Can we meet you, sir?
My name is Reverend Olayinka Yusuf. I am the Lead Pastor of Household of Love Churches, the President of Love for All Nations Ministry, and the Yinka Yusuf Power Crusade.
Tell us briefly, were you born a Christian?
No, I was born in a Muslim family by a prominent Muslim scholar, late Dr. Bashir Shehu Yusuf. He was the Woshiri of Lokoja and a prominent Islamic leader in Nigeria when he was alive.
How then did you become a Christian?
My story is a very peculiar one because apart from the fact that I was a Muslim, I had this personal dislike for everything Christian and Christianity; I always felt that Christians were arrogant in their beliefs. So right from when I was young, I studied the Bible a lot, but I did so to fight and argue with Christians. Because most Christians do not study the Bible, I had a purpose to prove to them that the Bible has many faults, and so I engaged them in arguments, flawing them every time. That was how it started. But from reading the word of God, you come in contact with the Spirit. I used to attend crusades just to disrupt them. I had some vain friends who would join me in this act, all because of our dislike for Christianity.
I was a vain boy too. After completing secondary school, I didn’t get admission into the university because, in the first place, I didn’t pass my SSCE.
While all that was going on, I was in ABU Zaria, though I was not a student. In those days they referred to us as ‘NFA’ – No Future Ambition – because we just hung around campus. One night I was taking a walk and I heard a voice. The voice said, “Today is your last day, except you give your life to Christ.” I went to the female hostel there in ABU Zaria; Christians hung around that area to preach to people and so I looked out for someone to preach to me. That was how I saw my wife of today.
I asked her, “can you tell me about Jesus?” And so she took me to the basketball court and preached to me. She led me to Christ and got me filled with the Holy Ghost. Five years later, we got married.
How did you discover your call into ministry?
I discovered my calling from what I disliked the most – it became my passion. I used to be in a club: the Palm Wine Mega Club, now known as Kegites. I was the ‘songito’, the one that sings. I would go to church to look for Christian songs that we could change to gyration songs. When I gave my life to Christ, the Lord told me, “that which you persecuted, and that which you fought so much, will become your passion.” That was how the Lord got me into the crusade ministry. I moved around, telling people that this thing that I fought is the only truth.
When I gave my life to Christ, I was disowned by my parents. I had to break fellowship with all of my friends and every member of my family. I became a very lonely person. But I also began to make enquiries about my belief, and in doing so, I found Christ, discovered the person of the Holy Spirit who became my comforter and took away the loneliness that came with the separation. Afterwards, I began to preach the gospel.
About 27 years ago, I was going to South Africa for a crusade, and in the plane, the Lord told me to carry the cross across the world. Afterwards, we began to get our equipments and our team for evangelism and for crusades, and I have done that since then.
Sir, Household of Love Church has been in existence for how many years now?
Household of Love Church is almost as old as the Crusade Ministry. I was an evangelist before I started the crusade. Household of Love Church is about 36 years; we began the crusade shortly before then. However, the real evangelistic mission of carrying the cross has lasted about 35 years. I started ministry before I was 25. I later got admission to study sociology. While I was on campus, I continued preaching. I gave my life to Christ at 21, and I am 60 now. I started preaching a week after I gave my life to Christ.
Immediately I gave my life to Christ, I began to preach because I have the word of God. It had simply been in my spirit in the wrong way; I had the Bible but I was trying to distort it. The information was already there; all God had to do was remove the dirty heart so I could stop perverting it and begin to preach it instead.
What were some of your challenging moments as the pioneer of Household of Love Church?
Household of Love Church has passed through a lot of turbulence, troubles and trials. If you want to know a real and true man of God, don’t ask him for his success; ask him for his pains and what he has passed through. If you look at the scripture, the only time Paul bragged, he bragged about his scars – what he had passed through for the gospel, because that is what makes you a minister. Jesus appeared to Paul and told him, “these things you will suffer for my name’s sake.”
