Thus says the Lord: “Whosoever you touch and pray for, I will heal.”
In 1994, the Lord healed me miraculously of bullet-wounds in my left leg, after I was shot by armed-robbers. Thereafter, he asked me to pray for four sick people. However, all of them died. The last of these was a wonderful man called Kehinde Ladipo, the Managing-Director of Lisabi Mills, Lagos. These incidents turned out to be prefaces to God calling me to a healing ministry.
Poisoned chalice
Later that year, there was a “love feast” at the Wednesday fellowship of a parish of the Redeemed Christian Church of God at the residence of Muyiwa and Bimbo Dada in Victoria Island, Lagos. People brought all sorts of goodies for us to eat and great fun was had by all.
However, there was drama at the end. Yofolu, the youngest of the Dada children, told little Femi-Kevin a bottle of vitamin pills were sweets. One-by-one, six-year-old Femi-Kevin ate them all. Muyiwa said the bottle contained up to 100 pills. Only God knows how many Femi-Kevin took. The general consensus was to rush him to the hospital. But for some strange reason I rejected the idea; convinced the entire incident was a hoax. The evening had been such a blessing and “someone” was determined to spoil it.
We took leave of the Dadas and went back home; which happened to be two floors upstairs. I then gave Femi-Kevin a severe beating. I reprimanded him for being greedy and sent him weeping to bed. For the rest of the evening and much of the night, I was in the dining-room, reading my bible. Every so often, Femi-Kevin would rush to the toilet to vomit. I did not make it easy for him. I poked fun at him repeatedly; telling him he was reaping the fruits of his greed.
Dreaming dreams
On Saturday morning, the Lord showed me the Redeemed fellowship in the living-room of the Dadas in a dream. There was a woman there called Mrs. Adewumi who I had never seen before. Apparently, she was afflicted with an issue of blood, which meant her monthly period was never-ending. I prayed, laying my right hand on her, and knew instinctively that the haemorrhaging stopped. The Lord said to her: “I have made you beautiful, both internally and externally.”
Then the Lord showed me a girl I recognised called Waikini. He said she suffered from sickle-cell anaemia. This girl had a passion; she loved to sing praises to God. The Lord asked her to come out and sing any praise-song of her choice. Then he told her he had changed her blood; meaning she no longer had sickle-cell anaemia. He directed she should go to the hospital and have a blood-test for confirmation. He also said there was “someone” in the fellowship suffering from chronic backache. He said Foluke (now Mrs. Bolodeoku) should lay her hand on the person and pray. When she did, the person was healed.
Finally, the Lord told me there was “someone” trusting him to meet some outstanding payment. It seemed to me to be for either a NITEL or a NEPA bill; I was not exactly sure. The person kept repeating this scripture: “My God shall supply all (my) need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:19).
I had three thousand naira in a plastic video-case. I then asked whoever was convinced the Lord was referring to him to write the needed amount on a piece of paper and give it to me. Bimbo Dada collected a piece of paper from someone whose identity was hidden and handed it to me. On it was written three thousand naira; so I gave the money to the person.
That was the end of the dream. I woke up, not exactly sure what to make of it. So I decided to pray about it.
Healing wings
As I started praying, something even more dramatic happened. The Lord suddenly took control of my tongue and he spoke to me audibly through my own lips. He said: “Femi; Femi; Femi. I have loved you from the foundation of the world. I have given you so many gifts and I want you to start using them. I have given you the gifts of healings. Whosoever you touch and pray for, I will heal. I have given you the working of miracles. I have given you the word of wisdom and the word of knowledge. I have given you the faith to move mountains. Use these gifts to my praise and for my glory.”
The dramatic delivery of this audible message left me in no doubt it was from God. My full first name, “Obafemi,” means “God loves me.” The assertion: “I have loved you FROM the foundation of the world” is similar to Jesus’ personal acknowledgement to God, but with one significant difference. Jesus said to God: “You loved Me BEFORE the foundation of the world.” (John 17:24). But I needed confirmation for the dream component. So I told the Lord: “I am going downstairs to talk to the Dadas to find out if there is any Mrs. Adewumi in the Wednesday Redeemed fellowship. If they are not in, then the dream is not from you. If anybody comes to visit me now, thereby delaying my going downstairs, then the dream is not from you.”
Almost immediately, there was a knock on my front-door. Therefore, I concluded the dream was not from the Lord. But when I opened the door, I found Gbohumi and Yofolu Dada standing there. “What are you doing here so early?” I asked. “We have come to apologise for giving Femi the vitamin pills,” said Yofolu. “Don’t worry about that,” I replied. “Are your parents in?” “Yes,” they answered. “Let’s go down; I want to see them,” I said.
Confirmation
When I told the Dadas about my dream, I had one vital question: “Is there anybody in the Redeemed fellowship called Mrs. Adewumi?” “Yes,” replied Muyiwa. “There are actually two Mrs. Adewumis in the fellowship, and they are both married to the same man.” That man was Senator Julius Adewumi, the C.E.O. of Abacus Merchant Bank, Lagos. “The Lord must be referring to the junior one,” Muyiwa insisted. “She has had three children within two years; two of them twins.”
At that very instant, the junior Mrs. Adewumi walked in unannounced. She came in through the open back kitchen-door, instead of the front-door. We were all visibly shocked and dumbfounded. She said she had come to take the Dada children swimming at Ikoyi Club with her own children. However, I did not engage her there and then. Since my dream was set in the fellowship, I felt it was better to wait until Wednesday.
While still at the Dadas, something equally providential occurred. My cousin, Tunji Bamgbose, delivered a big hamper to me from the family of Kehinde Ladipo; the gentleman I prayed for who died of cancer. It contained different things produced in their Lisabi Mills, including yam flour; chocolate drink and custard. In spite of the ineffectiveness of my prayers, Kehinde Ladipo’s family nevertheless remembered me six months after his passing. Clearly, there was more to my “ineffective” prayers than I realised.
(To be continued)