About Our Church

Brief History

Sometime in August 1997, a young user who recently relocated to Abuja from Lagos, approached the very amiable state Pastor of the FCT, Pastor Obanure and shared his vision for establishing a parish of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (R.C.C.G) in Abuja where the vision of the RCCG will be promoted in a F.R.E.S.H (Free, Refreshing, Exciting, Stimulating and Holy) manner. This was to be in the city of David where he was discipled. Having received the blessing of the state Pastor, the young usher and his wife, on one Sunday morning in August, 1997, opened their home in Maitama to a few others for a worship service. Thus was born, the Desire of Nations Parish of The Redeemed Christian Church of God pastored by the young couple; Pastor Ikenna and Mummy Chi Okeke. The Parish was later inaugurated in November 1997 and the theme of the inaugural service was 'In the Cool of the Day'.

As no worker was given to the pastor to start the church, the young pastor used his leadership skills to develop and build a team from those who attended the church at initial period. The Church later moved to Cachez Garden at Wuse Zone 5 and from there to an uncompleted building beside the former Verdict Nite club on Adetokunbo Ademola Crescent, Wuse II.

In 1998, the Church was given a quit notice as the landlord desired to complete his building. This led the pastor to mobilize the members which at this time had grown to a sizeable number, to pray for and work towards acquiring a plot on which to build a multipurpose church facility. Through sacrifice and purposeful dedication, a well-apportioned plot of land was acquired at Jabi in 1999 and movement to site was achieved later that year. The main auditorium of the Church was completed and commissioned by the General Overseer, Pastor Enoch Adeboye in the year 2000.

The Church enjoyed tremendous growth under the visionary leadership of Pastor Ikenna Okeke and by 2002 was made an Area Headquaters. This was sustained by the dynamic leadership of Pastor & Deaconess Kunle Omotosho, resulting in the church becoming a Zonal Headquarters in 2010, also becoming one of the largest parishes of the RCCG worldwide.

Following the transfer of Pastor Kunle Omotosho in 2007, Pastor & Pastor (Mrs.) Oluwajobi and Pastor & A/P Sam Oseghale were posted to the Parish as Zonal and Area Pastors respectively. During their era, the special miracle service known as the Hour of Divine Solution was birthed. Through this special miracle service, many lives were transformed and blessed.

In September 2010, the duo of Pastor Emmanuel Ibidapo and Pastor Kunle Olosho came on the scene as the Zonal Pastor and Area Pastor respectively at DON. During this period, the parish continued to experience sustained growth and miraculous breakthrough.

In September 2012, Desire of Nations was made a Provincial Headquarters of the newly created RCCG FCT Province 5, with Pastor & Pastor (Mrs.) Francis Oluwalade as the pioneering Pastor-in-Charge of Province (PICP FCT 5). He was able to make Desire of Nations Parish FCT 5 an atmosphere that is conducive for worship amongst other churches in Abuja with the provision of 10 units of 10 tons' air conditioners. Desire of Nations progressed tremendously under the leadership of Pastor Oluwalade. Worthy of note is four (4) parishes built, equipped and dedicated for use same day. The four (4) parishes are: Celebration Assembly, Cornerstone Parish, Solution Arena, and Salvation Parish. Also, Desire of Nations prominence was felt in financing foreign missions and building of parishes christened Desire of Nations in Ghana, Rwanda, Kenya and New York to mention but a few.

Pastor Amos & Pastor (Mrs.) Elizabeth Tugbobo took over the mantle of leadership at Desire of Nations from 2016 to 2019. The Church grew astronomically by leaps and bounds, The DON auditorium experienced a face lift with the introduction of LED backdrop, the construction of the Parsonage and the completion of DON hostel in Redemption City started by his predecessor.

From 2019 - 2022 Pastor Amos & Pastor (Mrs.) Adeola Ajisola came on board, with his strategic management expertise, he was able to lead Desire of Nations (DON) through the COVID 19 pandemic with the introduction of online-church services and an online prayer platform tagged Commanding Your Day, which gave room for equipping the Media Department with adequate gadgets. His time and resources management prowess made the church to stand on her feet when others were experiencing post COVID 19 economic hardship. Among other development strides, the altar had a remarkable world class face lift with corresponding lighting effects to the admiration of gospel artists that now troop in to use DON as a live recording studio.

DON had grown so much, and yet we are only getting started. Desire of Nations is now the seat of the Assistant Pastor in Charge of Region 10 in person of Pastor Mike & Pastor (Mrs.) Pat Ayanbode. The journey so far of DON is possible because of the mercy and grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Tomorrow we begin the journey to the next milestone come along with DON.