‍Toyin’s Story

My mother told me that when I was a baby, I was very sick. She took me to several doctors in Nigeria, but they were not able to help me. She gave up and told God, “If You want him to live, let him live, and if not, take him away.” The fact that I am alive today is because God spared my life.

My father was not around, so I was raised by my mother alone. When I was twelve, a friend invited me to his church one day. I asked him why I should go, and he told me about confessing my sins and receiving forgiveness and salvation. I didn’t think I needed forgiveness because I was very mild by nature and was considered one of the best boys in the community. Still, I decided to go.

At the service, I was instructed to pray. As I did, the Lord began to point out some of my sins to me. He reminded me of times I had taken money from under my grandma’s pillow to buy bean cake and other treats. I prayed, “Oh God, You saw me do that?” He brought up lies I had told. I was so surprised! Personally, I had forgotten those things, but God reminded me. I had to agree that what I had done was wrong, and I told God, “I’m sorry, and I don’t want to do things like that again,” and He forgave me. That was how I was saved.

Not many people in my community were Christians, and after I was saved, they noticed a difference in me. I had been so quiet before, but God gave me boldness to tell everybody about Jesus. Many did not know who Jesus was and they thought something was wrong with me. Some told me that church was for old people, and I would be miserable there, but I knew God had done something real in my life and I took a stand for the Gospel.

My mother also did not understand what had happened to me, and that caused a big problem in my life. She thought I had joined some misguided group and was going astray, so she persecuted me severely for my faith. She would tell me that I had to choose between eating or going to church—if I went to church, I had to forfeit my food. But the salvation of my soul was so satisfying that I didn’t care if I lacked food, so I would attend church and go to bed hungry. Sometimes she would also beat me after I got home, but God helped me to still be respectful to her.

After about two years, a woman came from seemingly out of nowhere and told my mother, “This boy is the best boy in the community. He doesn’t smoke, he doesn’t fight, he doesn’t go about with troublemakers. Who knows, but maybe that church made him what he is. Why are you beating that out of him?” It was the work of my Savior to send that woman to defend me. After that, my mother stopped mistreating me. In fact, many years later she was also saved, and then she deeply regretted all she had put me through. When she experienced the joy of salvation herself, with tears she asked me, “Is this what you had, what I was beating you for?” She was so grateful that she couldn’t drive Christ out of me, and I am so grateful God gave me the grace to keep my testimony during that time.

I moved to Lagos, Nigeria, when I was seventeen, and there I attended an Apostolic Faith service for the first time. After the meeting, a brother came to talk to me. I told him how I had been saved, and then he asked if I had been sanctified. I had never even heard of sanctification, so he explained it to me. From what he said, I realized that I was still struggling against a sinful nature in my heart. I went to the altar determined to receive sanctification and prayed through that afternoon. Immediately, I was encouraged by the brothers at the altar to move forward and receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit. They joined with me in prayer, and that same day God filled me with His Spirit.

From that time on, everything in my life became centered on God. As a student, I was what we called a “church rat”—the church was my second home. Anytime I did not have lectures, I would be at church washing vehicles, cleaning dishes, driving workers somewhere, or helping with something else, and I was happy doing it. I loved to work for the Lord.

On completion of my studies, I was posted to the city of Jos in Plateau State, where I was required to serve the government for a period of one year. God opened a way for me to serve the government in our branch church in Jos, living on the premises as a caretaker and carrying out administrative and other duties. All my desire was to work for God in every capacity possible. I always remembered how He had spared my life as a baby and was thankful for the privileges He gave me to serve Him.

When my government assignment ended, God provided a job for me in Jos. In time, He led me to take Funke as my wife who also attended the church in Jos. Initially, I thought the marriage process was going to be a roller coaster. However, it became a battle. I took the matter to God in prayer. Funke also had an assurance from God about the marriage, so she took a stand with her family, and they finally agreed for us to marry.

When we married, we asked God to put us in the palm of His hand. Our prayer has been, “God, anywhere it pleases You, and whatsoever You want to do with us, we want to always be at the center of Your will.” That approach has worked for us for over twenty years now. God gave us three children and He has been everything to us. He has proved in all areas of life that His will is perfect and so sweet.

In 2012, our family had the opportunity to relocate to the United Kingdom (UK) for further studies. Because of the immigration laws for students at that time, I was not allowed to work. For over six years, our only income had to be from Funke. That seemed like an obstacle, but it created an opportunity for me to work voluntarily at the UK mission in various capacities. I also had the privilege to stay home with our children and help them transition to the new environment. During those years, we became tightly bonded as a family, and I really thank God for that.

While we depended on Funke’s income, God showed us favor in many ways. She was never sick during that period, and somehow, our budget seemed to stretch further than it had before. We would look at our bank account and wonder where the money had come from. When we wanted the children to learn musical instruments, in a miraculous way God granted them music scholarships. They were given free instruments and private lessons for over five years. We owe God so much! We could never repay what He has done for us.

On January 7, 2018, I was appointed pastor of our church in Manchester. A year later, I obtained my British passport and was able to apply for a paid position, and soon God provided one. We could not have guessed how God’s plan would unfold, but by trusting in Him, things worked out better than we could have imagined.

