The archive of the apostles bring to us this great evangelist

The founder of World Soul-Winning Evangelistic Ministry (WOSEM)

Missionary Christianity was the first brand of the faith that came into Nigeria. Years after, the reaction of Nigerians to this form of Christianity (especially in the southwest of the country) produced other expressions of the faith. First was that of the Ethiopian Churches which occurred from 1888 to 1917; the second produced the African Indigenous Churches otherwise referred to as Aladura Churches; while the third gave rise to the Pentecostal and Charismatic Churches. Within the south-western zone of Nigeria otherwise known as Yorubaland, another reaction inspired a handful of indigenous charismatic figures or prophets who laid claim to the call of God. Prominent among these was Apostle Joseph Ayodele Babalola, whose ministry in latter days blossomed into the Christ Apostolic Church.

While western missionaries introduced Christianity into Nigeria, the credit of contextualising, that is adapting it to the African milieu so that it would reflect the aspirations of Africans, goes to these indigenous churches and their prophets, many of whom dramatically demonstrated the power of God in their ministries. Such a man was Apostle Joseph Ayodele Babalola, whose church, the CAC, became a force to be reckoned with within Nigerian Christendom and continues to be so to this day. Babalola and David Odubanjo led the CAC for some time before they both passed away in 1959. However, shortly before Babalola’s death, he brought into the church a young evangelist who would later propel it to greater heights. This young evangelist became widely known in later years as Prophet Timothy Oluwole Obadare. His ministry contributed immeasurably to the expansion of the CAC.

Timothy Oluwole’s date of birth is uncertain. While some documents have 1925 as his birth date, others assert that he was born in the year 1930. The 1930 date seems more likely as more documents allude to this date than the 1925 date. He was born at Ise-Ilesa, in the present Osun State of Nigeria, to Pastor and Mrs David and Felicia Obadare of the Apostolic Church of Nigeria. His father David was initially a farmer before he was called to be a minister of God, while his mother Felicia was a petty trader. Obadare’s family could be described as ecclesiastical or Levite, as his four brothers were all ministers of God and his only sister was married to a clergyman. Timothy’s father later relocated to Oke-Eso, Ilesa, where he continued in the service of God as a pastor in his denomination.

Timothy attended the Apostolic Church Primary School, Ise-Ilesa, but was unable to complete his primary education as he developed an eye problem caused by a chronic small pox epidemic, which ravaged his entire community and cost him the use of both eyes. All efforts by his parents to salvage the situation and help restore his sight proved fruitless. He was later taken to a missionary hospital in Lagos where the missionary doctors at the hospital confirmed that his eyes were damaged beyond restoration, but suggested that God had provided him with invisible eyes sharper than ordinary human eyes. This sounded prophetic and that was what it turned out to be. This ugly incident became a challenge which propelled young Timothy to seek divine intervention, as a result of which he encountered God at the age of seven. He received the Baptism of the Holy Spirit in February, 1949.

Theological Education

In spite of the issue of his eyesight, Obadare was undaunted. He had a clear focus with regard to what God wanted him to do and he pursued it with all his vigor. Although he never had the advantage of western education early in life, after his call he went to be trained. In 1954, he attended the Apostolic Church Theological Seminary for theological education. Later he received many honorary degrees and was granted membership of many international institutions. Among these were a Doctor of Ministry degree from St. John’s University, Missouri in 1985; membership of the International Affairs Leadership Parliament (MIALP) of the Golden State University, Los Angeles and the International Theological Seminary of Desoto and Honolulu University, Hawaii. The Trinity College of Ministerial Arts, Aba, Nigeria also granted him an Honorary Doctor of Divinity Degree in 1990.

Ministry

Having sensed the call of God on his life, Timothy submitted and set himself to be a vessel to be used by God. This led to many encounters with the Lord. One of these encounters took place in 1952 and was a pointer to his call to the ministry. That year, all the members of the Apostolic Church were commanded by God to participate in a period of fasting and prayer for ten days. On the tenth day of the program, during the normal Sunday morning service, Obadare received what could be called a spiritual ordination from the God. He narrated the experience as follows:

I saw a wonderful hand, bigger than any hand in world. The hand descended upon my head like a cap and oil was poured on my head and it streamed down my feet. Then the spirit of God made me to prophesy mighty things from 9.15 a.m. to 1 p.m. and there was no other thing done in the service that day and the prophecies were recorded.[2]

Obadare started his career as an evangelist in the Apostolic Church of Nigeria in 1953. The choice of the denomination was no doubt influenced by his father who was a pastor with the church. A revival had been organized by Brother Paul and Dr Thomas Whayad, ministers of the church, which continued till mid-April 1953. The end of the revival challenged Obadare, who felt that God needed more vessels to carry his message. Therefore, first and foremost, Obadare made himself available to God and challenged God to make use of him, in spite of his physical disability. However, he was aware that the Holy Spirit was the most essential weapon needed by any man of God for spiritual exploits; and so this is what he decided to pray for most doggedly. He compelled his mother to lock him up in a room where he embarked on a prolonged fasting and prayer session to seek the power of God as demonstrated by the two evangelists of the church. The Lord appeared to him on the fifth day of this prayer session. He described the experience:

On the fifth day, I did not hear any sound of this world again. In that room, it seems to me that I was there with over thirty people; I no longer had the feeling that I was there alone. It was in this room I was given twenty-one keys. God spoke to me a lot, and they were confidential issues about my mission, my life, my nation and my future. Also my head was opened at the left hand side and a copy of the Holy Bible was deposited there and the place was sealed up.[3]

Coming out of the room on the seventh day, he went straight to the church where he preached for a period of four hours, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. This resulted in the first of the miraculous events of Obadare’s ministry: close to 350 people suffering from a cough epidemic that had broken out in Ilesa at the time were miraculously healed by God through his ministration.