Oladapo John Olubowale is the Presiding Bishop of The Salvation Soldiers’ Ministries (TSSM) also known as Ministère International des Soldats du Salut (MISS), Republic of Benin. He is a Nigerian from Ejigbo in Osun State, who for the reason of preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ relocated to the Republic of Benin. In this interview with CHRIS IREKAMBA, the Bishop explained his mission to the francophone country.
How was your rebirth and encounter with Jesus Christ?
I was brought up in a family of five. I lived and grew up in Ejigbo where I had my primary and secondary school education before going to The Polytechnic Ibadan, Eruwa Satellite Campus for further studies. My rebirth began while I was in the polytechnic. Although, I had been hearing of the gospel, the one of November 17, 1993 made me to weep bitterly in my room. I felt a burden in my heart and desired to be saved. That night, I cried and said: “Jesus, if it’s true that you do save people come and save me.” Immediately, I said this, I went to sleep. This was in agreement with the Lord’s word in Romans 10:13, which says: “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” I woke up later in the day with a very deep desire to read the Bible. And since I did not know where to start from, I just flipped it and my eyes went to Psalm 119, which I read with rapt attention. I saw a great vision when I got to the last Verse 176 of the chapter, which says: “I have gone astray like a lost sheep; seek thy servant; for I do not forget thy commandments.” In this verse, I saw a sheep lost in the thickets looking and striving for a way out. It was then, the Holy Spirit spoke loudly to me saying: “This is you.” I saw myself for the first time as a lost sinner. I burst into tears and began to confess my sins. I did this until I had nothing to confess again. It was like a practical deed.
It was after this encounter that I saw the second vision where I saw two hands dipped into my heart and brought out some loads from it. Seeing this, the spirit made me to understand that the loads were my burden of sins that have been taken away. I then had peace in my heart. This was in agreement with the words of the Lord in Isaiah 53, which says: “Surely, he hath borne our grief, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.”
After this experience, the Holy Spirit instructed me to fast for three days, which I did. This experience took away my desire for frivolous things that I was addicted to.
This was how I became born again and since then I have been walking with the Lord. My walk with the Lord has been a wonderful one. However, it is full of challenges, temptations and victory.
What were you doing before the call and how did you receive it?
After training as an artist, I became an art instructor before being actively involved in the ministry. I was ordained evangelist on July 5, 1997. My love, passion and zeal to see people saved has taken me to different places where we had crusades, rural evangelism, planted churches and held revivals, among others. On April 24, 1998, while still an art instructor, the Lord gave me the vision to go to the Republic of Benin.
I wrote it down and waited for the appointed time it will come to pass.
On May 10, 2003, I got married to Oyebimpe Ajayi, who is now a pastor. We were both involved in pig farming, and also run an agribusiness, Johnbim Agro Venture, together. It was in the same year (December 27, 2003) that I was officially and publicly commissioned to run The Salvation Soldiers Ministries as an independent ministry. The pronouncement was made before my pastor and 68 others from different denominations in attendance.
Why the relocation to Republic of Benin?
My mission to Republic of Benin began when the Lord challenged me of staying on a spot. I responded by asking: “Is it time for me to run with any of the visions in my archives? He immediately dropped that of the Republic of Benin in my heart. That was on the second week of May 2004.
I ran upstairs to pick my 1998 diary, where I had written the vision. I read through and then knew it was time to run with the vision. With this conviction, I began to raise some questions including, how do I move now? Do I just pick my bag and move? Where will I stay there? While raising these questions, the Lord spoke so loud to me, saying: “Go and share the vision with the man living downstairs.”
The man in question was an old man (the late Agbozo Paul); he lived downstairs of our house. I spoke to him and he began to shout Hallelujah repeatedly. He seemed to have been waiting for me to come up with the vision. He picked his phone, chatted up a Reverend in the country and turned to me and said:
“We are moving on Friday.” I was stunned, but on May 7, 2004, we moved to the Republic of Benin. It was then, I realised that the now late Pa Paul Agbozo was from the Republic of Benin, but was in Nigeria as a missioner. He was a man of good standing in his country and also had many pastors and apostles, as his sons in the faith.
While in the country, the Lord was very faithful and guided me to preach the gospel in ghettos, market places, local communities and even in open spaces. We came up with different ministries like the ghetto, seaside and the church ministries to reach out to souls. We used these outreaches to teach, rehabilitate and equip saved souls to work for the Lord, as soldiers. Through this, we were able to save many souls in the different francophone countries. These outreaches also gave birth to the church arm of the ministry. With the help of God, we were able to successfully raise believers that can uphold the church even when we are no longer in the country.
The Salvation Soldiers Ministries was officially registered in Benin as Ministère International des Soldats du Salut (MISS). We are currently working on our next line of duty in the City of Atakpamè in Togo Republic. The mission is to “go ye” into the entire world. We have to move as He leads.
