How prophet Apostle Timothy Obadare’s got blind, and was still able to read the Holy Bible
Even in death, Apostle Timothy Obadare’s memory still looms large among members of his church and even beyond. His spiritual gifts as a prophet made him one of the most outstanding and highly sought after man of God in Nigeria.
It is a well-known fact that Prophet Obadare founder of Christ Apostolic Church World Soul Winning Evangelistic Ministry was blind, yet his visual impairment was not a limitation, rather it became an opportunity for God to prove his supernatural abilities, and to demonstrate the genuineness pf his calling on Prophet Obadare’s life.
Apostle Obadare was not born blind. His loss of sight was a result of an outbreak of disease in his home town Ilesa, Osun State, while he was only six years old. The eye problem was caused by a chronic small pox epidemic, which ravaged his entire community and cost him the use of both eyes. This made it impossible for him to complete his primary education at Apostolic Church Primary School, Ise-Ilesa.
All efforts by his parents to salvage the situation and help restore his sight proved fruitless. He was later taken to a missionary hospital in Lagos where the missionary doctors at the hospital confirmed that his eyes were damaged beyond restoration, but suggested that God had provided him with invisible eyes sharper than ordinary human eyes.
This sounded prophetic and that was what it turned out to be. This unfortunate incident became a challenge which propelled young Timothy to seek divine intervention, as a result of which he encountered God at the age of seven. He received the Baptism of the Holy Spirit in February, 1949.
Speaking about the assurance Apostle Obadare got from God concerning his eyes, His son revealed in a recent interview “He knew God could do it so he prayed that He should restore his sight. It was then that God told him that He had an assignment for him to do His work. He either regained his sight or accepted the way he was to do His will. He chose the latter,” Pastor Obadare said in a recent interview.
But despite his visual limitations, Apostle Obadare was still able to do thing almost every other persons could do, including walking to the Airport when he needed to travel abroad for preaching and even reading the bible.
Pastor Paul noted that his father’s ability to study the word despite his blindness was a divine intervention, adding that God did a surgical work to allow him study the word. “That is divine. Whenever God calls one, he also takes care of one’s limitations. God also ensures that he had a fuller understanding of His word. God did a surgical work on his eyes whenever my father was studying His word and praying.”
Obadare started his career as an evangelist in the Apostolic Church of Nigeria in 1953. The choice of the denomination was no doubt influenced by his father who was a pastor with the church. A revival had been organized by Brother Paul and Dr. Thomas Whayad, ministers of the church, which continued till mid-April 1953.
The end of the revival challenged Obadare, who felt that God needed more vessels to carry his message. Therefore, first and foremost, Obadare made himself available to God and challenged God to make use of him, in spite of his physical disability. However, he was aware that the Holy Spirit was the most essential weapon needed by any man of God for spiritual exploits; and so this is what he decided to pray for most doggedly. He compelled his mother to lock him up in a room where he embarked on a prolonged fasting and prayer session to seek the power of God as demonstrated by the two evangelists of the church. The Lord appeared to him on the fifth day of this prayer session.
Coming out of the room on the seventh day, he went straight to the church where he preached for a period of four hours, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. This resulted in the first of the miraculous events of Obadare’s ministry: close to 350 people suffering from a cough epidemic that had broken out in Ilesa at the time were miraculously healed by God through his ministration.
Speaking further on his father’s supernatural exploits while he was alive, Pastor Paul, recall an incident that has remained fresh in his mind. “A man came one day to Akure, Ondo State that he wanted to see him. People told him that there were a lot of people waiting to see the man of God and that he should wait. He persisted and would not heed the advice. My father overheard him and asked what was happening. When he was told that a man insisted on seeing him, he told them to allow him come to him.
“When the man saw him, he said he heard that even though he could not see, God had been using him mightily. He told him that he wanted him to tell him the type of clothes he wore and the colour. After he spoke, baba said he would oblige him his request so he could know that his God is koseunti (God of possibility).
“He described exactly what he was wearing even beyond his request. The man was visibly amazed. He also told the man that the fact that he had two eyes did not mean he could see. He said the man’s eyes would only see natural things naturally but the inner eyes, as divinely programmed, could see both inner and outer things. The story stays with me till date. I was particularly moved that day as God further showed His supremacy.”
