Bishop David Oyedepo, the General Overseer of the Living Faith Church Worldwide shared a profound encounter he had with a group of young men immersed in the destructive habit of smoking in a message during Shiloh 2024 Day Four, Celebration Night.
Preaching on “Unveiling the Access to Hidden Riches of Secret Places”, he recounted a moment where he ministered to a group of youths smoking illicit substances, transforming their perspective with bold truth and compassion.
“I was in the midst of bad boys smoking all kinds of nonsense,” Bishop Oyedepo narrated, “and I called them. The whole place was smelling.” Instead of condemnation, he posed a simple yet convicting question: “Would you want your children to be like this?” When they replied “no,” he asked, “Why are you like this?” Their response of “I don’t know” opened the door for him to minister. “I know,” he told them. “Satan bound you, and He sent me to loose you.”
Bishop Oyedepo highlighted this encounter as an example of the Great Commission mandate every believer carries to proclaim liberty to captives. “We’re on a mission to set free the captives, open the eyes of the blind, and make the lame to walk,” he affirmed. Through outreach and consistent Kingdom advancement, lives can be transformed, as was the case with a former gang leader who encountered the church and is now an evangelist.
“Don’t just go out; go proclaim liberty to the captives,” he urged. He emphasized that evangelism is not an optional task but a divine responsibility for every believer. “No Church grows without a people on the go,” he stated, calling for tireless commitment to soul-winning and prayer.
The bishop concluded with a prophetic charge: “There shall be revival in every ministry that no devil from hell can stop. Your days of all-round rest are finally here!”