A Regional Evangelist of the Redeemed Christian Church of God(RCCG), not many know that Pastor J.T. Kalejaiye hails from Ilaje Local Government in Ondo State. The Ilaje-born fisherman- turned-accountant and a Fellow of two professional bodies has used his Anointing Service programme(now in the 20th year) to liberate thousands from the oppression of the devil. Revealing his success story to VANGUARD, Kalejaiye recounted how he started out as a young child in Ilaje.
According to him,” Everything is the grace of God. My background was very rough. I grew up without a father. I hawked fufu for my mum at the age of six. I sold soda. I caught fish. Apostle Peter and I come from the same local government, Ilaje. But I never stayed there. I stayed in Lagos. The journey was rough, but God didn’t allow my background to put me on the ground. But it’s the grace of God because I never saw myself here. I was told that right from my mother’s womb, a prophecy came that this one will be used all over the world by God. So every other thing that happened came as a result of the prophecy. It wasn’t as if I was born into a wealthy family. But with Christ, I thank God for that grace. So Christ is everything.
“My father had three. I was the last born. I never knew him. After my father died, my mother remarried and had two more and they are doing well. Which schools did you attend? I am seriously educated because all of you went to one primary school but I went to four primary schools. My mother went from Sokoto to Ibadan to Lagos to Ondo State, so my education was staggering. I ended up as a senior prefect, but I had no shoes to wear. My secondary school was in Ondo State, tertiary education was in Lagos. I studied accountancy and public finance. I gave my life to Christ in 1983. It was not that I wanted to. I play drums. I approached someone to take me to his church, Cherubim & Seraphim, so that I could be playing drums there. He said he wanted to introduce me to their pastor so that I could be playing for them. I compose songs even till date.
“So I went to him in his house and suddenly I saw a stick in his hand, this stick used by C&S, then I asked him, ‘Sir, are you up to that level?’ He said I should forget that, everyone uses it. I said to myself, ‘No, no, this is not the kind of church I want to attend’. I pretended as if I wanted to greet someone and I just left. I never went to that church. I went to his house for us to go to the church but when I saw that stick, that was the saving grace because if they had introduced me to that pastor and they gave me the grace to play drums, that would have been it for me. Someone now led me to the Redeemed Christian Church of God. I was working in WAEC then. I started my career there. They told a lie against me; so I went to church. Not that I wanted to surrender my life, but because I wanted the pastor to pray for me. Daddy G.O. was the one ministering. It was a Thursday.
“He made an altar call. And as we were about to kneel down on the altar, he said the Lord told him that all our problems were solved. I was shocked because he had not even listened to my problem. Lo and behold, I got to the office on Monday and then my boss recommended me that what he said was false and that gave me back my job. When God solved that problem, I said, ‘Lord, I will serve you’. And since then, no going back. I’m a stubborn Christian. If Boko Haram brings cutlass here, I will tell you if you want to kill, kill. I’ve gotten to that level. And that gives me confidence. I don’t believe so much in churches. I believe in the kingdom so I do the kingdom’s work.”
