BACKGROUND
Reverend Esosa David Ize-Iyamu was born on the 4th of June 1966 to family of the late Chief R.O. Ize-Iyamu and Deaconess M.N. Ize-Iyamu in Benin City, Edo State, Nigeria. The late Chief Ize-Iyamu, head of the Ize-Iyamu family of Benin Kingdom, was the erstwhile Head of Service in the former Midwest, later known as Bendel State.
Rev. Esosa’s primary education was at Ebenezer Primary School in Benin (1970 – 1976); from there he attended Immaculate Conception College (ICC), Benin City (1976 – 1982). He enrolled at the University of Benin (1983 – 1988), where he received, with honours, the Bachelor of Arts degree in History.
After his national youth service with the Okada Airlines in Port Harcourt, he set up a business enterprise called Royal Arts Ventures, dealing in the production and sales of designer artworks. In 1993, he joined the Liman Bravo Mortgage Bank from where he moved to Yabak Telecoms from where he later resigned to prepare for his calling to ministry.
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RESPONSE TO THE CALL TO SALVATION AND MINISTRY
Rev. Esosa’s salvation and transformation story will melt the hardest of hearts and encourage Jesus’ lovers to strive for sanctification. Despite his strong traditional background, heavy indulgence in alcohol and being a campus cult kingpin at the UNIBEN, he was completely delivered from the vices through his salvation at the Redeemed Christian Church of God, RCCG, Opebi parish, Lagos. His unfettered zeal for the Lord afterwards got him ordained as a minister on May 25, 1995 and in August 1997 was made a deacon by Pastor Enoch Adeboye, the General Overseer of the church. He served the RCCG at the Opebi and Idimu parishes as coordinator of the singles fellowship; prayer and deliverance minister and teacher in the believer’s class. He received the vision for Jesus Evangelical Assembly in 1997 and the ministry took off December same year.
PERSONA
Rev. Esosa is a quintessential gentleman in dignity and humility. He is very principled and has great desire to develop the true and genuine Christian family. A man of impeccable character whose word is his bond, his business operations runs under the corporate name Transparent Transactions Limited.
A PROPHET OF GOD
Rev. Esosa is a confirmed prophet who releases God’s grace and unction on his congregation to fulfill their purposes in life. He always seeks the face and mind of God; fearlessly and consistently preaching holiness and conscientious living to garner souls for the kingdom and convert many to righteousness. His great faith has connected with God’s grace to demonstrate God’s power in the lives of many resulting to numerous testimonies of salvation, repentance, moral transformation, deliverance, healings, and general upliftment in different areas of life.
PROFOUND TEACHER OF THE WORD OF GOD
Rev. Esosa is a stickler for excellence and profound teacher of the word of God. He always demonstrates courage and delivers his messages with great humour. A teacher on leadership skills and ethos, his contagious positive attitude rubs off on the lives of many in his flock who like him strive for perfection in their affairs.
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PRAYER
Rev. Esosa is fervent in prayer and one of his ministry’s core objectives is building an army of prayer champions in intercession and spiritual warfare. The church, Jesus Evangelical Assembly, is consistent in individual and corporate supplications to God and it is popularly called the “House of Answered Prayers”. God has given him exceptional insight and wisdom in drafting “strategic prayer-points” for different challenges, needs or aspiration.
Kingdom commitment
His kingdom mindset is reflected in Jesus Evangelical Assembly consistently playing active roles in all the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria, PFN, programmes at the National, state, province and chapter levels. The church’s facilities and resources are regularly used, just as a large number of his ministry’s work force assists and serves in different PFN programmes. Other Christian bodies, ministries and associations are also serviced by his church.
PASSION
Rev. Esosa is passionate on the family institution and goes the extra mile to encourage fulfilled marriages. His yearly Couples’ Time Out programme is a platform where couples interact and renew their marital vows.
An astute administrator; highly organized and composed, his church’s physical infrastructure is top class where everything works and runs smoothly to demonstrate his conviction and preaching that it is possible for things to work right in Nigeria.
He is extremely generous and a problem solver. His countless philanthropic gestures run through his ESOSA FOUNDATION, an NGO committed to the education and empowerment of the less privileged. The foundation has trained not less than 3000 persons, including pastors, church workers and other members of the public in online forex trading, cat fish farming, GSM engineering, etc. free of charge. The foundation provides seed capital for many to start their businesses so they can attain financial Independence.
He runs free monthly economic empowerment seminars for capacity building in different fields of endeavours for his members and the general public. The church’s monthly Investors’ Forum programme connects people to various business and career opportunities. Financial, moral and material supports are also regularly given to individuals, families, mission fields, orphanages, NGOs and groups.
POLITICS AND GOOD GOVERNANCE
Rev. Esosa abhors tribalism; typically described as a man of many tribes without a tribal mark, he has zero tolerance for all forms of decadence and defective leadership. He is a savvy political strategist and through divine inspiration hosted for two years a series of public seminars tagged: Wisdom for Political Empowerment to impact the people with Biblical qualities of effective leadership and strategies for mobilizing and winning elections. He still shares the strategies with his members and the body of Christ and supports political aspirants in their visions by introducing them to influential leaders, giving strategies, moral and financial aids.
He is a true patriot and a change agent who vocalizes the need for right moral values and enthronement of righteousness in the Nigerian political ecosystem. In his crusade against poverty and the establishment of good governance, equity, fairness and justice through God-fearing leaders, the church since inception holds constant prayer sessions on behalf of Nigeria for the leaders at all levels and tiers of governance.
RECOGNITION BY THE PENTECOSTAL FELLOWSHIP OF NIGERIA (PFN)
Rev. Esosa as Chairman of Ikeja Chapter of the Lagos PFN from 2004 to 2006 repositioned the PFN Ikeja and grew membership enrolment from 40 to about 120 committed churches and ministries. He was the first Chairman of the Ikeja Province of Lagos PFN in 2005. In March 2006, he was appointed Secretary-General of the Lagos State executive of the body under the chairmanship of Pastor Wale Adefarasin. As secretary, he played a significant role in rebranding of PFN and the creation of a stable structure for the body across the state. In April, 2010 at the end of his four year tenure as Lagos PFN secretary, he was appointed deputy secretary PFN, South-West zone under Bishop Wale Oke. In April, 2014, he was appointed into the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the National PFN under the presidency of Rev. Felix Omobude, where he serves till date as a committed member.
The grace of God upon Rev. Esosa is obviously a higher force that God is using to make things happen in the lives of so many people within and outside the church. This is reflected in the numerous awards and appointments that he has received over the years.
The word of God (JOHN. 1:6) says “there was a man SENT FROM GOD”, and after 22 years of his answering the call to ministry, we can gladly testify that we have indeed seen a man “TRULY SENT” by God. His name is REV. ESOSA DAVID IZE-IYAMU. To God be the Glory!
The post Lagos Pastor, Rev. Esosa Ize-Iyamu Celebrates At 50: The Story Of A Man Of Prayer, Excellence & Selfless Spirit appeared first on CityPeople Magazine Nigeria | Nigerian Celerbrities | Entertainment | Stars.