The God we serve is real and has never failed us. He has given me peace and joy in serving Him, and I pray for strength to please Him in every aspect of my life until I make Heaven at last.

Funke’s Story

I was born the fourth of five siblings, and my parents started going to church when I was about three years old. We attended church faithfully and our home looked okay from the outside, but it was very unsettled behind closed doors. Ours was a polygamous home, and that environment affected me a lot. As I grew older, I had many sleepless nights due intense arguing in our home, to the point that I wanted to run away. However, God helped me to know that I shouldn’t do that. Thankfully, through it all, my parents always ensured that we went to church, where we regularly heard the Word of God.

Though I prayed to be saved several times as a child, I lacked the commitment to hold onto salvation for any length of time. Then, when I was seventeen years old, I reached a point where I knew I wanted to serve God for the rest of my life. At a Sunday evening service, I told God that I wasn’t leaving until I was saved, sanctified, and filled with the Holy Ghost. When the sermon finished, I rushed to the altar to plead for forgiveness of my sins. The Spirit of God began pointing out my sins to me—things I had stolen from my stepmother, malice I had kept in my heart for my stepsiblings, and so on. It was as though I was watching a video of my life, and at each scene I acknowledged that yes, I had committed that sin, and asked God to forgive me. He did forgive me, and gave me peace in my heart that has never left.

As soon as God saved me, I told Him I needed my sinful nature to be uprooted. I needed to be sanctified, and God did that for me too. Then I started praying for the baptism of the Holy Ghost. I told God, “I need power and boldness to stand for You.” As I poured out my heart to Him, in a miraculous way He came down and filled me, and I started speaking in a language unknown to me. I was so happy! I felt as light as a feather, and at home that night, I slept like a baby.

Right away, God laid it on my heart to make restitution to my dad and my stepmother. I’d always had negative feelings toward her, but when God saved me, He replaced those feelings with peace. I prayed for God’s help and then confessed to her what I had stolen and told her that I was so sorry. She said it was no problem and forgave me. When I went to my father, he forgave me too.

God also helped me at school. Because of all the stress in our home, I had not been doing well in my classes and even had to repeat one of them. With God’s help, from then on I did excellent in my studies and was accepted to a higher institution after graduation. I knew that some students give up their salvation while attending university, but my prayer was, “Lord, I want to leave university as a stronger Christian than I am now.” That is exactly what God did for me. He helped me to stand for Him against many pressures and to grow in my faith, as well as succeed in my classes.

Due to my upbringing, I had many concerns about marriage. I told God that I wanted to have a godly and peaceful home, the type where we could come together and talk, laugh, share the Word of God, and pray as a family. I specifically prayed for a husband that my children could play with.

Toyin was a minister at my church and well known by everyone. After God gave him a confirmation that we should marry, I sought God’s direction too. I felt the heavy burden of that decision; I really did not want to make a mistake. One night, I was so troubled that I couldn’t sleep, so I poured out my heart to God in prayer. There, the Holy Spirit let me know in a definite way that I should marry Toyin. My burden disappeared and I felt so happy—the same way I had felt the night I was saved.

That clear leading from God proved to be very important because when I told my parents about it, they completely objected to the marriage. Despite that resistance, I did not question what God had told me. With prayers and trust in God who intervened, we finally married.

God knew my desire was to have a godly home, and He did that for me. He blessed our marriage with three children—two girls and a boy. When they were still young, God led us to move to the UK. We did not know all that was in store for us there, but His plan has been perfect. While Toyin was home with the children, he was exactly the type of father that I had prayed my children would have.

Around the time we moved to the UK, our oldest child started having severe stomach pain. We rushed her to the hospital multiple times because of it, but the doctors did not find anything wrong with her. Having come from Nigeria, we were of high expectation that any medical challenge would be sorted easily through the UK healthcare system. However, the doctors couldn’t find a solution to our daughter’s stomach pain. Her treatment dragged on for months and then years with no diagnosis. Some of their prescriptions actually made her feel worse. She regularly missed school when the pain was too much, and in those times all we could do was try to make her comfortable and plead for her in prayer.

Eventually, our daughter decided that she didn’t want to go to the hospital anymore. She had heard testimonies of healing at church and in the church magazine, and she decided that it would be better to trust God than to keep trying new medications. We supported her in that decision and continued to pray.

Before camp meeting every year, our family always discusses the prayer requests that we will bring to God together. At the 2019 UK camp, our daughter’s healing was our top priority. She did not feel well on the opening day and the pain only increased from there. In fact, she had never been so sick at a camp meeting before. Despite that, we tried to encourage her, reminding her that God knew about her pain and that camp meeting was a good place to be when she needed a touch from the Lord.

Near the end of camp, the congregation observed the Lord’s Supper and Foot Washing. Our daughter was still not feeling well but she took part in the ordinances. Afterward, there was a barbecue lunch, and during the meal she came rushing up to me and said, “Mummy, God healed me! My stomach doesn’t have any pain!” There were so many foods that she normally would not dare to eat, but she ate everything at the barbecue and had no pain. She was so happy, and we were shouting, “Praise God! Praise God!” Since then, the stomach pain of seven years has never come back. God healed her completely!

I could tell many other times when we have proved God over the years. He has been delivering, providing, protecting, and healing our family all along our journey, and I thank Him for all He has done.