Founder of Salvation Proclaimers Anointed Church (SPAC Nation) Tobi Adegboyega, has shared his motivation for becoming a pastor.
The 44-year-old revealed in a recent interview on Channels TV that he began preaching in his father’s Nigerian church when he was eight years old.
Adegboyega claimed that he was forced to face the hard reality of rising crime rates in his neighbourhood when he moved to the UK in 2005.
He claimed that it inspired him to launch a ministry that tackles today’s urgent social problems. He maintained that gangs have been driven off the streets because of his “unorthodox ministry.”
“I came to the UK in 2005. I am a pastor’s son. I am from Nigeria and have been preaching since I was eight in my dad’s church. I think God’s call over a person’s life is based on the needs of a generation,” he said.
“So what I have done and yielded was the need for a generation, especially those I met in what you call the diaspora. I met kids that are going off-rail. Kids of Nigerian descent killing themselves over drug trade — 14-year-olds, 15-year-olds. And I responded to the call of my community.
“So, to detail my call if anybody would ask, I want them to remember that Martin Luther King was a pastor. So, the manifestation of our call is the response to the pressing issues of each day.”
Adegboyega also addressed critics who question whether his style of ministry is effective in getting people out of gangs and reducing knife crime on the streets.
“The intention was not to cause a stir. The intention was to be effective. The current Pentecostal movement which is just about 100 years old causes a stir. So, times are never the same forever. They can say it is unorthodox, but the question is, is it effective? Did it get people out of gangs? Did it get knives off the streets?” he asked.
“When I came to the UK and still till recent years, pastors’ kids were gang leaders. It is public knowledge. I took these guys off the streets. And we realised that it is not just taking them off the streets, we have to create things now for them to do.
“I understand that is unorthodox and strange. It doesn’t look like the church. But right here where people were killing themselves on the streets, we cannot turn a blind eye to that. I think that would be unfair to the name of Christ and to the kingdom to take over which the church is supposed to be about.”
Adeboyega, who is at the centre of a UK deportation saga, recently dismissed the claims against him, stressing that the focus should be on the contribution of his church to the safety and businesses of people in the UK.
