The tides of time flow and ebb in the lives of men by the dictates of the God who dwells in eternity but rules over time. For Stephen Oluwole Akinola, the tide began to flow on 4th March, 1953, a Wednesday, in Tamale, capital city of the Northern Region of the Gold Coast, now Ghana.

The man who later in life built an enviable international pedigree in ministry, was Ghanaian at birth and Nigerian by origin. His family had a heritage of crossing borders and building cross-cultural relationships – a feature that later defined Stephen Akinola’s modus operandi.

Akinola’s parents migrated to Ghana on foot, from Igboho, in search of greener pastures.  They travelled through countless towns and villages until they arrived Tamale where they settled and started trading, farming, and overseeing the “Corner Bar” business. They prospered by dint of discipline and diligent business acumen, raising their children on the enduring values of enterprise, sincerity and integrity.

Stephen Akinola was born into the family of Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Otunla Akinola, the ninth of ten children. His father was from Igboho in Oyo State, and his mother hailed from Abeokuta in Ogun State. His birth was as miraculous as his call as a pastor was supernatural. He was born in the twelfth month of conception, instead of the ninth month. The seeming delay in his birth led to an inquiry about what manner of child he would be. It was accordingly predicted that the name of the child would be heard around the corners of the earth.

There were early signs that the prophecy about his life would be fulfilled. Stephen Akinola was only four years old when his parents took him to be enrolled in the primary school at Damango, in the Savannah Belt of Ghana’s Northern Region. His intelligence quotient belied his age and size. He did not look like one who should be enrolled to start primary school. The school authorities, nevertheless, interviewed the four-year-old to test his intelligence. Stephen Akinola performed excellently, to the amazement of the headmaster and teachers who concluded that it would be a disservice to send the smart and ebullient would-be pupil back home because he had not attained the statutory age and height.

The young Stephen’s creative credentials showed up early in life. His little but irrepressible mind was laced with artistic grace and inspirational glory. He loved to draw with an articulate imagination, which later developed with the hallmarks of a genius. Little Stephen was always cheerful and enthusiastic to learn. Although the youngest, he was the brightest in the school.

Stephen’s intellectual progress and maturity proved that the school authorities took the right decision to admit him even when he did not meet the age and height requirements. He remained at the top of his class throughout his years in the school, achieving the enviable mark of passing the School Leaving Certificate Examination with distinction at the age of ten.

The young genius progressed to Middle School where he spent two years before gaining admission into Government Secondary School, Tamale, the city of his birth. Again, he was teachable, which made him exceptional. However, Stephen’s superior and superlative intellect and the promise it portended came under threat while in Middle School, when the unexpected happened in the family.

Stephen hit his first major crossroad in life while in Middle School. He lost his loving and enterprising father in an accident in 1966. That was traumatic and career-threatening for the young and brilliant Stephen. The immediate fear was that of living life without a father-figure and consequently of not being able to complete school because of lack of sponsorship. Other fears were no less apparent.

God proved Himself faithful in Stephen’s life when He providentially used his uncle, Pa Isaac Adelakun, to be his father and benefactor. Gracefully, Pa Adelakun, a wealthy merchant, funded Stephen’s secondary school education, also serving as a stabilizing factor at that critical and formative stage of life. Stephen Akinola’s uncle was the vehicle through whom God fulfilled His prophetic Word in Zephaniah 3:19, “Behold, at that time I will deal with all who afflict you; I will save the lame, and gather those who were driven out; I will appoint them for praise and fame in every land where they were put to shame.” od took away the curse of premature death, appointing for Stephen “praise and fame” where the enemy had meant shame. The charity and generosity of Pa Adelakun became a feature of Stephen Akinola’s personal charitable and philanthropic outreaches.

Besides the death of his father, another crossroad with a counter-current came in 1969, when Stephen was due to complete his secondary school. The government of Kofi Abrefa Busia, Prime Minister of Ghana from 1969 to 1972, issued an expulsion order to all Nigerians resident in Ghana. The challenge of truncating his education at that critical point was a crossroad. Stephen was reluctant to leave Ghana, the place of his birth and breeding. He graduated from Tamale Secondary School in 1970, and Pa Isaac Adelakun his uncle induced him back to Nigeria with the promise of a job.

