Remembering Pastor Taiwo Odukoya: The Prophecy, the Son, and the Father Who Still Speaks

The date was Thursday, December 31, 2020.

It was the last Thursday of that unforgettable year.

I walked into Thursday Showers, the worship service started by Pastor Taiwo Odukoya at The Fountain of Life Church.

Thursday Showers began simply, beautifully, and spiritually as an expression of Pastor Taiwo’s deep love for worship.

What started with instrumentalists and worshippers eventually grew into a full-fledged service that continued to bless lives for many years.

That last Thursday of 2020, I was in the service.

My wife was not there with me.

As the service was rounding off, Pastor Taiwo gave a word of prophecy.

He said, in substance:

There is someone here.
You have never been pregnant before.
The Lord asked me to tell you that this time next year, you will come with your child to testify.

I received that word.

I received it as our word.

At that time, my wife and I had been waiting, trusting, praying, and preparing for a child for about fourteen years.

So when that word came, I did not treat it casually.

I did not walk out of that service quietly.

I ran out.

I put a call through to my wife.

I told her that the word had gone forth.

And together, we began to war with that prophecy.

We stood on it.

We prayed with it.

We believed God with it.

We held on to it.

And God, in His mercy, began to move.

He opened doors.

He gave us favour.

He intervened in ways that only He could.

By December 31, 2021, the prophecy had become flesh before our eyes.

Our son had already been born.

He was already about two months old.

The word had become a wonder.

The prophecy had become a person.

The promise had become our precious son.

I remember again, when my wife was in labour.

It was not a simple labour.

It stretched for about three days.

At some point, I reached out to Pastor Taiwo.

He offered words of prayer.

Simple words.

Quiet words.

Firm words.

Words that carried peace.

He said, in substance:

Do not worry.
It is done.
There is nothing to fear.

Those words strengthened us.

And our son came.

Today, when I look at my son, I do not only see answered prayer.

I see direction.

I see divine intervention.

I see the mercy of God.

I see the power of spiritual fatherhood.

I see the place of a shepherd who stood in his place and declared the mind of God over our lives.

Pastor Taiwo Odukoya did not only touch my life from the pulpit.

He touched my life closely.

I was introduced to The Fountain of Life Church by Pastor Olakunle Soriyan.

Later, I had the privilege of taking a two-year sabbatical from my profession to work with Pastor Taiwo in the Vicarage.

Those two years were defining years for me.

They were years of seeing beyond preaching.

They were years of watching a man practise what he preached.

They were years of understanding ministry beyond performance, beyond platforms, beyond microphones, beyond buildings.

Pastor Taiwo helped me to understand something I have never forgotten:

Ministry is people.

Not buildings.

Not structures.

Not titles.

Not noise.

People.

He believed it.

He taught it.

He lived it.

And because I worked with him closely, I saw it.

I saw his tenderness.

I saw his burden for people.

I saw his patience.

I saw his grace.

I saw his understanding of God’s assignment.

I saw a man who carried ministry not as a show, but as service.

After I left the Vicarage to continue my own work, our relationship continued.

I became his personal attorney.

Our law firm also served The Fountain of Life Church.

Later, I was elected Secretary to the Board of Trustees of The Fountain of Life Church.

There is no way I can write my history today without Pastor Taiwo featuring prominently in it.

He fathered me in the faith.

He nurtured me in the faith.

He gave me direction.

He modelled ministry.

He strengthened my understanding of people.

He helped me see that legacy is not what people say after you are gone.