cft history
“Hitherto hath the
Lord helped us”

How the journey began: In February 1984, the Lord appeared to Apostle ATB Williams after a period of three days continuous dry fasting and prayer; and revealed to him the revival that will occur in Europe starting from London.

In that encounter in Nigeria, the Lord commissioned Apostle Williams, as a flag bearer for the revival. Shortly afterwards, Apostle Williams returned to London – his permanent place of residence. The next Sunday, whilst preparing to attend a church service at the New Testament Church of God in New Cross, Apostle Williams knelt down to pray about the service and before he could utter a word of prayer, the Lord showed him in an open vision a church building on Aklow Road, close to an overhead rail bridge, where they should worship that Sunday. When Apostle Williams finished praying, he immediately informed Rev. Oma Williams his wife about where the Lord had instructed them to worship. Rev. Oma Williams enquired about the church’s name, but Apostle Williams replied: “I do not know; I did not see the Church’s name in the vision, but only the building and its immediate environment”. She responded ‘what if we are not able to find the Church building or the area?’ Apostle Williams replied that he was certain they would find it because the Lord had showed the Church building to him very clearly in the vision. They searched for the Church building and found it just as God had revealed it, which happened to be Olivet Baptist Church situated between the junctions of Arklow Road and Edward Street, London SE14.

The then Olivet Baptist church had a congregation of sixteen people. Eight were elderly, with one of them being ninety-nine years old. Only a handful of young people were there. All sixteen were Caucasians. Being the only black couple in the midst of Caucasians, they were noticed easily.

During the service, the then Priest (the late Bishop Don Bishop) announced that God told him, He sent Apostle Williams there as an answer to his consistent prayers of twelve years. Before the Bishop spoke, Apostle Williams began to question himself on whether he could survive in such a cold church where no one responded when the Bishop said ‘Praise the Lord’, as he was born and bred in Christ Apostolic Church in Nigeria, a very vibrant church. The Lord replied Apostle in an audible voice immediately, saying, “He that is whole does not need a physician but he that is sick. If you have decided to work for me you will stay here, and count your blessings”. Thereafter Bishop Don Bishop made his announcement. As the then Olivet Baptist church was a conventional church, the congregation only sang hymns and had very brief services, never more than an hour long. Bible study was held on Wednesdays and was seldom attended by members.

