When the Spirit of the Lord started moving in the academic community in the late seventies and early eighties, the impact prepared the ground for the emergence of indigenous efforts in missions. The common vision and passion for building the Kingdom of Christ rather than the kingdom of men as was the case before then, narrowed the divide between the high and the low, the students and their teachers. There was this mighty spirit of humility that emanated from the lives of the elders and the mighty who have been touched by the refining fire of the Holy Spirit, binding the hearts of God’s people together in pursuit of the very reason for which the Son of God left His exalted position in Heaven to come down to our level in order to reach us and touch us with the Father’s love.

This was the context and spiritual environment under which the Christian Missionary Foundation was born and flourished and in which I first encountered “Brother” (as we normally call ourselves) Babatunde Adeyeoluwa. He was an accomplished scholar, holding many significant positions in the medical community and in the civil service, yet this did not deter him from mingling freely with his brothers and sisters in the Lord, including those who were his students. He was the only one among us then who was married, having a great job, and two vehicles then, yet he was very submissive to our collective leadership. His house, office, vehicles and everything he had were put at the disposal of the brethren and the work of missions that was just starting among the unreached of our country then.

The motto of the CMF is “MINISTERING THE WHOLE WORD OF GOD TO THE WHOLE MAN IN THE WHOLE WORLD”, conveying the wholistic nature of our missionary enterprise. To the glory of God, Brother ‘Tunde epitomized this concept of ministry. Being someone who believed in the efficacy of the word of God and a fully accomplished medical practitioner, he espoused the full impact of the word of God on the problems of humanity especially as they affect the wholeness of the body, spirit and soul of man. This was demonstrated in the following missionary endeavours of the CMF which Brother Tunde championed:
The famous ‘holistic missions” outreach to Idere May 15-17, 1981. Following the discovery by Medical students of UCH who were on community health field trip to Idere, of the 40% of the population of Idere people who were infested by Guinea-worm, a holistic outreach was planned for Idere May 15-17. This outreach became a testing ground for the two components of the mandate we had from God, namely, taking responsibility for missions and taking the “holistic” gospel to the people groups. A medical team of 10 doctors and 15 nurses led by Dr. Babatunde AdeyeOluwa then of the Department of Preventive and Social Medicine, UCH and later Principal of School of Hygiene, Eleyele-Ibadan, plus other Christian professionals, students and ministers of the gospel pioneered this medical-cum-gospel outreach. A Christian Medical Centre which served multiple functions of ministering the gospel, administering medical cares, counselling and deliverance was started here on August 1, 1981.
Utilising his position in the civil service then, he attracted many developmental projects to Idere that was hitherto neglected and treated as no-man’s land by successive regimes. Among such projects is the Idere comprehensive health centre which is still functioning today and one of the reasons the CMF has won great favour from the Royalty and the citizenry of Idere land.
At follow-up meeting that was planned for September 12-13, 1981 in Idere, a proposal to set up the Nigerian Christian Missionary Foundation (NCMF) but later abridged to Christian Missionary Foundation (CMF) was unanimously adopted by the brethren present and the programme for the formal launching of the Foundation on May 15, 1982 kicked off. A team of four brethren, namely, Reuben Ezemadu, Tunde Oladoyinbo, Dr. AdeyeOluwa and Kenneth Eshiet, formed the core of the driving team and still remained the charter Trustees till now.
Another unique ministry for which the CMF is known is the Christian School of Community Midwifery that was designed to train traditional birth attendants in Biblical foundations and principles of maternal care as well the basic medical components of same. Through this training, many pregnant women have been saved from untimely death while many children have been delivered alive and still living. Over 10,000 Christian Community Midwives have been trained through this scheme and all these have been through the unrelenting efforts of Brother Tunde Adeyeoluwa. Our missionaries were also being trained in the School so that they are able to assist pregnant women in the fields where they work which in many instances do not have access to maternities and medical care facilities.
Brother Tunde believed that there is no human being that cannot be saved and that there is no disease without a cure. This belief and his absolute confidence in the promises of Christ in the word of God in this regard, made him to be a versatile minister of the gospel and healing. He combined faith and medical attention so well that he was always getting results. He organized deliverance programs as well as medical clinics.
Brother Tunde shared so much our belief that the Church is God’s agent of missions and the local Church the vehicle for effective outreach to the unsaved. While some people with similar conviction got frustrated with the slow pace at which the Church was taking this responsibility and decided to step outside the local churches to pursue their missionary vision, Brother Tunde dug in to the Anglican community and had spearheaded the mission drive in his Diocese.
A networker, an inspirer, a Barnabas to Pauls and John Marks, Brother Tunde left his ‘handprints’ on many of the lives that came across his path, imprinted his footmarks on every soil he had treaded upon, and impressed his affectionate passion in every soul that have encountered him. He served in many leadership capacities as Chairman, patron, board member, eminent elder, and mentor.
In every responsibility he discharged, mission was central and the fulcrum on which his activities revolved. In the civil service, he was a missionary-civil servant. In leadership, he was mission-servant-leader. In pastoral service, he a missionary pastor and a pastor to the missionaries. In the corporate leadership of CMF, he was always the mediator and stabilizing factor. A believer in mercy and justice, he was always an advocate for the less privileged and lowly placed. He placed such a high premium on the value of the human soul, just like his Master who has called him to a higher calling.

What then shall we say? We may have many questions to ask why the Lord decided to separate him from us so suddenly. If I knew him very well, he would frown at any one who dares to ask the Lord such a question because he himself never argued with the Lord. He was always a willing and obedient servant. He also worked diligently and faithfully as a faithful servant he had always been. He worked with such sense of urgency that we cannot deny that he must have finished his own portion of the assignment, leaving for us an example of dedicate life in the service of God and mankind.

We your brethren, your friends, your family, your comrades, salute you and celebrate you. You have fought a good fight. You have kept the faith, you have finished your race very well. Enter into the joy of our Lord and enjoy your well deserved rest from your faithful labours as you recline in His bosom till we also lay down our trophies at His feet, someday!!!


Reuben Ezemadu
International Director CMF
For and on behalf of CMF Trustees. Members of the International Council and the Nigeria National Board, Friends and Partners and the entire membership and families of the CMF