No Revival is Coming, We’re Already in The Revival

– Pastor Temitope Arowele 

 

Pastor Dr. Temitope Ebenezer Arowele is the Senior Pastor of Christ Apostolic Church, Land of Mercy, House of Mercy Sanctuary, Ibeju-Lekki, Lagos.

He graduated with a degree in Agricultural Engineering Technology from Ondo State Polytechnic. Furthermore, after his Youth Service, he obtained a Master’s Degree, and later a PhD in Strategic Leadership and Ministry.

He is a man passionate about youth development and the younger generation. He recently dedicated an ultra-modern and well-equipped Church building in the Ibeju-Lekki area of Lagos.

In this interview, he spoke with Providence News on his upbringing, ministry, youth development, and other issues. Excerpt;

How would you describe your journey into the ministry?

I was born into a Christian home, and my parents are Christians. To the glory of God, my father was a pastor, but that was not a guarantee that I would give my life to Christ or get saved. I was in secondary school when I had an encounter that totally transformed and changed my life. Afterwards, I became passionate about God, and God began to show me the directions I would be going, but as a human, that was not the direction I wanted to go. By the time I entered the higher institution, many walls were pointing in that direction. From 2000 to 2007, we started what we called Purpose Discovery Ministries, where we helped people discover their purpose and channel them to Kingdom fulfilment. In 2008, during my youth service, I started a ministry, and after my service in 2009, I began a full-time Kingdom assignment. 

Who can you say is your mentor or the ministry you started from?

My Christian life and ministry have been in the Christ Apostolic Church. That’s where I grew, developed, and served in various capacities. Though I have respected ministers from other ministries that God has shown and led me to on my pathway as great mentors, and I have been privileged to work with other ministries and ministers. My dad, as a pastor, has been one of the great influences and mentors. With that connection, there was already spiritual guidance of God, primarily through my path. I had been well mentored, disciplined, and groomed before venturing into the ministry.

Share with us about your ministry and the church: 

By His grace, about 17 years ago, the Lord gave us a mandate to run an archdiocese and sow in evangelism and crusades around the Ibeju-Lekki axis. For several years, we did that and were running two ministries: the Purpose Discovery Initiative Network and the Young Partners Club. All these are geared towards helping young people, with a focus on teenagers and youth, to discover their purpose. With that, the Lord prompted us to start an intercessory ministry that has been running for 15 years. We have a team that we pray and intercede for ministries, individuals, ourselves, and Nigeria every week. The lead to pioneer a church began in the early part of 2012, and at that time, I was working as an evangelist in my dad’s church. After the Lord spoke to me about starting a church, the Lord finally led me to start the church in 2013.

We started the assembly and called it the House of Mercy Sanctuary. Our first structure was built for children. And after some time, the structure became overwhelmed, and the Lord began to lay a burden on us to start building a new structure. To the glory of God, we set out by faith and with the help of God, we were able to commenced the construction of a one-story building, that comprises of a gallery with two offices for ministers and the admin, eight toilets, a children’s department, two wings of two-bedroom flats up and down, including a choir changing room, a media room, and a sound and technical room. God has helped us get to this destination. 

How would you personally describe God? 

To be very candid, if I were to describe God as a big God, a wonderful God, a great God, and a merciful God because of what I have practically encountered Him, seen His work, felt His finger, and experienced His mercy, in my journey of life and ministry.

What God has asked us to pull out within these couple of years, without God, we wouldn’t have been able to do it. To be sincere, no one has come around to see what we are doing and is not amazed at the speed of work. The beautiful part of it is that while the construction work was going on, we didn’t make a noise about it, and that surprised many people. This is not what a man can do naturally. It takes the grace of God, supernatural intervention, and help. We cannot claim that our efforts are complete. The project team, church members, building committee, and everyone involved cannot claim that our effort was the reason for the building, because we knew the amount of money and resources required for the building project, and it can only be God to pull such huge resources together, especially in the present economic situation. If I were to describe God in another term, I would say God is too big to be described.