Stephen arrived in Nigeria to find out that there was no job for him, but the God of providence continued to overshadow the damages that those early counter-currents might have caused. Stephen later got a job as a teacher at the Baptist Primary School, Igboho, in 1971. He worked there until 1973 when he was admitted to Yaba College of Technology, Lagos, to study for the Ordinary National Diploma (OND) in Fine Arts. He majored and excelled in the three fields of Sculpture, Painting and Graphics. Stephen Oluwole Akinola graduated with flying colours in 1975. He proceeded to do the High National Diploma (HND), specializing in Painting, and graduated with Distinction in 1977.

Stephen Akinola was not only an artist but one sculptured to manifest excellence. His pen was as graphical as his person was glorious. He exhibited the hallmarks of precision laced with perfection and clarity loaded with creativity. He doted his “i” and crossed his “t” in everything he wrote. Life, for him, was like a divine painting – an opportunity to design everything with the master strokes of the Divine Creator. He believed that man was a piece of the Master and therefore must design everything to exhibit the magnificence of a masterpiece. Stephen Akinola took time and pleasure to design even envelops in which he sent out letters of invitation. He creatively designed the names of invitees, believing that the merit of the event was also in the artistry of the token of invitation. Stephen Akinola was magnificent in manners and methodical in meaning.

Personal advancements could not fill the spiritual void in Stephen. Indeed, no skill or learning can fill the hole in the one without God. Stephen Akinola was a member of the Baptist Church founded and led by his elder brother. He served in multiple roles in that church: Chief Dramatist, choir member, Youth President. All the same, as he himself was to note later in an interview with the New Waves Newspaper of December 24th – 30th, 2012, “I went to church because I was living with my elder brother who was the founder and head of … the Baptist Church in Shomolu. I got involved in church activities … but I was only playing church. Christ was not in my heart…”

The turning point in Stephen Akinola’s life came when the Chief Dramatist acted Jesus Christ in one of their performances. The play was a divine setup; it ignited a persistent conviction that lasted for weeks. He had acted the life of the Redeemer whose noble character condemned his own lifestyle. The play had been followed with a powerful salvation message that drove the Youth President to his critical decision. Stephen Akinola, nevertheless, did not answer the call to the altar by the visiting Evangelist. There was a life-and-death tug-of-war between him and the Holy Spirit. According to him, “When the altar call was made, I felt the urge to go forward but the devil told me, “Why would you go forward? Are you a sinner? You are not a sinner! If you go, everyone here will think that you are a sinner… The devil was telling me I was alright, so I struggled with that conviction and somehow, I escaped.”

He escaped the altar call, but not the Master’s call. Two weeks later, according to him, “…I came under a serious conviction in the lecture hall” at the Yaba College of Technology in Lagos. The sermon he had heard reinforced by the persisting conviction from so unworthily acting the life of the holy Jesus, took Stephen to his knees, alone in a friend’s room in the hostel. He wept for more than one and half hours, confessing his sins and asking Jesus to forgive him and come into his life. That encounter was very dramatic. He felt as if a huge weight had been lifted from his head. According to him, “When I rose up from my knees, it was like a 12-storey building had been lifted off my head. A mighty weight left me, and I knew I was free… Every single thing I saw looked different. The flowers looked different, the trees looked different… It appeared to me the world had changed… I walked back to the lecture hall… a new man.”

The first token of divine signal that the world had changed was the full scholarship that Stephen had, but which he was not aware of until he was reconciled to God. Testifying of that instance of God’s grace, he pondered, “…Why didn’t that scholarship surface before I got saved?”

Life is a mystery bag of spiritual secrets, which only God can fully open to those who are called by His name. Stephen Akinola’s relationship with God is a lesson, that those who trust in Him will not be put to shame.

Stephen Akinola was noted for cultivating the candlelight of God’s presence and power through Scriptures enflamed by the Holy Spirit. Like the Biblical Job, he often walked through darkness by the candlelight of God’s Word, a lamp to his feet and a light to his path (Job 29:2, Psalm 119:105). By this light, Stephen was ushered into the higher calling of a Christ-like ministry. He had a hunger to study the Word of God and to cultivate a Spirit-inspired prayer life. He did not just join the Campus Fellowship after conversion, he also became a regular part of the Bible Study that held in Pastor W.F. Kumuyi’s house at the University of Lagos. Stephen Akinola gave himself to “everything that was preached,” so that, soon, “…many people mistook him for a very old [and] established Christian”. He “…devoured the Word of God…” and was deeply rooted in Christ. That depth of consecration and commitment translated into a higher calling when the Deeper Life Ministry started in 1978.

