Unlike those who mount the pulpit claiming they heard the voice of God or conversed with Him in a dream to establish a church, the Founder of the City of Praise Church, Pastor Dr. Fola Ojo, has never belonged to that league. In public and at private gatherings, the Imesi-Ile, Osun State indigene has consistently insisted that he neither heard God’s voice nor encountered Him in his sleep to birth the City of Praise Church in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA, in 2001.
The 67-year-old would even say he did not receive the calling of a Pastor but only that of an Apostle, being the son of a Methodist preacher, raised in the vineyard and greatly influenced by hymns and songs of praise.
However, God did not leave him without direction. He watched and closely monitored his steps and gave him a few guiding words on how the church would take off and how faithful people, his soul mates with whom he would make the journey, would converge to offer support.
Led by his dear wife, Pastor (Mrs.) Yemi Wuraola Ojo, noted for her uncompromising stand on spiritual guidance, the small congregation from diverse backgrounds invested their faith in him and together weathered the storm, particularly in the first two years when what he described as fierce resistance reared its head and threatened the immediate future of the ministry.
He recalled: “There were people who did not buy the idea that I was coming. The opposition was fierce. It was very tough; it was very hard on my wife.”
Betrayed and disappointed, the very articulate lead pastor was at one point tempted to retreat and return to his real estate business, which had helped him break the wall of poverty. But his resilient wife stood her ground and insisted there was no going back, day and night feeding him with words of assurance that, regardless of the heat, he would laugh last.
Twenty-five years on, the City of Praise Church is progressively fulfilling the divine purpose for which it was founded: praising God, winning souls and, by extension, planting smiles on many gloomy faces living on the edge of surrendering and giving up hope.
Steadily, he is attracting converts beyond the walls of his church on the strength of his transparent leadership, which abhors disguised extortion of the congregation. As a result, the ministry keeps expanding across the Atlantic.
The cleric did not start the church with the veiled intention of an entrepreneur who would stop at nothing to feed fat on his unsuspecting sheep. TheTabloid.net gathered that he had on him a sum of $12,000 among other possessions at the point of starting the church.
That he is today regarded and indeed revered as an ideal and true man of God is no play on words, neither is it an attempt at flattery. His background as a financially independent man ensured he would never sell his soul for a pot of porridge, however pressing the situation.
This resolve is further strengthened by his training as a member of the Fourth Estate of the Realm, skilled in reporting justice and fair dealing at all times. While Ojo was a sports writer at the Punch newspapers, a medium founded in 1975 by the late business mogul, Chief Olu Aboderin, he met the expectations of his employers, earning assignments to cover international tournaments, including the one hosted in the US in 1988 where the famous national champions, Union Bank Hockey team, represented Nigeria.
Many years after his formal exit from the newsroom at Mangoro, off the Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway, Lagos, he remains a metaphor of the old cliché: “once a soldier, always a soldier”. Till date, his presence still resonates, thanks to his weekly column in which he shares informed opinions and passionately dissects contemporary national and global issues, with a clear view to educating and proffering fearless solutions to identified social problems, especially on leadership and good governance paradoxically lacking back home in his fatherland.
Sensitive to the future of his ministry after his earthly journey, he has set the ball rolling for the church to outlive him. He attributes all his 25 years of testimonies in prayers and capacity building to God, and is ready to step back to watch a new generation of leadership emerge to receive the baton and continue the journey.
In an age when succession crises have reduced some churches to houses of cold war, the City of Praise Church is setting a new standard, one that could help restore public trust in ministries where pastors are often alleged to suppress subordinates who serve as their back-ups when and where most necessary.
“God has told me that we should raise and nurture a new generation. In the next 24 months, we will be seeing a changing of hands little by little. God is releasing a spirit over young people, young men and young women, who don’t think God has called them to evangelise or to build the kingdom. You will see these young people coming up, preaching the gospel.
“We already have them. We have started the movement right now. We are building the next generation to hold the banner. Our generation has done what we have to do, and we are doing more, but God is releasing a spirit upon young people,” he assured.
Away from the ministry and back to his extended family, the pastor is as accepted by his blood relations as he is by his large army of followers in his obedience to the Yoruba culture of communalism and bonding.
His immediate elder brother, a retired foreign service officer, Mr. Emmanuel Ojo, is very proud to have shared the same womb with the pastor, especially recalling their formative years in the 60s and 70s in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, memories that still live with him.
“His open and honest communication has fostered strong relationships within the family. I’m so proud to call him my brother as he stands strong in supporting my personal and family endeavours through these decades.
“Coming through the same womb to this adventure called life, we share common attributes: hard work, focus, tenacity of purpose, commitment to service, diligence, the love of God and humanity, as handed over to us by our parents, the Obaala of Imesi-Ile, Chief James Egbetoye Ojo, and Mrs. Felicia Abimbola Ojo, both of blessed memory,” he affirmed.
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