The Oke-Oye Revival: The Greatest Revival of Ayo Babalola

 

There were many revivals led by Joseph Ayo Babalola during his days on earth, but none could be compared to the Oke-Oye revival. This revival birthed so many unprecedented miracles and wonders, cutting across both Christians, Muslims, and idol worshippers. The Oke-Oye revival shaped the foundation of Pentecostalism in Nigeria today.

Joseph Ayo Babalola was born on April 25, 1904, to David Rotimi and Marta Talabi, who both attended the Anglican church. The family lived at Odo-Owa in Ilofa in present-day Kwara state, Nigeria. His father was a priest at the Church Missionary Society (C.M.S) church in Odo-Owa.

In 1914, at the age of 10, Babalola was taken by his brother M.O Rotimi to Osogbo, where he continued his primary education. M.O Rotimi was a Sunday school teacher in the C.M.S Church at Ilofa before moving to Osogbo with Joseph Ayo Babalola. After some time, Babalola quit school and ventured into motor mechanic apprenticeship. Again, he did not continue with the apprenticeship and decided to join the Public Works Department as a steam roller driver. He was among the road workers who constructed the road from Igbara-Oke to Ilesa.

Joseph Ayo Babalola’s conversion experience started on the night of September 25th, 1928, when he suddenly became restless and could not sleep. This experience continued for weeks and no one could trace the reason behind it. The climax came one day while he was working on the Ilesa-Igbara-Oke road construction project. His steam roller suddenly stopped working. No visible mechanical problem was detected and Babalola became confused and perplexed.

Then on October 9, while making futile attempts to repair the roller, a voice, as audible as the roar of thunder, called him three times. The voice told him that he would die if he refused to heed the divine call to go into the world and preach. After this encounter, he resigned his appointment with the Public Works Department.

The same voice came to him a second time asking him to fast for seven days. He obeyed the voice and fasted. At the end of the fasting, he saw a great figure of a man in a dazzling robe speak to him at length about the mission he was to embark upon. The man also told him of the persecutions he would face and at the same time assured him of God's protection and victory.

He also gave Babalola a hand prayer bell as a symbol. He told him that the sound of the bell would always drive away evil spirits. He also gave him a bottle of water to heal all manner of sicknesses.

After this encounter, Babalola went back to his hometown, Odo-Owa. At Odo-Owa, testimonies followed wherever and whenever he prayed into water for therapeutic purposes, effective healing followed those who drank the water. He became a prophet and a man with extraordinary powers. He could spend several weeks in prayer and fasting.

Joseph Ayo Babalola's father, Pa David Rotimi, played an instrumental role in the establishment of the C.M.S Church in Odo-Owa. From time to time, Babalola would organize regular prayer meetings in the church, which many people attended because of the miracles God performed through him.

Members of the church all began to see visions, speaking in tongues, and praying vigorously. But this development did not go down well with the bishop of Ilorin diocese. The bishop, fearing that some members of the church would start following Babalola, ordered him to leave the church, and he left.

Elder Daniel Ajibola was at that time working in Ibadan where he was a member of the Faith Tabernacle Congregation. Upon hearing what happened, Ajibola, who had traveled from Ibadan to the Faith Tabernacle congregation in Lagos, invited Babalola to come over to Lagos. When Babalola arrived, Ajibola introduced him to Pastor D.O Odunbajo, one of the leaders of the Faith Tabernacle in Lagos. He was also introduced to Pastor Esinsinade, who was then the president of the Faith Tabernacle. After listening to the details of his call and his ministry, the Faith Tabernacle leaders warmly received him into their midst.

Babalola had not yet been baptized by immersion and senior Pastor Esinsinade emphasized that he needed to go through that rite. Pastor Esinsinade then baptized him in the lagoon at the back of the Faith Tabernacle Church building at 51, Moloney Street, Lagos. He returned to Odo-Owa a few days after.

The news of his conversion reached Pastor K.P Titus at Araromi in Yagba, present-day Kwara State. Pastor Titus was a teacher and preacher at the Sudan Interior Mission, which was then thriving at Yagba. He invited Babalola for a revival service. Ayo Babalola, while in Yagba, performed mighty works of healing. Many Muslims and Christians from other denominations and some traditionalists were converted to Christianity during the revival.

