Bishop Gideon Titi-Ofei is a carbon Ghanaian born pastor and an erudite entrepreneur. His father, Mr Titi, of blessed memory, was a priest of the Methodist Church, but he later retired to become a teacher before he passed on. His mother is a schoolteacher to this time.
YEARS OF GROWING UP: Bishop Gideon Titi-Ofei had a very humble background. At the time of his childhood, his father had retired from the ministry into teaching. So, he was raised in one of the suburbs of Ghana. However, he was brought up with strict discipline from his teacher parents. Their home was peaceful and had no walls.
EDUCATION: Bishop Titi-Ofei attended public schools all through his life. His was one of the very good science students in his high school years, which made him wanted to become an engineer. However, he made his decision quite early to go into missionary work and stood very firmly by his decision.
CHRISTIAN LIFE/MISSIONARY JOURNEY: Gideon became born again at the age of fourteen in 1982. His conversion actually started when his sister that was in a boarding school returned home on one of the holidays with a new attitude acquired from the school Scripture Union (SU). Gideon read one of the SU scripture tracks that his sister brought home from the school, and that marked the beginning of his life in the vineyard of God. From then on, he became viral with the word of God, and today, the rest is a body of historic testimonies.
SPIRITUAL GROWTH: Because of his curiosity to serve the Lord as well as learn from his spiritual leaders, Bishop Titi-Ofei served diligently in virtually every department in the church and rose through such departments to different positions of leadership in the various departments that he served. He was, for instance, a cleaner in the church at some point, an usher, a choirmaster, a sound engineer, served member of different committees in the church, pastor of the men fellowship as well as a branch pastor. Today, Gideon Titi-Ofei is the presiding Bishop of one of the fastest growing Churches in Ghana, ‘Sheepfold Chapel’, later changed to, ‘The Pleasant Place’. The central message of The Pleasant Place focuses on preaching the joy, which the word of God always delivers to the heart of those who accept it into their souls. Bishop Titi-Ofei believes that the church is a place where people can find and experience the joy and Love of God through the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. Divine worship and electrifying preachment of the word of God that transforms lives and bring people to experience divine encounter with God is the primary focus of The Pleasant Place Church.
‘……I am a product of prosperity Gospel…that is what made me the successful man that I am today…..through my prosperity Gospel, many have also become successful In the most genuine way….so I wonder why people are attacking pastors that preach prosperity Gospel. I do not see anything wrong in it as long as it does teach anybody to steal or embezzle public funds. It only teaches the people how to apply divine principles in combination with the knowledge of circular principles and succeed in their various endeavours……’
As a pastoral entrepreneur, Bishop Titi-Ofei combines both spiritual principles of success and circular principles of success to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ, which is the Gospel of Good News. Through principles, he has transformed scores of thousands of young persons into successful leaders who are making tremendous impacts in leadership, both in the church and in the circular society, making scores of millionaires out of them. He speaks to the people through church service sermons; he speaks on national Televions; and he speaks to the people through his numerous life-changing books. He mentors young people, most especially, on how to become successful using both the biblical principles and the circular principles of success.
Responding to question on Prosperity Gospel, Bishop Titi-Ofei says that he is not a normal charismatic pastor that presents Christ to the people in the negative order. He is a pastoral entrepreneur, and so he presents Christ to the people in the positive order. He added that he is a product of Prosperity Gospel and that he never does anything that is against the law of the land or against individuals. He lives a holy life that has over the years serves as a shining example for not only Christians, but to all people around me.
Bishop Titi-Ofei posits that it is better for people to learn from the church how to become successful genuinely than for them to begin to find crook means of achieving their dreams and become successful. He stressed further that is one of the major problems of the society today, and so urged the church not to stop preaching prosperity Gospel as long as it is done the right way and it is yielding positive results.
