How I Was Delivered from an HIV Scare Through T. L. Osborn’s Book – Pastor Olatunji Adebayo
How would you like us to introduce you, including your upbringing?
I am Pastor Olatunji Adebayo. I hail from Abeokuta, Ogun State. I had a very good upbringing in a comfortable family. My father worked with Nigeria Airways, which afforded us the opportunity to travel to many places.
However, our family’s comfort was suddenly disrupted when my father became ill and eventually passed away in 1985, while I was writing my final examinations at the University of Ibadan (UI). With his death, the stability and ease the family once enjoyed became naturally paralyzed.
How did this development shape or change the course of your life?
That experience forced me to begin seeing life from a deeper and more serious perspective. Meanwhile, in 1989, I gave my life to Christ. My salvation experience was quite dramatic because I had grown up in an orthodox church. I was presumed to be a Christian, yet I had never truly encountered Christ.
I did not realize this until October 2, 1989—two months before my admission into the University of Ibadan. That encounter happened right in our house.
What led to that encounter with Christ?
While searching for some items in my father’s bedroom, I stumbled upon a book written by Evangelist T. L. Osborn titled How to Receive Miracle Healing. Around that period, in late 1988, I had developed an infirmity I could not explain. I was losing weight rapidly and sweating excessively.
At that time, public discussions about HIV were widespread. I read about the symptoms and realized that I was experiencing some of them. I began to fear that I had HIV, even though I was not promiscuous. Later, as awareness increased, I learned that HIV could be contracted through other means aside from sexual intercourse. This knowledge heightened my fear.
I was taken to hospitals, but the doctors could not diagnose the exact nature of my illness. Gradually, I began to prepare myself emotionally for the possibility that I might die. I did not share my fears with my parents or anyone else; I internalized the anxiety, fear, and confusion.
How did the book by T. L. Osborn affect you?
On that fateful day, I picked up How to Receive Miracle Healing and began reading it. As I read, I found myself delivered from the fear, confusion, and emotional turmoil that had gripped me. I later wondered how the book found its way into my father’s bedroom.
I have two elder sisters who were students at the University of Ibadan at the time—one studying Medicine and the other Physiotherapy. Both gave their lives to Christ while in the university. I believe that during one of their visits home, one of them left the book behind. Looking back, I can confidently say that God strategically positioned that book for me.
Initially, I was not interested in the theological explanations in the early chapters; I was only searching for the portion on miraculous healing. However, something compelled me to keep reading until I reached the chapter where Evangelist Osborn emphasized the need to surrender one’s life to Christ.
At that moment, something supernatural happened. I felt an overwhelming conviction come upon me. I went on my knees right there in my father’s bedroom and surrendered my life to Jesus Christ.
Nobody preached to me. Nobody had ever told me about being born again. I was even a leader in the orthodox church I attended then. Yet, on that day, alone in the room, I prayed the sinner’s prayer and genuinely gave my life to Christ.
What conviction did you have when you gave your life to Christ that day?
I knew instantly that something had changed within me. My aspirations changed. My desires changed. My appetite changed. Suddenly, all I wanted to do was pray, study the Bible, and fellowship with believers who shared my faith.
Although I continued attending the orthodox church—because it was the only church I knew at the time—I found myself yearning for deeper prayer beyond rituals, and for structured Bible study and discussions.
I became voracious in reading the Bible. I read the New Testament back to back countless times. Many times, I read the Bible in the toilet, to the extent that I became a concern to my mother, who did not understand the radical change taking place in my life.
After some time, I felt a strong inner prompting to leave the orthodox church. However, I did not know any Pentecostal church or have any Pentecostal contacts.
How did you eventually find your way into the Pentecostal movement?
When my sisters returned from the university, they began attending Household of God Church, pastored by Rev. Chris Okotie, then located at Obasa, Ikeja, Lagos. I started accompanying them to the church.
In 1989, I responded to the altar call at Household of God for the first time. That was when I publicly and formally reaffirmed my decision to give my life to Jesus Christ.
How would you describe the joy of salvation?
The joy of salvation is unspeakable and unexplainable. It cannot be compared with what the world calls happiness. Worldly happiness depends on happenings—when something happens and excites you.
The joy of salvation, however, is different. You may be passing through unpleasant storms, yet there is an excitement deep within you. The Bible calls this joy unspeakable and full of glory. You cannot explain its source, but you are conscious of its reality within you.
This joy is accompanied by unexplainable peace—a peace that defies logic. There may be challenges all around, yet you remain calm and restful. Peace is not the absence of storms, but the ability to rest in the midst of storms.
This was what Jesus demonstrated when He slept in the boat during the storm while His disciples panicked. That same joy and peace were what I experienced when I gave my life to Jesus Christ—and that joy abides with me till today.
As a young believer, what factors boosted your spiritual growth?
As I mentioned earlier, I had a voracious appetite for the Word of God. I read and studied the Scriptures relentlessly, as though there was no tomorrow. I read all the books of the New Testament repeatedly, especially the Synoptic Gospels—Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. These became my primary focus immediately after my salvation experience.
I also read the Old Testament extensively and went through the entire Bible several times from Genesis to Revelation. This formed the spiritual foundation that built me.
When I gained admission into the University of Ibadan in late 1989/1990, my hunger for God’s Word intensified. I was privileged to associate with brethren who shared the same passion. We constantly challenged one another in Bible study.
We jokingly said that if our veins were cut, “Bibloglobin” would flow instead of hemoglobin. We even claimed we would eat the Bible until Scriptures altered our blood configuration. This imagery expressed the depth of our immersion in God’s Word.
Alongside this, we developed a strong prayer culture. Even before entering the university, prayer had already become a consistent lifestyle for me. My greatest desire was to remain in God’s presence through prayer and study.
At home, the toilet was the only place I could pray privately. But on campus, I had more freedom and space, and I spent several hours daily in prayer. Eventually, among the brethren, we developed a structured prayer system we called “Prayer Units.”
If you want, I can now:
Tighten this further for print space
Reformat it as a Q&A interview layout
Or prepare a front-page pull-quote version
Just tell me the publication format.
