On Wednesday, January 31st, Pastor Sola Osunmakinde, the Senior Pastor at the Household of David (HOD), posed beside the church building and took a picture of himself which he posted on his IG page in anticipation of the Mercy Conference billed to start by 5 p.m. of the same day. The caption on the post read “Join us this evening for Mercy Conference 2024!” The comments that poured in showed that everyone eagerly anticipated the conference tagged “The Resurrection”.
Barely three hours later, with the same outfit, Pastor Sola shared another video, this time, within the premises of the church – with everything behind him burnt down. In the period between him posting the photo and the video, the church premises, situated along Surulere Industrial Road in the Adeniyi Jones area of Ikeja, had been razed and destroyed – nothing was spared; not even the new equipment and neatly arranged seats for the conference. It was like the Biblical Elijah fire at Mount Carmel; everything was licked up by the fire.
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As expected, the fiery news spread like wildfire to the members, media, and all over. In a matter of minutes, members converged and sympathizers gathered, but a miracle began.
When you would expect Pastor Sola, the other HOD pastors, and the members around to be sorrowful and depressed about the torched building, and more importantly the conference, Pastor Sola, with bold faith and a calm demeanor, announced that the Mercy Conference 2024 would still go on as planned.
This singular move orchestrated a supernatural turn of events, one to figuratively turn fire into fragrance.
Messages came pouring in from every corner of the globe. Pastor Sola’s friends in ministry turned up, and members began picking and salvaging valuable items while social media went agog with well wishes and commendations to Pastor Sola and the church.
Pastor Abigail Osunmakinde, the matriarch of HOD, equally present throughout the ordeal, led those around to a celebration in similar faith as her husband. She declared, “The Resurrection of Jesus; it cannot be stopped.” Standing there and looking at her lead worship and prayer, you could sense the grace of the ancient prophetess Deborah urging her people on.
Bad things happen to everyone, and the believer should not think he is spared. Jesus had his share, the three Hebrew boys were thrown in the fire, and our fathers of the faith had theirs. What we should know is that through fire, storm, or calamity, we have this faith, that He who has called us is faithful. Jehovah God is the One who makes ALL things work together for good to them who love Him and are called according to His purpose (2 Timothy 1: 12–14 and Romans 8: 28).
It must be stated here that Pastor Sola never for once liked the idea of holding Mercy Conference 2024 at the Ikeja facility. The church was already in search of a larger venue or land towards erecting a new auditorium fondly called “Mercy Seat.” Pastor Sola was so determined to hold the conference at a new ground that he wrote the nearby Agege Stadium and Police College GRA grounds to secure permission for their space to be used for the conference, a pointer to his foresight while he had no premonition of the fire incident.
Standing on the mandate of their set man, workers and members of HOD rallied around. A new venue, High Point Event Centre, also within Ikeja, was secured for the Opening Night of the conference. The massive turnout and disposition of HOD workers were highly commendable. They came out in full force, and within three hours, High Point was set up for the conference as though nothing had ever happened.
Worthy of mention are the love and support shown by the church in Nigeria to Pastor Sola and HOD. Suggestions from Pastor Sola’s fellow pastor friends were instrumental in getting both venues stated above and spreading the news about the new locations. Truly, anyone who will see the fruit of friendliness must first show himself or herself to be friendly.
The Mercy Conference is an annual gathering of thousands of believers from different parts of the world for a life-changing experience through the Word and worship by anointed ministers of God prayerfully invited to minister. All through the days and sessions of the conference, invited ministers and friends of the house saluted the courage of Pastor Sola and the entire HOD. Gifts were given and words of faith for Mercy Seat and the Resurrection power of God on HOD were released.
The grand finale was held on the premises of the Police College, Ikeja, on Sunday, February 4th, with the conference experiencing an unprecedented following online and on-site. As always in HOD, the conference ended with testimonies, salvation of souls, celebrations, and shouts of joy.
Following the successful conclusion of the conference, HOD has set its sights on Mercy Seat while securing the former Latter Rain Church facility on Akilo Road for temporary use throughout the Sundays in February. In all, we have come to realize that the death of the old premises had to happen to pave the way for HOD to experience a total resurrection; and, indeed, the church is moving from fire to fragrance!
