From False Accusations to Flowing Anointing: The Unbelievable Grass-to-Grace Story of Evang. Babatunde

Long before the spiritual mantle fell upon him, transforming him into a revered cleric with a flowing anointing, Venerable Superior Senior Evangelist Emmanuel Araola Babatunde walked a treacherous path paved with poverty and bitter false accusations.

Today, as the charismatic leader of the Celestial Church of Christ (CCC), God With Us Parish, located at Adeleye along Iwo Road in Ibadan, his ministry is a fiery beacon of evangelism and divine inspiration. Yet, behind the healings and the massive crowds lies a gripping grass-to-grace story of a young photography apprentice who had to literally eat the food of his enemy to understand the true depth of Christian forgiveness.

Speaking on his early life, the respected clergyman took a trip down memory lane, recounting his humble beginnings in the Temidire Oje area of Ibadan. With his formal education abruptly halted at primary six, the young Babatunde had no choice but to learn a trade to survive before eventually making his way to Lagos. Life as a photography apprentice was grueling, characterized by a meager daily food allowance of just one shilling, equivalent to ten kobo. Despite his dedication and the sheer love his employers had for him, his integrity was severely tested by a wicked plot hatched within his own family compound.

According to the cleric, a female tenant in their house attempted to ruin his destiny with a fabricated story that could have destroyed his apprenticeship. She confidently told his family members that she had caught the young boy loitering during work hours, actively feasting on roasted guinea fowl, popularly known as suku ni’yan, at a palm oil seller’s stall. The gravity of this lie culminated in a heated confrontation when he returned from work at 8:00 PM. In a rare and moving display of trust, his boss and his wife abandoned the comfort of their home late at night to march down to the family house and defend him. They vehemently testified that they had not sent the boy on any errand since morning, yet the tenant looked him in the eye, brazenly asking if she would lie against a child.

However, the defining moment of Evangelist Babatunde’s spiritual journey did not end with his vindication, but rather in a shocking twist of reconciliation that defied cultural norms. Sometime later, during a period of agonizing hunger, the very same woman who had tried to destroy his reputation prepared a lavish meal of Amala and Ewedu soup, garnished with massive chunks of meat, and invited him to eat. While traditional wisdom heavily dictates that one must never eat the food of an enemy, the starving apprentice chose the path of grace. He sat down and ate the meal, an act he now describes as a profound lesson in settling feuds and letting go of bitterness.

Today, that falsely accused apprentice stands tall as a true man of God, his life serving as a living testament to the fact that divine elevation often follows severe trials. Drawing from his ordeal, Evangelist Babatunde uses his platform to sternly warn against the destructive nature of bearing false witness, urging humanity never to claim to have seen what they did not witness. Holding absolutely no grudges against his former accuser, his ministry continues to thrive on the very principles of absolute forgiveness and love, proving that his early-life trials were simply the necessary crucible for his present-day anointing.