By SAM Eyoboka & Olayinka Latona

IN line with the Pastor Enoch Adeboye’s vision of taking the Redeemed Christian Church of God, RCCG, to every nook and cranny of the world, eminent members of the church gathered at Ibafo area of Ogun State last Sunday for the inaugur-ation of another provincial head-quarters.

Known as Ogun Province 8, the dedication service was attended by a special assistant to the General Overseer and pastor in charge of Region 12, Pastor Gbadebo Lawal who represented Pastor Adeboye, a man decribed as the oldest evangelist in the mission, Pastor Ayodele, two provincial pastors, Pastor Dele Balogun of Oyo I and Pastor H.O. Adeyemo of Ogun 4 among others.

The ceremony started with a spectacular performance by the choir which was lead by a brother with physical disability who ast-ounded most visitors by the way he conducted the  choir in a praise and worship session despite his physical challenge.

In a short sermon, the Provincial pastor of Oyo I, Pastor Dele Balogun charged the leadership of the new province not to be distrated by the location of the church or what people will say about them at the initial stage, stressing: “The message of God for this province is; ‘I will be with you.’

According to him, whenever God is with any individual, everything the individual need in ministry settled,” saying that many people look at the glamour associated with the work of the pastor without appreciating the enormity of resp-onsibility attached to the call.

“Wherever you are located, whether in Ibafo or anywhere else in the universe, the most import-ant instrument you need to succ-eed is the prersence of God,” he pointed out, adding that the pre-sence is not dependent on locat-ion.

He outlined five benefits of the presence of God to include: divine assignment becomes easy; you’re about to experience victory; something will come out of nothing; there will be safety and protection and there will be abundant provision, stressing that the best way to attract God’s presence is through praise and unity among brethren.

He therefore appealed to all the  members drawn from 141 parish-es, to co-operate with the new leadership and work in unity.

In his response, the new provin-cial pastor, Pastor Adeagbo Akin-labi, a teacher of Yoruba at the Redeemers High College at the Redemption Camp, thanked God, Pastor Adeboye and hailed the sterling contributions of all those who had contributed one way or the other to the success of the dream especially his immediate past boss, Pastor Adeyemo of Ogun 4, from where the new province was carved.

“We won’t promise anything because any position God has lifted anyone, there are responsibi-lities; but we can assure that we will depend on Him. We solicit your prayers and whenever you have any suggestion do not hesita-te to bring it to us. We are open to listen”, he maintained.

In an interview, Pastor Akinlabi urged Christians in the country to continue to pray for peace and se-curity in the country, adding that the series of security challenges currently facing the nation were an indication that “the end of the world as we know it is at hand”.

He said: “God is the solution to every problem we have on earth, once we depend on Him, trust Him, and serve Him, He will make a way even where there is no way. He has done it before, during the time of Noah, and He will do it again and again.”

According to the new provincial pastor, “everything that is happen-ing around the world, including places where people used to enjoy uninhibited peace and tranquility before now, are now facing a terrible tough times. This is an indication that the end that was predicted in the Holy Bible is approaching.”

Akinlabi explained that what has become a provincial head-quarters started in 1998/1999 through the efforts of the satellite campus of the Redeemed Christ-ian Bible College which was on a practrical church planting miss-ion to Ibafo.

“They organised a crusade and thereafter started a parish on August 1, 1999 with Deacon S. M. Okelola as the pioneer pastor. The parish became an area head-quarters in April 2001. It later became a zonal headquarters in August 2008 with Pastor Lawrence Olunifesi as the pioneer zonal pastor. As at today, the then baby parish of 1999 has become a provincial headquarters”, he said.