It was about that time that Stephen Akinola was posted to Port Harcourt for the mandatory one-year National Youth Service Corp (NYSC) programme. As one of the first members and leaders of the Christian movement that evolved into the Deeper Life Bible Church, he took up the mantle of pioneering the birth of the Church in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.

Brother Stephen Akinola, as he was then fondly called, combined his work as a fine arts teacher at the Federal Government College in Port Harcourt, with the task of overseeing the rise of the Deeper Christian Life Ministry, before it had become Deeper Life Bible Church. He was diligent, devoted and determined to make full proof of his ministry at the College and in the Deeper Life Bible Church. He was creative in time management and the Church. The fact that he was retained as a full-time teacher after the mandatory NYSC programme is a testament to his diligence and devotion.

Stephen Akinola’s mission to Port Harcourt was designed by God. The steps of the good and godly man were ordered by the Lord. His was an apostolic and prophetic mandate that manifested the mantles of the fivefold ministerial gifts. He was an Apostle, Prophet, Evangelist, Pastor and Teacher. He gave shape and structure to the church, stimulated and activated those around him with “thus says the Lord”, thundered with the evangelistic vehicle of the Thunderbolt Crusades, nurtured all and sundry with the tough but tender touch of a compassionate caregiver and manifested the exegetical excellence of a master dissector of the Word of God. Not many in contemporary times have had his creative ability to carefully coin sermon and Bible study topics. Stephen Akinola was as inspirational as he was spiritual in designing and deploying discipleship materials.

Stephen Akinola was a proponent of Church growth. He defended and deepened the knowledge of the principles of growing a church spiritually in holiness and righteousness. His messages were laced with the subject of “Why Revival Tarries” and what must be done to be instruments of Holy Spirit-inspired revivals. The annual Wind and Fire Conferences of Redemption Ministries were dedicated to the Third Person of the Trinity, without whom there can be no power for true revival. Stephen Akinola was a passionate protagonist for the restitution that produces deeper dimensions of sanctification, purity and power for signs and wonders.

That passion for doctrinal purity and power informed the incredible growth of the Port Harcourt branch of the Deeper Life Bible Church, from about thirteen people to the teaming multitudes that later attended church services.

Although the Bible Study Fellowship locations changed many times between 1977 and 1979, members remained faithful, despite persecutions, through the perseverance of Stephen Akinola. As a pioneer State Leader, he presided over the transition from its ministry status to a full-fledged Church in 1982, thus also becoming the first State Overseer. Pastor Akinola’s ministerial duties covered several states in the South-South and South-East geo-political zones of Nigeria. His evangelistic and pastoral outreaches traversed the old Rivers State, which included Bayelsa. It encompassed the old Cross River State, which included the present day Akwa Ibom State. He also reached places like Abia, Imo, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu and Benue States. The church grew exponentially through Pastor Akinola’s manifestation of the nine gifts of the Spirit and the assistance he received from leaders such as Pastors C.S. Kwelle, Edward Enenta, Dotimi Patience Amatare, Yomi Isijola, Cletus Desmond, and others too numerous to mention.

Stephen Akinola’s experience from pioneering the Deeper Life Bible Church in Port Harcourt was indispensable to pioneering Redemption Ministries in January 1987. He began the fresh commission with a few brethren during the first prayer meeting at the Shiloh Hills Academy, at the Rumuibekwe Housing Estate in Port Harcourt. The founding membership of Redemption Ministries included Willy Bunting, Chinedu Dickson, Cletus Desmond, T.A. George, Donatus Livinus, Pere Ajuwa, Prince Uche Secondus, Josephine Emenike, and others too numerous to mention. It was with those men and women that Rev. Stephen Akinola again exhibited such wonderful leadership skills as have taken the church to enviable heights.

With Apostolic grace, Stephen Akinola established spiritual and administrative structures of the ministry, which became the pillars of church growth and development. They included the Board of Trustees, the Elders’ Forum, the Board of Deacons, the Regional Assemblies and Satellite Churches in Port Harcourt. The Church expanded to other cities within and outside Nigeria. Daniel’s International was established to attend to elites, Men Ablaze Fellowship reached out to men, Divine Daughters of Destiny was a trans-denominational Women’s ministry, Pneuma Youths was the youth wing of the Church, and Campus Daniels served was the campus fellowship of Redemption Ministries.