God never called you to enjoyment; he called you to suffer. Yet, while you suffer, you will discover enjoyment because you will begin to love what you do. When we started the Household of Love Church as a denomination, I was not accepted by the Church after I gave my life to Christ because they believed I was a spy. The people in the Church wanted to change my name to a Christian name and I refused because I wanted to keep the testimony that ‘once I was but now I am’, and so I kept the name but changed my faith. I had a lot of persecution; the Church had to give me unnecessary examinations to write: “You are a Muslim, how did you become a Christian? How are we sure you are not a spy?” I had to pass through all of that in the early years of my Christian faith.
We started the church and had ups and downs, which were the most important times of my Christian life because they are the core of my messages. The beauty of my messages are the stripes, the pain, the persecutions, and everything I passed through; without them I would not be a good minister. That is the difference between a minister that has discovered Christ and a minister that has discovered the tricks of today’s internet. There are so many ministers on the internet who only know the trick of social media. They have thousands of followers on social media but do not know anything about Christ; they talk about God but they don’t have an experiential relationship with Him. Experiences come only in the wilderness – in your time of pain.
I passed through many things: four times our church was demolished; I have had turbulent times, passing through perilous confrontation from within the church, and perils from what Paul called ‘fake brethren’. Just like Paul said, I have fought the beast of Ephesus. Most of my problems were from the church; I was antagonized from the church. I have never had problems with the world because the world is my marketplace. I am an outdoor sportsman, and Christianity is not an indoor sport.
God called me to pastor so that I can teach people how to go out for the souls. That is my passion. So, it is those pains and perilous times, those turbulent waters that gave me my message that has made Household of Love Church what and who we are today. We’ve had the church now for 35 years and I have never had any turbulent situation that has shaken me much. People pulled down our structures but did not pull down the church or my person. There are pastors that have been with me for over 30 years, all of whom are still in the faith. They know what I have passed through and they know I am a man of God.
You decided to give the Kaduna branch of the Household of Love Church as a gift to the resident pastor. What informed this height of selflessness?
He has been with me for over 30 years. After the building of the church was completed, I informed him that he can have the Church and change the name. He, however, insisted that he didn’t want the church but wanted to remain with me.
All my sons are that way. I teach them Christ, not me. In all the branch churches, I give them 99 percent control; I do not interfere or even determine their salaries. The Pastors determine their salaries. If you bring doctrinal problems I will send you out – just preach the truth. We’ve not had problems as a result of this. I cannot have high blood pressure, because I allow the Owner of the church to handle His church. We don’t have politics in our church, no tribal or racial issues.
Ministry is not the building; it is not even the people that gather. Ministry is how you are able to get the people to relate with Christ, and that is what I have done to all of them. So, at times when I tell any of my pastors to go, they feel like I am punishing them.
All my sons are my friends. I allow them see everything about me, to enable them to choose what they want to learn. However, if you want to learn to be fake, you won’t last because it is not our culture or belief. None of my branch pastors want to take over the church because, in the first place, the church does not belong to them.
You were giving exotic cars to men of God while you lived in a rented house. What also informed this?
The secret of success is tied to making other people stand, because you cannot fall when your focus is on standing. I have been privileged by faith because of what I know through experience about God’s plan for His kingdom and for His ministers of the kingdom. I have given out 57 cars to pastors. What I have given out to those who are not pastors is not more than 5; all others are to pastors. I have given trucks, buses, equipment, and millions to pastors. During Covid, I emptied my accounts, my pounds, dollars and naira accounts – everything for so many ministers, because if you are successful you are only privileged; you are not doing anything better than the people that are not as successful as you are. It is just an application of grace that was made available to you that you did not frustrate.
Paul said he did not frustrate the grace of God. The prosperity of my children is my desire and my delight. They prosper more from learning from me. I give them much more than money. I teach them the principle of how to work and walk with God.
Sir, you’ve been a major voice in addressing topical issues in this kingdom and in the political scene. This has attracted so much attack. How do you manage this?
