From the prayer room humble beginning, Olukoya’s MFM has grown to over 4000 churches in Nigeria, in addition to about a thousand other branches in Africa, Europe, and America. Those branches located outside the African continent mainly cater to the African immigrant population. The church owns a large expanse of land along Lagos–Ibadan Expressway called Prayer City, located close to the international camp of the Redeemed Christian Church of God. Among structures located within the camp is an auditorium capable of holding 100,000 members during special occasions.
With “a do-it-yourself gospel (based) ministry, where your hands are trained to wage war and your fingers to do battle”, the church has amassed followership across the board. Its militant tone against spiritual wickedness as reflected throughout its teachings has ensured that Christians troop in to take their destinies into their own hands
Members are taught to be spiritually aggressive to the devil and its demons. This is expressed even in the names they call their groups like the Prayer Warriors, the Territorial Intercessors, and the God’s Violent Army.
MFM’s exponential growth and global renown today is not a result of any overt or calculated campaign common among some new generation churches in a bid to drive up membership. Rather, it is an unintended effect of its intrinsic power and energy emanating from the cloak of sobriety, modesty, high spirituality, and charity.
From its beginning till date, the Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministries (MFM) has declared through its peculiar character and defining qualities that it is a church like no other, but on a unique mission.
Everything is predicated on simplicity and functionality: This becomes clear in the uniform Spartan architecture of its worship places and the church’s approach to its primary task of evangelism.
These are devoid of any flamboyance or dubious attempt at joining the rat race and competition to attract convert at all cost whether through grandiose church buildings or attention-seeking posturing in the media.
Yet, multitudes have continued to flood the church headquarters as well as a campsite, Prayer City, along Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, essentially because of manifestations of the incredible power the church is apparently imbued with irrespective of the low profile it chooses to keep.
While many pastors are given to preaching leniently in order to keep their flock, messages from MFM’s pulpits are widely known for being hard-hitting, uncompromising on values and morals, and rebuking of sinfulness. “Only those who could bear to live with the bitter truth stay in this congregation,” a watcher remarked Interestingly, the church membership keeps growing astronomically, with more churches being planted on a regular basis across the globe.
