadan, he received an infilling of the Holy Ghost with the evidence of speaking in tongues and power. Right on the spot, he was commissioned with great conviction to take the message of salvation of Christ, healing and deliverance around the globe with God confirming His word with miracles, signs and wonders.
Dr. Agunbiade Ayo James , a graduate of microbiology, was a former President of the Christian Union (CU) and Joint Christian Campus Fellowship (JCCF) while on campus, an alumnus of Redeemed Christian Bible College (RCBC), an alumnus of Word of Faith Bible Institute (of Winners Chapel), and an alumnus of DAYSTAR Leadership Academy (DLA). He bagged PhD in Leadership & Church Growth from the prestigious International Centre Renewal (ICCR).
Dr. Agunbiade Ayo James is a charismatic leader with the International Council of Great Britain (IMCGB), London. He is a staunch and in-depth teacher of the word, a prayer mover and an evangelist with the grace for healing and deliverance and an author of several titles which include; “Give Me Also This Power,” “Jehovah The Doctor,” “You Shall Not Lose Your Battle,”, ” This Curse Shall Not Stand”, “Overcoming Stubborn Problems,” “There Was A Man Called Elijah, “The Minister, His Ministry & Manifestation,” “Goliath Had Brothers ” and several other books
Rev. Dr. Agunbiade Ayo James is a well known face in the South South region of Nigeria where he organizes Jesus Power Crusade and Ministers’ Fire Conferences. Besides this, the Lord saddled him with a vision called Nigeria Shine Your Glory Prophetic Prayer Banquet where altars of prayers are being raised for our dear and beloved nation, Nigeria. This campaign kicked off at the Federal Capital territory, Abuja and many states have been touched
Rev. Dr. Agunbiade Ayo James is the Senior Pastor of Shepherd Hand In’l Ministry, a church he oversees with the headquarters in Lagos. He is happily married to Mrs. Temitope Agunbiade; a chartered accountant and they are blessed with children. Dr. Agunbiade shares more about his steady walk with the Lord for over three decades now, the impact of his calling and assignments,the on-going 10th annual Dunamis convention of Shepherd Hand Int’l Ministry and its Jesus School of Power in this interview with Christian Benefits. Excerpts.
Please, how will you like to be introduced sir?
I am Rev. Dr. Agunbiade Ayo James, the Senior Pastor of Shepherd Hand Int’l Ministry. I am also the President of Jesus School of Power and Patmos Bible College and the President of 24/7 Prayer Mountain.
Can we have a look at your background and rebirth encounter?
I received Christ before I finished secondary school on March 23, 1995. I have grown from grace to grace; and from strength to strength. I was a Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) member for 15 years and served well in the church before God called me into ministry. In my National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) year, I continued evangelizing. I used my allowances to organize crusades in a town no pastor had ever organized a successful crusade as at that time. I was told that pastors that tried to organize crusade in that town died. I picked up the challenge. The people said if pastors could die there, how much a mere corper. To the glory of God, and to the surprise of the people, God proved that greater is he that is in me than he that is in the world (1 John 4:4). The people joined us, including the chief priest of that town. It was a drama presentation where Jesus was to be nailed on the cross. I ministered, made an altar call and lots of the people, including the chief priest of the town came out and received Christ in their lives at that crusade.
What effort did you make to consolidate or build on the success of that crusade in that town?
After the crusade, the RCCG appointed me an evangelist and transferred me to another town to pastor its parish where the members rarely come to church. I organized another crusade in that town with my allowance and that parish started growing from a room/parlour to a big church today. The church will clock 23 next year.
How did you receive the call to ministry before your foray into village evangelism?
My call to ministry came along with my salvation. As soon as I received Christ I started walking with him; baptized in the Holy Ghost and received the gift of the word of knowledge. My family church then was Baptist. but I received Christ in Pentecostal. After I received Christ my Baptist assembly saw a difference in me and appointed me the youth pastor in the church for two consecutive years; the first of its kind in that Baptist assembly. During the appointment ceremony, the pastor will hand over a big wooden key to the appointee and vacate his seat for the appointee for few weeks. I was given that key for two times consecutively. This was rare and unique. That was the reason I said I received the calling as soon as I accepted Christ.
How will you describe your kind of lifestyle before you accepted Christ?
I was a moralist till my wedding day. In fact I was a virgin when I wedded. I was a moralist until I realized that something was missing in my life. I didn’t attend parties. I dressed well. I respected elders but something was missing. Morality is not salvation. Some people think because they keep to themselves they are pure and holy. Salvation is Jesus coming to help you; not you helping yourself. Many people are helping themselves abstaining from wrong doings but they have not said ‘yes’ to Christ.They are running on their own strength. They are ignorant of the fact that as soon as one accepts Christ, it is the Holy Spirit that will come in and makes the way for one and give one the strength and the grace, and not one struggling to be what one is not. It is the Holy Spirit that helps one to be what one ought to be. As a moralist I ran away from wrong doings. Notwithstanding, I knew something was missing in my life. As soon as I receive Christ I rejoiced!