LEADERSHIP CHALLENGES IN AFRICA: On the challenges of circular leadership on the continent of Africa, Bishop Gideon Titi-Ofei says that it is a pathetic situation. He identified the involvement of the youth in the leadership process as a panacea. He added, however, that it is regrettable that the old blocks are not ready or willing to give the youth a chance at the corridor of leadership. He emphasized elsewhere in the world, young people are taking over the mantle of leadership and are doing credibly well. Some classic examples of such young people he cited, that have and are still proving their worth in their countries’ leadership are the current French president, Emmanuel Macron and the immediate past president of USA, Barrack Obama. The Bishop also identified lack of recognition of the efforts that the old ones have made towards the development of their country previously by the younger generation as one of the reasons most old block leaders of Africa are not willing to give way for the younger generation to come into power. He therefore urged the youth to show respect for the old and give them their due recognition. The quoted the Holy Bible as saying that ‘when a young man has a pure heart and desires a purity with respect, kings will be his friends’
MARITAL LIFE: Bishop Titi-Ofei is married to Pastor Mrs Olivia Titi-Ofei at the age of twenty-four years, and they are blessed with four children. According to him, he met his wife in a Bible School. They started as casual friends, but two years later, he proposed to her and they got married officially. At the time he and his wife got married, he had not achieved anything in life. Both of got married as two poor children. They lived in an uncompleted building somewhere in Accra. People didn’t see any good prospect in him, and so, they tried very hard to discourage his wife, but she was too much believed in him to adhere to anyone’s counsel against marrying him.
‘ …….People didn’t see me as one who would succeed in the future, So, they did a lot to discourage my wife from marrying me, but my wife was too much believed in me to listen to them……She wanted to marry a man of God, and she found one in me. So, she was happy to be my wife……She is not a pastor because she is married to a pastor, she is a pastor because of her calling. That is why she was in the Bible school where I met her’….
Bishop Titi spoke plainly while pouring accolades on his wife, saying that his wife is the first woman that God created. He added that his wife is his moral compass who has contributed over ninety percent to what he is today.
Reacting to the issue of tithing, Bishop Titi-Ofei encouraged all Christians to pay their tithe, adding that he was speaking as a tither, not just as a pastor. He does not take salary from his church, but his University pays tithe heavily. He said that tithing is a biblical injunction to all Christians and that tithe actually opens the doors to the outpouring of heavenly blessings on the one who obeys the injunction and pays his tithe faithfully.
BISHOP TITI AS AN ENTREPRENEUR: Besides being a pastor, an author, and a mentor, Bishop Titi-Ofei is a successful entrepreneur. He is founder of Accra Business School, which has now grown to become a regular University called Almond Institute, Accra, Ghana. He is also the founder and owner of several other institutions and business in Ghana and elsewhere around the world. Some of such institutions include but not limited to Ghana Institute of Certified Managers, African Diplomatic and Policy Institute, International Organization for Capacity Building, among others. He has also recently sets up two new institutions, which he also runs. In the circular world, Bishop Titi-Ofei finds time to give his shots. He was at one point a member of the Ghana National Peace Council, General Secretary of the National Association of Charismatic and Christian Churches in Ghana (NACCC), was involved in the peaceful conduct of the 2012 general elections in Ghana, acting in the capacity of a board member the National Peace Council of Ghana.
He recently held a leadership conference in Lagos, Nigeria.
BISHOP TITI AS AN AUTHOR: Despite his tight schedules, Bishop Titi manages to find time to write books, a task, which many see and consider as quite heinous or too difficult and time consuming. He has written seven books and still counting. Some of his titles are ‘The World Spring of Wisdom’, ‘Creative Leadership’, ‘Common Sense Principles’, among others. The latest of his titles is ‘Leadership is Much More than Leadership’.
BISHOP TITI AT HOME: At home, Bishop Titi-Ofei is a classic husband, father and a friend to his wife and children. He does not always spiritualise, but sometimes socializes at with his family members and friends at home. As a rich pastor and entrepreneur, he does not drink, smokes, or clubs, but he likes to dress well and look good.
ADVICE TO THE UPCOMING: To emerging pastors, Bishop Titi-Ofei admonished them to stay focus on their calling and not try to get carried away by attractions. They should keep their hearts pure and learn from their mentors to grow spiritually. To emerging business leaders, he said they should always seek new knowledge and new ideas to boost their capacity. They must always remember that is much easier to succeed than to fail. To intending couples, he advised them to learn the ideal that the three safest places on earth are first, the home, their offices, and the church. Therefore, they must thrive to make their home a peaceful place. If one has peace at home, one will not find too difficult to succeed. The reverse is the case if there is no peace in one’s home. So, every intending couple should bear these things in mind as they plan to get married. If they apply these principles, they shall have peaceful homes and ultimately, they shall succeed in their endeavours.
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