HEROES DIARY Joseph Ayo Babalola (1904-1959) Joseph Ayo Babalola was the first prophet God used to lead a great revival in Nigeria after the raising of a dead person in 1930. He was the first General Evangelist of the Christ Apostolic Church, a church that metamorphosed from a prayer group popularly called Egbe Aladura in Nigeria. The Aladura Movement nucleated at Ijebu-Ode in 1918. Babalola was endowed with healing powers. Joseph was born on 25th April, 1904 to Mr. David Rotimi and Madam Marta Talabi. The family lived at Odo-Owa in Ilofa, a small town about 90 kilometres from Ilorin in Kwara State, Nigeria. His father was the Baba Ijo (church father) of the C.M.S.Church at Odo-Owa. Historians report that mysterious circumstances surrounded the birth of Babalola. On that day, it was believed that a strange and mighty object exploded and shook the clouds. On January 18, 1914, young Babalola was taken by his brother M. 0. Rotimi, a Sunday school teacher in the C.M.S. church at Ilofa, to Osogbo. Babalola started school at Ilofa and got as far as standard five at All Saints School Osogbo. However, he quit school when he decided to learn a trade and became a motor mechanic apprentice. Again, he did not continue long in this vocation before joining the Public Works Department (PWD). He was among the road workers who constructed the road from Igbara-Oke to Ilesa, working as a steam roller driver. Babalolas strange experience started on the night of September 25th, 1928 when he suddenly became restless and could not sleep. This went on for a week and he had no inkling of the cause of such a strange experience. The climax came one day when he was, as usual, working on the Ilesa-Igbara-Oke road. Suddenly the steam rollers engine stopped to his utter amazement. There was no visible mechanical problem, and Joseph became confused and perplexed. He was in this state of confusion when a great voice like the sound of many waters called him three times. The voice was loud and clear and it told him that he would die if he refused to heed the divine call to go into the world and preach. To go on the mission, he had to resign his appointment with the Public Works Department. Mr. Ferguson, the head of his unit, tried to dissuade him from resigning but the young man was bent on going on the Lords mission. The same voice came to Joseph a second time asking him to fast for seven days. He obeyed and at the end of the period he saw a great figure of a man who, according to Pastor Alokan, resembled Jesus. A hand prayer bell was given to Babalola as a symbol. He was told that the sound of the bell would always drive away evil spirits. He was also given a bottle of life-giving water to heal all manners of sickness. Consequently, wherever and whenever he prayed into the water for therapeutic purposes, effective healing was procured for those who drank the water. In July 1930 the Lord used Babalola to raise a 10 years old dead boy to life. From then on, with bell and Yoruba Bible in hand, he embarked on a healing tour of the Yorubaland and eastern Nigeria, preaching about repentance, and renunciation of idolatry, the importance of prayer and fasting, and the power of God to heal sickness. Great men appear now and again to help shape the course of human history. So is the lessons we’ve been learning from great heroes of faith in our heroes diary column for some times now. Apostle Ayo Babalola was a legend indeed in the indigenization of Christianity in Nigeria particularly the Yoruba race. Joseph Ayo Babalola , a rare gift to the human race, was credited with great healing powers. Babalola became a prophet and a man with extraordinary powers. Enabled by the power of the Holy Spirit he could spend several weeks in prayer. Ayo Babalola was sent out of the Anglican Church of his village by his Bishop because most members of the Church see visions; speak in tongues and pray vigorously. This led to his joining the Faith Tabernacle Church and was baptized in Lagos lagoon in 1930. . The revival of his mission began with the raising of a dead child. What followed this in 3 weeks was the healing of about 100 lepers,60 blind people and 50 lame persons. This also resulted in the desolation of Churches in Ilesa because their members transferred their allegiance to the revivalist and that all the patients in Wesley Hospital, Ilesa, abandoned their beds to seek healing from Babalola. Members of the church made fantastic claims such as: Hopeless barren women were made fruitful; women who had been carrying their pregnancies for long years were wonderfully delivered. The dumb spoke and lunatics were cured. In fact, it was another day of Pentecost. Witches confessed and some demon possessed people were exorcised. He took his evangelical campaign to Offa, Ikare, owo, Oka, Usi, aramoko, Efon-Alaye, etc. Babalola was a spiritually gifted individual who was genuinely dissatisfied with the increasing materialistic and sinful existence into which he believed, the Yoruba in particular and Nigeria in general were being plunged as western civilization influence on society grew. My late grand-mum told me how they used to trek for many days from Ikare to Oka just to attend Babalola’s meetings. Babalola was a great force during his days. As he preaches without microphones and megaphones, more than nine villages afar off could hear him clearly. Evil Spirits jumped out of people hastily on hearing Babalola’s voice. Babalola slept in the Lord in 1959. Babalola is gone, but God is busy looking for other Babalolas to use. God is still beckoning. He is looking for a willing soul to pour His Spirit upon. Would you be available for His use?
Posted on: Mon, 12 Jan 2015 05:53:18 +0000
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