Pastor Muyiwa Ayela is an Area Pastor in the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG). He had grown through the ranks from an ordinary member to a deacon, a parish pastor and presently an area pastor in the very popular church. In the below interview with Christian Benefits, Pastor Adela shares his hunching for breaking a new ground in the task of soul winning unto to the Lord. And he says he has been well groomed for the future by the RCCG for the new ground breaking. Excerpts.
Can we meet you sir?
My name is Muyiwa Adela. I was born on December 26, 1970. I joined the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) in 1996. I was ordained a deacon in 2003. I got married in April 2000 but waited five years before we had our first child. I was later ordained a parish pastor. Subsequently, I was ordained as an area pastor in 2016 till date. I have been a pastor in the RCCG for seven years now.
Share with us your rebirth encounter before you became pastor in the RCCG
By the grace of God I was the one who led my parents to Christ. Before then my parents believed in Ogun (local god). That was why they rechristened me Ogunyemi which I later changed. However, right from my birth I love God and devote time to serving him. After attending several churches I joined Cherubim and Seraphim (C&S) in 1990. I joined the C&S because of my gift of music. I’m a born musician. I was able to transform the music of the church and that accorded me some fame. In 1996 I had an issue with the church head which caused me tears. A friend calmed me down and told me that church was not the right church for me. In the course of this, someone started a new church and invited me to join the church. I refused because I was still committed in the C&S. But along the line I visited that new church and after I listened to the word of God there I gave my life to Christ.
Why was it that it was in that new church that you gave your life to Christ?
It was after I listened to the word of God in that church I realized that we were not being told the truth in the C&S. Whilst in the C&S we freely frolicked with girls. Even the head of the C&S I attended had three wives. So, he never rebuked us whenever he saw us messing around with girls or doing other wrongful things. Even the church ministers drank Chelsea or other alcoholic drinks before climbing the altar to preach. So, after I listened to the true word of God at that Pentecostal church I discontinued my amorous relationship with a particular girl. When she knew that I discontinued my relationship with her because I’m now born again, she also gave her life to Christ. Unfortunately, she later returned to the old sinful way.
What are the changes you experienced in your life when you left the C&S?
To the glory of God when I left the C&S twelve other people followed me, though some of my friends in the C&S pleaded with me to stay in that white garment fold. I told them I have seen the light at Christian Love Bible Church; the name of the new church I joined in 1993. I surrendered my life completely to Jesus Christ. It was from that church I later joined the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG). I joined RCCG by the leading of the Holy Ghost after a programme that the church held at the national stadium, Surulere, Lagos. I attended the programme with my wife. She had the same conviction and said this is the right place for us to be. After the programme at the stadium a RCCG parish invited us to minister in songs in one of their programmes. After our song ministration the parish pleaded with us to stay with them. That was how my wife and I joined the RCCG in 1996 till now.
Share your experiences in RCCG in those early years you joined the church.
Any member who joined the RCCG in the 70s to 90s knows that period was when the church doctrine was very sound. But from the 20s other practices have set into the church. Today’s work in RCCG looks like a patched work unlike when I joined the church in the 90s at the classical Lagos Province 8. Back in those days the G.O respected that Province. In those days we must be in church by 6.30am for workers meeting. Every Sunday the members paid for the instruments the church would use. Our pioneer pastor (now in London) then was a student at the University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University, OAU) and he picked the church bills. We didn’t rush home after service every Sunday. We were zealous serving the Lord.
What informed the zeal for serving the Lord selflessly in those days?
The world was not too polluted unlike now. For instance, in those days there was nothing like mobile phones. We were all satisfied with what we had. In those days we didn’t pay money to instrumentalists to play for the church. They played for the church joyfully without collecting money. Maybe it is the poor economy situation today that is making instrumentalists to now bill churches before they can play.
What are some of the gifts the Lord endowed you for the work of ministry?
My availability in walking and working with God makes him releases his grace upon me. I am gifted in the area of singing. I am gifted in the area of seeing vision.
What has been sustaining you in your walk with the Lord over the years?
Sacrifice! I like making sacrifices. I have been doing that for many years. When I joined the RCCG fresh the church trusted me to the extent of keeping the church keys with me. I simultaneously lead praise worship and beat the drums. God has a way of sustaining us when he looks at the records of our works before him, like in the case of Prophet Hezekiah in the Bible and preserve our lives. Sometimes there come upon us some circumstances beyond our capacity to bear. Jesus experienced such a circumstance on the cross and cried I wish the cup is passed over me. So, it is God that determines and works out our sustenance. It is not by our strength. (Continues next edition on Pastor Muyiwa Adela’s new ground-breaking outreach).
