C&M: Who is Bishop John Osa Oni?
Bishop: John Osa Oni is a child of God and by Gods grace the presiding Bishop of Vineyard Christian Churches and Ministries with International Headquarters in Osolo Way, Off Muritala Mohammed International Airport Road, Lagos.

C&M: As a growing up child did you ever dream of being a Pastor?
Bishop: Never ever, that was never in the agenda I was not brought up in a Christian home, basically my parents worshiped ancestors, great grand fathers, Ogun and all kind of things. This is the kind of environment we were brought up. So serving God was never a thing, rather going to school and become something.

C&M: So, how did you become a Pastor?
Bishop: I thank God for Catholic schools, I attended a Catholic School. I eventually got sick, fainted seven times and the last one I woke up over three and in half hours after and ran out, a man drove me back saying “Go back and serve me” the man had a white robe and was very tall. I came back and told my parents that someone says I should come and serve him and that was the end of that sickness and my parents said may be it was the ancestors that said I should come back and probably, that was particularly his father that drove me to come and modify the way to serve them and I told them that was not it.

As a child, I could not help it from there I started to serve God. Through school, on campus, I began to see the difference. It way during that time that I had the call that God wanted me to serve him in his vineyard. Though I argued the service of a full time minister because as at that time, Pastor Kumuyi and Pastor Adeboye were part time ministers and they were doing well in their ministries. They were basically my yardstick to becoming a part time Pastor until January 1986, I became a full time pastor. Ever since then I have never regretted being a full time Pastor.

C&M: From your assessment, what has been the most outstanding thing that God has used you to achieve?
Bishop: Many lives have been touched, ministry is all about touching lives. When you go all over the world and people acknowledge that through you the got born again or got their break through, it is elating. There are too many things beyond pointing at one I have come to conclusion that what is worth living for is leaving a legacy for posterity rather than prosperity.

C&M: 1986, that's pretty long. How was it at the beginning?
Bishop: It was fantastic I worked with one of the most foremost faith preaching ministries, that is Christ Chapel Voice of Faith, Ministry and there were other staff who were there, when I got there, the challenge was enormous I never knew the capacity which each of those pastors were. As an associate pastor, those who were there before me tend to hate me overnight and even those who were talking with me suddenly stopped talking with me. It was a serious moment but my pastor did not know. If I buy food no one was willing to share with me. I was treated as a leaper. So the hatred was unprecedented.

Before I joined the ministry as a full time Pastor, I lived in a house off Adelabu street, Aguda in Surulere, the rent of the place was N600 but when I joined the ministry as fulltime Pastor, my entire salary was N100 per week and some weeks we were not even paid and you dare not ask. Basically, those things helped me to live by faith, till date I do not collect salary from this ministry and supernaturally, God is blessing me

C&M: Tell us about Vineyard Christian Ministry
Bishop: Vineyard Christian Ministry is a place of family, it is a meeting place. There is something that is here which is not there in most churches, this family nature. There is this aura among us that is very different. I asked God before he instructed me to start this ministry. So, vineyard Christian Ministry started in 1988, where one or two people gathered. We never started with five people but one or two.

Most time I will be the only one in the sitting room, then, my wife was the management accountant in her company, so she was always out for work. So I was the only one then, singing and shouting as if there were hundreds of people in the room. This ministry has been real, There is no sinner no matter how worse he may have been, that cannot find conversion in vineyard Christian Ministries. Our mission statement is “raising a people of destiny”.

C&M: We have been reliably informed that you run your ministry like a family, even the Pastors that started this ministry with you are still within the fold. What has been your secret?.
Bishop: The basic thing is not being greedy as a leader. Here I make my Pastors know that there is nothing they cannot achieve as a head- pastor in any other place that they cannot achieve here in VCM. I do not envy any of my assistants, because I know that as long as Moses was alive, Joshua was doing his duty. Just because we are a family, many of them stay on.

C&M: To what extent is your church involved in mission activities?
Bishop: We used to be involved with CAPRO, and sometimes with some other missions work, we also try to open more breaches of our church. I love mission, I love the poor. Most of the times I preach in African countries I do not come back with suits I go out with. I give them out along with other things. I hate seeing people being tormented by poverty, I hate people begging.

C&M: What is your view about churches concentrating in urban centres while dark places abound in the rural areas without people reaching out to them?
Bishop: I do not talk about church but I believe in let everyman be fully persuaded. People's calling are different.

C&M How many breaches do you have?
Bishop: We have 20 branches

C&M: From the look of things it is glaring that you are running a very successful ministry. What is your secret.
Bishop: Grace, Grace, nothing but grace. Paul said I am what I am by the grace of God. Since I moved in here, we have been labouring and building. We have fought with all kinds of principalities, powers and beasts in this location but since victory is ours we remain victorious.

C&M: What should Christians look out for from Vineyard Christian Centre?
Bishop: This end of year we will be having Word Explosion and Grace for Exploit. 2008 is our years for new beginning, so everything we talk about now is grace. There is no way anybody worships with us sincerely will all his or her heart within one year, there must be a drastic change in his life.

C&M: I can see Keneth Hagins picture adorn your office all over. Is he your role model?
Bishop: Yes, Keneth Hagins is one of my role models, over there (pointing at a picture) is Late Bishop Idahosa's picture. I knew him, he took me as a son, I met Hagins material in 1978. his work has helped a lot to put me on the right path.

C&M: Finally, a word for Nigerians
Bishop: Nigerians should know that life is about consistency we need to be more prayerful. This administration should do more to keep our industries working, this will reduce unemployment because the last part of eight years of the past administration saw more people retrenched than employed. Some of the retrenched don't have homes nor something to fall back to. After retrenchment these people make new friends and possibly fall into crime to meet up with basic needs. Let government create more jobs.

The government this days tend to become a burden to the church, the church is doing so much. For a state government to approve building plan for the church these days is enormous task and it is killing. This same money from the church comes voluntarily from people that have been taxed by the government. The way they rip-off churches is terrible.

Church is meant to complement effort of government, the church is more pushed these days by government than in the past. The government should slow down and see the church as a helper. May lives have been transformed by the church. If the church withdraws its support from government, we will return to the state of anarchy.

culled from http://churchandmission.org