Gbenro Adesina
The Superintendent General of The Apostolic Faith Church, Rev. Darrel Lee and board members of the church, on Sunday December 12, 2021, inaugurated Rev Isaac Adigun as the new District Superintendent (DS) of the Western and Central Africa (WECA) region.
It would be recalled that following the retirement of Rev Bayo Adeniran as WECA DS, on May 30, 2021, Lee announced the appointment of Adigun as the new WECA DS alongside new board members. At the time of the appointment, Adigun was the DS, Western Europe District Superintendent, hence, Rev Gabriel Kayode Ajayi was appointed acting DS till November 7, when Adigun would be officially inaugurated.
However, the inauguration of Adigun could not be held as rescheduled due to a mild illness, hence, it was postponed till December 12, 2021.
Speaking before praying for the new DS, Lee appreciated the leadership of Ajayi for holding forth after the retirement of Rev Adebayo.
He said, “Thank you, Brother G. K Ajayi. We appreciate your leadership for about few months ago. As you recalled, on May 30, this year, we installed new board members and Brother G. K Ajayi as acting DS. We have utmost confidence and integrity from the time he was saved till now”.
Lee pointed out that the church is guided by the Bible when it comes to the appointment and installation of the church leadership stressing, “We draw our example heavily from the old testament, the teaching of Jesus Christ and the letters Paul Apostle wrote to Timothy and Titus.
According to him, the Bible has given a clear direction on the appointment of church leaders, itemising the basic criteria for the appointment of church leaders as salvation, sanctification and the baptism of Holy Spirit.
Pointing out that Adigun certified these conditions just like many others in the church, the SG said, “There are many who met these criteria but it boils down to who God has called to play the role. When we install or ordain, we are publicly recognising those individuals that God has called and equipped to fill the role. This is not a political process to determine the will of the people, this is a prayerful process to determine the will of God. Your board members met with me on May 28, as we considered the possibility and who the mantle of God will fall upon. I wish all of you could have been in that private meeting, when the name of Isaac Adigun was raised, to see the response of board members. The response was that of over joy to the extent that those that attended the meeting said that the prayer of the church has been answered. They were all together confident and persuaded that the mantle of God for the leadership of WECA fell on brother Isaac”.
HE continued, “During that 24 hours time period, I conferred with Brother Isaac and requested that he confer with his wife, our sister, Stella and he got back to me and said Sister Stella was also willing and by the grace of God, they will return to Nigeria”.
The SG testified to the standing of Adigun in the Lord saying, “You know Brother Isaac and Sister Stella already. I have worked closely with him during my 20 years of serving the church as SG. I was appointed in the year 2000 and Brother Isaac was also appointed same year to lead the church in UK. I can declare that he has demonstrated a faithful leadership and financial accountability and live a life that is blameless and above reproach. I can say that Sister Stella has the same attributes as she has faithfully stood by her husband and supported him. Brother Isaac and your board are determined that the work of God in Africa be above reproach and not faulted”.
He thanked God for the support the church gave to Ajayi while overseeing the church as acting DS, demanding that such support be extended to Adigun.
He said that after the ordination, Adigun would, henceforth, take the leading seat in the church, while he and other ministers of God take seats allocated to them by the new DS.
His words, “I will ask Brother Adigun to come forward and the board will join me to pray for him, as we pray to God to grant him the wisdom of Solomon and to bless his wife and the leadership of the church. We will ask you to join us in prayer. Afterward, Brother Isaac will address you. He will run the remaining service. I have asked that from today, whenever I come to Nigeria, Brother Isaac will sit in the lead chair and I will be seated wherever he choses for me simply because when I am gone, brother Isaac is in charge of the service. I will sit where he wants me to sit”.
In his installation speech, the new DS revealed while the inauguration could not hold on November 7, saying that he and his wife were ill “First and foremost, I will want to say thank you for your prayer during our sickness. God answered your prayer over us and that is why we are here”, he said.
“We are happy to be here to serve the Lord with you and serve you. I really feel so humble that God Almighty has given me this undeserved opportunity to serve you”, he declared.
He said years back, when he was involved in fetching water to be used in the campground, around 1970s, he never thought he would ever be made a DS in charge of WECA, stressing that since he left Nigeria in 1983 to further his education in UK, he never knew he would be recalled to serve the Lord in the capacity of DS.
He narrated his three experiences: salvation, sanctification and baptism of holy spirit saying, “I was an apprentice at Government Training Centre, Ijebu Ode, where I was saved through the activities of the AVS. Again, through the activities of AVS and Christmas and Easter Retreats, God sanctify me and filled me with Holy Ghost baptism. Since then in 1974 till now, I can testify that when the Lord say he can keeps, the Lord has been there for me. For 40 years that I left for the UK, the Lord has been faithful. I want to thank God for the support of my wife, Stella and saints all over the world. God bless you all”.
“At the beginning of this year and 21 years of service in UK, I started talking to my wife about our plan to retire in few years time. However, when we received the call in May, this year, that plan to retire turned to plan to restart. I can’t forget when I discussed this call with Stella, what she said is that wherever you go, I will follow. By the grace of God, the two of us accept this call. We want to thank God for willingness to accept the call. I will request you keep praying for Stella. Just a few weeks before we travelled down here, she fell down on the staircase and sustained fractured ankle and she is still trying to work very well. I know with your prayer, she will soon be on her feet”, he added.
He thanked the SG, all the saints in Western Europe, family members, particularly, his norther, WECA management, Rev G.K Ajayi, workers, installation committee for their support, ending by saying, “Quite appropriately, I will like to be identified with Solomon who prayed in 1 King 3:7-9”.
