Apostle Johnson Suleman, the General Overseer of the Omega Fire Ministries (OFM) worldwide, an evangelistic ministry with branches in over 65 of 195 countries in the world has taken evangelism to a rare level, with his remarkable bias for philanthropy. Suleman has been changing the narrative in God’s Vineyard by sharing freely and generously from his spiritual and material endowments. Suleman’s evangelical ministry based in Auchi, Edo State, Nigeria is an 80,000 seating capacity auditorium with branches in Lagos, Enugu, Abuja, Kano, and Akwa-Ibom states. The church is also located in Houston, Texas, South Africa, Ghana, New Jersey, Maryland USA, Turkey, among other countries.
Since he received the divine call to raise his ministry, OFM in 2004, Suleman has been making marks with the authority from God and the Holy Spirit, guiding and directing people on their spiritual journeys, while he also encourages spiritual growth and maturity through mentoring, discipleship programmes and building leadership. Before starting OFM, Suleman had worked as an assistant pastor at the Armour of God Church in Lagos from 1998. He holds a degree in Mass Communications, a Master’s Degree in Human Resource Management and two Doctorate Degrees in Human Resource Management and Theology. His teachings have been a beacon of light, steering people towards fulfilling their God-given purpose. His true mentorship doesn’t just impart knowledge, it transforms lives.
Suleman is not only known for his vibrant and impactful teachings on the altar, he also significantly impacts society through his philanthropic endeavours. He is among the privileged few that leverage their ministries and physical blessings to positively transform various social issues, including poverty, education, healthcare and community development. His noteworthy philanthropic initiatives underscore his commitment to making a positive difference in Nigeria and beyond, taking his act of charity to a remarkable level by building schools, roads and touching lives. Also, he regularly places students from his clan and outside on scholarship of various disciplines while empowering many on entrepreneurial drives. Through his ‘Touch of Love Foundation’, Apostle Suleman passionately reaches out to the needy with several philanthropic gestures aimed at alleviating sufferings and restoring hope. He offers scholarships, builds homes for the elderly, provides artisans with tools, equipment and machines for their work, and also gifts people cars and financial support to talented and skilled individuals. For many years, Apostle Suleman has been catering for widows by placing them on monthly stipends including those with physical disabilities. These acts of love and charity have endeared him to many across the globe with several national, continental and international awards in his honour.
Few years ago, this Auchi, Edo State born cleric opened a free food restaurant where 50,000 persons are meant to be fed with N288 million every year. Apostle Johnson Suleman did not make his fortune from the church tithe. Unlike some of his peers, his private ventures fetch all that he needs to impact people’s lives. With his private business ventures, Hosanna Conglomerate, a firm with vast interests in real estate, oil & gas, banking, transport; Celebration Airline, Hossana Vessels, to mention a few, Suleman is able to touch lives physically, ably assisted in the kind endeavours by his dutiful and beautiful wife, Reverend (Mrs.) Lizzy Suleman. With a networth of over 300 million Dollars, Apostle comfortably ranks among the richest pastors in Africa. His Celebration TV is believed to be one of the fastest growing television stations reaching well over 150 nations around the globe and an average of 300 million persons across Africa, Asia, Central America, Europe and Australia.
Conventionally, callings and divine selections are purely in-human decisions but products of predestination, which are made way before the very creation of the world and hatched into reality when the called discovers his destiny. Such is the case of Apostle Suleman. Few days after Apostle Johnson Suleman was born, the story has it that Prophets travelled all the way from Warri in Delta State of Nigeria to Benin City, his place of birth, armed with a message from God. When his parents inquired to know what the message was all about, they were informed that God told the prophets that a prophet that would minister in God’s presence had been born. Apostle Johnson Suleman’s parents wouldn’t listen to the visiting prophets because they were Muslims and could not understand the possibility of their son becoming a Christian, let alone being God’s minister. As the young Apostle Johnson Suleman began to grow, his parents observed that he was somehow strange in the way he did things. He values the things of God even as he attends the mosque with his father. As young as he then was, he knew he was not in a path he was meant to be. The rest is now history.
His Omega Fire Ministries International was accordingly brought into existence to restore the joy of men, making men to manifest their destiny, thereby becoming the best that God created them to be and reversing the wickedness of the enemy. OFM believes in the fire operation of the Holy Spirit of God which refines, purifies and at the same time destroys demonic manipulations and oppression. Once, the servant of God fasted for two years from 6am to 6pm daily. His intestines sliced after the exercise and doctors said he would not make it alive. But he is still alive demonstrating the power of God without limitations.
Apostle Johnson Suleman had a passion for reaching the lost with the gospel of Jesus Christ right from his teenage years, and as a teenager, he had passionately traveled across the most populous black nation bringing healing, restoration, revival and hope to many through the gospel of Jesus Christ.
-Folorunsho Hamsat
