Modupe Gbadeyanka
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
It was an exciting moment on Sunday, February 4, 2024, for members of the Good News Baptist Church, Surulere, Lagos, as they gathered in thanksgiving to praise God for the 40th anniversary of the church.
“Forty years is a sacred number and should not be taken for granted. It is several exodus, new beginnings, deliverance and transition unto newness.
“All of these should revitalize the church on all sides. The church should be regenerated and continually stand in God’s presence,” the guest preacher for the event, the President of Charis Equip Foundations, Reverend Sunday Oke, told the congregation.
In his message titled The Silver Trumpet and Kingdom Advancement, drawn from Numbers 10:1-10, he exhorted the children of God to press forward and not relent in their pursuit of His purpose, emphasising that while the church’s history is rich with testimonies, it should serve as a springboard for greater endeavours in advancing God’s kingdom.
According to him, “As a Christian soldier, you should be ready to be summoned to worship, instruct and advance towards the Promised Land.”
In his testimony titled Learning by Doing: A Foundation Member’s Chronicle in GNBC, Deacon O.K. Belo said that the 40 years he has spent in the church so far represents the longest period he has spent with any human organisation except his genetic family.
Deacon Belo, who was also the first church secretary and the first and only Chairman of the Building Committee of the church, said, “It is fit and proper to celebrate the vision that God gave to Deacon Gamaliel and Mrs Susan Onosode 40 years ago today that has continued to grow and develop in the hands and lives of a new generation.”
On his part, Mr Christopher Onosode, read the testimony of the late Deacon Gamaliel Onosode titled The Beginnings of Good News Baptist Church, earlier published in 2006.
This chronicled the humble origins of the church’s inception on Wednesday, February 1, 1984, with only three residents of the Onosode household at a prayer meeting.
The church began as Adelabu Street Baptist Church under the leadership of Deacon Onosode and later Pastor (now Revd) Kayode Ilupeju and has led the church to grow exponentially.
The article recounted the first set of members and leaders of the assembly. In 1994, the church was renamed Good News Baptist Church.
Meanwhile, at the anniversary last weekend, the multipurpose hall of the newly constructed educational and administration building was renamed in honour of the late Deacon Gamaliel Onosode.