You see, I feel sick when I am not attacked, because nobody attacks a dead man. I thrive more in problems. The only place where there is no police station is the cemetery because dead people don’t fight. When I fought the fake prophets in Africa, I risked my life. They sent assassins to me. I did not let my wife sit with me in the vehicle; I drive by myself. I don’t have a houseboy. Humility too has helped me; it has really saved me, because when people meet me, they look for Rev. Yinka Yusuf and they can’t find me.
One of the things that make you strong: Paul said, “herein do I exercise myself that I have a conscience that is void of offense toward God and toward men”.
I did not support Peter Obi because I joined the movement even before he joined. I began to rally people for Peter Obi before he even declared his intention because I saw honesty. When people say Igbo people cannot become president, I asked “why?” Over 70% of my pastors are Igbos. I am a Yoruba man and they are very faithful and committed. I have supported Hausa before; I have supported Yoruba, so I chose to support the Igbo. I said if I get a sincere man from the Igbo extraction, I will support, and then I saw in Peter Obi what I don’t have.
I am a man of God, I walk in righteousness and truth, but I have not had the opportunity to be Governor and be enticed with the kind of money that was given to Peter Obi, that he rejected. Secondly, I saw Peter Obi when I was traveling with the whole of my protocol, and I saw him carrying his box by himself. I told my people carrying my box to give it to me because I wondered if I would do the same if I were to be a Governor. This was why I supported him, and not for any other thing. There is nothing Peter Obi can give me. The thing is, when I see the truth, I stand by it. That is what Christianity is supposed to be.
If the church stands for the political climate of Nigeria, we’ll have a good nation. No matter how the government entices some pastors, they know they can’t entice me. I am fearless and truthful and they have tried me again and again. The truth of the matter is, when you stand for the truth, you will be antagonized; people will fight you. But make sure when they fight you, you are standing for what you are preaching; let your conscience give you joy. If I preach the truth and practice evil, my conscience will condemn me. But if your conscience doesn’t condemn you, no man can condemn you.
So when I speak on the internet against any evil, the evil people will mobilize their followers to attack me but I don’t see those attacks; once I write, I am gone and the evil people are the ones who help me to publicize it. When you attack iniquity and evil, the evil ones will rise. The only difference between the truth and evil is that the truth is strong but evil is united. The bad people are quite united. A Christian will eat alone, but an unbeliever will not drink or smoke alone. When he is going to the beer parlor, he calls friends to join him. So they are united in evil; iniquity unites them, but light doesn’t unite. Even Jesus prayed for the unity of light but I am not distracted by any attack.
Sir, this edition of Timeless Facts Magazine is titled, “The Fuel of Salvation.” What’s your take on ‘once saved is saved forever’?
Salvation is a product of willingness. If you are not willing, you will not be saved. You are not saved because you like God, or because you think God is good. You are saved because you willingly accept the offer of salvation. It is that willingness that produces salvation. That is why salvation is not tied to stopping sin. Scripture didn’t say if you stop smoking and drinking, you are saved; it says if you accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and savior you shall be saved.
Now, your will comes to play because the only animal that God created and gave a will is man. We can have choices, such that a man wills to accept God and God does not override his will. He wishes that all men be saved, and that’s what the scripture says. But why are all men not saved?
He wishes that all evangelists prosper and preach everywhere, because the greatest problem of evangelists today is that there is no money. You think God doesn’t want them to prosper? He wants it but He will never violate your will even though you are working for Him.
So, God can never keep a man in salvation without the man’s will. Salvation is not a prison you enter and can’t come out. If you go in and say you are not following again, you will find out that sin is not far from you. You are saved but not saved forever. Every man born of a woman that Jesus Christ died for is saved. Every man on earth is saved but not all men have accepted salvation.
