‘My Father Asked Me To Choose Between The Family And The God Of Idahosa’

A taboo! That was what venturing into full-time ministry was in the late 1980s when John Osa-Oni became a pastor. But the man, who today is the Bishop of Vineyard Christian Ministries International, Lagos, was undaunted.
Before then, he had faced huge challenges on account of his faith. In one particular instance, his acceptance of Christianity triggered a family crisis in the course of which his father asked him to choose between the family and the God of the late Archbishop Benson Idahosa, whose Church of God Mission he (Osa-Oni) was attending.
In another instance, he was a victim of a charm planted by a teacher in his school, a situation that saw him partially dead, and coming back to life almost at the point of burial.
In this interview, Osa-Oni speaks on the challenges of life, his journey in the ministry and his close relationship with Idahosa, the man who popularised tele-evangelism in the 1970s. He speaks ahead of the celebration of the 25th anniversary of Vineyard Ministries and 20 years of his consecration as a bishop. On this occasion, scheduled for between April 3 and 7, Osa-Oni is being elevated to the position of archbishop. Excerpts of interview:
It has been a journey of 25 years. How did it start?
My journey started from the campus in University of Lagos when the Lord ministered to me to set out into ministry. I was reading accounting in the school at that time. And in those days, it was like a taboo to venture into full-time ministry, I had to take up a secular job,worked with UTC Motors and Egunjobi Sulaimon and later for my brother and friend, Dr. Tunde Joda, the Senior Pastor of Christ Chapel,as an associate pastor. I left my secular job completely in December 1985 and started full-time pastoral work in January 1986. Since then, the journey has been fantastic.
It is common with pastors to face challenges. Can you share with us those that came your way?
I have been taught to always look forward especially when challenges come. So the various challenges, for me, are stepping stones for greater heights. When you look back at challenges, you get distracted. Of course challenges did come but I never saw them as one and that is why I don’t have any in the last 25 years of the ministry.
It has been 25 years of testimonies for Christians in the country and individuals all over the world on what Vineyard, one of the front line churches, has impacted. When you are focused, you are naturally going to see less distractions. Vineyard has been very focused in the last 25 years.
Taboo to be a pastor
You cannot quantify the number of lives you are touching. Thousands of lives have been affected. We have raised and trained both Christians and Muslims to university level across the country. We have rendered medical care to various communities in the country. It was a taboo to be a pastor about 29 years ago when I started full-time ministry; when you stepped out to ministry, your parents were never happy with it especially having gone through university and you now returned home to say, ‘dad, I am going into pastoring’, they would scream.
Before then, mind you, I had been in the ministry evangelizing for about 40 something years, that is, since 1972. Those days, we had a lot of attacks, such that some of our friends had their Bibles burnt by their parents. In the 70s, occultism was very rampant, it was the most predominant thing then.
Everybody exhibited his strength through occultism and, so, most of us who came out from paganism, and suddenly found ourselves in church, it was tough being a Christian then.
It was tough coming out to say you are now a pastor, serving Jesus; the first question they would ask you in Yoruba is,’Who is your parent in this community?’ Who would you say you fashion your new found religion after? Certainly not your parents they all knew. Some of us stood our grounds and, today, we are grateful for it.
Can you recollect a particular moment of your tribulation because of your belief?
That should be 1974, I was chased out of the house by my parents around 12 midnight. They called a meeting and asked me to make a choice between the family, that is the Oni family, Archbishop Idahosa and Jesus Christ. I chose Jesus Christ even though they didn’t allow me to mention the name of the second person before I was given a dirty slap on my face and they said, ‘Pack your things from this house’.
They locked the door against me in middle of the night. I had to sleep in one of the kiosks in the market. But I have no regret because I still went to school the next day; it was only after I left school that it dawned on me that I didn’t have a home to return to. But I heard a voice: ‘The day your father and mother forsake you, that day I will take you up’. And since 1974, God has never let me down because He raised up brethren in the church who took care of me to the the best of their ability.
How were you converted to Christianity?
There was a time I went to stay with my uncle in a place called Egbefa, I was about 15 years old, I was in school. Two teachers were fighting and they set charms for themselves. Unfortunately I was the first person to pass through the trap; from that moment, I took ill. I fainted seven times.