Celebrating Prophet Timothy Funso Akande at 66 by Dr Nathaniel Omilani

Prophet Samson Akande was among the men God used greatly in the early and mid-twentieth century. For about five decades (from 1944, when he found the Ede prayer mountain, to 1992, when he went to be with the Lord), this great prophet actively gave the devil a severe headache. The name of the prayer mountain is Ori-Oke Baba Abiye. My father and late uncle usually visited the prayer mountain, and they took me along as a child. Baba Abiye was a selfless evangelist and church planter because he handed over all the churches he planted to the Christ Apostolic Church Missions.

In his generation, they raised powerful men through their discipleship system, which my generation will call crude. Howbeit, the so-called crude system produced influential and powerful men in the Kingdom. Fortunately for Baba Abiye, apart from the spiritual children God gave him, one of his biological children is doing great in ministry today. I assume God rewarded Baba Abiye’s faithfulness, pains, and tears by giving him prophet Timothy Funso Akande.

 

 

I am not a member of his ministry but my facts are from his sermons and his book titled Why Me? Prophet Timothy Funso Akande was born on November 12, 1956, to Baba Abiye. Although Prophet Funso was the son of Baba Abiye, he did not get born again at an early age. He once said he and his friends would smoke around the Abiye mountain. What made him narrate the story was when some folks were found doing the same around the prayer mountain, and he wanted to curse them. However, he said God reminded him of his sinful past life and refrained from cursing them.

 

 

God took prophet Funso to many schools that equipped me. In these schools, his curriculum and scheme of work do not reflect that he was the son of Baba Abiye. Because it is expected that life would be an easy ride for the son of Baba Abiye, it is expected that all the prayers Baba Abiye prayed would give prophet Funso a head start in life and ministry with no rough patches. The prayers worked but did not protect him from the wilderness experience. The core of his message today is how God took him out of his wilderness. The difference between him and other preachers is that he would not hide any details of his wilderness experience.

My High Points of the Prophet

1. God gave him wisdom with which he has managed social capital over the years. He does not take for granted any access which God gives him, irrespective of status and size.
2. He is older than the ministers he honors and submits to. Yet, in some cases, his ministry appears bigger than those he considers a mentor. This is a sign of humility and godliness
3. In the indigenous churches in Nigeria, those in the prophetic office often keep a frown, and they scare their congregant. You can hardly look into the face of a prophet, as it were. Prophet Funso Akande is a different class because his jovial and fun-loving nature reflects in his ministrations. He brings the word of life to his listeners with humor, which endeared him to many.
4. He is so balanced in his outlook. He does not discard the roles of medical science, counseling, and other things unrelated to the gospel have to play in the life of a believer.
5. I was in a meeting where he said he took a loan of forty million naira to organize the annual Abiye convention. I almost fell to the ground when I heard. He can be indebted for the sake of the gospel. This part of him comforted me when I also took a loan of half a million naira for a particular outreach for young people.
6. He interrogates existing practices and knowledge using knowledge and not bias. Therefore, I can say with all confidence that he is given to reading many materials such as commentaries, biographies, concordance, and books.
7. He upholds family values so much and always puts his spouse in a place of honour. Same with friends and family.
8. He is very passionate about improving his fathers legacy. Starting with story of how installed fans into the old small auditorium to how God has built a bigger prayer camp through his hand today. He is a great builder helped of the Lord.

My encounter with Him

I was privileged to meet this great prophet on the Abiye mountain a few years ago. And we had a pleasant conversation. It was as if we had known each other for ages. When I told him the name of my hometown in Osun state, he began to mention to me the good deeds done to him by his friends from that part of the state. I want to say that Baba Funso Akande was a very loving man.

I join millions worldwide in saying happy birthday to you, sir. May the Lord give you more dew of heaven and the fatness of the earth in the name of Jesus Christ. I pray that your children will be greater than you in Jesus name.