Ayodele Joseph Oritsegbubemi Oritsejafor, known as Papa Ayo Oritsejafor, is the founding and Senior

Pastor A pastor (abbreviated as "Pr" or "Ptr" , or "Ps" ) is the leader of a Christian congregation who also gives advice and counsel to people from the community or congregation. In Lutheranism, Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy and ...

Word of Life Bible Church Word of Life Bible Church (WLBC) is a Pentecostal Christian megachurch located in Warri, Delta, Nigeria. It is one of the largest congregations in Nigeria, averaging about 30,000 attendees per week. The church now has congregations in over 70 lo ...

, located in

Warri The city of Warri is an oil hub within South-South Nigeria and houses an annex of the Delta State Government House. Warri City is one of the major hubs of the petroleum industry in Nigeria. Warri and her twin city, Uvwie are the commercial c ...

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

. He became the national president of the

Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria Pentecostalism or classical Pentecostalism is a Protestantism, Protestant Charismatic Christianity, Charismatic Christian movementChristian Association of Nigeria(CAN), the apex body of all Christians in the country. In doing so he became the first Pentecostal leader to hold the position. Oritsejafor was the first to launch a Miracle crusade from Africa to a world audience via satellite in 1987 with

evangelist Evangelist may refer to: Religion * Four Evangelists, the authors of the canonical Christian Gospels * Evangelism, publicly preaching the Gospel with the intention of spreading the teachings of Jesus Christ * Evangelist (Anglican Church), a c ...

Joe Martins.

Early life

Ayo Oritsejafor was born on November 10 into the family of Mr. Joseph Monday Oritsejafor and Mrs. Roli Durojaiye Oritsejafor in

Lagos Lagos (Nigerian English: ; ) is the largest city in Nigeria and the List of cities in Africa by population, second most populous city in Africa, with a population of 15.4 million as of 2015 within the city proper. Lagos was the national ca ...

, Nigeria. His mother is a staunch member of the Christ Apostolic Church (CAC). In 1972, Oritsejafor became “born again” in an evangelical crusade held in

Sapele ''Entandrophragma cylindricum'' is a tree of the genus ''Entandrophragma'' of the family ''Meliaceae''. It is commonly known as sapele or sapelli ( ) or sapele mahogany, as well as aboudikro, assi, and muyovu. Origin of the name The name ''sap ...

, Nigeria. Oritsejafor enrolled at th
All Nations For Christ Bible Institute

Benin City Benin City is the capital and largest city of Edo State, Edo State, Nigeria. It is the fourth-largest city in Nigeria according to the 2006 census, after Lagos, Kano (city), Kano, and Ibadan, with a population estimate of about 3,500,000 as of ...

. Oritsejafor further enrolled with the Nigerian Baptist Seminary, Ogbomosho in

Oyo State Oyo State is an inland state in southwestern Nigeria. Its capital is Ibadan, the third most populous city in the country and formerly the second most populous city in Africa. Oyo State is bordered to the north by Kwara State, to the east by Osun ...

, Nigeria and later proceeded in 1979 to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

for further studies at

Morris Cerullo Morris Cerullo (October 2, 1931 – July 10, 2020) was an American Pentecostal evangelist. He traveled extensively around the world for his ministry. He hosted ''Victory Today'', a daily television program, and published more than 80 books. Cer ...

'
School of Ministry (El Cortez)

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. According to him, he had a vision of himself wearing a suit and was preaching to thousands of people and he heard a voice that said to him, “this is what you are going to be doing the rest of your life” and the voice said, “Take my word to the world”. This is the inaugural vision that led to the founding of the Word of Life Bible Church (WLBC) in November 1987. He hosts ''Hour of Deliverance'', a television program which had its debut in 1980. Oritsejafor says he owes all his life's accomplishments to God, and his success in ministry he attributes to the influence of God-given mentors like Archbishop Benson Idahosa, Dr. Morris Cerullo, Evangelist Robert W. Schamback, and Evangelist Tommy L. Osborn amongst others. Oritsejafor is a proponent of leadership by example. This is evident in the role he played in bringing the crisis in Niger Delta area of Nigeria to an end.

Philanthropy

Oritsejafor sees himself as a servant of God and an instrument through which the God ministers to the spiritual and physical needs of people. He places emphasis on salvation, repentance, holiness, deliverance and empowerment of the less privileged, through social responsibility programmes. Over the years, he has condemned wastefulness and encouraged giving back to the society, regardless of

religion Religion is usually defined as a social- cultural system of designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relates humanity to supernatural, ...

race Race, RACE or "The Race" may refer to: * Race (biology), an informal taxonomic classification within a species, generally within a sub-species * Race (human categorization), classification of humans into groups based on physical traits, and/or s ...

