Ministry Story from Nigeria

Ministry Story from Nigeria

My name is Tolubori Ayo-Alabi, and I am from Nigeria. I am married to an Apostle and Evangelist, and together we are in the work of faith, glorifying Jesus in our calling.

It is an awesome thing standing for the glory of the gospel in my little town of Abeokuta, in Nigeria. I am a teacher of the word and a music minister, I also enjoy preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ to everyone I come across in my town and every place of opportunity I am invited to. Being a Christian leader for me is about exemplifying Christ. It’s a privilege to have few people around us whom we have preached the gospel to and are nurturing in the word of God, to grow into maturity. I trust the Lord to inculcate immediately what I have learnt at CLI into our discipleship pattern in our small group meeting.

I was born 37 years ago, into a family of three at the time, and two years later, my younger sister came along. My parents weren’t spiritual, although my grandfather, being an elder at THE APOSTOLIC CHURCH had a peculiar family altar which he never joked about. I recall him always ringing the bell as early as 5am every morning to wake us up for family devotion. I spent a lot of my childhood in church, following my granddad and parents to worship services. But really, it didn’t mean anything to me, because as at the time, I didn’t really know what I was doing, I just went to Church for fun, and to play with my friends.

At about age 14 in my junior class at the hostel, I got born again, through an itinerant minister who came to preach the gospel to us. I was convicted of my sins as I became aware of the overwhelming love of Christ for me. I repented and confessed my faith in the Lord Jesus at the end of the meeting. After this meeting, I tried to be pious at the hostel, but it only lasted a week, afterward, I went back to doing what I used to do, listening to worldly songs, cursing, abusing, etc.

Meanwhile, I have always liked the sound of lead guitar, particularly when one solos it. At 22, I decided to buy a box guitar, and play around it. When my dad who was separated from my mum at the time came to our house and saw my box guitar, he exclaimed and told me a story which is very significant to my calling and assignment in Christ.

He told me how my mum had six miscarriages after our firstborn, and eventually, conceived me. At about a few weeks from delivery, a word came from the Lord to bring my mum to church and pray over her. While the prayer was going on, a prophetic word came that He “God” was going to work miraculously to bring about my safe delivery, since the devil was against my birth. Although the due date was in a week, the water broke that very morning the prophetic word was giving, and I was safely born. Additionally, the prophet who prophesied over me also told my parents to present God with a guitar, by blessing the church with it.

At my Christening, the guitar was presented, and as the gift box was opened, and the guitarist strummed the guitar, another prophetic word came forth and God said; “As the sound of this guitar went forth, so shall my glory be seen in this child’s life to the ends of the earth.”

Therefore, my dad seeing me with a guitar was a reminder from God that He was not a man, and whatever He said HE WOULD DO, He would do. It was actually a visitation from God to affirm and remind my parents of His word.

At this time, although born again, I didn’t know the lord as my LORD. I lived as I liked, and it was as if I wasn’t even born again at all, until I had a one on one encounter with the Lord Jesus, through the baptism of the Holy Ghost at age 24 in 2006. This baptism of fire birthed a defining moment in my walk with the Lord and separated me forever from the world, sin, the devil, and every work of the flesh.

I was in my 3rd year at the university, studying History and Diplomatic Studies when I had this encounter. I had traveled to another town to visit a female friend who wasn’t born again. Our coming together was characterized by smoking, drinking, and living as we pleased. I had planned to stay the weekend at her place and as usual, have fun, but God had another plan. Like Apostle Paul, God hijacked my plan and gave me His plan from that moment on. The date was 17th of June 2006, around 12:30 am. I found myself at a church, surrounded by believers who were praying in the Spirit over me. Suddenly I became more conscious of the realm of the Spirit than the physical. I heard a voice in the tongue, and I found myself thinking aloud and saying, “how come I am hearing one voice, since there were many people who gathered around me, praying over me?” Later on, in my walk with the Lord, I realized according to God’s word that when brethren come together and pray in the Spirit, we pray the specific will of God in one accord. Rom. 8:26-27,

In this windy encounter with the Lord, it was only me and Him, although there were people in the church auditorium, it was personal. My ears were opened to Him. He told me “You don’t read your Bible”, and I told Him I would read it. He told me to say goodbye to everyone, I was a bit reluctant to do that at first, until I experienced the chastening of His voice. The louder the voice, the hotter the feeling, and quickly, I yielded. I noticed that every time I yielded to Him, I experienced peace and calmness of soul. This way, He dealt with me in this encounter until I yielded all, and the bell rang, and the tongue finished, and I came to my consciousness. Matt. 3:11, Luke 3:16

This was the beginning of my true walk with the Lord. After this encounter, all hell broke loose against me. This period which lasted about 3 years was a trying time in my life, and it was when I knew I needed the Lord like never before. What brought me out of that season of my life was the revelation of the knowledge of Jesus Christ my Saviour, and the overwhelming love of God the Father. Having received the empowerment of the Spirit, I grew in the grace of God through His word and prayer, and I overcame the fiery darts of the enemy against my mind, through His finished work. This has now become my life force – a life of deep fellowship and intimacy with the Lord Jesus. Eph. 6:16, Rev. 12:11, Rom. 1:16-17

I first knew the Lord as my Saviour, my salvation experience was obvious, I learnt from it. I saw Him saved me from sin, death, the world, and Satan. But knowing Him as the Lord is the true essence of my Christian walk after salvation. Now, I know Him as my Lord, my Master and Owner. I live for His glory and His will. As my Lord, I follow and yield to His word, as He leads me per time. Glory to His name forever. John 14:23

I trust the Lord to use my Christian Leaders Training to deepen my walk with the Lord, and being a woman in ministry, to use it to help others come into a loving and living relationship with God, using the 7 connections pattern, to build a lasting and reproducible discipleship structure. I hope to learn more new things, particularly patterns and more efficient strategies for life and ministry.

I searched through the internet for free ministry training for several years, without results, until recently, when I came across Christian Leaders Training, totally free! Sincerely, this free opportunity is an answered prayer for people like me who are truly called into the work of the ministry and cannot afford to pay through their nose to acquire necessary training requirements to fully function in ministry without educational limit.