Greatly endowed by God with tremendous creative and organizational skills, Rev. Stephen Akinola provided excellent leadership to his team of faithfuls. There were trying times, especially the repeated relocations of the worship centre, until the miraculous provision of the land at Sekeni Ama, Eastern Bypass, Port Harcourt, popularly called “Omega Beach,” where Redemption Ministries permanent headquarters now stands.

From its earliest days, Redemption Ministries was poised for exploits. Bringing his knack for excellence to bear, Rev. Stephen Akinola and his faithful team undertook several initiatives that define the success story of Redemption Ministries. Some of those outreaches were, Thunderbolt Gospel Crusades (the evangelistic arm of the Church), Conference on Power Evangelism (COPE) (which organizes leadership conferences for church leaders and workers), and Redemption Bible College (RBC) (which trains pastors and church leaders).

Redemption Ministries, under the apostleship of Rev. Stephen Akinola, organized several effective power-packed evangelistic and Church growth programmes. His ministry saw uncommon miracles, souls being saved, backsliders restored, Christians sanctified, believers baptized in the Holy Ghost, the sick healed, the oppressed delivered, and the needy replenished. Some of those memorable programmes included the momentous inaugural worship service on Sunday, 7th of June, 1987, in which the Lord manifested His presence so mightily that many souls were won; the Power House Pavilion outreach events at the Port Harcourt Chamber of Commerce Trade Fair grounds, the follow-up Rhema Rally in 1987, as well as the annual Holy Spirit Seminar that started in December 1987, to its ninth edition in December 1996, all at Stella Maris College, Port Harcourt. Consequently, the initial Holy Spirit Seminars metamorphosed into the annual Wind and Fire Conference with participants in their thousands.

The year 1988 witnessed the great outpouring of God’s power at the first Conference of the Cross, an annual seminal retreat programme. Like a Mighty Wind was the flagship women’s annual conference, its debut in November 1989 with the theme, “Woman Be Free.” In 1994, Men Ablaze fellowship had its “Suya Night.” The “Church on the Road” programme was also organized by the men’s fellowship. The youths had their annual camp, “Kabash,” which began in the early 1990s. All were amazing programmes that impacted lives for the Kingdom of God.

Rev. Stephen Akinola was also an evangelist, with achievements in the many outreaches of the evangelistic arm of the ministry, especially the Thunderbolt Gospel Crusades. By his initiative, Thunderbolt Crusades were held in such towns as Abonnema, Buguma, Bori, Nembe, Igboho, Ojoto, etc., attended by thousands. The phenomenal results from those meetings led to the exponential growth of the ministry. Skills Acquisition training sessions were also a significant part of the crusades.

Stephen Akinola was deeply committed to marriage and family life. He married Sister Ayebatonye Matilda on the 12th of September, 1981, a union that would have clocked 40 years by the 12th of September, 2021, but for the departure. Rev. Stephen Akinola was Mummy Matilda’s pastor, teacher, counsellor and confidant. Theirs was a union of no secrets; everything was discussed amicably. They had six biological children with grandchildren and took care of a countless number of other people’s children. He called her “Hepzibah” and she called him “Jedidiah” – “The Beloved of the Lord”. He was more of an extrovert, and she, more an introvert. No doubt, their marriage was a union of two opposites in temperaments, who beautifully understood and complemented each other.

Mummy Matilda described her husband as charitable, sacrificial, loving and kind-hearted. His heart was as large as his hands were generous. Stephen Akinola was gentle and considerate. He never lifted his finger against his wife or indeed any other person. His wife for four decades described him as a man who easily said, “I am sorry”, even when he was not really at fault. He was stable in character and consistent in conduct; a man that never changed his message to please anyone.

Stephen Akinola was the iroko of his immediate and extended family. He was a perfectionist; a man of precision and power, who wanted the best for everyone – his wife, children, brothers, sisters, colleagues, friends, and those who served him. He treated drivers, cooks and cleaners with dignity. He loved and cared for them the way Jesus loved and cared for His followers. Stephen Akinola never looked down on anybody. He brought himself to the level of children who were drawn by his humility and simplicity. He manifested the virtues of the Golden Rule – “Do to others what you want others to do to you”.

Rev. Stephen Akinola was a teacher of teachers. That aspect of him manifested in the family as well as in the Church. As Pastor Matilda Akinola testified, “My husband taught me how to read the Bible, which he interpreted in a unique and unusual way”. His prayer was, “God’s Word in God’s mouth must be the same as God’s Word in my own mouth”.