About two weeks after Apostle Williams joined the church, he asked the Pastor whether people ever visited the church and was surprised to hear him answer ‘Yes’. Apostle Williams further asked if the Pastor had a record of visitors’ attendance that he could review. He secured a copy of the visitors’ list from the Pastor, who queried the rationale behind the request. Apostle Williams clarified that he wanted to pray over the names on the list and he did so every midnight for over an hour and on Sundays, he stood at the door to meet and greet visitors. As people returned one after the other he would tick their names off the list. Shortly afterwards, the Lord instructed Apostle Williams to start a night prayer vigil which he commenced at the then Olivet Baptist church in 1985. Apostle Williams’ service in that church led the Pastor Bishop to appoint him to F.I.E.C. (the Fellowship of Independent Evangelical Churches) and called to fellowship in 1986 and subsequently, became the associate Pastor. In other words, he was approved and recognised by a group of established clergy. Apart from the spiritual aspect of Apostle Williams’ service in Olivet Baptist Church, he would also spend most of his Saturday mornings helping his Pastor with household chores such as house cleaning, laundry, etc. That was one of the ways Apostle Williams’ forerunner also served their mentors. In 1987 God gave Apostle Williams a vision about a very large church of which he shared with the church members. He informed them that the current building they were occupying then would be pulled down and a bigger one erected in its place. Olivet Baptist church was a small church that sat only 88 people, and when they had overflow; they could just about manage to accommodate 110 people. The older members of the church were very angered by the vision. Even though the church had grown significantly since Apostle Williams joined them in 1984. They alleged that Apostle Williams wanted to destroy the building of their forefathers. Yet, within 1984 up till 1987, Apostle Williams’ Pastoral ministry had brought so many people; God healed many people and a good number of people received Jesus Christ into their lives. Amongst whom are: Mrs Adisa who did not menstruate but God opened her womb and she bore three children against all medical odds, Pastor Sydney and his wife, Sister Virginia Opara, Pastor Emmanuel, Sister Rachel, and many others. Not too long thereafter, persecution arose against Apostle Williams at the Baptist church and he was charged for healing people and getting them to speak in tongues which were contrary to the Baptist doctrine. Having been born a Pentecostal, and raised as a Baptist, Apostle Williams attended a Baptist secondary school and so was accustomed to their doctrines. In the midst of this persecution the Lord appeared to him and took him to heaven. And from there showed Apostle Williams a vision of the church where he was born - Christ Apostolic Church (CAC) located at 28 Olowu Street, Ebute-Elefun Lagos Nigeria. Apostle Williams saw how darkness had filled the church. The Lord told him to go to the church and deliver the message/sermon on Revelations Chapter 2:4 “Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first”. Whereas back in the Baptist church in London, the persecution was mounting up and eventually in 1988 their presbytery told Apostle Williams to leave. After that incident, as Apostle Williams was praying and seeking the face of God to know what was his next assignment, Rev. Oma Williams encountered the late Prophet Obadare of Nigeria whilst on one of her flights (she was working as a flight Stewardess then). Prophet Obadare was the General Evangelist of CAC and was a blind man. He was one of the most renowned prophets in Nigeria in his time. A man who spoke and Presidents of the nations, paid close attention. Prophet Obadare beckoned to a passenger to call Rev. Oma Williams who was standing reasonably far away from him. The fact that he was able to clearly identify Apostle Williams’ wife amongst her colleagues was a mystery. Rev. Oma Williams walked to the late Prophet Obadare and he informed her that God has commissioned her husband to do some work in his ministry. Apostle Williams’ wife explained that he was already connected to his ministry as a son as far back as 1979, even though he was far away from him in terms of his operating hierarchy of officials, Apostle Williams was one of his foot soldiers. The prophet then told her to ensure Apostle Williams visited him on his future trip to Nigeria. Having spoken to Rev. Oma Williams, it was a great privilege for Apostle Williams to visit Prophet Obadare (addressed as “Baba”) Rev. Oma Williams at the time was not aware that he was going through some serious persecution. Coincidentally, Baba’s church was also experiencing some turbulence. As Apostle Williams was going through persecution in the Baptist church and preparing to leave; Prophet Obadare was also looking for someone of Apostle Williams’ character to lead his London church. Apostle Williams travelled to Nigeria some time later to exchange his Visa to a clergy Visa as he initially migrated to the UK as a student of Land surveying and mapping sciences. Whilst on that trip Apostle Williams visited Prophet Obadare, who reiterated what he had previously told his wife ‘that God wanted Apostle Williams to work for him in his ministry. Apostle Williams replied that the Lord had not spoken to him about that. He excused himself for 5 minutes during which he prayed and asked God about what his prophet had just told him and immediately God showed Apostle Williams a vision of his ministry going through turbulence in England. It was on that occasion God told Apostle Williams what He sent him to do in Europe will begin in three and a half years’ time and for now (that time) he could work with Prophet Obadare, to help him. God also gave Apostle Williams the solution to the turbulence in the Prophet’s church in England. Subsequently, Prophet Obadare gave Apostle Williams a letter to the CAC supreme Council who then ordained him into the Clergy of CAC. As the CAC does not assign pastors or ministers to their parishes, except those that they ordain. Apostle Williams therefore became a Pastor of a Pentecostal church having been a pastor of an Evangelical church. Prophet Obadare himself conducted the ordination. He placed his hands on Apostle Williams’ head and anointed him. But prior to that time the Lord had told Apostle Williams that He will send him to Prophet Obadare for a transfer of unction. Immediately after the anointing, Apostle Williams was posted as a clergy to the church where he was born. Whilst Apostle Williams was preparing his paperwork to return to London, Prophet Obadare informed him that because of the grace of God upon Apostle Williams’ life, he would head his operations in Europe. Prophet Obadare was impressed that Apostle Williams sought God before agreeing to what he said God told him to tell Apostle Williams. He had never met a man that declined his offer to work with him. It was in that encounter too that God told Apostle Williams about the problem that will occur in Liberia and the late Prophet Obadare had a church there at the time. When Apostle Williams contacted the Pastoral team of the church he was posted to (his home church) they told Apostle Williams that he would be preaching the next Sunday. Apostle Williams called up all the old members of the light of the world, i.e., the praying group of CAC of which he was a member from 1967 before he travelled abroad. Apostle Williams invited them to support him as he intended to deliver the message God revealed to him in 1987. That Sunday Apostle Williams preached for 3 hours. Apostle usually refers to that season as a season of the commissioning of his ministry as it was in that meeting God began to perform miracles in a large dimension. Hundreds of people gave their lives to Christ including those that had the spirit of witchcraft. The church declared a 90-day revival from the second day and that was how the revival of 1989 in Lagos Nigeria started.