With your upbringing and development, what’s your opinion on today’s Christianity among the youth? 

Presently, we are having a serious case of increased knowledge, and there are fast generations. Oftentimes, most people believe these young ones are getting in the way of God. But that is a wrong notion, and purely an assumption. The present generation has a deeper longing for God, provided they have the right environment. When they have the right environment, they are passionate and can do well. If you check the statistics now, we have more teenagers and more youth in the church than adults. The current statistics indicate that adults, the mature ones, are quietly getting tired of the church, while the youth are becoming more passionate and hungry about the church, if a good environment can be created. The major challenge is the inability to connect with these young ones. Their connection level is digital, and their concentration level is low. If we must deal with them, we have to consider the environment and what easily attracts them. They are more aesthetic, and to attract them, we need to do things that are aesthetic and can appeal to them.

They are not analogous, but presently, the burning and hunger are increasing in them. If we get it right, we can capture them in the kingdom without the euphoria of losing them.

People may feel that we are losing them, but we are not. Rather, we should find a solution to bring them into the kingdom. They are tools for the kingdom. We have a higher percentage of them, and the adults cannot reach them. We need to find a way to get them to themselves and bring themselves in. We do something like that in our church. 

Sometimes, if we want to do invitations, we can’t get into some of these. Then we ask those teenagers to invite their friends. Every time we have done that, we’ve achieved results more than when we try to go ahead and do it by ourselves.

What’s your opinion on diverse doctrination in Christendom, and how do we overcome it?

The truth is, in the Bible, there is nothing that is out there now that is new. The scripture has spoken ahead, and one of the things the scripture says is that when the end comes, the knowledge will increase. With that coming to pass, everyone wants to form their own doctrine.

Everyone claims to have Rhema and understanding of the word of God. The truth is, the only doctrine that must be universally acknowledged and accepted is the one that came from the word of God.

Any rhema, or word that has no scriptural basis or attachment, is not what should be paid attention to. Unfortunately, most of the people with false orientation, fake teachings, and a lack of doctrinal values are the ones who have the most social media presence. They don’t have the message, but they possess the means, and it’s easier for them to misinform and mislead people.

They have access to strategies to seduce people and do everything to get the means from people for their selfish purposes. But in the long run, the true word of God will prove itself against false doctrine. As those of us who are remnants remain faithful, God will glorify Himself, and He is doing that already. Revival is not coming; rather, it has started.

We’re already in the revival, but we need to ask God to open our eyes to see that the revival is already on, and God will stir our revival spirit.

What words of encouragement do you have for Nigerians at this time? 

To Nigerians, we understand that times are hard, the economy is not pleasant, and we know many are fed up, but Nigerians should put their hope, trust, and absolute belief in God for intervention. There will be a turnaround. Something like that had happened in Samaria, where things were hard and people sacrificed their children. It reached a point where the intervention of a prophet came through a prophetic declaration, and within 24 hours, everything turned around for them.

I am sure the same thing will happen in Nigeria. Things are going to turn around, and I encourage us to continue praying for our country, Nigeria, and to believe in the word of God and encourage one another.

For those who are blessed, one of the objectives the church is known for is not to hold on to what it has. As a church, it’s for us to share, empower, and be of help to others. It would be good service for us to continue doing that. 

Where did you graduate from, and what is your area of specialisation?

I studied agricultural engineering technology and graduated from Ondo State Polytechnic. I later had my postgraduate diploma in strategic leadership. Then a master’s and a PhD in strategic leadership and ministry. He also obtained another degree in pastoral ministry, and I am currently pursuing a master’s in Sociology of Religion at Redeemer University. It’s self-development.

Tell us about your immediate family:

I am an indigene of Akoko Southeast in Ondo State, happily married to a beautiful woman, and have wonderful children. I love my family, and they came first in everything because I was born and raised in an environment of family love.