Thread by @RevYinkaAdeleke

THE JOURNEY HOME
Once my release from HarvestHouse Christian Center @harvesthouseng was graciously granted by Rev. Gbeminiyi Eboda, I began my transition into life at The Vineyard Assembly @tvanigeria.
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@harvesthouseng @tvanigeria My wife and I attended our first service back there on Sunday, 10 March 2019. Apostle Bukki Gbenro was not in the church that day, but we were recognized by Prof. Debo Olukole who introduced us to the church, and we were warmly welcomed by everyone.
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@harvesthouseng @tvanigeria I preached my first message to the church on Sunday, 31 March 2019, titled ACCELERATE, and both the message and I were very well received.
My wife and I went through the membership class of the church (G-12) and graduated in May 2019.
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@harvesthouseng @tvanigeria I was ordained a Pastor in TVA Inc. (my second ordination) on Sunday, 02 June 2019 and had my board interview the same day.
On Sunday, 16 June 2019, the Chairman of the Board of Trustees officially introduced me to the church as the Presiding Pastor-designate.
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@harvesthouseng @tvanigeria While all of these were going on, I was going through intensive, one-on-one pastoral classes with Apostle Bukki Gbenro, which lasted for 33 weeks, apart from sessions with some other esteemed servants of God - Rev. Wale Adeyemo of Pentecost House...
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@harvesthouseng @tvanigeria ...and Rev. Victor Odunjo (Apostle Bukki Gbenro's spiritual father).
On Sunday, 01 December 2019, I had my second board interview alongside my wife, and I signed my acceptance letter.
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@harvesthouseng @tvanigeria That same evening, at a THANK YOU dinner for the pastors and leaders in the church as well as some special guests, my appointment letter was presented to me by the Chairman of the Board, Prof. Kunle Idowu.
The church also gave me and my wife a surprise gift of a beautiful car.
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@harvesthouseng @tvanigeria Finally, on Sunday, 26 January 2020, Apostle Bukki Gbenro handed over the stewardship of TVA Inc. to me as the new Presiding Pastor.
It was a day of mixed feelings for me...
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@harvesthouseng @tvanigeria I was grateful for the faith that God and men had reposed in me to consider me worthy of even coming near such an assignment.

I was overawed and humbled by the enormousness of the responsibility entrusted into my hands.
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@harvesthouseng @tvanigeria I was apprehensive about leading a people whom I was only getting to know in bits.

I was scared that I would not measure up to the incredibly high standards set by my predecessor.
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@harvesthouseng @tvanigeria I was also exceedingly sad that neither of my parents was alive to see their little boy step into the fulfilment of his destiny that had been prophesied even before he was born. My consolation was that they were part of the cloud of witnesses watching us that day.
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@harvesthouseng @tvanigeria But above all, despite all the conflicting emotions and discordant feelings, I knew deep within my soul that I was acting in obedience to God's will for my life, and I felt heaven smiling on me.
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@harvesthouseng @tvanigeria It had been a long journey, a painfully long one.
I had been through the darkest of nights and the deepest of seas.
My convictions had been challenged over and over again by life.
My fortitude had been examined in the crucible of affliction.
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@harvesthouseng @tvanigeria I had been pushed close to the brink of quitting.
I had lost faith in myself and almost lost faith in God.
I had questioned the validity of almost everything I believed.
But it was all to prepare me for this assignment, for that moment in time.
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@harvesthouseng @tvanigeria Everything was part of the plan.
Every loss.
Every pain.
Every disappointment.
Every failure.
Every betrayal.
It was all part of a grand plan.
That day, everything came full circle, and the loop was closed.
I was home!
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@harvesthouseng @tvanigeria Today, Day 26 of #40DaysOfGratitude towards my 40th birthday, I am grateful to God for the journey that brought me into my assignment in TVA Inc.
Indeed, I can say with the Psalmist in Psa 66:12 (MSG) ...He trained us first, passed us like silver through refining fires...
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@harvesthouseng @tvanigeria ...Brought us into hardscrabble country, pushed us to our very limit, Road-tested us inside and out, took us to hell and back; Finally he brought us to this well-watered place.

Father, I am grateful!
#JourneyTo40
© Adeyinka J. Adeleke
05/05/2024
Ibadan Nigeria

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