During that revival, Apostle Williams’ apostolic office was confirmed by the Lord as God performed many signs and wonders. Lumps disappeared from people’s bodies, blind saw; the crippled were healed and were able to walk/run in the presence of everyone present at the meeting. The fathers in Apostle Williams’ home Church signalled that this was what happened in the days of their forefathers in CAC. And for 90 days Apostle Williams was preaching daily in that church and the numbers of believers grew daily till the whole church was filled and people were sitting on the streets and the Government had to block the street. It was in that crusade that Apostle Williams brought in Dr JK Olukoya who worked with him when Christ Faith Tabernacle started. Sometime later, Dr Olukoya told Apostle God had given him the vision for Mountain of Fire and Miracles (MFM) of which Apostle Williams released him to continue.

Immediately after the 90 days revival in CAC, persecution arose amongst the highest level of CAC hierarchy stating that ‘Apostle Williams was catching witches and who gave him authority to do so’. This was a more terrible persecution because Apostle Williams had to face all the old fathers in a couple of meetings in Ibadan even though God used him to disarm principalities in CAC. Some CAC members threatened to take the hierarchy to court. There was a split in CAC when the authorities excommunicated Apostle Williams, because the youth rose up against the authorities as a result of this incident. The authority had no choice but to accept Apostle Williams back to avoid an uprising. They said Apostle Williams could continue his crusade but ‘he shouldn’t catch witches anymore’. Apostle Williams replied that if he knew how to catch witches he would go around the world and catch them, it was God that was arresting witches. You would expect the Pentecostal church to be happy that the devil was being arrested but unfortunately not. Apostle Williams took the hit.

During Apostle Williams’ first Sunday of ministration in CAC, one of the prophetesses who prophesied concerning his conception Prophetess Mrs Thompson, was on her dying bed when she heard he would be ministering in the church the following Sunday. Mrs Thompson insisted she be taken to the church to watch Apostle Williams preach. After hearing him preach Mama Thompson said to the people; ‘I can now depart in peace for my eyes have seen the promise the Lord had made to CAC’. Few days afterwards she died. This was a woman who prophesied to Apostle Williams’ mother when she was barren that the first son that would open her womb would be an Apostle to England.

After the crusade Apostle Williams returned to London to continue with Prophet Obadare’s ministry. He pastored in Prophet Obadara’s ministry for some months and then the leaders in his London church also complained that Apostle Williams was ‘catching witches’ in London and that turned out to be a big dilemma for some of Prophet Obadare’s leadership team which caused them to go to court. So Apostle Williams had to withdraw from CAC to avoid a major disruption of Prophet Obadare’s ministry.