At that time, there were controversies among leaders of the Faith Tabernacle in Nigeria over some doctrines. Issues like the use of Western and traditional drugs versus divine healing, polygamy, and whether polygamous husbands should be allowed to partake of the Lord's supper were among those doctrines that needed to be agreed on. 

These issues had caused dissension at the Ilesa Tabernacle, and in order to avoid a split, a delegation of peacemakers made up of all leading Faith Tabernacle pastors was sent to Ilesa. It was headed by Pastor J.B Esinsinade of Ijebu-Ode, president of the General Headquarters of the movement in Nigeria, and D.O Odunbajo of the Lagos Missionary Headquarters. The Ilesa meeting was scheduled for the 9th and 10th of July, 1930.

Before the delegation left Lagos for Ilesa, Babalola had been invited to meet the leaders at Pastor I.B Akinyele's residence at Ibadan. From there, I.B Akinyele and Babalola joined the delegation to Ilesa. At Ilesa, he was introduced to the whole conference but was excused when the conference began since he was not among the leaders of the Faith Tabernacle.

The conference was on the first item on the agenda when there was a sudden interruption. A mighty sweeping revival had just broken out. The revival began with the raising by Babalola of a dead child. The mother of the dead child, who was restored to life, went about spreading the news around the town of Ilesa, proclaiming that a miracle-working prophet had come to the town of Oke-Oye.

This attracted a large number of people to Oke-Oye to see the prophet. Many of those afflicted with various diseases who came to Oke-Oye were healed. Babalola performed many mighty works at the Oke-Oye revival through the use of consecrated water from a stream called "Omi Ayo," which translates to "Stream of Joy."

Thousands of people, including traditional worshipers, Muslims, and Christians from various other denominations, were converted to the Faith Tabernacle.

As there was no space enough in the church hall, revival meetings were shifted to an open field where men and women from all walks of life, from every part of the country and from neighboring countries, assembled daily for healing, deliverance, and blessings.

Within three weeks of the revival, Babalola had cured about one hundred lepers, sixty blind people, and fifty lame persons. Both the Anglican and Wesleyan churches in Ilesa were left desolate because their members transferred their allegiance to Ayo Babalola.

Many patients in Wesley Hospital, Ilesa, abandoned their beds to seek healing from Babalola.

The tidal wave of this revival spread from Ilesa to Ibadan, Ijebu, Lagos, Efon-Alaaye, Aramoko, Ekiti, and Abeokuta. At one revival meeting, attendance at the venue of the revival rose to about forty thousand.

Among the men of faith who came as disciples to Babalola were Daniel Orekoya, Peter Olatunji, who came from Okeho, and Omotunde, popularly known as Aladura Omotunde. These men drew great inspiration from Babalola.

This revival also brought with it a wave of persecution. The colonial government, fearing the growing influence of the revival, fabricated false allegations against Babalola and his followers. The government labeled the revival as a lawless movement and arrested Babalola, sentencing him to six months in prison.

Leaders of the Faith Tabernacle faced severe victimization and harassment:

• Their place of worship was locked.
• Services were banned.
• Some leaders were detained and later tried for offenses such as disturbing public peace with vigil prayers and discouraging the use of modern medicine.

In their distress, the Faith Tabernacle in Nigeria reached out to their American counterparts for help, but their plea was rejected. The American leaders claimed that "it was against their practice to go to other countries for the work of the gospel unless through Christian literature."

Additionally, the two branches held conflicting theological views:

• The American Faith Tabernacle believed that speaking in tongues was demonic.
• The Nigerian Faith Tabernacle believed in speaking in tongues as a gift of the Holy Spirit.

As a result, the Faith Tabernacle in Nigeria disaffiliated from their American counterpart.

Shortly afterward, the leaders of the Faith Tabernacle learned about The Apostolic Church Mission in Great Britain, which shared similar beliefs regarding the workings of the Holy Spirit. They quickly reached out for assistance.

Their request was met with an instant response. In September 1931, the Apostolic Church Mission in Great Britain sent three delegates to Nigeria:

• Pastor D.P. Williams
• Pastor A. Turnbull
• W.J. Williams

These delegates negotiated with the colonial government, leading to Babalola’s release after six months in detention.

Following these events, the Faith Tabernacle in Nigeria underwent restructuring. In 1931, a new denomination—The Apostolic Church (TAC)—was officially established.

This marked a new era of Pentecostal Christianity in Nigeria, with Babalola at the forefront as a great apostolic leader.