Salvation is a contract, and in every contract you can withdraw. Romans 5 says, “therefore being justified by faith we have peace with our Lord Jesus Christ by whom also we have access by faith into His grace.” It is faith that brings us into the place of grace wherein we stand and rejoice in the hope of glory. So, when grace brings you, faith keeps you. Grace simply means you don’t need anything to come in. But grace cannot keep you inside; faith is what keeps you inside. When a believer falls into sin and refuses to repent and accept the justification that comes via Calvary, he has denounced the faith. When you denounce the faith, you become alien to the commonwealth of promise. It is there in the scripture. You can speak in tongues, you can win the world and still become a cast away.
The greatest mystery in the Bible is the word, ‘Grace’. It is an unmerited favour, but do you know you can walk out of favour? Do you know that Judas repented? When they gave him the money, he repented, but that didn’t stop him from committing suicide. He discovered the money was not enough price for what he had done. That is what the devil has smuggled into the Church, but the truth remains that once saved is not saved forever. Jesus came not just with grace but with grace and truth. You can’t take away truth from grace; any grace that is not backed with truth is a crooked grace.
Can you share with us, sir, some of the high points of God’s blessings in your life?
God has blessed me with faith, not with things. Though I have things, but the faith to get things is stronger than things, and faith is the receipt for everything I ever desired because faith is the substance of things hoped for. I hope for so many things and faith is what can give me those things. So, He has blessed me more than things.
The understanding of this principle of God’s business is key; a man that looks at his resources will never see the God that gives the resources. So, if people tell me to count my blessings, I will tell them ‘faith, faith, faith’ because there is no blessing I have that I can’t give away this moment. There is nothing God has given me that I can’t give out; nothing in this world means anything to me. I have given out things that are unbelievable, but one thing that nobody can take away from me is the faith that produces those things. That is what I want to pass to the next generation: to understand that which has more value than things, and if you have that, you will have things and you will not notice those things.
You’ve held crusades across the world where great miracles were recorded. Which of the miracles stood out for you?
The greatest miracle that has stood out for me in my many years of evangelism is when I was having crusade in Yola. One of the ushers who was helping to hold the people I was praying for was convicted and told me that he had Indian hemp under the table on which I was preaching. He told me he was an Indian hemp dealer.
Now what other miracle is greater than that; that’s conviction that brings about salvation and salvation is the greatest miracle. Someone on the pulpit with me accepting people to give their lives to Christ is a hemp dealer, and then he hears me preach and goes under the platform and brings out a bag of Indian hemp. For me, that is greater than blind eyes opening and the crippled walking, because you can be blind and still make heaven, while one can see clearly and still go to hell. So the greatest miracle is salvation.
What’s your advice to young ministers trying to find their foot in this kingdom?
In sincerity, they should look for people who follow God and learn about God from them. Such people are very few but they are there. Through desire a man separates himself. What are you separated unto? God is not a taskmaster; He is not a wicked God, but He wants to know what you are looking for.
This generation is looking for fame and money, miracle, signs and wonders. This generation wants to run in a race but don’t understand the rule of the race. Paul said you have run well who didn’t hinder you to follow the law of this race. So, this generation wants to be involved in a race but don’t care whether a baton is available or not. They are ready to run with a stick. I want to tell young people to look for a man who knows God.
My Pastor didn’t have a big church; he never healed the sick and he never prophesied. The miracles he saw were the miracles that God did through me, but he taught me the truth about the gospel and it is much more valuable to me than anything else. The greatest gift I have is my relationship with Christ and not success.
A man that is driven by success alone will never find God; he will make success his god. But when you are driven by God, you will find success without even knowing you have found it, because God is greater than success.
Your closing remark, Sir.
I believe that God is going to bless you and cause His Spirit to be upon that which He has called you to do.
Anyone that carries the message of God is in ministry, and I believe that God will prosper that which He has called you to do. He will bring you men and women that will help you to fulfill destiny. He will also cause water to spring forth out of your well. It is not usually how deep you dig but how positioned you are. When you dig by God’s leading, it will never be dry, and that’s what God will do for you. God bless you all.
Thank you so much for your time, sir.
It is my pleasure.