How would you describe the joy of salvation when you received Christ?
It was another book entirely when I received Christ, The messages I listened to at the Pentecostal church that I started attending were different from the ones in Baptist. I attended a particular programme in Ibadan then where Bishop V.M Adelakun ministered. I followed the bishop because Bishop Francis Wale Oke, my spiritual grandfather ministers in his church. After Bishop Adelakun finished ministering at the meeting, he made an altar call and I came out. But only to discover I was the only person that came before the altar and he prayed for me alone. Instantly, I had a conviction (a witness) in my spirit that I am now born again. That day March 23, 1995 is unique in my life. If you can’t remember your spiritual birthday date , then you are not born again.
What is the specific mandate of your call to ministry?
After my salvation, I prayed for the in-filling of the Holy Spirit and I received it. Unfortunately, along the line I missed it. So, I waited upon the Lord asking Him for the return of the Holy Spirit back into my life. I fasted and prayed three for days to get it back. Eventually, the Holy Spirit rested upon me again now in full force that I started speaking in tongues from my sleep. Everyone in the house was surprised; wondering what language I was speaking. I was ministered to and empowered for ministry. I have a power power. Everything that surrounds my ministry; the church, the Bible colleges and the prayer mountain is all about power. I am a deliverance and healing minister in the dimension of power according to Acts 1:8. Our major focus in our two Bible colleges is impartation of the Holy Spirit and power.
What are the church programmes in line with the mandate of your ministry?
Our motto is purity, praise and power.I was called into the ministry of power. I was the Christian Union president on the campus. Before my admission into the former Ogun state Polytechnic, Abeokuta, I ministered in villages. In one of those days a witch doctor confronted me while we were at the front of his house ministering to the members of his household. From inside his house he attacked me and I found myself on the ground. My spirit man came out. I found myself in my house but when I looked back I saw the village. I was perturbed because my house and the village were miles apart. My body laid still on the ground. The brethren prayed and my body jerked back to life. The evangelism coordinator told me I was dead. I wasn’t happy. I felt the attack shouldn’t have affected me if I was deeply rooted in the Lord. But the coordinator said God wanted to do something with that experience. When the evangelism coordination left school I took over from him as the new evangelism coordinator. And my first assignment as the new evangelism coordinator was to organize a another crusade in the front of the house of that same witch doctor to prove to him that I had become a different person now with enough power. When we started the crusade he came but I didn’t pay any attention to him. When God revealed through me that there was a man here with four eyes; two at the front and two at the back, surprisingly, the witch doctor came forward and accepted Christ. We started a church in the front of the house. The church is still there till date. All these happened before I became the president of the fellowship.
Now, what is the 2023 10th Dunami Convention of Shepherd Hand Int’l church all about?
It is our annual time of stock taking of what God has done for us. This year’s convention is a landmark with focus on Turning to God. Some of my spiritual children are ministering at the convention along two respected men of God as guest ministers. By the grace of God, we have raised men through our Bible colleges who can minister to us. People should expect thanksgiving, souls winning and bringing of the oppressed from darkness and oppression into the light and freedom of God. The convention kicked off on Sunday December 9, 2023, with a mass rally. The next day, Monday, we visited an orphanage and blessed the children. On Tuesday, we retreated to our Prayer Mountain for prayers. We hold a three-day revival from Wednesday-Friday in our church. Our Bible college graduation ceremony will on Saturday at our prayer camp and the convention thanksgiving service will hold the next day Sunday December 17, 2023 in our church.
Tell us about the two colleges of the church; Jesus School of Power and Patmos Bible College
The vision of both colleges came after we started Shepherd Hand Int’l Ministry and I felt I wasn’t doing enough. I knew I had potentials that I was yet to use maximally. I was looking for a platform to express those potentials. While I was praying, the Lord instructed me to start a prayer mountain for all denominations. When we started the church, there were several testimonies; healing of cancer, tumor, broken bones and diverse signs and wonders, still I felt I wasn’t doing enough. The Lord has commissioned me to extend my anointing to others. One can receive anointing but one may not go far if one lacks knowledge. Aside anointing, impartation is also necessary. This led us to found Jesus School of Power about five years now. The school places emphasis on Holy Ghost and fire baptism. I have discovered that 80% of general overseers of churches are not baptized in the Holy Ghost. We have had to start from the foundation. We have several courses to this effect. Our major vision is impartation and power. We have periods for teaching and for impartation. The school is opened to all denominations.
