By 'Femi Okutubo
In spite of previous prophecies from a number of anointed persons of God, the last thing on the mind of Dr. Bayonile Aderemi Odedoyin, was that one day, he would become a Full-time Pastor and Minister of the Gospel.
Dr Remi Odedoyin was enjoying a thriving career in the secular education sector as an Academic and Lecturer. He was working in an education-related position in the United Kingdom's National Health Service (NHS) from 2003.
He describes his journey from the classroom to God's vineyard as "the calling of the Lord."
Pastor (Dr) Remi Odedoyin
Pastor (Dr) Remi Odedoyin
He says he was excited about his career in education, but "I was involved in so many things at the church where I was serving as a Minister. My wife and I were totally committed to the church with no ambition to become Pastors."
"In 2006, somebody came to wake me up on a particular day around 4am... I don't know if it was a dream or trance."
Odedoyin said he was told: "I have a message for you from God" and was referred to Hosea 2:19 where God says: "I will betroth you to me forever..."
"I had never looked at this passage before and I was very fearful. It was very clear that God wanted more of me," Odedoyin recalls.
"Not longer after this encounter, within two weeks, the Pastor of the Church we were worshipping - The Living Faith Connections Parish of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), called my wife and I, and told us the church was at a point, we must plant a parish from the church, and we were the right people to send out to achieve this. He told us to go and pray about it and start searching for a property for the new plant.
"I told the Pastor, that if it was not for the personal revelation I had received earlier, I will not touch the instruction with a 100m pole!" Odedoyin recalls.
That was how the House of Faith Connections (HOFC) Parish of the RCCG was birthed in 2006.
To help his ministry work, he enrolled for and successfully completed a Master's degree in Pastoral Theology at the University of London.
Asked how he has found the 'journey' more than 10 years since inception of HOFC, Pastor Remi Odedoyin (or 'PRO,' as many of his parishioners refer to him - an acronym from his names) describes it as "beautiful, in summary."
He adds: "bearing in mind there will have been ups and downs - plenty of it! including getting a suitable place of worship. There were occasions we held services under drizzles and outside - even when we had booked and paid for venues. People have disappointed us at different times. Where you expect spiritual maturity, you find people are 'empty,' in spite of many years of teaching and nurturing... but it is all part of the package."
HOFC which started with less than 20 worshippers, now has a congregation of about 250 including children. PRO is quick in pointing out that "I do not measure success in terms of numbers, but rather, in terms of the spiritual growth of the people we are privileged to Pastor by way of testimonies, the impact we have on people within the membership of the church and the community at large. We still have a lot ahead to achieve, but we thank God - for He has been gracious."
Unlike some churches that have little or no impact beyond the walls of its church building, PRO is able to reel out numerous community initiatives the church has embarked on: "We run the HOFC Dagenham Food Bank as part of the nationwide Trussell Trust Food Bank. We make food available to those who lack food for one reason or another - cutting across races, colour and cultures.
"We run the Dagenham Dock Job Club - a franchise of Christians Against Poverty (CAP). We attract people from the community who need help with developing their skills, interview techniques, CV writing and job placements.
"We run a Girls Brigade which is open to the community."
Looking ahead to the future, Odedoyin states that "From Christmas 2017, we intend to open the church on Christmas Day to those who may not otherwise have a Christmas celebration with family by providing a Christmas meal and party."
Odedoyin recounts that "one Parish has grown out of the church and one of our Ministers wants us to take over a Parish which we support, morally, spiritually and financially. We trust God to plant another Parish soon."
Pastor Remi Odedoyin who celebrated his 60th birthday recently is married to Pastor Christie Iyabo Odedoyin, and they are blessed with four children.
He bagged a First Class Bachelor's degree in Philosophy from the then University of Ife - having led his course with over 80 students from Year One in 1982, all through to Year Four - a feat recorded as the first in the history of the University.
He served his country after graduation as part of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) and was posted to the then Ogun State University. After his service year, he was employed by the University as a Graduate Assistant.
In 1987, he enrolled for a Master's of Arts in Philosophy at the University of Lagos which he completed as the best student in 1988.
He became an Assistant Lecturer in 1988 and Lecturer II in 1990. In 1992, he won through a keen competition, the only one Commonwealth Scholarship PhD slot allocated to Ogun State University and proceeded to the University of Essex in Colchester to pursue a PhD in Socio-Political Philosophy - which he successfully completed in 1996.
Between 1996 and 2000, PRO studied for a Master's of Science in Computer Studies (1997/98) at University of Essex; and Post Graduate of Law (CPE) in 1998/99 at the Anglia Ruskin University.
He picked up a job at TBG - a training company in 2000, from where he left in 2001 for a Tutor post at Barking College. He successfully completed a Post Graduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) at the Greenwich University. In 2003, he got a job as an Education and Work Development Officer with the East London and the City Forensic Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust, where he worked until he retired to concentrate on full-time Pastoral work in July 2015.
* Further information about House of Faith Connections Parish of the Redeemed Christian Church of God is available at www.hofc.org.uk