Apostle Williams subsequently, offered his resignation to the Prophet and they parted amicably. Satan always senses timing. When God makes a promise and the time is getting close to the fulfilment Satan always senses it because he is a spirit. He will just raise various persecution and troubles, not only for ministers but for individual believers too, just to make them miss God’s timing. Satan does this because he does not know the exact time but can read the season and thus hype up incidents and if a believer is not sensitive to God, s/he may deny God or burn low and most certainly miss their season. May that not happen to anyone reading this account in Jesus name. When Moses was born, even though the authorities were killing children of his age group, God created the perfect escape route. The same thing happened when Jesus was born. Satan had sensed in the spiritual realm that something great was about to occur, hence he orchestrated a lot of havoc causing Jesus’s parents to flee to Egypt. Because of the persecution of the disciples after Jesus’ death, the gospel spread to other parts of the world as they were all scattered.

It is persecution that has led Apostle Williams thus far and if you read the full history of CFT you will see that he has been unmoved by the various storms that have crossed his paths. Apostle Williams has much experience about storms and God has taught him through it all, to always remain focused. And because of that knowledge; no storm/s has ever slowed down his ministry work.
The journey of Christ Faith Tabernacle (CFT)

For seven days after his resignation from the CAC in London, Apostle Williams sought God. And on the seventh day God told him about CFT. The Lord said “CFT is supposed to be a ministry in Christ Apostolic Church; it is written I came to my own and they knew me not as many who knew him God gave them the power to become sons of God. As they have rejected me, so they have rejected you and because of this I will commission CFT as a church even though it is meant to be a ministry in CAC. All Apostle Williams’ works around the world would have come under the umbrella of CAC including CFT Cathedral, but because they forced him out, God took charge. Apostle Williams told God that he did not know how to start a church and the Lord responded ‘I will build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it’. The Lord gave Apostle Williams the name ‘Christ Faith Tabernacle’ because Christ Apostolic Church started in 1917 as Faith Tabernacle with Ps Odubanjo who is the man who named Apostle Williams at birth. Apostle Joseph Babalola joined him in 1925, and in 1930 through the prophetic vision of Apostle Babalola the Church became known as Christ Apostolic Church in 1930. The template God gave Apostle Williams for Christ Faith Tabernacle is the original template that God had given to the fathers of Christ Apostolic Church. And that is the reason why Apostle Williams’ captions for all his operations on earth is ‘apostolic church restored’. When God gave the template to him, as he began contemplating what the motto of the church would be, the Lord visited him and said `Demonstrating God’s power through love and building overcomers for tomorrow’ God told Apostle to build a church after the pattern of the acts of the Apostles contained in the book of Acts. This has been the driving force behind CFT’s success; and the rationale behind Apostle Williams’ uncompromising position in his teachings or his lifestyle. After the Lord had spoken to Apostle Williams to start CFT Church, the following week, Apostle went to his local market to shop and found one of the old members from the Baptist church who hugged him and said ‘Pastor we have been looking for you to teach us the Bible’. Apostle asked him to come to his house the next Wednesday. On that Wednesday 33 people gathered in Apostle Williams house; 72 Ludwick Mews, New Cross, London SE14 6NG. The following week the numbers increased to 40 and by the third week it went to 56. By the fourth week people were sitting outside his house. This led Apostle Williams and his Bible students to move their meetings to Hughes Field Community Centre in Deptford. Every week they grew. There was never a week where they did not have new people joining the group. On Wednesday 28 February 1990, as they finished their midweek meeting the Lord took Apostle Williams into an open vision and showed him All Saints Church, and said they should meet him there on Sunday, which was the 4 March 1990. Apostle told the members what the Lord had revealed to him and asked them to meet him at the All Saints Church at 2pm the next Sunday. The following day Apostle Williams went looking for the church. To follow the Lord`s instruction he had to lose his mind. Anybody who is in control of his will and mind cannot follow God because the Lord sometimes gives instructions that most times appear strange or ridiculous to mankind. Apostle Williams found the address of the Rev. Father Owen who was in charge of the church and told him the vision he had. Rev. Father Owen listened to him and said “Young man I believe that God really spoke to you. We do not give our sanctuary to other people but for you we will. We always have committee meetings before we do, but for you we won’t”. He took Apostle Williams to the church and showed him around. And behold on Sunday people came to the church at 2pm. This was how CFT was commissioned on Sunday 4 March 1990. Amongst the members that are still with Apostle Williams since the first day are Pastor Adisa and his wife, Pastor Sydney and his wife, Deaconess Opara, and Apostle’s children. The numbers of members who met at the All Saints Church grew from over 250 to 950 when they eventually moved to CFT’s Bethesda Building in 1997.