Rev. Stephen Akinola worked assiduously towards the propagation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. His legacies were a beautiful mixture of the classical and the contemporary. He embraced long-established systems of the traditional, without opposing the creative and innovative systems of modernity in line with doctrinal purity. He combined the ancient and modern with symphonic dexterity and symmetrical elegance.

Through his 44 years in ministry, he left a corpus of sterling legacies. At the personal level, he was a happy man with an affectionate smile, a hearty laughter and winsome personality. He was an epitome of decorum, kindness and candour. His lifestyle and message of holiness, sincerity and integrity which he preached tirelessly via television, radio and online, visibly reflected in his well-groomed virtuous wife and perfect helpmeet of forty years, with whom he crossed every ocean and climbed every mountain. A heritage of disciplined children was bred in the Christian faith. The children are in various fields of professional endeavours: Captain Shiloh Akinola, a pilot and product designer; Mr. Shalom Akinola, a multimedia communications and advertising expert; Ms. Roxandra Akinola, a lawyer; Mr. Leslie Akinola, a computer scientist; Ms. Yolanda Akinola, an accountant, Mr. Daniel Akinola, an economist; Mr. Segun Akinola, a businessman, and Mr. Osaki Opuoyibo, a business administrator.

One of the major hallmarks of Stephen Akinola’s ministry was his charitable nature, to individuals, families and communities. He paid health-bills, helped families, built houses, extended a helping hand to communities through medical outreaches and skills acquisition programmes.

The communities that enjoyed Stephen Akinola’s apostolic grace and generosity included Igboho, his hometown, Nembe, the homestead of his wife, Buguma, Abonemma, Degema and Ojoto in Anambra State. Akinola continued to minister to individuals, families and communities even in ill-health. He preached on the first night of the Ojoto Crusade, returned to keep a dialysis appointment in Port Harcourt, and returned to Ojoto to preach on the last night of the crusade. He continued to counsel individuals, reconcile dysfunctional families, and fulfiled his apostolic commitment to cities in and around Rivers State under difficult personal circumstances. He was selfless, sacrificial and completely submitted to the God who called and commissioned him to fulfil the Great Commission. His life was a reflection of the Biblical injunctions of 2 Timothy 4:2: “Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching.”

Stephen Akinola had several wonderful partnerships and collaborations with an array of senior ministers of the gospel in Nigeria and around the world. Very significant was his relationship with Rev. Dr. Uma Ukpai, who has been mightily used as the instrument of God’s blessings upon thousands, especially in the flagship non-denominational women’s annual conference, “Like a Mighty Wind,” organized by Redemption Ministries. Beyond Nigeria, Rev. Akinola maintained a robust personal and ministry relationship with Evangelist Reinhard Bonnke and the Christ for All Nations Organization (CFAN). He was instrumental to the organization’s return to Nigeria after a ban following the anti-gospel 1999 riots in Kano, in the wake of a crusade in which Evangelist Bonnke was scheduled to preach. Rev. Stephen Akinola approached President Olusegun Obasanjo, with whom he had acquaintance, and the ban was lifted and the evangelist eventually returned to Nigeria to preach. His farewell crusade in Nigeria was in 2017, in Lagos.

Stephen Akinola’s creative ingenuity was enflamed by his passion for cultivating the presence of God through prayer. That was the heartbeat of every aspect of ministry. Intimate relationship with the Holy Spirit birthed the prayer units tagged Commando 1 and 2. It inspired the creation of the music ministries: the Pneuma Voices, the Trinity Voices, the Blazing Voices, and the Redemption Orchestra.

Stephen Akinola composed wonderful songs to express his love for God. Some of the songs are: “Give me my Childhood,” “You are my Bethesda,” “Send now Your Prosperity,” “Good Morning Holy Spirit.” Indeed, his lifetime messages and books have positively impacted the Church of God.

The triumphant tide that began to flow on Wednesday the 4th of March, 1953, ebbed on Sunday, the 6th of June, 2021. “The Disciple Jesus Loves” was translated to rest in the bosom of the Lord who loved him.

Stephen Oluwole Akinola was an articulate artist that painted beautiful pictures with the brush and the Bible; a preacher whose words gripped hearts to grapple with the reality of sin and the need for salvation. He was an apostle with a prophetic unction, a teacher with pastoral grace, a lover of the Holy Spirit. He was a good husband whose wife called him “The Beloved of the Lord”, a loving father who nurtured trail blazers, a diligent and devoted disciple whom Jesus still loves, missed dearly by all.