In the weeks leading to the just concluded Tenth Anniversary celebrations of the MFM Headquarters Youth Church, Writers club had an interview with the Assembly Pastor of the Church, Tunde Oyetola. In a chat with our correspondents, the pastor spoke about the vision of the Youth Church, his experiences and much more. Read the full details below:
When did you join MFM youth church?
Ten years ago. The youth church has been in existence for ten years now. It was formerly called the “Youth Assembly”. However, it transformed into the present day “Youth Church”. The Youth Assembly had been in existence for five years before the youth church. Programmes at the assembly were monthly, bi-monthly and sometimes quarterly. The meetings were held at the headquarters.
Would you regard yourself as a founding member of the church?
Yes I am. Although I was not the assembly pastor then, Pastor David Popoola was in 2008.
When did you become the assembly pastor?
I became the assembly pastor in 2016.
What group did you belong to before you became the assembly pastor?
I was a pastor in Jireh’s team.
Can you tell us the vision of the youth church?
The vision of the youth church is basically “repositioning of young people”. That is the major objective of youth church; to reposition people from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of light; from failures to successes, from being defeated to being overcomers.
Can we say this is a work in progress?
Yes, we are not yet done. As long as the devil has not finished his work, we can’t exhaust ours. We came up with a seven-point agenda for the vision and by the grace of God we’ve completed 80%. Most of the groups and activities seen today are part of the vision.
From the inception till date, how many branches does the youth church have?
The Youth Church currently has six branches, including two that were added in February 2018. They are all supervised by the headquarters.
Are you a full-time pastor?
Yes
Do you have challenges you face as a full-time pastor?
Sometimes people believe that being a full-time pastor in this age is nothing to be heard of. But it is a life of sacrifice. When you get to a level, you know you no longer own yourself. We face challenges, but immediately we commit them to God, they are no longer our problems.
Can you share unique experiences which people have told you on how youth church changed their lives?
I hear a lot everyday and I see a lot everyday. God has made a lot of beauty out of all these things. We have recorded a number of first class graduates, prostitutes who stopped prostitution on getting here and became fervent for God. I have seen people with multiple abortions who God turned into godly mothers. We have lot of Muslim converts who are serving and enjoying God. I have one or two cases of those who had murdered children; they killed their own children but God showed them mercy. I hear a lot everyday, so many testimonies. I myself I am a testimony; I have been changed, I have been repositioned.
Good will message for youth church and youths in general?
I will say three things. First, they should know they have a responsibility as young people; they should not take their strength for granted. As a young person, God needs your strength, God needs your youthfulness and the more you do these things, the more God will attend to you. Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and every other thing shall be added to you. I wish us well but we are to do the things of God at our young age. The Bible says to bear our yoke while we are young so we have lot of responsibilities as young people.
Secondly, the time of service is today. A good time to live our lives completely and it is going to be well with us. We also have the responsibility of serving our generation. Our generation is lost and perverted. The devil is everywhere but a 60 or 70-year old will not play this role for us. We have to find a way of serving our generation. David served his generation in his time. The Bible says “David served his generation by the will of God before falling asleep.” So serving your generation refers to serving your age mates. It is like pouring water in their hands and making sure your generation is blessed because you are around. We all have that responsibility.
Finally, I want us to be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. In doing that, we would overcome the kingdom of darkness.
I wish us a very good ten years anniversary and pray that God will keep strengthening us in Jesus name.
God bless you all.