Over the years, the ministry of Christ Faith Tabernacle has touched many lives and nations. In 1991 the Lord led CFT to Greece and between 1992-1996 to Worthing, Landseer; where God healed a man that was born totally blind. Devonshire and Cornwall, Brasworthy, Holesworthy and Barnstable; where God used CFT to bring many churches together. It was in Barnstable that a man who was born without testis was healed and received two testes in his scrotum bag. Wales-Holyhead; where Sister Laura who was born without a womb was healed. She was registered handicap but she is now married with children. During this period, CFT Nigeria was also formed. In 1992 Apostle Williams was in a Crusade with Bishop Wale Oke in Russia where Pastor Sunday Adelaja (of Ukraine) was serving as an usher. God spoke to Apostle Williams about him and instructed Apostle Williams to lay his hands on him, prophesy over his life (many, if not all of those prophecies have come to pass) and to commission him. Apostle Williams’ ministry work has affected amongst others; Bishop Agere of Ghana, Matt Stavers of the USA. In 1995, during one of CFT conventions at the Bethesda Building on in New Cross Road, the Founder of Revelations TV Howard Conder came to film the convention. The Lord through Apostle Williams prophesied to him about the Revelation TV channel. Another product of Apostle Williams’ ministry is the late Dr Tayo Adeyemi of New Wine Church, Pastor Oliha, and Pastor Segun Olureni who was formerly known as Aworeni. These men were all prophesied over and commissioned. Apostle Williams in early days of New Wine Church would often use his vehicle to help transport some of the Church musical instruments. He was the one who prayed and ordained the late Dr Tayo Adeyemi as the leader of the New Wine Church when there was a dichotomy amongst his church contemporaries about who should lead their Church.

Over the years, Christ Faith Tabernacle under the leadership of Apostle Williams has impacted many nations for Jesus. Numerous kings and people of high repute have been affected positively; Apostle Williams was instrumental to the ordination of a King in Ikene, region that had not had a king for 25 years. God sent Apostle Williams to America, Casadaga a region dedicated to witchcraft, where he destroyed the powers of witchcraft and made declarations that church would spring up in that region. CFT has operated in five continents of the world (Asia, Africa, Europe, America and Caribbean). The Prophetic Voice Ministers’ fellowship was inaugurated in 2000.

God has taken Apostle Williams to heaven more than 14 times. The Lord Jesus has appeared to him several times during which God showed him the calendar of this world; and a number of major events that would happen up until 2015. Apostle Williams has declared that this is the year of Gods glory, no wonder it is synonymous with CFT Silver Jubilee.

Trials and tribulations

CFT cannot say that it has not faced opposition, trials and tribulations. The church has encountered challenges from various sources. Apostle Williams has faced death threats in the villages, lived rough in villages, confronted the devil face to face, but thanks be to God who always gives CFT the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

For more information about
Apostle ATB Williams’ life and ministry,
please see the book; Call of an Apostle.