Right Reverend (Dr) Bolanle Margaret Odeleke is the General Overseer of Power Pentecostal Church Worldwide (PPC). She is also the president of Christ Miracle Ministry (CMM). In this interview with SEYI SOKOYA, she speaks about life, 50 years in ministry, and national issues.
HOW has the experience been in the ministry in the last 50 years?
I have been enjoying the low time and the high time. God has been good and is always faithful to me. I call myself a spoilt child of God, and you know how parents pamper such children. That is who I am with God because He has been so good.
You highlighted low and high moments. Can you share some with us?
The low moment was when my husband, General Lasun Odeleke, died. It was a big blow. I wasn’t expecting it because he was a good Christian. I don’t know why he should die, but he died. I was the only one who raised my seven children, but I thank God, all of them are now grown up and doing well. I am a proud grandmother.
In fairness to God, right from the beginning, it has been smooth. Some people would think I have been ministering longer than 50 years. I thank God for blessing us with people. I have people in the media, I have people in business, and I have people all over. There is nothing I want that I will not have somebody to do it. That is why I said I am blessed, and God has helped me.
The Holy Spirit has been helping me, giving me joy, and making the work easy. Everyone that God brought into the ministry became my friends. All my members are my friends, even the branches. We are one big family. God has kept the ministry peaceful; we don’t have any crisis. I thank God that the church has been moving forward. We are blessed with committed and loyal members, deacons, the pastor, and the deaconess.
I would have wished to start working for God earlier. I lived with my grandmother, who was a good Christian. At that time, I, too, would have been a good Christian. But, you know, children, vitality, and all that running after me to do things. I would have calmed down because I was stubborn. My grandma would wake up at 5 a.m. to prepare us for service in the Anglican Church, held at 6 am every day except Saturday, and we lived far from the church. If you are crying it does not concern her because you will have to get to church with her. We used to tell her ‘Mama we don’t understand what they are saying because it was not our language’, she will say we were there to meet with God and that God sees us. But I must say the training helped in shaping me because when I received Christ, I could relate to what grandma was saying at that time.
What is your assessment of the gospel years back and the present as some ministers think that today’s gospel is not as the old-time gospel as it is being watered-down and centered on prosperity?
The gospel is preaching Jesus Christ. We preached Jesus at that time and we are preaching Him at this time. The only thing is that it is easier now because of technology. Technology has brought us social media/AI, which is good depending on how you use it. You can buy N500 data, and you do something useful with it. Internet/social media is the best that has happened to gospel and we are happy about it. To me, it makes my ministry move forward. For those who view the gospel of today as being centered on prosperity, it is their thinking and I don’t have power over their thinking. Anybody can say anything. But to me, what I preached before is still what I preach. I preach holiness and also preach that holiness will make God prosper you. If I tell my child not to do something and he or she does it then that child can’t get my good side, but if the child obeys then he/she will get my good side. Also, there is nothing like old-time gospel or new-time gospel. It is still Jesus; Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.
Do you have any advice for the younger women, especially in the ministry?
o all the ladies and women of my kind, please, you know our work is hard. Please, train your children. They stay with you more than their fathers. So, please, I beg you, teach them in the way of the Lord. You may say you are not a Christian, but you have God. You know God is alive. Train them to be good citizens in the society. For the young girls, don’t lose your dignity by sleeping with men you are not married to. Likewise women please, keep your dignity. We are women of dignity.
What is your take on the current happenings in Nigeria particularly as foodstuffs and common needs are on the high side?
As Christians, we have a lot of work to do. The president is trying his best, but he is a man and not God. He met problems on the ground. Though he promised to solve these problems, let’s know it won’t be quickly. Another thing I would like to tell us is that we should keep calling upon God to help the president. We need a good man of God and perhaps a true woman of God to rule Nigeria for the first time. Let us remember that we owe this country good because it is a good country we were born into.
Some have argued that nations that do not pray as much as Nigerians have buoyant economies. Why is Nigeria’s case peculiar?
I will say Nigeria is growing. Let us pray and do the work we need to do. Prayer will not do the work. We need to do things ourselves. As God is answering us, we should also answer God by changing our character and molding it after God’s pattern.
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