. He offers

scholarship A scholarship is a form of financial aid awarded to students for further education. Generally, scholarships are awarded based on a set of criteria such as academic merit, diversity and inclusion, athletic skill, and financial need. Scholarsh ...

s to indigent students in various

tertiary Tertiary ( ) is a widely used but obsolete term for the geologic period from 66 million to 2.6 million years ago. The period began with the demise of the non-avian dinosaurs in the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event, at the start ...

secondary Secondary may refer to: Science and nature * Secondary emission, of particles ** Secondary electrons, electrons generated as ionization products * The secondary winding, or the electrical or electronic circuit connected to the secondary winding i ...

and elementary institutions both within and outside Nigeria irrespective of tribe or denomination. In December 2005, Oritsejafor and his wife Helen partnered with Flight Micro Finance Bank to start an empowerment programme for the people. Oritsejafor, ever since, makes it a tradition to empower the less privileged and to alleviate the sufferings of families all over at the end of every December. On 26 December 2016, the Word of Life Bible Church in conjunction with the Eagle Flight Micro Finance Bank held the poverty alleviation programme in

African Broadcasting Network (ABN)

Oritsejafor set up African Broadcasting Network, an international satellite Christian television station intended to serve as a voice for the

gospel Gospel originally meant the Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words an ...

of Christ from

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

to the world. ABN is a satellite channel broadcasting from

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, with a coverage that spans across the whole of

, parts of

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...

and parts of

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

. ABN is currently viewed in 75 countries world-wide and online via

WebTV MSN TV (formerly WebTV) was a web access product consisting of a thin client device that used a television for display (instead of using a computer monitor), and the online service that supported it. The device design and service was developed by ...

Recognition

Oritsejafor has received several awards both internationally and locally in regards of his various peace and humanitarian initiatives. He has been honored with the Golden key to the City of

Kalamazoo, Michigan Kalamazoo ( ) is a city in the southwest region of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is the county seat of Kalamazoo County. At the 2010 census, Kalamazoo had a population of 74,262. Kalamazoo is the major city of the Kalamazoo-Portage Metropolit ...

by the mayor of the city. He was also honored with the International

Youth Ambassador A youth ambassador is a young agent, representative and/or steward for the charity for which they work.Anaphylaxis CampaignYouth Ambassadors/ref> Youth ambassadors have been introduced in order to promote participation, or spread goodwill or knowle ...

for Peace Award. He was conferred an Officer of the Order of the Federal Republic (OFR) one of the

Nigerian National Honours Nigerian National Honours are a set of orders and decorations conferred upon Nigerians and friends of Nigeria every year. They were instituted by the National Honors Act No. 5 of 1964, during the First Nigerian Republic, to honour Nigerians who have ...

at the International Conference Centre, Abuja on December 22, 2008. Oritsejafor received an award of 'A True Servant of God' by The Northern States Christian Elders Forum (NOSCEF) May 9, 2013. Speaking on the choice of Oritsejafor, the Chairman of NOSCEF, Matthew Owojaiye said:

Christian Association of Nigeria, (CAN)

In 2010, Oritsejafor was declared the National President of the

Christian Association of Nigeria The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) is an umbrella organisation containing numerous Christian denominations in Nigeria. History The Christian Association of Nigeria was founded in 1976, and originally only contained the Catholic Church an ...

(CAN). He has been called the "most misunderstood" President of CAN. He was re-elected as the president on July 10, 2013. In an interview with a CAN Official, he lauds Oritsejafor: Oritsejafor came up with the idea of a Jubilee Centre to generate funds for the association: a 50–bedroom structure with a huge conference hall. The Jubilee Centre, National Christian Center,

Abuja Abuja () is the capital and eighth most populous city of Nigeria. Situated at the centre of the country within the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), it is a planned city built mainly in the 1980s based on a master plan by International Plann ...

, was completed and opened in 2015 by President

Goodluck Jonathan Goodluck Ebele Azikiwe Jonathan (born 20 November 1957)Lawson Heyford, ''The Source'' (Lagos), 11 December 2006. is a Nigerian politician who served as the President of Nigeria from 2010 to 2015. He lost the 2015 presidential election to fo ...

Books

Oritsejafor has authored several books: *''Walking in Unity'' *''Breaking the Power of Yesterday'' *''The Non-Essentials'' *''The Stone That Killed Goliath'' *''How to get answers to unanswered prayers'' *''Power through the Church'' *''The Battle is in the Mind'' *''Be an Over-Comer'' *''Power for the Journey'' *''Faith Antidote for Daily Living'' *''A Voice in the Wilderness'' *''A Man amongst Men'' *''The Altar'' *''God can not lie'' * Eaglets Devotional

References

Bibliography

* * *

External links

Official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Oritsejafor, Ayo Officers of the Order of the Federal Republic Living people Nigerian writers Nigerian Pentecostal pastors Christian Association of Nigeria Presidents Nigerian television evangelists Year of birth missing (living people) People from Warri