The general overseer of Agape Christian Ministries, Akure, Bishop Felix Adejumo, is a leader of leaders. He spoke with Sunday Oguntola on life at 60 and sundry issues affecting the body of Christ.
You were 60 in August. How is life at 60?
I think I am just trying to assimilate the reality of being 60. I have never been there before but now that I find myself there, it is a different ball game altogether. I’m beginning to redefine life and see it differently from how I used to before.
The reality that one does not have too much time anymore is sinking in now. My approach is to think differently from what I used to. I think this age bracket is teaching me a lot of lessons…
…Which are?
One, you don’t have all the time anymore. You must value your time and take advantage of the opportunities of life. Two, you must value the people around you because people are assets and they could also be liabilities. Three, you must be patient with yourself and people around. Four, you cannot win the world or even own the whole world.
Whatever God gives to you, be content with it and appreciate Him for it. You must leave a legacy, an imprint in the life of people because life is not just about yourself. So, I have learnt all of these and I have just living to impact people than I have done in the past. Those are the things I will be working on henceforth.
But you must also be thinking about succession at your age. I know many don’t like to talk about it…?
Well, you know it is a reality of life. I remember the first time I told my children that when we die we should be buried in a certain place. I said ‘bury me here and my wife close by’ but my last daughter said ‘daddy, don’t mention it’ but I insisted it is a reality of life. It’s like a 40 year-old refusing to write his will. He has to do that because it is mere deception to think you will always be around. God owns our breath.
So, the issue of succession is something that I have been praying about. There is a succession plan in place. I have a programme for myself and I told myself I have maybe ten more years to work actively. From 70, I will relax and take easier responsibilities that will not put pressure on my health. I am sound and healthy but I must not put too much pressure on myself. I have a retirement plan that I’m sticking to.
How much of mentoring are you into these days?
That is my major project now. It is what will take the latter years of my life. In the next ten years, I will be at some locations where I can be more accessible and raise the next generation. I want to share with them life experiences, principles and revelations from the word. I’d want to impart them with practical experiences of my life so that they can see both sides of the divides.
I am already thinking about that and it will cut across denominations. I have a lot of mentees and others are joining. I want to open up my life to them for impartation and learning.
How does it make you feel when one of your mentees is derailing and seems not to be yielding?
It is very painful sometimes especially if it is somebody you love so much. You have invested and such a mentee is derailing but there is nothing you can do. There is nothing you can do but to pray. You can’t but have such issues and that is why you have to open such a person up to the pitfalls in life. But if he falls into them again, you don’t throw away the baby with the bath water. You don’t run away, abdicate your responsibility as a father but hang on there to rescue that person.
Sometimes, don’t you feel that some of them would have dragged your name in the mud in the process since everyone knows you are associated with them?
Honestly speaking, it is God that builds a name. If you have a baby that pees, you clean him up and not run away. You won’t say you don’t want the child to stain you and then walk away. If anybody says you are stained, well that is their opinion. You have your life to live. I have had a lot of such things. People will say ‘he is their father’, ‘like father, like son’. But I don’t mind. It is between me and God.
That one of my mentees misbehaves does not mean I do or have to do. My shoulders are down for them to rise and I never walk out on them. I don’t want to abandon people when it’s tough times. I want to be there for them because it can happen to anybody. The race is not to the swift or the battle to the strong. Nobody is above any mistake or error. If anybody falters, we have to rally round. That is what happens in the army. If a soldier is wounded, they carry, nurture and nurse the wounded soldiers to life.
But it is never like that in the faith, is it?
It is not but it should be like that. That is what the scripture wants us to do. We kill our wounded soldiers when we should have helped to rescue and nurse them back to life. Some people even gloat over such developments. They say they have had revelations the person will fall. I think it is demonic because it is not of God. God is forgiving and who are we not to forgive?
So, we have to be there and protect our wounded soldiers. We have to help them back to fitness. In the parable of the Samaritans, the Levite and Priest saw the wounded man and left but the Samaritan rescued him. The Levite and Priest represent the church while the Samaritan represents those in the workplace. We are the ones killing ourselves not the people outside the church.
It is lack of love. We only read the Bible many times but never demonstrate it. We should look through the attributes of love as defined in I Corinthians 13 and we would see how far we have derailed.
How do you feel when a man of God is misbehaving and is not accessible for mentoring?
Well, we are just instruments in the hands of God. In a situation where a pastor is messing up and is not available, well it is a choice he has made. It is a privilege to bear one another’s burden. When we don’t have access to them, we only pray.
How is the Lekki church coming up?
It is coming up strong and we are in the process of getting a permanent centre.
Why Lekki, which is already saturated with churches, of all places?
There is no place that is not saturated but you see God will direct your flock to you. They will locate you anywhere you are. Your people will come and identify with you.
Many people feel you are just hiding in Akure. A preacher like you should be in Lagos, Abuja or any of the other big cities. How do you react to that?
There is nothing like be in God’s place for one’s life. I believe it is the will of God for our Headquarters to be in Ondo State. That is my place of primary assignment. Our branches are just extensions of what we did in Akure. I once tried coming to Lagos, somewhere in Surulere. I was in devotion one morning when God told me He didn’t say I should relocate to Lagos though I could have a work in Lagos.
He said I should not leave my place of protection, my place of rewards and my place of prosperity. That was why I stayed put. So Akure will be my base except God says otherwise. Akure is my Jerusalem.
Your marriage clocked 30 also. How has it been?
It’s been fantastic and challenging in the sense that there is no marriage without challenges. But grace has helped us to manage those challenges. My wife and I are close friends. We are lovers. That has kept us all these years. God has helped us to raise our children well.
